GRPCruiserman

I remember as a child and teenager having lots of friends whose parents had sped boats, and although my parents was an outboard, many had inboard petrol, usually V6 or V8 petrol engines, Volvo, or american design mainly. Most had a bilge blower which had a sign, or in some cases automatically, stayed on all the time the engine was run and for some time after (15 mins I think) to dissipate any petrol fumes from the semi-sealed inboard engine area gathering in the bilge. I would imagine that the same principles apply to gas as to petrol, ie heavier than air etc, so I would have though a bilge blower may be a good idea, after all the cost of such an item compared to the average cost of a new narrowboat is miniscule, and many of those speed boats didn't cost that much, especially the wooden ones which at one point were practically worthless. (they are now pretty collectable, wish I'd bought one!!) I also agree with the sentiments regarding the age of a hull. A GRP hull really lasts for ever without maintainence, only let down by potential holes, or wood rot where wood is used as a stiffener (transoms especially on Normans spring to mind), or potentially Osmosis but the jury is still out on whether that actually has any effect on strength. Now wooden boats can suffer from rot, and if not protected electrically a steel hull could be through in a very short space of time, but as having worked in insurance, a lot of underwriters still beleive an older hull to be less reliable, possibley due to the owner having less maintainance money as the boat will be cheaper. I never really went along with this beleif and couldn't get on of my colleaugue underwriters to come up with claim figures to back it up either. I for one own two wooden boats, a 1940s sailing dinghy which is in fine condition, and a 1989 built wooden speed boat which needs plenty of work to even launch it, so the age arguement certainly holds true with me. I think on canals, which is what the BSS was designed for, the integrity of the hull rarely leads to any major issues, if water starts coming in, you're going to bail it out aren't you? If you are not on the boat it may sink, but doesn't really present life threatening danger. However, gas, petrol etc, are ever present and do. I believe in CO detectors and have one at home near the boiler and one in my caravan, but these are not currently part of the BSS which does seem strange, but it is perhaps more recently that the value of these devices has been fully appreciated than other devices.

Ell Meadow lock at Wigan used to be the local kids' swimming pool but an area tidy up has moved them up to the next lock towards Wigan new the new Rugby ground. Last time we came through, they were happy to have it refilled (we were going up) and one asked for a light for his cigarette (he was about 13!) so after answering the usual type questions about living aboard etc, we came through totally unscathed and the boy got his smoke. No damage, everyone happy. There were a large number of them on a very hot day but I fing if you offer them respect, you get it back. If you take the 'older and wiser' attitude then all you get is rebellion. As regards Nottingham, just stay further down river one night, stop in Nottingham for a few hours if you have to, then stay the next night at the Soar junction or somewhere, no nighttime issues.

Why but a house next to a canal/river then complain about the noise? It's like buying a house next to a Pub and then complaining about the noise. Canals are now largely a leisure resourse which costs boaters a large amount of money to use and enjoy, which has always included 'party' type goings on in to the wee small hours. It's just canal life, at least on The Lancaster anyway. I'll just make sure my Barbequeue smoke drifts in the right direction next time. The world's gone mad!! If anyone moves in next to me they'll have to put up with my junk in the garden, my trance music, and any other noisy goings on, I was here first, and they can like it or lump it. I would think anyone telling me to move would be good reason to get out the generator??

How can £50 be free? I have to work 10 hours or so to see £50. To some of us, £50 is a lot of money, I'm trying to scrape together £5.99 for a tin of varnish at the moment. £50 is a month's petrol in the car, or two weeks food for our family of four. To a shiney narrow boater £50 may not seem a lot, but to me it's a considerable sum.

