LoneWolf

I'll look out for you but dont be expecting me anytime soon. Gargrave is probably a week away at my rate of travel. Both sets of paddles! you speedster ;-)

lol - cant wait that long though

umm thanks for your reply tomsk. So have you been through Blackburn? What was it like? Or is your post based on stuff you've heard perhaps. Anything useful to add at all?

exactly the same for me. I find it surprisingly tiring sometimes chatting to gongoozlers when concentrating on the boat. I love a good lockside chat & dont like to seem rude but I'm not taking my eye off it

I'm sure i've seen a picture on the forum of somebody's self made hoist system.* My tip would be to lift from your hara and remember to breathe *edited to say: click on 'Gallery' - it's the featured photo

I was advised today not to do Blackburn on the weekend. Now I know some people are overly afeared of the feral youth but what do any local boaters reckon? The only thing that ever really worries me sometimes is leaving the boat out of sight when i have to set locks And any tips re the locks themselves would be handy - I did the first couple of Johnsons Hill solo today & they seemed a bit strange & unpredictable with a single boat in them compared to the GU locks. and those wierd gate paddles...

beautifully put Does anyone know of any courses in 'narrowboats on rivers'?

Funnily enough I was talking about this incident with the person i came up Johnson's Hill with today & she said there was a memorial thing. I shall try & remember to look out for it to confirm The reason we were talking about it was because I had just pointed out that her front fender had slipped into the gap between the gates & the beam. Threads like this help keep me vigilant lockside

The '?' indicates that i was asking a question. Apologies anyway for assuming that you could control your boat

Hi Ray What kind of things did you learn that you hadn't already picked up in 10 years? People being in a rush is ok with me - it's when they get agressive or try to hurry you up through locks that it becomes a problem. edited to add: in the last 3 months this is fewer than about 5 boats for me so a small percentage of boaters i would think

There's lurid green slime on the L&L where i am at the moment. It's there in the morning, has all disappeared by lunchtime and is back again the next morning. I'm wondering if it's the "potentially toxic blue-green algae" BW are warning about

Incorrect. Going slow and not letting others overtake is rude I think you're attacking a straw man here You deliberately hit someone?! This makes you exactly the sort of person that should not be on the canals in my opinion

Doesn't sound like the cottage owner comes out to talk to boaters himself. Sounds like he hides inside twitching his curtain on the phone to BW

That looks like a lovely spot, have added it to my list of places to stop. What time do lock keepers finish for the day I wonder?

Would these be the "smart arses" who, since they were on the L&L, bothered to get their Nicholsons out to see if they were in the area & should be on the lookout then engaged their brain in respect to the reported positions, bridges, locks and timings? Personally, I dont recall making any comment on your motive for posting and dont intend to Have you heard the story of the boy who cried wolf?

".... If you had read the previous comments on this post, maybe you would have realised that I'd raised the issue the following day, after two other moorers had spottted the incident and reported it to BW! Too late for Mark to intervene at this stage. Thanks for putting the issue straight though. ..... Once again! if you had read previous posts, you would have known that it was two other boaters who spotted the boat sailing at 10.30pm. Possibly, what they had been drinking at The Ship had created this apparition..." Ah so having heard this gossip from some people who had been drinking, instead of thinking about it for 2 minutes you decided to pass it on as fact. thanks for clearing that up

Dude, dont think of it as consensing your life. Think of it as opening your life up. As for most of the stuff on your list, well it's just stuff; you'd get on fine without it & you wouldnt need an inverter & a huge bank of battries either

And had time to take on water... According to my Nicholson's Bridge 8 is Town Meadow Swing Bridge; would it be possible to moor under a swing bridge? I'm on the L&L south of Poolstock so I'll be sure to be on the lookout for a ghost boat piloted by someone with supernatural powers... Hey maybe it was the boat that went passed me at 1am this morning....

no problem. Yeah, I was dissapointed by 'ebden too (but not done it by boat yet).

I've said both of these, saying something complimentary makes people feel good about themselves & is a good way of seeing if they're up for a lockside/mooring chat. I've also been known to bellow obvious smart arse comments about a boats name across the water oops...guilty of this as well, but only when i think the other person will understand that it's a cliche joke. I do assume couples take turns I promise never to do it again. Well, Hebden Bridge, it's the Stoke Newington of the north innit

Can't say I've had any bother of the 'women drivers' type. Mind you, I think I'd have handled things differently than poor trouble-magnet Fiona. If a boat I was about to pass in a tight spot got into trouble I'd stop & wait till they were sorted before passing. Likewise, if there were trees/bushes on the right & a passing boat was taking a line (or the canal was only 7' bush free at that point) that would 'force me into them' just I'd slow & adjust my speed so that we could pass in a bush free spot. There's never any need to start shouting abuse though. I have encountered inoffensive sexism though of the "ooohhh how do you manage; a woman on your own" type (mostly gongozallers) and come across a few map-turning tool-snatchers who'll start unnecessarily 'helping' when i'm mooring up

Some marinas have 'pied a terre' moorings which sound like what you want

It's a horrendous thing to happen & I wish Di a full recovery. I can see Dave's point as well but I dont think there's much point to hasseling Di for details btw, it's not unusual for people to forget exactly what happens just before an bad accident - it's very common with car accidents. As a relative newcommer to solo boating I'm ultra cautious eg I dislike crossing gates when the paddles are up because I have to take my hand off the rail so I always stop, ensure feet secure & then move hand to the other side of the paddle mechanism before continuing. I hadn't actually thought of the extra dangers when the paddles are open (I didnt realise the culverts were big enough to allow people to get sucked in) but will in future. I count it as part of the Hanwell flight - to me it's "Norwood (Top)"

Not you then, pity. This Mr Jinks was brilliant, I'd just got boat in lock (rejoicing that it was the last one, i was getting a bit knackered) He insisted that i stay on the boat & he did the lock for me, including running back to his boat for the BW key required. He was so happy & cheerful leaping about & full of energy that it made my day.