Kez

I'm still working on who Linnet was. One more down!

Anyone know where she is or what happened to her? Did she get laid up in the 1960s?

ah, thank you!

Is there a button i can press to see all of the posts in a thread, as opposed to having the base post and then the abbrieviated replys at the bottom?

This could be long winded, so bear with me! The shape of the bow is important. the standard fault of almost all modern boats is a slab sided bow. If you look at working boats out of the water you can see that the lower part of the bow sweeps around in a curve which minimise the drag of the boat when moving- modern boats dont have this (there are some that do, but they are very rare and I've only ever seen one) Most (genuine) working boats have very little wash when moving, so they are the best place to look for no-wash bows. To see poor examples of bow shape look at springers and the supposed "aerodynamic" boats that roar along. Their bows are designed to cut through the water rather than move with it, which causes massive wash and bow waves due to dissplacment. The speed is an important factor to consider if you are on a boat with a poor shape - the faster the boat, the higher proportion of block-water-shift (water moving in a block due to it not having enough time/space for the particles to move) With most old working boats you don't have to factor this worry in. I'm not sure what you mean by the shape of the swim - a boats swim is her ability to move through the water, "how she swims" If you mean the shape of the stern, that really doesnt affect the wash much. It can affect the drag, forcing the engine to work at a higher rev count, moving the prop more, causing the props wash to increase, which joins the wash caused by the boats passage and giving it more momentum- but this will only happen if the boats wash has a certain momentum. The size of the prop affects the speed and power of the boat but, as outlined above, the props wash doesnt do much on its own. The length of the boat doesnt effect the wash greatly. A longer boat is going to have a larger displacement ratio, but it is also going to block the shift of water longer - allowing the wash to loose momentum. vice versa for a short boat. The depth of the water is significant when considered with what depth the the boat draws (how deep she sits in the water) for example: a boat drawing 2"9 in 3" of water is going to have an increased drag-power ratio which affects the wash by increasing it; but the depth of the water is going to affect the swim, slowing the boat down considerably - effectivly lowering the wash. The best way to minimise wash is to travel at about 3 knots and to stay in the middle of the canal. Does that help you?

Im not familiar with the layout of cruisers so; if the leak is in the side - try a cement box, if its on the deck- try a couple of jay cloths laid over the offending hole and a flat piece of heavy metal or wood over the top of the cloths.

In particular, Elland (old working boat from the aire and calder, around 150/60 years old) and Vixen (trip boat from foxton locks, 20 years old) for preference not off the Horse boating website

any one heading down there? if you are, look out for the horse boat; I'm one of that lot!

which ice boat?

Did the women show their legs or did they wear something like bloomers/stockings?

Anyone got any recipes? Weve got tonnes of the stuff and I can't get rid of it

He helped my parents when they first bought Linnet and he was at my christening. When we brought Linnet up we met him in Wheelock and came with us up a few of the locks. We met him briefly a few days before he died I wish he'd hung on until Linnet's launch......... :-( :-(

Can someone post it please? It was in either the april or may waterways world or canal world. We knew him and only found out about his death a few days ago.....

Lord knows I've done that often enough Sometimes the only way to get people to rember that youve done the job is to threaten to scribble all over it

Thats a valid point, but the twin centred rose is a relatively modern symbol; if you root around 15/16/17th century roof beams you will find the six pointed geometric design. Don't forget that to etch it on a church or house the builders would be using whatever tools they had to hand, and that design was simple yet iconic. The trash that swamps the internet is a from a design that was put about in the 1800's when plate drawings were the height of fashion, letting artists get over entusiastic with their pencils. It has been moderised with the popularity of the Davinci code, the conspiracy theorists and the overly romantic with to much time on their hands. When the narrowboats came along they were often manned by farmers and labourers who would have seen the symbol and remembered it (mainly as a protection against evil spirits and bad luck, I'll grant you): they would have brought it with them onto the canals if for no other reason then as somthing that reminded them of home. When last I was there, Boot watermill had a fine example on a beam that had been taken out for conservation; although it may have been put back by now.

The six pointed flower shape is a variation on a Magdalen Rose. They have been around since Christianity arrived in England and were carved and drawn onto buildings, carts and other things that people wanted to protect. They were thought to ward off evil spirits and keep the influence of witches at bay. I don't know how they came onto canals; I suppose that when farmers and carters worked on the first Narrowboats, they brought them into the paintwork, along with many other designs. Mary Magdalene was a figure of repentance for the vanities of the world and became somewhat idealised by the church as the perfect woman, repentant for her sins and begging forgiveness; aswell as reminding people that forgiveness was on offer those who confesssed their sins and were truly repentant. IT IS NOT A COMPASS ROSE. The compass rose was built on different symbolism and practical consideration, and was not brought into canal art Does that answer your question?

Always celebrate your boating acheivements! Ive celebrated 17 years on our boat

My kind of trip

We normally go at about 2 1/2 knots, 'cos Linnet needs advanced warning to stop