adam1uk

The last time I saw anything about the competition, the voting had been accidentally locked after just two votes were cast. I didn’t even realise it was open again until I saw this results thread. If others were in the same boat, so to speak, that could explain the small number of votes.

September morning at Ashton Carr, River Nene.

Congratulations! As you have an Eberspacher, this probably does your hot water and the radiators. It might be an idea to get that going before the weather gets really cold.

Not just to go down Pomona Lock to Salford Quays, no.

It was when we did it last year. You need to give at least 48 hours notice, IIRC, and they will only operate it at certain times, but it was easy to arrange. Decent mooring at Salford Quays, outside the Holiday Inn.

What's stopping you using Pomona Lock? Just phone up, book, and pay.

https://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?/topic/98615-13102018-major-outage/

There used to be a boundary, because for some reason right up to Foxton was part of the South East. But under the new structure, the whole of the Leicester Line is part of the East Midlands -- so now they only have to ask themselves to send more water down (which you'd think would make it easier...) When we were at Foxton back in May, just as the structure change happened, they were running loads of water down after the Foxton flight had closed.

It seems like a sensible plan to me. We had a share before we bought our own boat; you have to accept that there are some frustrations such as other owners moving everything in all the cupboards each time they're on board (!) but it's a cost effective way of getting several weeks a year afloat, and certainly a lot cheaper than hiring. You can often get more than your allocated weeks by bidding for extra ones, At the end of three years you can sell your share and are likely to get most of your initial layout back. Don't limit yourself to Carefree Cruising. Virtually every boat has shares for people who want school holidays. For ex-OwnerShips boats they're called Special Shares, and pay a bit extra in running costs each year in order to get school holidays. The way it works is that where-ever you are in the rota for selecting dates, you get first pick for school holidays. Look at the BCBM website for example, and look for boats with Special Shares for sale.

It gets around more than you’d think. It’s currently below Stoke Bruerne. It’s definitely wide — have you ever seen a narrowbeam shipping container? Judging by the shape of the bow, it’s never been near an existing hull. They appear to have just welded two bits of metal in a V shape on the front. Finesse is something it does not have.

Well, Norbury’s price is usually very very similar — and Hawne Basin is usually cheaper than both of them.

This is the same spot when we were moored at Salford Quays last September. Unfortunately, the wind blows all the rubbish into that corner. We watched the gas bottle bobbing across the water before it finally settled in among the other detritus.

I believe you can only edit posts for a limited time after you hit submit -- to prevent history being rewritten.

They're certainly not focused on the busiest times. A very good volunteer at Watford told me they had no trouble filling shifts midweek, but no-one wanted to do the weekends -- and the longest serving volunteers had begun pulling rank and claiming the midweek shifts they preferred. Likewise at the Soulbury Three, it's usually staffed midweek, but when the Wyvern hire boats come through at the weekend there isn't a volunteer to be seen.