I no longer boat where a BSS is required, ad for short term licences I don't need the certificate, and as my boats are all exempt anyway, it's not really an issue for me any more. However, when I did need the BSS, it was only a small cost compared to that of Fuel, Licence, Insurance, maintainance, etc. My last one cost £80 and of course passed first go. Unlike the MOT on a car, once you comply, unless you change something, you are going to pass every time, and I've never had a boat fail except the first one when they gave you the extra 6 months to comply, and that was only to buy me the time to change the boat to comply. Every boat afterwards had either had a BSS previously or if I restored it, I did so specifically to comply. The one that annoyed me was spending a day cutting out a vent in the roof of my Yeoman, only to discover that they had been made optional that year!! The only reason it needed one was due to my moving the cooker from the cockpit to the cabin. I've never had any fail and I think £20 a year or so isn't too bad. An MOT on a car is more piece of mind to me as I know it's at least still safe to use at that point!! My cars cost me very little, (£200-£400) so the MOT gives it a test when it comes up. My old Saab passed every year apart from the last one which cost me £85 to get it through. Not bad for a car that cost me £200 to buy, lasted four years, and I sold it for more than I'd paid for it. I've pushed the boat out with my current car at £460 and I've not had it MOTd yet as it had 12 months with it, so it's a bit on an unknown until December when it's due, but I had the Timing Belt changed as soon as I got it as no-one knew when it was last done, and the mechanic who did it seemed to think it was a reasonble buy. I've done some pretty heavy towing with it and (touch wood) all seems well. Fingers crossed!! I'd always buy a boat without a BSC if it made it cheaper as they're pretty easy to get through, especially if they are petrol outboard driven and the boat has had one before. To save £80-100 it's worth the expense. I can do more on boats than I can on cars so I'm more likely to have to spend less than on a car with no MOT.

My old Dawncraft only managed 3 mph (GPS Measured) on the canal, and about 4mph on deep water, it produced practiaclly no wash at all, and the water is all 'sucked' down the tunnel down the middle of those well designed craft so never moved anyone on a mooring at that speed, with it's 8hp outboard. So you just set off, just below flat out on the engine to save fuel (4mpg at best) and didn't alter speed as it wasn't necessary. Never got told to slow down, never even go a look, and you just get used to the slower speed. Now my old 'v' hulled Norman produced normal cruiser type wake so 4mph was fine for normal canal cruising (very little wake) but had to slow down passed moored boats to stop the undercurrent moving. Cracking sea boat though with the 20hp engine, perfect match. The little Yeoman 16 was 'v' hulled at the bow, going to flat bottomed at the stern and produced very little wake at all times, even at 30mph on Windermere (pre-speed limit) so again, canals were no problem. The propellor was bigger for the size of boat so it was much more manouverable at slow speeds than the Dawncraft though.

Perhaps going back to the 'Catagory' post, instead of catagories 1,2,3 etc, we could all have ranks; The Shiney Narrow Boat kept in a marina could be the 'Admiral of the Fleet', and the Argos Dinghy could be the 'Cabin Boy', I think as ex-Cat 20, that could make me about a Midshipman, or as I used to have a GRP Cruiser on a farm mooring, I could declare myself as a Secord Leuitenant (Retired) as I no longer have the boat, so does that make me: Midshipman GRPCruiserman Scd Leuitenant (Rtd). Perhaps when meeting others on the cut, instead of waving and saying 'good morning', it could be written in to the BW byelaws that the person of lower rank should salute the higher ranking boater after which the higher ranking boater will salute back. When meeting a VERY shiney narrowboat with the name of the marina painted on the side under the owner's name, then a stand to attention would also be necessary. Perhaps all BW employees could be issued with white hard hats with the BW logo printed on the front like military police so that you could identify them; Oh they already have, perhaps in my jest I have spoken a many true word. The end has already started. Ironic ??? Aye, my best wishes too.

