Jo_

The compassionate and factual account includes the bit where the hire company themselves brought the boats back, apologising and saying they had turned the hirers off the boats. That is surely an admission of liability and the insurance that is part of the hire agreement is there for damage caused by hirers, isn't it?

Hire Boat Company's 3rd Party Insurance. If the police are investigating and there were witnesses ...............

ooo, I wonder if she's any relation of Guido Brunetti, the lovely Commisario who is the central character in Donna Leon's wonderfully gentle novels about Venice and food and a bit of detecting.

This is just getting silly .......................... 1. August 22 = Renewal email with 132 attachments of others' licence details etc. 2. August 22 = Ooops email saying I was affected by a data breach (no shit, Sherlock!) 3. August 24 (5.32 pm) = "As one of our affected customers ...." etc. etc. about what they're doing 4. August 24 (5.34 pm) = "You will be aware etc." but you have not been affected by this data breach it says in bold in a couple of places I lie here with bated breath waiting for the next instalment in what is beginning to turn into a soap opera .................................... That means you probably were!!

This 'data breach' was surely a case of local human error. Someone told to send the .pdfs and the letters to the relevant addresses just got it wrong big time!

I had that too. And on a couple of other sites where it seemed old style HTML was running and images were missing. It seemed to be a Chrome issue. I did a bit of hunting and checked my AdBlocker and AdBlockerPlus. Both of which were running. I turned both off. Restarted. Things now working fine. Turned on AdBlockerPlus only. So far so good.

I have also had the licence renewal email (and the ooops email) and 132 .pdfs of other people boat/insurance/telephone/mobile/home address details. Catch me renewing online at the moment .............

Ditto

I agree. I just carry mine and, though I'm aware it's a bit heavier than an aluminium one, it just reminds me I've got the GoWindlass and it's helping me! I'm not skinny enough to carry a windlass in a belt. It would just stick into me or drop off or bang into my thigh. It's easier to carry.

Where are you haggis? You could borrow mine to try if you like. I am at Mercia.

I'll weigh mine and tell you! And you can compare it to the weight of your long throw! ?

Ditto. Love mine and delighted to hear it's not just me that thinks this windlass is a superb addition to boaty life ??

http://richardcarterltd.co.uk/product/66-hickory-shunt-pole/ That looks nice - heavy duty - and is it not a bit clunky to manoeuvre?! The propmate is light and supertough; hangs on a hook just inside the stern doors.

The propmate is what we have used for years. It's brilliant. Miracle Leisure Products (who sell it as in David Mack's link above) are usually at Crick and they also do the rescue ladder/plank which we now carry since we reckon it's more useful that just a wooden plank.

I am delighted with my GoWindlass. Will use it in preference to any other now since it makes my life with rough tough paddles easier! As Grassman says, using the ratchet so you don't have to go all the way round makes raising a paddle a slighly slower operation. But I'm not bothered - after all, as W.H.Davies wrote about 100 years ago: "A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare".