Boaters - Are you satisfied with the state of the canals?

[Athy]

What a great shame. Still, they ran 25 of them which is a commendable achievement.

 

I wonder what the "negative connotations of social media" means.

 

I'm pleased that we attended it three times, including what was to be the last one.

Edited August 10, 2020 by Athy

[Dave123]

It seems a lot of the complaints are about lack of depth, which is not something I find a problem having a very shallow drafted boat. But I wonder if there has been an increase in deeper drafted leisure boats during the last decade or so? Most reports/articles etc I see about leisure boating in the 70s/80s all seem to feature much shallower drafted boats than the replica working boats that seem quite common now...

[peterboat]

On 09/08/2020 at 10:53, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Wait till you hear CaRT use the phrase "World Beating Canal System". Then you'll know it is doomed. ?

I should have been in the basin this weekend Jen, but once again the flight is broken for proper size boats! the ones that it was designed for before NB owners start having a pop. By the time I can get there the weed will have put paid to navigation no doubt, like last year

[Detling]

Many of the problems stem from the use of contractors who don't know and don't care for boaters. We get grass cut according to schedule, not need. Issues spotted re bank erosion, collapse etc are not fed back so things just get worse. Lock maintenance is a guy looking at it, occasionally lifting a paddle but usually just ticking boxes on his tablet. Paddles loose or broken underwater not spotted, brickwork crumbling not spotted, rotten wood unless obvious, not spotted. I have watched a guy pointing a wall by a bridge in December the other year, he did the pointing, took a photo to send to his boss. I mentioned the hard frost the previous night and one forecast for that night, he said I know, but my boss has this on his schedule, so I have to do it, I expect to be back in a few months to do it all again, because it has failed. So a job paid for twice. You cannot run the system sitting in an office many miles away, you need local information.

[cuthound]

3 minutes ago, Detling said:

Many of the problems stem from the use of contractors who don't know and don't care for boaters. We get grass cut according to schedule, not need. Issues spotted re bank erosion, collapse etc are not fed back so things just get worse. Lock maintenance is a guy looking at it, occasionally lifting a paddle but usually just ticking boxes on his tablet. Paddles loose or broken underwater not spotted, brickwork crumbling not spotted, rotten wood unless obvious, not spotted. I have watched a guy pointing a wall by a bridge in December the other year, he did the pointing, took a photo to send to his boss. I mentioned the hard frost the previous night and one forecast for that night, he said I know, but my boss has this on his schedule, so I have to do it, I expect to be back in a few months to do it all again, because it has failed. So a job paid for twice. You cannot run the system sitting in an office many miles away, you need local information.

 

It is very easy to stop contactors charging for poor quality work twice.

 

When i was writing the specifications for fitting out data centres, I always asked for each contractor to provide a 6 year, insurance backed guarantee (which always included any work the contractor chose to sub-contract.

 

Yes it costs a little more, but you get a better job which lasts.

 

CRT and local councils should take note if they dont want to get ripped off.

[Naughty Cal]

We were actually impressed that CRT have done something about the non compliant CCers littering the Fossdyke and Witham this year. We were expecting to have trouble finding a mooring at the weekend but they have cleared the colony that had taken root at Bardney top and bottom moorings and also the Lincoln visitor moorings.

 

Not sure where they have all gone or how long it will be before they are back again but it made a refreshing change to be able to moor where we wanted too!!

[Jen-in-Wellies]

1 hour ago, peterboat said:

I should have been in the basin this weekend Jen, but once again the flight is broken for proper size boats! the ones that it was designed for before NB owners start having a pop. By the time I can get there the weed will have put paid to navigation no doubt, like last year

Shame. Apparently, there is something big and heavy, no one knows what it is yet, jammed behind one of the lock gates on the flight, so skinny boats only till it can be removed. 

 

1 hour ago, cuthound said:

 

It is very easy to stop contactors charging for poor quality work twice.

 

When i was writing the specifications for fitting out data centres, I always asked for each contractor to provide a 6 year, insurance backed guarantee (which always included any work the contractor chose to sub-contract.

 

Yes it costs a little more, but you get a better job which lasts.

 

CRT and local councils should take note if they dont want to get ripped off.

A six year guarantee on grass cutting not growing back would be a good one ? Naplalm the lock landings, then sow them with salt?

Edited August 10, 2020 by Jen-in-Wellies

[Rambling Boater]

If only everyone cut the grass next to their boat when it's too long. Sigh.