My first canally type boat (after having a fast cabin cruiser and then a sailing cruiser) was a 15 foot FAME Concorde which came with no canopy, just the rails, and a blue plastic tarpaulinny type thing to cover the cockpit. This was removed when cruising (you just got wet if it rained) and was put on when going home. The first winter I had the boat, a particularly windy time decided to shred the cover in to tiny strips and the cover was no more. That week I had to leave the boat with an open cockpit all week, and it rained more that week than the rest of the year put together (or so it seemed!). Now FAME Corcordes are built of all GRP, ie no exposed wood, and have a double hull with foam sandwiched in between and foam under the thwarts in the cabin so you can actually fill them with water to the gunwhales and they will not sink and will remain upright, and that week I went to the boat after work on the Wednesday armed with a bucket and manual bilge pump and my wellies. I finished work at 4pm and got there about 4.30, and the water was already above the cockpit sole by about 8 inches, and half way up my wellies!! It was good clean rain water so after much bailing with the bucket and pumping the last bit out with the bilge pump, the boat was empty again. When I returned the following weekend, I had to do it all again. Sufficed to say, I managed to buy a second hand canopy and rails for £50 which did me the next four years before I sold the boat, and fitted it the following weekend. It was never quite the right shape and had to be secored to the windscreen, or rather over it, with rope, but kept the rain off, (and snow the following Easter) and kept me from having to do much bailing. I see nothing wrong with covering the boat in a 'tarp' as people say, and have taken this thread in the light hearted way I beleive it was intended. I am not putting anyone down, and understand the 'catagory' light heartedness in the Eugene tribute thread as well. I understand that there may be issues with licence visibility issues, but even in my 'tarp' days with my FAME, you could see the BW number on the side of the boat and apparently all lengthsmen (or whatever they are called these days) have a device called a 'Mobile Telephone' with which they can call their base and check on individual boat numbers and whether they are licenced. In my 'tarp' days, there were no mobile phones, but BW had a relaxed, don't really care about how long it takes, attitude, and this 'fitted in' with the canal scene of the time, ie relexed, slow paced, a place to enjoy yourself, and if they found a couple of weeks later you weren't licenced, they'd come and have a word, or write you a letter. These days, British Waterways is not there to promote a relaxing time, but to serve as a high powered, government public relations department to promote and encourage business accumen within the UK, and the 'Shiney Narrow Boat' is simply a decorative part of the linear theme park that the canal system has become. The owners of such boats now have to be very rich or should be made to feel unwelcome by the authorities in as many ways as possible so as not to affect the business. I used to boat on the canals because it helped me to relax, and I actually have fond memories of even my welly high zero degree pumping out session on that dark, dismal, wet Wednesday afternoon in December. I keep in touch with the canal scene through this forum and my IWA membership, but now have no desire to own a boat permenantly on the canal, it would simply be too stressful and too expensive. I would rather visit as I wish, and as the government would like, on a daily basis. I am unlikely to take my catagory 20 boat on regularly due to the 500% (no exaggeration, and accuarate increase) in the cost of day licences at £10 a day, when that will pay for my petrol to a beautiful lake in the Lake District where no registration or licence is necessary (apart from Windermere at £5 per year), and I am encouraged to boat whatever type my boat is and I can actually relax without fear of 'loosing my mooring' or 'having stones thrown' or being told by British Waterways that I am 0.000000001cm too close to the bridge and unless I move my boat yesterday I will be fined £1000000 per day, and if I don't get my boat more shiney, or more traditional looking, then I will be re-catagorised and have to pay an additional fee. I love the fact these boats look as they do, it is how things should be, diversity and tolerance, a classless society on the waterways, just as it was over ten years ago. Yes if you want a shiney bot, then that's fine, no problem, I'll still say hello to you and admire your handiwork, but if your boat is scruffy, or covered in a 'tarp' then also OK, I'll still say hello and admire what your boat is, probably more unique and individual than any now common production line or bespoke clone built narrow boat. The canals should be made more accessable to all, and as I see it, this is not happening, in fact the reverse is. Good on you original poster, you have my sense of humour, but on the other hand, also my sense of tolerance. The tarps will give good protection.

Theoretically only the larger boat is illegally moored, as the other boat is actually not moored to the towpath, and as I understand it, the time limit of 14 days only applies to boats moored to the towpath, so the fact it is moored to the other boat means it is not disobeying this rule. If the boats swapped every 14 days, would they not then comply with the rules? Mind you you wouldn't notice anyway as they are so well camoflaged.

Perhaps we could start a petition to bring Eugene back. On the other hand with a bit of luck he'll come to work for the company I work for and that would be good for me. I will, in future, look up to everyone in catagory 19 upwards, but I still look up to GRP and wooden (owned) day boats when I am in my inflatable, and down on GRP and inflatable (owned) day boats when I am in my wooden day boat. However, I do take on board what you say as I suppose the same situation will occur in other catagoroes, when, for example, a 45 foot Shiney owned Narrow Boat based in a marina meets a 70 foot Shiney owned Narrow Boat based in a marina, he will look up to him, and they fall in to the same catagory, so I suppose we can have sub catagories on a more or less infinate level. I float corrected (as opposed to stand). Best Wishes again Eugene (and apply to work at our place if you can!!).

