stuck in Rotherham

[Bobo]

Check with a boat builder, losing 300mm off the bow is not a huge problem, unless you are an ice breaker. Cut and shut is also another option, with 300mm from the drop deck. Cut and shut (or spread) is more common than you think.

[Jason Day - Sheffield]

You know I really hadn't thought of a swap....if I can find someone who's up for that.

 

It's a long shot....but it might just work.

 

The cut and shut option could be there as well, but there's no harm in advertising a swap while I look into the other option. I don't think the crane out one is going to fly - it's too built up around the Tinsley locks, its a flight I need to get around and to be honest I don;t want to be stuck on the wrong side of the flight with a cruising range of just under 3 miles.

 

And to think the other plan for the money was to get trained as a pilot.....

 

Thanks for the moral support as well folks, it feels a little lonely stuck on teh visitor moorings here!

 

cheers, Jason

[carlt]

As long as you don't overstay on the visitor moorings, things can turn nasty round here, if that happens

[Jason Day - Sheffield]

The visitor moorings overstay is at the suggestion of the moorings officer.

 

'As a gesture of goodwill' he has offered not to bill me for the three weeks I have been stuck here on 48 hour moorings while I can't get to the moorings that I paid for in July in the Sheffield basin. From the start of October I will have to pay £1000 to stay here til March, where I don't want to be. Meanwhile I can't get a refund on my moorings in Sheffield without giving them up. I have spent years on waiting lists for a long-term mooring and now that I have one I don't want to give it up - particularly in the face of the the tendering trial.

 

The moorings officer has offered me alternative moorings elsewhere in Yorkshire 'ahead of the suspended waiting lists or tendering process' but I don't want to push in front of others who have been waiting, just to sort out a problem which this officer has caused.

 

At the moment I have no alternative. The whole reason for buying a floating dormitory was so that I could have my kids to stay over, and now I'm in limbo. Trust me - I am aware of the necessary propriety when it comes to moorings - but I've done the waiting list thing and all I wanted was to get somewhere close to my kids so they could come and stay over. I travel about a lot as an outdoor pursuits instructor, and have a permanent home down south. This is a halfway house for the kids which ties up all my capital.....and it's tied up in Rotherham on a visitor mooring, I can only have until March. Joy

[tidal]

The moorings officer has offered me alternative moorings elsewhere in Yorkshire 'ahead of the suspended waiting lists or tendering process' but I don't want to push in front of others who have been waiting, just to sort out a problem which this officer has caused.

 

Take them.

 

In my humble opinion no-one should begrudge you a swap of moorings, and more to the point, should this go before the ombudsman, BW's offer of alternative moorings WILL be taken into consideration.

There is after all the possiblity that if you take the alternative some other poor soul might get a chance at your original mooring.

No it isn't perfect but it may be a viable alternative

[carlt]

Take them.

 

In my humble opinion no-one should begrudge you a swap of moorings, and more to the point, should this go before the ombudsman, BW's offer of alternative moorings WILL be taken into consideration.

There is after all the possiblity that if you take the alternative some other poor soul might get a chance at your original mooring.

No it isn't perfect but it may be a viable alternative

I agree (only joking about the overstaying comment btw). If the offer is a reasonable one, then it would severely affect your chances of victory with the ombudsman.

 

Your position is unusual, and not of your making, anyone who accuses you of queue jumping is being unreasonable, and best ignored.

[bargiepat]

Take them.

 

In my humble opinion no-one should begrudge you a swap of moorings, and more to the point, should this go before the ombudsman, BW's offer of alternative moorings WILL be taken into consideration.

There is after all the possiblity that if you take the alternative some other poor soul might get a chance at your original mooring.

No it isn't perfect but it may be a viable alternative

 

Tidal has given you the answer................ Go on do it for all the reasons he states.

Good luck.

Patrick.

[Jason Day - Sheffield]

Fair comment - I take your point, but there was a crucial role to play for Sheffield in the whole plan - the kids are near there and I want them to feel that there is continuity in where they visit me, and that I'm 'local' even if I'm working away or abroad. I got the mooring before I got the boat and checked I could have 62ft before I even looked at it. I only got he boat because I had the mooring, and that's why the maladministration part is what's causing the problem. I really would rather sell and get a shorter boat (which I'm trying to do) rahter than locate further away from the children. As you can imagine, selling at this time of year is a nightmare, so I;m looking at taking a loss.

[Jason Day - Sheffield]

hello to anyone still on this thread. I've taken slightly drastic action and sold the boat. Fortunately someone has turned up who wants her as much as I do, and paid me almost the full asking price. I now have a month to find a slightly shorter boat ad get her into Sheffield before the 5th nov winter stoppage comes into effect on teh South Yorkshire. I know this sounds like giving in, but I needed to get control back in my hands. Thanks for the support and advice....if anyone knows of a 58footer for sale with 6 berths..... :D Jason

[bottle]

Jason

 

Have a look here Black Prince, ex hire boats, the first one 'Shakespeare" is 58' and £49,000 (if this is out of your price range I apologise)

[Maverick]

hello to anyone still on this thread. I've taken slightly drastic action and sold the boat. Fortunately someone has turned up who wants her as much as I do, and paid me almost the full asking price. I now have a month to find a slightly shorter boat ad get her into Sheffield before the 5th nov winter stoppage comes into effect on teh South Yorkshire. I know this sounds like giving in, but I needed to get control back in my hands. Thanks for the support and advice....if anyone knows of a 58footer for sale with 6 berths..... :D Jason

 

Congratulations Jason glad you managed to sell at a reasonable price so quickly. Thats the hard bit done, there are thousands out there to buy. Just enjoy the browsing.

