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The Virtual BCN Challenge 2020


cheshire~rose

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2 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

Rob-M and I briefly conversed yesterday evening, having been an actual team for the past four Challenges. I too had held back due to being full time at work, albeit from home.

 

What I could do is enter a team and nominate @Rob-M and @tree monkey and any other working folk who are interested but unsure if they can commit as spokespersons. Just so long as everyone is clear we might not get off the ground. There would no pressure on anyone, including me.

 

We might ‘beat’ Laurie to the wooden spoon.

 

JP

Hi Cap,

 

I'm another worker who'd love to join your team.  I also have a copy of the other 60 miles, but unfortunately, it's in my drawer at the office while I'm working from home.  I may be of some use though...

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Rather annoyingly all the maps, Nicholsons etc are on the boat,  although I do have my copy of The Other Sixty Miles here, so hopefully that will help.  Otherwise is just going to have to be what is on the internet.  Having checked the full BCN map in TOSM I don't think I am going to be updating my planning spreadsheet to cover it all the abandoned sections, that's a lot of work!

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1 hour ago, john6767 said:

Rather annoyingly all the maps, Nicholsons etc are on the boat,  although I do have my copy of The Other Sixty Miles here, so hopefully that will help.  Otherwise is just going to have to be what is on the internet.  Having checked the full BCN map in TOSM I don't think I am going to be updating my planning spreadsheet to cover it all the abandoned sections, that's a lot of work!

 

1 hour ago, Keeping Up said:

One problem we have, and I'm sure we aren't the only ones, is that all our books, maps, and other reference material is on the boat while we are stuck in the house.

I do feel for you on this point, we had done a lot of planning for the real BCN Challenge including anotating an old copy of a Nicholson's and on one occasion when I was on the phone to Capt Ahab I became aware of Dave frantically hunting for something around the flat looking more and more frustrated. When I came off the phone he said he had been looking for all books he had used for research but they were left on board our boat. 

 

 

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Hooray!  This news has brightened up our day on nb Rebellion, being stuck in the same place for over a month now is very strange for us - we should have been well on our way to Birmingham for the challenge by now!

 

I'm hoping that all our regular crew will be up for it, but I'll make a post confirming user names etc. nearer the time.  Am I right that this will take part in the "Cruising Diaries" subforum here, or will there be a special BCN Cruising Logs forum?

 

Mike

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4 hours ago, Dave_P said:

Hi Cap,

 

I'm another worker who'd love to join your team.  I also have a copy of the other 60 miles, but unfortunately, it's in my drawer at the office while I'm working from home.  I may be of some use though...

As a bona fide BCN person you’re most definitely welcome.

 

JP

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1 minute ago, cheshire~rose said:

Of course you have not seen the score card so you are not aware of the handicap planned to be imposed upon smug gits with extensive libraries in their homes ;) 

?

I'm just amazed I could put my hands on them straight away.

 

(Those lucky enough to have visited the cat infested slum that we like to call home will understand my shock at this fact!)

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11 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

?

I'm just amazed I could put my hands on them straight away.

 

(Those lucky enough to have visited the cat infested slum that we like to call home will understand my shock at this fact!)

I don’t have the “blue book” but I do have the TOSM and the map at home, plus a couple of historical books on the BCN.  But I am not smug at all.

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14 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

IMG_1916.jpg.bb6ec48962faab8c1bf97a55cfe1dce6.jpg

 

< adopts smug git expression >

I have 2 of those.  Lovely bedtime reading!

17 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

As a bona fide BCN person you’re most definitely welcome.

 

JP

Thanks boss,  I'm still not quite sure how any of this will work, but I'll be ready to help with the team!

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15 hours ago, cheshire~rose said:

Of course you have not seen the score card so you are not aware of the handicap planned to be imposed upon smug gits with extensive libraries in their homes ;) 

Good job I am not competing then.......

 

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An update on entries to date:

 

We have 3 and a bit formal entries so far

 

Team Red Wharf (Crew of 3)

Team Firefly (Crew of 4)

Team Keeping Up (Crew of 2 and the dog)

 

The other team was a team of 3 who had not decided upon their team name but now suggest a further two people are planning to join their team and they will decide upon a name in due course.

 

I have reports of team meeting by Zoom taking place and much route planning activity whilst others are hastliy making virtual modifications to their vessels in readiness.

 

For those of you who feel there may be a little two much work to cram into your available time over the 6 days of the challenge, don't overlook that you can be getting ahead with some tasks now, Why not write up a description and spec of the vessel you plan to use and save it into a document to copy and paste to the forum once the time comes?

 

If you have set your heart of cruising a certain stretch of the network then you could start to write up a description of that and find some photos to illustrate it with while you are at it.

 

One of the current well known names when it comes to photography of the BCN is Kev Maslin who is a great supporter of the BCNS with his work.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photographybykevmaslin/

 

He is aware of what you lot are doing and has no problem with anyone using his photos to illustrate their cruise diaries (but please acknowledge the source) You could probably while away an hour or so looking at a lot of his photos. Not all are in Brum but a lot are

 

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2 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

If I am a member of a canal restoration society, do we get bonus points for travelling that canal? I have the Hatherton Branch in mind.

Feeling in a generous mood today; I think you will find the Hatherton is not part of the BCN

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2 minutes ago, john6767 said:

Feeling in a generous mood today; I think you will find the Hatherton is not part of the BCN

Oops, sorry for being unclear. I am thinking about various new loops that time travel will permit. There's another one that involves the W&B, of course!

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29 minutes ago, Keeping Up said:

Just to be certain, perhaps the organisers (or someone else) could please define precisely what, for this exercise, are the precise boundaries of the BCN (past & present) ?

Are you asking for a definition of bona fide navigation ??

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49 minutes ago, Keeping Up said:

Just to be certain, perhaps the organisers (or someone else) could please define precisely what, for this exercise, are the precise boundaries of the BCN (past & present) ?

This has to be one for @Capt Ahab to answer. 

 

The score sheet will have a list of the scoring for every stretch of canal it is possible to score points for doing 

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1 hour ago, john6767 said:

Feeling in a generous mood today; I think you will find the Hatherton is not part of the BCN

My copy of Another 60 Miles says it is BCN as far as Hednesford Basins to the North and Churchbridge Junction to the west.  It states "Although the Staffs and Worcs Canal Co contributed towards the costs of building the branch it was still part of the BCN".

 

If you want to be picky, you could say these parts are the Cannock Extension and the Churchbridge Branch, but they are part of what we now call the Hatherton Canal.

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