I now only have a wooden day boat, so I suppose that fits in at no 20, but as I would look up to the others but DOWN on GRP and inflatable day boats, unless I'm in my inflatable of course, so does that put me in a 19a catagory when I'm in the wooden boat? Perhaps we should all put our catagory in our profile at the side

Eugene solved many problems for me over the years, and I felt he was the rock that we could rely on when normal channels had been exhausted. Another good reason not to buy another canal boat is Eugene's departure. I can think of a few occasions where I would have had great difficulty had Eugene not been there to help. I think that really is the end of canals for me. The beaurocratic dinasoar of a beast that BW has become is not good for the relaxing situation that the canal used to provide when I first got a canal boat, to be replaced by the stress normally associated with road driving. I now find it much more relaxing to boat elsewhere.

Cracking shower there too, we all used it on the way to the National a couple of years ago. There is also a toilet emptying point and toilet on the outside of Prston Brook Marina on The Runcorn Arm, about 300 yards down on the right. You can moor overnight there too, but it's not as pretty as the other side of the tunnel or a bit further out of Preston Brook. The moorings at The Old No 3 are great, love it there, and there is water. I think there is a sanitary station in Leigh, but never used it, so can't guarantee it.

It's still used extensively on The Lancaster Canal and Ribble Link where almost every boat has one. It is now relatively simple to obtain a 'starter' type Amateur Radio licence by going on a weekend course, and anyone who sees radio as a hobby has now gone down that route as even on the Foundation Licence the range of frequencies and modes is far superior to CB and allows for much longer distances to be acheived. I took my Amateur (Full) Licence in the late 1980s after many happy years on CB and had to take a City and Guilds exam at the time, but this now allows me to use much greaters power levels and has many other privelages. There is no safety substitute for Marine VHF on rivers etc though. On my last boat I had CB, Marine VHF, and Amateur Radio (and PMR 446, which has really taken off now!!). That was a GRP cruiser and had a CB Ground Plane kit for the CB, a home base VHF aerial for the VHF Amateur Radio, and a Marine VHF aerial for that. I had a 7 foot short wave aerial for the amateur 40 metre band and could chat all over the UK on that. The canal has quite a significant effect on range, and improves matters significantly.

When I had the Dawncraft (4 engines in 2 years!!) and I had the Honda 15 on it, because of the enclosed nature of it, you couldn't hear it on tickover. Got a bit loud at 4mph though, was a LOT quieter at 3.5mph. Bizarrely, the Mariner 20 Two Stroke was a lot quieter at 4mph as it was only running just above tickover, but the Honda was a lot quieter when actually ticking over, and a lot more economical as well. I remember as a boy when I used to play with my father's speed boat (Broom Saturn with a 55hp Johnson two cylinder two stroke), I had a mate with a large Glastron fitted with a straight six cylinder 115hp Mercury which was VERY smooth at tickover, you could hardly hear it. It was the tallest outboard you've ever seen, and used about ten gallons of petrol an hour at 45mph (this is no exaggeration!!), but was down to about 5 gallons an hour if you kept below about 35mph.

So when people with 2.2 litre diesel 4x4s always they they get more torque than the guy with the equivelant 4.2 litre V8 petrol, is that not the case? I know my father in law used to have a 99hp Vectra Diesel estate that he used to swear by for towing, and I have a 140hp Mondeo Petrol which I suppose will need to be reved harder to achieve the same level of torque which seems OK. Is this down to the revs at which the power is delivered? If so, then is it true that a steeper pitched prop should be used for a diesel inboard over the petrol equivelent?

There is only the Calder and Hebble that restricts to 57 straight, but this stops you getting to The Rochdale and Huddersfield narrow from the Eastern end if you can't get through. I think living up here, if I wanted a livaboard or long term cruising boat I'd go for 60 for the extra room, as The Leeds Liverpool is largely 60 foot, and the 57 foot restriction wouldn't bother me too much, but I wouldn't go over 60 foot as to miss out on the Leeds Liverpool (and access to The Lancaster via The Rufford Arm of The Leeds Liverpool) would be pretty catastrophic. The Lancaster is a 70 foot canal, but unless you fancy a sea passage you cn't get to it in more than 60 foot.

