HenryFreeman
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Posts posted by HenryFreeman
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12 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:
There maybe a difficulty for you if you were planning to access the Macclesfield from Marple/ Peak Forest. It’s a lovely journey but lock 7 on the Peak Forest is closed and maybe for a while. Currently is scheduled to open on 24th Mayhttps://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/26054-navigation-closure-marple-lock-flight-peak-forest-canal
You can’t therefore access the Macclesfield from the “Manchester end”. You maybe best to head down the Trent and Mersey via Preston Brook. You can do the Macclesfield from that way but you would have to turn round to get back on your way to The Oxford canal.
Castlefield area seems the best for you if you really want to go to central Manchester. However as others have mentioned sadly it’s pretty grizzly for boaters. Going up the Rochdale 9 plus 2 to get moorings that are expensive at Islington then to go back down the 9 and 2 is not recommended.
Overall it looks best if you look for moorings on the Bridgewater away from central Manchester. Unless you transit the Bridgewater and look for moorings on the Trent and Mersey
Thanks for that heads up, I won't be going that way then! So not the Macclesfield - Trent and Mersey, Coventry Canal, Grand Union. The Macclesfield will have to wait for another day.
Cheers!
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4 hours ago, IanD said:
Agreed about location, but the OP just said "Manchester" without saying where he was coming from or going to... 🙂
You'd have had a job doing that when we were at New Islington, we got the only available mooring -- right outside the bar, as it happens... 😉
(also we couldn't do a sneaky overnight drop-in since we were there to get a pumpout, so they knew we were coming...)
Yeah, good point. Coming from Barnoldswick -> Chorley -> Wigan and then going onto the Macclesfield and onwards south via Oxford Canal -> Braunston -> Grand Union.
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30 minutes ago, n-baj said:
Mooring is free like on a crt canal but crt registered boats only have a week (or 10 days by ticking the 3 day extension box when booking Bridgewater passage) for free as it’s a privately owned canal owned by Peel Holdings
example pictured below
Ah perfect, thank you!
22 minutes ago, PeterF said:And if you want to extend your stay on the Bridgewater beyond the free 7 + 3 days you can pay on line here.
Cheers! Big help!
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3 minutes ago, n-baj said:
I’ve stayed near where beerbeerbeerbeerbeer points out for a night and found it okay, a few boats moored on the towpath as well which is always a good sign.
Regards to castlefield I believe you can stay on the Bridgewater for 10 days by ticking the “extend by 3 days to return to your home navigation” box but there’s no return for 28 days. Bridgewater licence is £40 a week once the free trial ends last time I looked.
Thanks for this!
So that brings up a new question about how/who/where/when to pay for a visitor mooring on the Bridgewater!
How/who/where/when do I pay for a mooring?
50 minutes ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:How long’s your boat?
My 48’ fits here quite nicely, have moored here for a few weeks at a time, not for several years mind. And once left it unattended for a week.
The main footfall here at Piccadilly is commuters to and from the tram, and it’s quite at night.
maybe you could use the basin,
I never have,
involves getting a code I think,
or there’s moorings on the Aqueduct that are probably ok,
lots of nosey neighbours around Piccadilly Village the troublesome type tend to stay away.
Thanks for the suggestions! I've a 55' narrowboat so may/may not be a squeeze in that spot. It's just going to be for at most 5 days/a week.
1 hour ago, IanD said:If there's space at New Islington Marina (there isn't always!) and you don't mind paying £10 a night you'll be safe there.
The "hairpin" visitor moorings at Castlefield looked OK when we were there, don't know about for several days though -- also they're on the Bridgewater so you might be pulled up for that...
I'll look up that marina and see what they have. I don't mind paying £10 a night! Thanks very much!
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Hey all,
Will be heading to Manchester over the next few weekends as part of my cruise down south. I'm wondering if anyone can recommend any moorings which might be safe(ish) to leave a boat for a few days in-between cruising days? I seem to recall reading Manchester isn't the best place to leave a boat but would welcome any opinions.
Thanks!
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7 minutes ago, GUMPY said:
Personally I would go for something like this
https://www.fogstar.co.uk/products/fogstar-drift-280ah-leisure-battery
With a Victron Combi.
