adam1uk

We've hired for many years and also feel pretty confident, but have decided to do a one-day course when we're out on our shared boat in September. The way I looked at it, it certainly wouldn't do any harm and the chances were that we'd learn something. It's not just the boat handling, either: I reckon it'll be good to do a simulated man overboard exercise, and what to do in other emergencies. Having heard good things about Douglas Nethercleft at Four Counties Boating we've booked a day with him using our own boat (which also saves some money). He's quite close to your area, operating at Calcutt, but if you want to get in touch with him I believe he's currently out on his "summer" cruise, so might not be around to carry out courses for a while. Edited to add link

The junior ministers at Defra have been appointed, but as far as I can tell their areas of responsibility haven't yet been assigned. Minister of State: Lord Rooker Minister of State: Phil Woolas Parliamentary Under Secretary of State: Joan Ruddock Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for the South East: Jonathan Shaw

That's quite a dramatic rise, Ernie! At least it looks as though you're able to get off the boat for supplies etc if you are there for a while. When we went up the Rive Soar last year, I was glad we didn't have to make use of the flood moorings there, which in a flood would be out in the middle of the water.

Is it a good idea to advertise on the internet where you're going to be leaving your boat unattended for a few days?

Maybe if you told us why you wanted to know, or gave some clues such as where it's been seen, or a colour scheme, people might be more inclined to help. Or people just might not know, of course.

Please tell me where I can get £2500 interest on £6000 in 7 years, and I'll move all my money there immediately.

The cost differences can be huge though. The boat we're buying into has annual running cost contributions this year of just over £600. (We're paying half that because of joining halfway through the year). We're buying a share with two weeks booked in September, and another in October. I've just looked at the hire prices for a similar sized boat from a nearby company which we've used a couple of times. The price for the exact same two weeks in September comes to £1865. So for us who will make use of at least two weeks a year, and probably a couple of weekends at least in addition, shared ownership makes good sense.

Was 4. going to be: If the person having the fit asks for one, which is what Lady Muck said happened in this case? I'd have thought that if the person with the fit asks you to call an ambulance, that's exactly what you'd do.

Having hired for several years, we've now decided to go down the shared ownership route. I'd say RichardH seems to have the pros and cons about right (and Steve has exaggerated the cons and hardly considered the pros at all). Having done lots of research and talked to lots of people, we discovered there are big differences between the various schemes. Some make you use the same weeks each year, or limit you to off-season weeks unless you pay a lot more. Some won't let you change the boat's base. Some are little more than pay-in-advance hire schemes, where you never actually own part of the boat. If you can't afford a whole boat, or if you couldn't make enough use of it even if you could, then shared ownership is well worth considering. But make sure you investigate the pros and cons of each scheme before making up your mind.

Did it in a week a couple of years ago. It did include some long days, but when you get only a week or two boating a year, I like to boat, not lok round places I could equally well visit in the car! Trip report here: http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=2514

I can't remember where I read it, but I do recall seeing somewhere that this system doesn't actually work very well. So maybe you've had a narrow escape!

Now gone!

This month's Canal Boat came with a leaflet offering the next three issues free to a friend. The magazine gets a new look next month, so they obviously want as many people to see it as possible. I can't think of any friends who'd appreciate three free issues, so wondered if any non-subscribers on here would like them. So, the first person to PM me their name and address gets the free magazines. Adam

I have a lot of sympathy with Carl's view on this. There was a piece on the news just a couple of weeks ago about massive change of land use from foor to biofuels, and how this could be very bad news for poor parts of the world. Unfortunately, America has latched on to biofuels as the answer to its oil addition, and appears to be concentrating on them to the exclusion of other options. Just one thing though Carl: Botswana is probably one of the best run governments in Africa, and certainly shouldn't be mentioned in the same context as Zimbabwe. If all African countries were run as well as Botswana, the continent would have far far fewer problems.

I don't see why not. Last year we did Coven (on the Staffs and Worcs) to the centre of Birmingham easily in one day, including a water stop at the top of the Wolverhampton flight, and a long forced pause just before Old Turn Junction to get a large black sports bag from round the prop. On that occasion we had to use the New Main Line, as there was a stoppage on the Old. I'd agree about Birmingham moorings: the residential area round by the Sealife Centre and the NIA is much quieter than by the clubs at Gas Street itself. That whole area is well covered by CCTV cameras, so trouble seems to be pretty rare.

Perhaps anyone who's irritated by signatures should do what I do, and disable them in my profile. It does mean that on the odd occasion there's a discussion about a sig I have no idea what people are on about, but it's a small price to pay for making the forum look much less cluttered.

Kate Boats (in Warwick and Stockton Top) website says they've got boats available this weekend. 01926 492968.

That must be criminal damage in anyone's book. I suppose the problem might be evidence as to who did it -- even though many people may have strong suspicions.

We went on the Saturday last year (before the nearby fire disrupted everything), and while there was a queue to get in it wasn't too bad. The car park was well organised, with plenty of staff, particularly useful for pushing people out of the mud at the end of the day. The queue for tickets was quite slow, so if you know when you're going it would be well worth buying in advance.

Maybe they'd have more success if they approached Natural England, which is the body which has taken over from English Nature and a number of other organisations!

Yes of course you're quite right.

David King appeared at South Cheshire Magistrates Court this morning, charged with stealing a conveyance. he did not submit a plea. His solicitor asked for more time, because it was an unusual case and becase of the value of the boat. Mr King was released on bail, and the case was adjourned until June 25th.

It's got nothing to do with free speech, it's the law. There are strict rules on what the media can say about cases once a case becomes active (usually when an arrest is made). Unfortunately, the internet is a form of media. So I think your idea is a good one: if you want to discuss the subject, best do it elsewhere.

Also sometimes abbreviated as PMSL (which I prefer to PSML, because myself could kind of be thought of as two words, while p*ss couldn't be). Anyway, glad Holly's back, and I hope not too many more people will have their holidays disrupted.

Plus it was first on TV at least a week ago, with no result. And yesterday's TV coverage was in the north west, which as far as I know doesn't cover Oxford!