Don't under estimate the importance of propellor size and pitch when choosing your engine. The propellor should allow the engine to rev to just above the point at which maximum power is acheivable from the engine. This will depend on the weight of the boat and also the hull shape and how easily it glides through the water. Also, on rivers it will behave differently to on shallow canals. This will allow you on an un speed restricted river to cruise at just below the engine's full throttle speed giving better fuel economy. The gearbox ratios are also connected to this and important. The rig should be set up to give maximum hull speed (all displacement hulls will have one) at just the speed at which the engine develops it's maximum power. Exceptions to this are if you intend to tow a butty all the time as torque becomes another factor and it may then be an advantage to have a shallower pitched propellor, but that will allow the engine to over-rev potentially and so some other form of rev limitation or a good eye on the rev cunter will be necessary. With GRP cruisers, facts and figures are usually available from the manufacturer as to performance in this way as they are usually tried and tested or new ones designed using a computer. Not sure about narrow boats, berhaps some of the steely builders on here can fill us in on how they perform the calculations??

Perhaps I don't understand the system, and apologies if I dont, but I thought that a new boat was exempt from BSC for the first three years of it's life as long as it complied with the RCD. If a boat is completed by an individual, then surely they can issue their own certificate of conformity with the RCD (assuming they build it to conform) which would last for three years, not one, then as long as they don't go outside the remit of either the RCD or BSC theycan 'modify' (or complete) the boat to their hearts content until such time as they must have a BSC inspection done at three years old. So, if you buy a sailaway and have a camp bed, simply water and approved electrics, and no gas at that early stage, then does the boat not conform and as you've presumably fittd the electrics can you not say that you've completed it and issue your own RCD certificate, or am I missing something. When I first got my Yeoman 16 and refitted it throughout, I had the BoatSafety Certificate done in order to launch, licence, and use the boat, but at that stage I hadn't yet fitted any electrics, gas, or water, and as the boat was outboard powered, the inspector took about 10 minutes to check that this was the case and issued the certificate. I spent the next year or so finishing it off and it passed the next BSC with flying colours after the gas, electrics, etc hd been completed. I therefore had use of the boat whilst I was finishing it (it was a complete refit) and it was fully BSCd, licenced, and insured etc. Or is it different when the boat is new. Also, I thought the moment a boat hit the water it could no longer be considered as 'new' under marine law and had to be considered a second hand boat. It would therefore be logical that if money didn't change hands until after a boat were launched, you would actually be buying a second hand boat, which if it had a current RCD you would not need to BSC for three years from new. The original RCD would therefore stand for that time,and as long as you didn't alter the boat to go outside the rules, then all would be well and a licence could not be refused. Obviously if any stage payments or deposits, or even full payment, were made prior to the initial launch then you would be buying a new boat and this would not apply. Perhaps I have it totally wrong as I've never had a new boat, apart from my inflatable dinghy which is BSC exempt anyway!!

Give Eugene a ring on the telephone, he's always sorted things like this out for me. Boating isn't a hobby any more, it's more of a business deal.

If I were to buy (If I could afford!!) a new narrow boat, it would be THE most expensive thing I every bought. My house only cost £32950.

There is GRP and GRP, I've had a Norman 20 which had GRP about a quarter of an inch thick and was built like a tank. It took any knock you gave it and got a few; but it was very heavy and made the boat heavy to tow behind the car. The Yeoman and Dawncraft had much thinner GRP which made the Yeoman much lighter considering it wasn't a lot smaller, and much easier to tow. I did get squased in between a 40 foot narrow boat and a lock wal when a BW new employee opened the paddle on my side without warning, and although it creaked a bit it still survived unscathed. There are also many many Dawncrafts still bobbing about so GRP can't be that bad even when thin!! There ae some boats which are much more succebtable to Osmosis such as Freemans (and others) where water permeates the GEL, but Normans rarely gt it and my Dawncraft didn't have it either. I've had a couple of boats with minor Osmosis, but in the main most maintainance on all the different GRP boats I've had has been of an internal nature, wiring, wood,etc, and the GRP itself has never needed anything!! I've painted stuff for cosmetic reasons but unlike steel which needs looking after, in my experience GRP just carries on with no maintainance. Perhaps your canoes had harder lives, I don't know much about canoes, but I've always found GRP easy to work with and where glass fibreing (if there is such a word) has been neccesaary, ie to glass in new wood fixtures, transoms, etc, I've always found it pretty easy, and I'm not very practical. Anyway, straying a bit off topic here, apologies to the OP, but the analogy was my point, ie GRP cruisers are more of a mass produced item, like the production line narrow boats mentioned above, unlike the poor bespoke builder trying to make one at a time, so a step towards standard GRP boats all the same could produce dividends for a manufacturer somewhere.

