jeddlad

We need to stop using these companies in future.......But we all want cheap holidays

It's good to see people being very pragmatic on here regarding other people's money. I don't know the booking terms of the OP so won't comment on that but the airlines etc should all be refunding. If a business goes bust after refunding deposits, well so be it. I'm sure the shareholders have enjoyed their dividends over the years rather than building a cash reserve for unplanned issues. The airlines have had warnings before, SARS, the Icelandic ash issue, 911 etc. In the last 15 years there have been at least 3 incidents of airlines not being able to fly or no demand due to passenger confidence. This should be part of their planning and cash reserve strategy. Other people's money should remain just that and not be part of a businesses emergency planning. If BA and Virgin go bust, as soon as there is demand, other companies will take up the slack.

Is it CRT's way of restricting all boats with a home mooring to a short distance cruising pattern? The danger is you could go out for 2 or 3 months and then not be able to get back to your home mooring. It never used to cross my mind when planning my summer cruise (2-3 months) but last year and this year it's almost top of the consideration list! Maybe I'm just grumpy cos I'd planned on a northern canal trip, up the L+L and back to the midlands via the Trent.

Goodluck with your move and upcoming medical procedure. Just 1 tip, don't post photos and a running commentary on Facebook canal groups.

I'm in the same situation, I don't live full time aboard but I can easily self isolate on the boat. Hopefully common sense shall prevail but looking at the news, it's seems the British people don't have any common sense

Because unlike boating, the police and the department of transport are interested.

Alan, I didn't realise you'd become the moral police......... Stupid reply by you IMO, I don't know why but I expected better from you .

When you buy red diesel and make the decleration, regardless of what you do with that fuel, the decleration is between yourself and HMRC. It's got absolutely nothing to do with anyone else except yourself and HMRC...........in a boating sense. Different if you use red on the road.

I have a 2nd tank for the diesel CH, after my experience last summer of most boat yards (south of the T&M) not willing to allow self decleration, ie 100%, next summer I'll fill the bow tank and decant it via a can into the engine tank. I did find boat yards willing to allow a 100% split in the summer but they were very few and far between.

Thanks for the update. I'd be very interested to hear how you get on. Please can you give us another update after your first trip?

Thanks to those who mentioned forum members or other of note, who are standing. I was at a total loss who to vote for. I've voted for the forum members Phil Prettyman and Andy Tidy (whose video on you tube re seeking election was a) a good idea and b) made me chuckle Also voted for the guy encouraging freight on the Aire and Calder and for Eric McDowall who is an unashamed traditionalist. Nowt wrong with a bit of tradition in these modern days! Wasn't going to vote but after reading this thread and then voting, I now feel slightly smug that I've contributed in a very small way to our waterways!

I do understand all the criticism of wide beam boats but having been onbthe Severn, G&S and the upper Avon last summer, I totally understand why people have them. If I wanted my boat on the Sheffield and other northern canals (near where I live) and wanted to use it as a floating home, I'd have a wide beam tomorrow. I love my narrowboat and love travelling on it, so it's moored in the Midlands and I cruise regularly. It's horses for courses......live and let live, enjoy your boating or just floating.....

Steve Haywood has only got 996 followers on Twitter. It's not like he's a social media influencer with less than 1,000 followers

I can't see HMRC dipping private boaters tanks, they don't have the staff to do it for road use (cars) so they won't have the resources to start dipping boats.

I saw the full accounts and they were not the best presented................not saying anymore on a public forum.

Oh and the accounts and figures given were woefully inadequate.

It's been off and on the market for a while now. One of the stumbling blocks is that CRT want a £150,000 bond for the lease. They will only except property as a bond. So if you want the lease, on top of the fee the current lessee is selling the lease for, CRT want a mortgage free property worth £150k as a guarantee. Shame as it could be a cracking business except for when the river floods.

Thanks for the good bits of advice, as usual the replies did stray slightly off topic! I had a great trip down the Severn from Stourport, no issues with the locks, flow or state of the river. The week I spent on the Gloucester & Sharpness was one of the best trips on my boat. Coming back up the Severn was a bit different as the flow and wind were quite strong, I struggled along at 1.5 mph until I picked up a very useful spring tide helping me up towards Tewkesbury. The lock and bridge keepers on the Severn and the G&S were all brilliant and very helpful. I would strongly recommend a hand held VHF for anyone contemplating this trip. I bought a 2nd hand ICOM and it was worth it's weight in gold. Yes, you can use a mobile phone but I found the hand held VHF very useful for keeping in touch with the lock and bridge keepers, also good for hearing what other boat traffic is around. The Avon locks were a faff on my own but all in all, an excellent trip. The biscuits and John 6767 get the prize for the most sensible bits of advice.......thanks

My beloved pooch is quite old and doesn't swim well. Due to age, he's confined to the inside of the boat when cruising.

I never leave the boat unattended in a lock. To me it's not worth the time saving if anything goes wrong. At Fradley I always work the locks one by one. If it's a close flight I'll get the level right on the lock I'm working and then go ahead, leaving the boat in the opened lock and set the next couple. I've always got the dog on board and would be devastated if anything happened to him if the boat sunk in a lock.

I'm planning a trip down the Severn from Stourport to Gloucester, I'll be single handed. Does anyone have any advice or experience to pass on? I've been on rivers before but nothing like the Severn. I've got VHF, life preserver, anchor with chain, phone numbers of the locks, will be checking the river state via the EA. Do I need a bow rope that I can hold from the stern? I'm a bit concerned about the locks and of course Gloucester lock and the wier! Thanks PS I've plenty of canal experience just not so much on rivers

From the tone of your original post, you sound like either a snob or a busy body with nothing better to do. How much of your time has one bloke keeping a few ducks, taken up? With everything going on with the poor maintenance / management of our canals, why not use your time and effort doing something about that? Leave those that are quietly living their lives with zero impact on you, alone.

They are pets. I don't know the guy but I saw the post on here and realised I was moored next to this topics subject matter and decided to have a chat with him.. I still think it's incredibly snobby and bad taste to judge a person by the state of their boat. Not everyone can afford a nice new boat. In 7 years on the canals, most (not all) of the really nice, helpful and kind people I've met have been on boats that the shiney boat brigade would call scruffy. I'd rather deal with nice people than nice boats!