Way more power available and less money spent than one of those pissy power packs.
Cheers! There is an idea too.
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5 minutes ago, magnetman said:
Not looked into it but with a generator that size perhaps there is a way to shove charge into a lithium battery very quickly somehow.
Will do some reading! Might be a cheaper approach.
Cheers!
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2 minutes ago, magnetman said:
Crikey those Bluetti things are expensive !!!
3072Wh of battery with some electronics £2,800 !!
Yeah, not getting that one! I'm going for the cheaper one, the AC200 (About £1200).
I suppose for the expensive one it's built to be expanded - you can add up to 4 additional battery packs to give you 12000 watt hours.
But yes, pricey.
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Thanks all for your advice! Just to answer a few questions..
I've got a portable generator (Kipor 2600) and a Victron battery charger that I use to keep the batteries charged rather than using the engine. So am basically able to charge the battery bank whenever it needs charging.
I've also just remembered I've got a small 400w inverter that is used for powering my Morco water heater which might well suffice for charging the Bluetti.
The Bluetti is a LiFePO4 power station/battery with a built in 2000w inverter and can power 240v appliances, usb, 12v etc. It's a handy unit (not that I have one yet but have been doing a lot of reading up on them) and possibly a bit more flexible than a traditional lead acid battery bank. Plus you can add additional battery packs to extend it to 8000+ watt hours.
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Hey all,
Looking for some advice. So I've had the same set of lead acid batteries for about 7 years now and they've basically given up the ghost. And while my boat was in the boat yard getting painted, the inverter went arse up due to being filled with sandblasting sand. So between the two, it's got me thinking about my electrics. Honestly, I don't use a lot of electrical items on the boat outside the lights, fridge, pump for shower, pump for water, bilge pump. Anything like running a laptop, TV etc. I just run off the built in battery (laptop/phone) and the TV is rarely turned on. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's also full of sand and knackered. So I'm beginning to wonder if replacing all the 4 lead acid domestic batteries and getting another inverter would be a waste of money?
What I'm wondering is how few domestic batteries I can get away with installing to run the pumps, lights and fridge. 1 would be ideal but I suspect that might not be possible. Lights and pumps fine - fridge as well? Possibly not. I've also got 600w of solar on the roof. The fridge is one of those Inlander 12v conversions.
For the money I'd spend on 4 batteries and another inverter, I could get one or two domestic batteries and one of those big Bluetti power stations (https://bluettipower.co.uk/products/bluetti-ac200max) for running any 240v stuff on the rare occasion 240v stuff gets run.
Wondered if anyone has any advice/suggestions? What is a realistic minimum based on the above?
Just thinking, I'd probably need an inverter of some kind to charge up the Bluetti. But maybe just a cheap and cheerful one rather than a fancy Victron one.
Cheers!
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On 26/12/2023 at 18:20, MJG said:
Grumpy miserable gits inhabit all walks of life.
You can find many of them right here.
On 27/12/2023 at 10:41, IanD said:It's not just overcrowding on the canals, because there are plenty of narrowboaters also causing problems.
It's similar to the "Bully XL" issue, some owners protesting about the ban on their dogs (which with less than 1% of the population have been responsible for 70% of dog-kills-man incidents in recent years) by saying that theirs is a softy and properly trained and would never bite *anybody*, not like all those other owners of badly-trained dogs -- while ignoring the fact that a nasty aggressive Pekinese is rather less capable of tearing somebody's throat out if things do turn nasty than a 60kg bundle of unstoppable muscle.
So when wideboaters misbehave or bend/break the rules or moor like selfish idiots, the impact is bigger and more obvious than if narrowboaters do the same, and so attracts more attention and contempt and abuse.
If you're a considerate wideboater (like @blackrose , I assume...) then you might justifiably complain about this, but then you're in the same position as the responsible Bully XL owners -- damned for owning something which causes more and worse trouble when misused, and lumped in with the bad guys.
But don't blame narrowboaters for this, blame the idiot wideboaters who behave in a way which encourages this contempt.
Same issue as for "real CCers" -- don't blame HMers for any bad feeling between the different groups of boaters, blame the selfish CMers who abuse the rules and make life less pleasant for other boaters, but call themselves "Continuous Cruisers".
In other words, blame the selfish a*seholes who cause such issues and division, not the people who complain because they're adversely affected by them and then lump good apples in with the bad ones... 😉
People are lazy - they'll just blame an entire demographic rather than making the effort to understand the majority of people in whatever group get on with their own business quietly and contently.
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17 hours ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:
As I always do, I’d recommend a trip though Brum and the Black Country.
Assuming you take the Trent and Mersey going South:IF time is on your side I’d say divert around the Staff and Worcester go up the Stourbridge flight and on into Brum, then have a few days to mooch about.
Explore the loops, go Smethwick, and Tipton for the museum.
Leave via the Birmingham and Fazeley and go along the Cov and down South.
Wolverhampton 21 is fine but the Stourbridge flight/route is possibly a more interesting introduction.
The first few locks here are some of the prettiest on the system (says me).
This route will lead on to the Delph flight which is a stunning set of locks.
There’s so much to discover taking this route, too much to mention here.
But if it’s just a quick recky you want then up the Wolverhampton 21 and blast along the mainline to Brum.
I’d still leave by the Birmingham and Fazeley mind.
Whichever you decide, the locks are a piece of piss, I do them on my own, you’ll fly up and down them so don’t let locking put you off. It’s not like doing the heavy locks up North.Thank you, will definitely keep all this in mind when I'm planning the trip. Some very useful advice there!
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1 minute ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:
Also, the western route puts Birmingham more in your line of travel, as you are considering going through it. Well worth the diversion. A variety of routes in and out of Brum to hopefully dodge any stoppages. Also, going through Birmingham can bypass the river section of the T&M at Alrewas, which could hold you up, if it goes in to flood. Going south from the Midlands, it looks like the Grand Union is your best route. Some long term winter stoppages on the Thames for lock upgrades. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/river-thames-restrictions-and-closures
Thanks Jen!
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25 minutes ago, IanD said:
In the next few months you're likely to run into various winter stoppages as well as the usual unplanned ones...
Yeah, this will be more next year. I'll slowly start heading the right direction but realistically looking to start making the move after March.
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Going to be heading London-wards from around the Skipton area over the next few months. No massive rush but want to go fairly direct rather than go out of my way. While time isn't of the essence, I want to make it easy for myself.
Looking at opencanal map there's plenty of routes to head down south. I can continue following L&L (which I'd probably rather do and see new pastures rather than go back on myself towards Leeds) and from there either via Liverpool, via Manchester and then from there there's a number of ways to continue.
Any recommendations? Part of me wouldn't mind going through Birmingham so would definitely consider that route.
Over to you lot!
Thanks
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This is 25 quid from BCMW. Who is making one of these in an hour to let them still make a profit? Children, I suspect. And not children from this isle.
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4 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:
I probably should have either assumed it or asked, but I did just assume that the quote was what I'd be paying. I seem to remember asking for comparison prices on here and most were about the £1000 mark, so maybe should have been suspicious.
Yeah, if I was getting some work done I'd expect the quote to be what I was going to pay, none of this "plus VAT" nonsense. I'm not a business, what makes you assume I'm VAT registered? I'm a bloke with a boat.
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32 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:
I think it's because the vast majority of boaters these days seem to belong to the "inconsiderate" tendency. I've got used to, as soon as someone moors up close to me, getting ready for diesel fumes in my boat, engine or generator noise, and in the odd case an apparently demented and very noisy parrot.
My stress level immediately goes up a bit and I'm half ready to untie and move on at any moment. It used to be reassuring when the approaching boat was covered in solar panels, but recently this appears to make no difference to the need to run something else for hours. Occasionally, just for fun, they turn the hifi up and blast music out to ice the cake.
It's not really a complaint any more, it's the status quo.
I think the vast majority are most likely than not the vocal/inconsiderate minority. Out of all the boaters on the cut, you think more of them are inconsiderate than not? Perhaps I'm more of a half glass full type, but I'd say you're probably wrong in this case. Most people get on with things quietly and considerately.
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Just now, Arthur Marshall said:
I'd appreciate your comments here.
I got a quote via Messenger for blacking my boat of £800, which I agreed and dropped the boat off on Monday. I've just had an invoice for £1000, which is for the blacking £833 plus VAT, which wasn't mentioned in the quote.