I can fully understand that if you are buying a home, then the money is less of an issue to what you end up with, I like in a 502 square foot flat worth about £120000, which if you compare to a 72 foot narrow boat, just on square foot, gives about 504 square foot (aprt from the roundy bits at the end, engine, etc, but I have stairs and landing, and other wasted bits, so I can see it as the same. As a person in the trade, and welcome comments from others, as steel is now very expensive, has GRP not been considered for a come back? I know there was that GRP Narrow Boat shaped boat some years ago but the shape was pretty ugly, and the old Highbridges were crackers, would it not be cheaper to produce in GRP, or is it not much different? I suppose you'd shoot yourself in the foot as there would be little maintainence ie bottom blacking etc to keep the trade rolling after the initial purchase. I know there are no cruisers to speak of any more, least of all small ones, and Dolphins and Shetlands seem to have died out, but were VERY expensive for what you got. Is this a reflection of their production costs? There are at least two manufacturers of GRP fishing boats in the area where I live wich apart from a small cuddy instead of a cabin are similar in size to a small cruiser of yester year and are only a few thousand to buy brand new, and are doing really well, selling loads. Is it the BW 'Rosie and Jim' image that stops demand for small cruisers or do they get expensive to make when you have to comply with RCD etc? I suppose the fishing boats have basic engine electrics and no gas etc??

Could this be due to BW's continuing spiralling prices and policy on non-encouragement of new boaters that has started a down turn in the purchase of new boats? Who is going to buy the older ones?

Harry's name is Harry! He is THE knowledge on all things Ribble related and indeed boating, listen to what he says and follow his instructions and you can't go wrong. There are now good, safe moorings at Tarleton and the village is well shop-stocked and extremely nice to visit, although the area around the canal looks a bit industrial (which I suppose it is!!) is is still very countryfied and quiet at night, and has a lovely atmosphere especially in the boatyard and around the lock. It is a proper boatyard and is staffed by very knowledgable and helpful people. You can actually go out or in at Tarleton on any day, tide permitting, and can make passage to Preston provided the tide is reasonabley high (daytime not evening tides are best) but if you wish to go straight up the link you must book and Harry can sort this for you, or if you book with BW, then Harry will know when you get there. You MUSt tell Harry what you intend to do, ie go to Preston or up the link or whatever. If you go slower than you thought and are too late for the link, call Harry and also Preston (you can ring Preston control direct, or call them on VHF if you have it) to let them know you want to stay there. You can also stop overnight at Hesketh Bank, just a mile or two down the river from Tarleton for a small fee on their pontoon (I did this last time I did the Ribble Link as I was in a a very slow boat) but you need to know your boat and it must be OK to dry out flat on the mud as the water ends up at about 3 inches deep when the tide goes out, but there is land access and water. The tide is very fierce out of Tarleton and this saves fighting this. Again advise Harry and pre-book with Hesketh Bank. It is true what has been stated above that the Ribble Link is the actual journey off the Ribble up to The Lancaster and this is one way dependant on the day and the tide and must be booked. They will confirmtides and times when you must leave either Tarleton or Preston when you book. They'll also want to know when you are coming back. Coming back is a lot easier, the journey to the 'Five Mile Perch' or meeting of The Ribble and Douglas Rivers is nearer the Link and you will have no problem making it back to Tarleton in one 'hop'. You would find it very difficult miss the turning, it is the first large junction you come to and is very obvious. There is (or used to be) a guy at Tarleton who will accompany you (or even tow you, he has a VERY powerful ex-inspection launch) for I think about £40 if you feel the need, but the Link is so busy I doubt you'll be on your own. I used to sail on The Ribble and it's a nice river and I like The Douglas even better, and you'll thouroughly enjoy the experience. I have only known of one time when a narrow boat broke down, and the inshore lifeboat just towed them to Hesketh Bank pontoons where they made repairs and moved on a day or two later. Make sure you have an anchor with enough chain and rope for this eventuality. Have fun and enjoy The Lanky, it was my home mooring for 13 years or so and it's almost all very beautiful.