cheshire~rose

His quote was "Nipples like bullets" He went in to get the remains of the Ikea bag we had clearly not fully cleared this morning and found what appeared to be strands of unravelled foam backed carpet .... Cut tons of the stuff off, got out, started the engine to check it felt right..it did Fantastic Then suddenly, 20 seconds later...it didn't feel right... So he went back in and took a duvet off that we had collected in the 20 seconds running to test it!

Who has the imposter boat with the incorrect spelling?

Guess who has Barney! Oh... Our first bladeful was dealt with at 9 minutes past 9 this morning. An Ikea bag. Nobody required a dip to deal withit.

Eek! He was behind me...

We can't see any of you....

If you're not on your boat then does it count? Perhaps if you can stand in your bath and salute while sound it that will do?

Make that 2 hours 10, I miscounted 27 locks

But we don't want you to be good! That's why you have an entire cabin to yourself!

We will be full once in position at the starting point. We just have 24 locks to do today without a team to help..... You could join us but sharing a cross-bed with Tree Monkey is not what anyone would inflict upon friends!

ZF in Nottingham reconditioned the Hurth box on Python for us and did aa fantastic job

A photo from 3 years ago that we know won't be repeated this year:

Well if there is then I think Team Delhi already has it in the bag

Oh - I presume all the competitors will have a timer set to take part in this at noon on Saturday? https://www.rya.org.uk/news/2022/05/20/join-hm-the-queens-platinum-jubilee-ships-salute I mean does anyone really need an excuse to sound their horn?

Delhi - with just a 1/3rd size team are on the BCN and heading for the giraffe for a short stay before heading to our top secret start location You do know where to find us don't you @tree monkey?

Thanks for sorting this out for everyone Sue @Mrs Tawny Owl You really didn't need this last minute hassle. While I concur, a simple miscommunication is an easy thing to happen It is sadly true that far too many of the problems with CRT these days are due to lack of effective communication. Some of these end up costing them a lot of money! Others mean individuals or groups feel like they are being kept in the dark and start to wonder if there is some conspiracy behind the lack of communication. Some departments and areas are far better at communication than others in my experience I will cancel the order for the long oars now then

Nobody has mentioned Microbial Corrosion It does not require oxygen to eat through steel It eats steel 3 times faster than rust It is thought to be on the increase in canals because the water is so much cleaner these days. I know of a 6 year old boat that required extensive welding to deep pitting on the base plate because it had microbial corrosion I would never leave a baseplate without blacking on a boat - it might have been fine 40 years ago when the canals were more polluted but having seen what it can do I would not risk it now

The really ridiculous/ annoying/ frustrating thing is that this stoppage has only just been announced which indicates it has only just been arranged (or that someone at CRT forgot they needed to put a stoppage notice up for it) The BCN Challenge has been running how many years? It is an event to promote use of the canals that form part of the Birmingham network , CRT know it is happening and have done for ages. Obviously the use of this stretch of canal by paddleboarders is a higher priority to them than the huge number of people who benefit from the efforts of all of the teams who have spent months preparing for the event, in many cases investing quite a lot of time, money and effort just to be there. I suspect the folks at Withymoor Island won't be best pleased either. I sincerely hope there is some proper explanation and solution when Sue gets on the case today but really, she needs this like she needs a hole in the head. Why should she have to deal with this? CRT communication is so poor and they seem to be set on making enemies of the very people who are trying their hardest to do things to help them.

That isn't a paddleboard deck. It is a campsite! We don't need to be a paddle board in Gosty Hill because that isn't closed to boats (yet) but perhaps don't tell CRT there is another way they can put a spanner in the works eh?

We are planning to get some really long oars and stand the team on the cabin top to paddle through It will just be a big paddle board

Here are what CRT have to say about what they deem to be acceptable https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/original/732-application-form-historic-boat-discount.pdf I honestly did not think our boat qualified by applied on the basis of "nothing ventured - nothing gained" and sent a lot of additional material explaining why this boat is an important part of CRT's heritage. The reply we got was that it was really interesting to read about a boat with such a fascinating history - I got the impression that many applications give scant detail and so what I wrote captured the attention of the individual/panel that makes the decision. I may be surmising that wrongly but if it helps someone else to get a discount when it is appropriate for them to do so then that's all good

Well they would have struggled to get the current cabin on a 48 foot boat which is what she was cut down to. We are very aware the boat bears little resemblance to either the boat that Yarwood's designed in 1930 or the boat that BW converted it to in 1959 and we make a point of mentioning that to anyone who shows and interest in it. The bow is the only thing that is very recognisable and as such that is kept white as it would have been in 1930 My point was that as far as CRT are concerned they accept it as being a historic boat and so do National Historic Ships Likewise Python bears little resemblance to what she was originally but she is still working and is currently licenced as a "Workboat" I think people can punt around trying to place their own definition of what is and what is not a historic boat but, like everything, the definition will differ according to who or what organisation is setting down the rules and what is more it will evolve with the passage of time. I remember in the late 1980's our classic car restoration business was asked to do some restoration work on a Morris Marina. I could not get my head around the fact that such a car could ever be considered a classic but then I remembered my Dad being bemused that we might consider a Ford Anglia a classic! How many Marinas do you see now, except at classic car events. Today's tatty old doer- upper that needs a shed load of money throwing at it to save it is tomorrows desirable boat.

Our ex-hire boat is registered on the National Register or Historic Ships and acknowledged as a historic boat by CRT. The hire boat was created by BW out of a 1930 working boat hull but because the current boat bears little resemblance to what it was originally (it had no engine or cabin originally) the acknowledgement by CRT is based on the fact that it was them who modified the original boat to have an engine and cabin in 1959 to be one of their hire fleet and as that part of it's history is now more than 50 years old the current boat with it's cabin and engine still qualify

Welcome back Alan, it is indeed very good to see you posting again

With regard trying to restore the damaged paint, please get hold of some Farecla G3 and, if at all possible an electric orbital mop (because I know how much elbow grease it can take) The G3 is a very fine abrasive that will not leave scratches and will not take too much paint off but will take off the oxidised layer so you can see how deep the staining goes. On glass and frames very fine grade wire wool is a good thing to have in store to clean them up. I am so sorry this has happened. It must be gutting for you

You missed Staveley Town Lock on The Chesterfield and I think Boundary Lock was a new one? when that section was restored but I might be wrong?