whitebeard

Arbutus helped me to get through Brum city centre and Aston locks. Thank goodness I took him up on his very generous offer. I really can't imagine how stressful, time consuming, and exhausting it would have been if I'd been on my own. He did 95% of the physical work, calmly and cheerfully, and was a massive help also in navigating around obstacles and other boats. I can't thank him enough for his time. It was a smooth journey, without any major drama, and I was able to get to Curdworth before dark.

1, get the biggest glass jar available, that you can hold in your hand. (pickles or sauerkraut jars are good) 2. wash the jar thoroughly. 3. fill the jar two thirds full with the cleanest water possible, then tip that water into your kettle for boiling. 4. get the best quality tea bag you can afford (stronger the better I think) 5. dip the corner of the tea bag lightly into the top of a jar of pure raw honey, then drop it in the jar 6. pour on the nearly boiling water and stir well. 7. walk away and leave it alone for at least 3 minutes. 8. add your choice of milk until the colour looks right. 9. top up with cold water to cool it a little. 10. remove the tea bag (or leave it in for a while if you like) don't drink it all in one go.... savour the tea experience. that, in my opinion, is the correct way to use a tea bag.

I will have to insist on paying your expenses for the day, at the very least.

Thanks for confirming what I was thinking. Better to use them for mooring only then.

do you tend to leave your side bumpers tied on when travelling, and risk them getting squashed or damaged, or do you take them off in case of very tight narrow bits of canal, and only use them for mooring up ? I mean you don't always necessarily know what's around the next bend, and wouldn't want to keep adjusting them, once you've started a journey.

Yes I would prefer to move through Brum centre and aston as quickly as possible. I'm capable but fairly slow if I'm on my own. I wouldnt feel comfortable walking on and leaving the boat unlocked, even for 5 mins. It can get crowded and busy around there. So really it's that extra time it takes for securing and mooring the boat in between. Anyway I needed a rest after doing only 3 or 4 locks before, so it's a lot of locks in one go.... I'm willing to negotiate a reasonable deal, wouldn't assume that somebody would do the work for free. But I'm not really looking for a travelling companion, just help with the locks.

Many Thanks for the information. I think the price of beer sounds fair enough, more or less, I mean we could negotiate the details. The height of the boat including roof boxes is approx 205cm / 6.725 feet [from the water level] the boxes are basically not really removable, or at least it would be very very difficult and time consuming. I'm not against doing the sandwell - walsall - perry barr locks route as an alternative. It might add up to less locks that way maybe.

I'm thinking of coming through Birmingham, and onwards up the fazely canal towards Tamworth. I'm looking for the right individual to join me just for one day, here and there, along the way. To serve primarily as a lock runner, so I don't have to keep mooring up every time. Some decent knowledge and experience of the canals would be preferable. Also some help researching the route would be very much appreciated, double checking for closures and bridge heights and that sort of thing. If it goes well, there might be further adventures at some point in the future...