Is this fair, or shoddy practice?
Hmm.. sounds a bit shoddy to me, to be honest. Although if you take a car to a garage to get repairs, they'll often quote a price and then under their breath say "there'll be VAT on top of that, of course".
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55 minutes ago, Bod said:
Talking of batteries, I've just looked at the age of mine.
Boat purchased in 2010, witha set of 4, 6volt domestics, that had been previously fitted to a Cherry Picker.
2013 enquires were made into replacing these as one had a duff cell, it was discovered that the manufacture of this type had ceased 9 years previously.
Current batteries were fitted in 2013, and are still working fine, for non liveaboard use, charged by solar when the boat is unused.
Acid level checked once a month.
Incredibly, my domestic batteries are still going - have had the current boat since 2017. I've got five fairly generic branded domestic batteries which I suspect haven't been treated as well as they possibly could have done and yet they still appear to hold charge. I'm mostly expecting them to give up the ghost in the next 12 months or so but who knows, perhaps they'll keep going. To be fair with those batteries, the most constant use for them is lights, pumps and fridge - I don't really tend to use them for much else (have various battery/powerbanks for phones, laptop etc.). And 700w of solar keeps them topped up.
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38 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:
Bothers me not one jot. What did your post add to the OP's understanding? I am not sniggering but suspect soon I will be laughing heartily.
My life has absolutely nothing to do with you, mind your own business, upstart.
That you would take enjoyment from someone's misfortune speaks volumes about the kind of person you are.
I hope @truckcab79 is successful in their project and even if they aren't then they enjoy the time spent on it. I suspect he'll be plenty successful and I look forward to seeing the end result.
Being as you don't seem to add any value to the forum, I reckon you'll be going on my ignore list. Don't really need to be reading any further nastiness from you.-
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On 01/10/2023 at 15:42, Tracy D'arth said:
Not bitter, very happy with what is left of my life. There is an ignore button.
You could regret this later when you are in the mire, which you will be. I have seen it all before, many times. Man buys boat, turns out to be a money pit, man gets disillusioned with canal life, sells boat at a huge loss and disappears, older and wiser but always poorer.
Glad to oblige you but I will keep watch, I like a good laugh now and again, keeps me happy!
Why does it bother you what other people choose to spend their money on? If he buys a money pit, then he buys a money pit. I don't think anything you've posted in relation to @truckcab79's plans have been in any way, shape or form help or assistance. You're just sniggering from the sidelines. Why are you bothering to comment? Is your life that empty?
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7 hours ago, MtB said:
Why do you say that? It makes it sound as though you support people boating on CRT waters without obtaining a licence.
Hey Siri! What is a strawman argument?
A straw man fallacy (sometimes written as strawman) is the informal fallacy of refuting an argument different from the one actually under discussion, while not recognizing or acknowledging the distinction.
An everyday conversation:
Alice: Taking a shower is beneficial.
Bob: But hot water may damage your skin.
Bob attacked a non-existing argument: "Taking a hot shower is beneficial." Because such an argument is false, Alice might start believing that she is wrong because what Bob said was clearly true. Her actual argument, however, was not disproved, because she did not say anything about the temperature.
Thanks Siri!
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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:
Anyway, you have not addressed the point I was making that it could be a useful stategy for C&RT to adopt.
Number of boats on C&RT waters limited to (?) 30,000, no new boats allowed until one has left / surrendered its licence, and then you have to buy 'a right to own' certificate before you can buy a boat. If no certificates are available you go onto a waiting list.
This sounds like you're advocating boating to become a rich boy's club.
Thankfully, again, this kind of talk is all just "pie in the sky" rather than there being any notion of it becoming reality.
6 minutes ago, Rambling Boater said:I think it's fair to say most inner cities do have many liveaboards who probably could not afford a flat. As many of them do important jobs in the cities, why make life difficult for them?
Because many members of this forum don't want the "dregs of society" on their waterways.
Land Slip - Easenhall Cutting, Brinklow, Oxford Canal
in Stoppages
Posted
My journey south was going to take me via the Coventry canal then Oxford Canal (Northern Section). Obviously I can't do this now so can anyone recommend something of a diversion?
Cheers!