john6767

We are above Kegworth deep lock tonight, heading South. Getting to be quite an expert on aircraft types, what time does East Midlands close, please can it be soon.

Fat fingers on phone edit...

Of course I meant Avon Navigation not CRT, too much beer...

We were given a leaflet by the lock keeper at Tewksbury that shows them, I guess Stratford should have given you one. I can't find it now though but there is CRT elsan in Evesham I believe. There is a new one in Pershore by the water point at the park.

Today we came from the Trent & Mersey onto the Soar. The level on the Trent there is way below the green.

I drove past the Bridge yesterday, and commented that it looked open.

I know you say that you want to avoid the river, but it is only £6 (payable at the boat in Bancroft Basin) to go down to moor, it is simple and there is lots of space along the park. So it is always an option so you don't need to worry about the basin being full, but I bet there is space in the basin.

I would have said that for a non-competitive cruise that Anglesey to Ocker Hill would be a good run. The VM is in with the long term moorings that you will find under a very small bridge to the right about 100yds after you have turned left on to the Walsall from the Tame Valley. There are services at the junction in the Office block that was once BW's, Elsan/Rubish/Water/Pumpout, but you would need a very long hose for the water. If you need water then Longwood at the top of Rushall in best (Elsan and Rubish there too). Watch your speed down the Tame Valley since it was dredged it is as fast as the Main Line, and it is sooooo booring . I always enjoy the Aqueduct over the M5 though, and if you need to it is a good place to clear the prop. So after this comprehensive exploration of the BCN you will be up the the BCN Challenge next year Alan?

If you mean table lamps, you can convert to 12v easily using LEDs.

The boom was there earlier this year, not sure if it is keeping the weed out or the rubbish in though. No boats there during a 60 second visit on the Sunday morning of the BCN Challenge Looks much better now that the buildings round the basin are complete.

I think different hire companies have very different attitudes in this area. Willow Wren seems to be particularly relaxed about it, from their web site their T's&C's

If you are desperate there is Tesco's at Brownhills, as least it is close to the canal.

That is even more madness, that differs from the information on the web site. The web site and the T&C's say that you can not stay for more than 7 consecutive days, that sign says a single visit is a maximum of 7 days, a very different thing, given the lack of any return restrictions.

It it common for the larger Willow Wren boats to have young crews and stag or hen groups on them. Usually they are drunk, but so long as they are not hitting boats, or they are putting themselves or others in danger what is the issue. Just don't moor overnight near one!

Somebody likes it there

Having done the W&E 4 times (well more if you include both directions) in the last 3 years I would agree that it is so much better then people imagine. There is no issue with navigability, and on the BCN challenge I had no problem in achieving good average speeds of 3.5-3.8 mph, so dredging is certainly not an issue. The Daw End is slower though and I think that is due to be dredged soon, which it does need. My personal choice in doing what you are doing would be to head for Pellsall common for overnight. Also make certain that you get to Anglesey Basin, it is somewhere that I would like to visit in daylight, having only visited for an overnight stop in this year BCN challenge arriving at 10:40pm and leaving at 4:0am the next morning! If you are going out on the B&F the logical thing is to then gown gown Daw End and Rushall, and onto the Tame Valley to Salford Junction. The Tame Valley locks can be quite hard work in my opinion as there are different to the other BCN flights in that they are more spaced out, so with just 2 people it is not so easy to be setting the lock ahead without lots of walking.

I would have said the idea of the app to share the connection is just a throw back to early Android versions where it was not built it. My wife's (rubbish) HTC she is about to replace has Android 2.1, and even that has the wifi router capability in it.

And another thing is how are the wardens going to keep track of the fact that you may have left the defined Stoke Bruerne area and returned between his visits? For example I could be moored pointing north on the tunnel approach, when my 2 days is up I go a full boat length into the tunnel (hence have left the defined Stoke Bruerne area) and then reverse out of the tunnel and tie up again. By the rules that seems to be fine and I get another 2 days at that spot, but a mooring warden coming round once per day would presumable think I have been there 3 days when I was in fact on day 1 of my second visit. So how does this work?

That is really poor. That notice says from 23 August, the web page it directs you to say 24 August. Have they got an intern doing this (which is an insult to interns really)? The web page says So it seems to treat the different areas as "zones" and it sounds to me from the first point that it is 2 days is per zone not 2 days in Stoke Bruerne as a whole, and the second point says it is a max for 7 consecutive days in Stoke Bruerne as a whole (the referenced map and terms also say that). It does not say anything about return rules, so I guess any departure from Stoke Bruerne, means you can immediately return.

I think it has been said previous on all this malarkey that hire boats would be exempt from the X days part month part. I would assume share boats would not be though, so they would need to keep records.

Sorry about your dog, it must be very upsetting. I can't really see why a vet would care, or even understand what you meant, if you said you lived on a boat, but perhaps this one did. As to money, I think must peoples perception is that if you have a boat then you are loaded, andI thougth vets would treat strays etc first anyway and worry about payment later.

That was my point, it is not clear at all, and it think if you are going to have "strict" rules then it needs to be clear what those are. We can assume that it means tunnel mouth to bottom lock (and I guess it does), but it needs to say that. It also needs to state the return rules . I for one would not really understand where I stood here, and with a £25 fine if you get it wrong that does not seem to be acceptable. While I am not a big fan of lots of signs, this really needs one that fully explains the rules.

As it does not make any statement about return time, what is the intention here, 2 days is Stoke Bruerne as a whole, then what time period before you can return? Or can you have 2 days on the tunnel approach, and then 2 days on the long pound, then 2 days on the tunnel approach etc, until you hit your 10 days in a month?

You could contact Hawne Basin, there is a contact form on their web site not sure if there is a phone number, I used the web site when we stayed there. They will find you a (free) overnight spot in the basin. Remember Ghosty Hill tunnel is low, so clear the roof of stuff.

We were at Merry Hill a couple of weeks ago, and did what you are planning but in the other direction. There is a lot of mooring at Merry Hill. You will find lots of space I am certain on the rings on the embankment between the top of Delph and the Waterfront basin at Merry Hill. As we were coming the other way, and there was space, we stopped in the basin. It is very quiet there, most of the bars are closed down with the exception of Weatherspoons, which was handy for a cheap pint on our way out for the evening and a cooked breakfast in the morning.