[bargiepat]

Hi, Brilliant news Jason.............. Let us know how you get on.

All best Patrick.

[Jason Day - Sheffield]

Thanks folks - I have a couple of leads on which I am working at the moment. Shakepsears is, alas, out of my range - but I'll report back at some point ont eh outcome. Cheers, Jason

[epiphany]

Almost a happy ending... I was holding my breath as I read all the messages!

 

Good luck for finding the right nb!

 

Jane

[GRPCruiserman]

I was going to say there were always online moorings at Stanley Ferry which isn't too far away, and you can get that far up before the locks shrink to 57 foot. Don't know whether they are all full now, not been for a few years anyone else? Not that it matters now he's sold it!!

 

Does this now mean that boats are banned from locks diagonally? What about sharing locks, when I had a 15 footer, I regularly went across the back in a broad lock (almost) to squeeze in behind sometimes four other cruisers.

[MartinClark]

Does this now mean that boats are banned from locks diagonally?

 

No. It means that a 62 ft boat is too long to fit diagonally in these locks.

[Stonker]

I was going to say there were always online moorings at Stanley Ferry which isn't too far away, and you can get that far up before the locks shrink to 57 foot. Don't know whether they are all full now, not been for a few years anyone else? Not that it matters now he's sold it!!

 

Does this now mean that boats are banned from locks diagonally? What about sharing locks, when I had a 15 footer, I regularly went across the back in a broad lock (almost) to squeeze in behind sometimes four other cruisers.

 

It depends on whether there is a BW presence. In the case of the Tinsley Flight you have to book passage with the lockie and he works you through. He has obviously been told by his management that he can't let any "oversize" boats use the flight.

On the canals and navigations where I moor and do most of my cruising (Calder & Hebble, Huddersfield Broad, Rochdale) we often meet "oversize" boats using the locks but there's no one from BW to prevent them from using them. It could be a good job creation excercise though if every lock had a lockie. When we cruised in Brittany every lock was operated by a lockie, usually a woman, who lived in a cottage by the lock. All you did was roll up and blow your horn and out they came. Mind you there was often no lock landing stage so it would have been difficult to put crew ashore.

 

Stewart

[Jason Day - Sheffield]

From what I've heard there isn't a physical reason why 62ft won't fit in a 61'6" lock if it's 14ft wide. My boat would have fitted inside the outline of a 61'6"long and 14ft wide barge that I know uses the lock. As you say - the simple reason is that there is a health and safety 'system' and it can be hid behind in the event that anything id go wrong. With writs flying around everyone is afraid to step out from bnehind their wall, and all that gets us is lots of people hiding...

[Jason Day - Sheffield]

Unstuck in Rotherham.

 

Not that I actually don't like Rotherham - I just don't like being stuck.

 

Brilliant news for anyone following the thread - I sold the boat last week and that freed up the funds to get down to Norbury Wharf and buy Mhatina's sister ship Cascadas. She is identical except in the respect that she is 56' instead of 62' - making all the difference.

 

I am chuffed to bits as the original boat was just what I wanted, and this one has all the same good points, although with one less bed my son will now be relegated to a hammock (Which, being 11, he is all for anyway).

 

Thanks to you all for your messages of support and suggestions - I'll be moving her from Stafford to Sheffield over the next month on the Shroppie, Trent and Mersey and Trent to Keadby. Say hi if you see me!

 

cheers, Jason

[grahoom]

nice one Jason, glad you got it sorted.

[Mick_B]

Well done jason... Best of luck with her..

 

Mick

[haggis]

[q- I'll be moving her from Stafford to Sheffield over the next month on the Shroppie, Trent and Mersey and Trent to Keadby. Say hi if you see me!

 

cheers, Jason

 

Great news, Jason. Just watch out for these winter stoppages which start on 5th November.

 

Haggis

[BlueStringPudding]

Unstuck in Rotherham.

 

Not that I actually don't like Rotherham - I just don't like being stuck.

 

Brilliant news for anyone following the thread - I sold the boat last week and that freed up the funds to get down to Norbury Wharf and buy Mhatina's sister ship Cascadas. She is identical except in the respect that she is 56' instead of 62' - making all the difference.

 

I am chuffed to bits as the original boat was just what I wanted, and this one has all the same good points, although with one less bed my son will now be relegated to a hammock (Which, being 11, he is all for anyway).

 

Thanks to you all for your messages of support and suggestions - I'll be moving her from Stafford to Sheffield over the next month on the Shroppie, Trent and Mersey and Trent to Keadby. Say hi if you see me!

 

cheers, Jason

 

Yay! Congrats.

[tidal]

Great news. I am glad it has all worked out so well for you

 

I am chuffed to bits as the original boat was just what I wanted, and this one has all the same good points, although with one less bed my son will now be relegated to a hammock (Which, being 11, he is all for anyway).

 

Have you considered the option of a fold down "pilot berth" over one of the cupboards/seating areas.

 

They are quite common on sailing craft

 

Just a thought.

 

[Jason Day - Sheffield]

ahem - yes - winter stoppages. The BW booklet that came in teh post had a map showing a winter stoppage on teh SSYN from teh 12th Nov til December, but the chart at teh back had no stoppages marked. I phoned BW to get it resolved and was told they would ask someone.....when they phoned back it turns out that they were planning a stoppage, when the map was prepared, but then decided against it and the booklet was printed with conflicting information. The good news is that I don't have to do the mad dash I had planned to (obviously not past moored boats... )

 

As far as berths go I'm planning the loose furniture option for Cascadas' saloon - a couple of futon 'chairs' which gives me some flexibility for single/ double berths. Although my son really is keen on teh hammock idea (I usually only do that in woods...)

 

Cheers all

 

Jason