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Gosh, it's quiet.


johnmck

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We are nearing the end of a trip away from home waters. The expectation, with staycations, was that the waterways would be busier than normal, but the experience has been far from it!

Due to stoppages through Leicester and on the Soar, we started south from kilworth. Only three boats at Watford and soon down. In fact, from then on, very little boat movement. We went up to Great Haywood, down to Stourport, down the Severn to Worcester, up the Worcester and Birmingham and into Saltisford. Not held up anywhere, only saw three boats ascending Hatton and two of us descending. I think we are the only visitors in Saltisford tonight.

Where is everybody?

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1 minute ago, johnmck said:

We are nearing the end of a trip away from home waters. The expectation, with staycations, was that the waterways would be busier than normal, but the experience has been far from it!

Due to stoppages through Leicester and on the Soar, we started south from kilworth. Only three boats at Watford and soon down. In fact, from then on, very little boat movement. We went up to Great Haywood, down to Stourport, down the Severn to Worcester, up the Worcester and Birmingham and into Saltisford. Not held up anywhere, only saw three boats ascending Hatton and two of us descending. I think we are the only visitors in Saltisford tonight.

Where is everybody?

It seems very hit and miss. We left Fazeley Tuesday morning, now at Gt Haywood. We’ve seen a lot of boats moving, and yet loads of space at Fradley moorings on the Cov,  Rugeley visitor moorings were nearly empty, Gt Haywood moorings below the lock pretty quiet and ditto above the lock (although mooring there was suspended until recently due to towpath upgrade). In other words, it does seem pretty busy but plenty of mooring availability.

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8 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

That’s about right.

We were in a queue of 6 for Slat Mill lock. Coming down Claydon we met 2 boats at most locks (one in the lock and a second waiting when we got down) and turned one lock all day

Edited by ditchcrawler
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We've just started a couple of weeks up from Droitwich around the black country ring and detouring up the curly wyrley. Never seen the W&B so busy before, we met 7 boats going through wast hill tunnel alone, and it was pretty continuous with boats going the opposite way to us from alvechurch to Brum, although we're clearly out of sequence with the hire boats as I've hardly seen any all day.. I'm guessing that some of them are on their way down to the IWA at Worcester. Hopefully it'll be quieter further north!

Edited by gatekrash
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Ignoring the sudden queue for Bumblehole Lock this morning, it's pleasant on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire at the minute. There's definitely traffic, but it's certainly not what I'd call busy. Not much moving on the Main Lines last week either — saw four boats, all within two minutes of each other, from Wolverhampton to Oozells Street. Hopefully they'll all remain on the Coventry and Oxford ;) 

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21 minutes ago, gatekrash said:

We've just started a couple of weeks up from Droitwich around the black country ring and detouring up the curly wyrley. Never seen the W&B so busy before, we met 7 boats going through wast hill tunnel alone, and it was pretty continuous with boats going the opposite way to us from alvechurch to Brum, although we're clearly out of sequence with the hire boats as I've hardly seen any all day.. I'm guessing that some of them are on their way down to the IWA at Worcester. Hopefully it'll be quieter further north!

This boat was going the other way http://sonflowerslog.blogspot.com/2021/08/to-alvechurch-and-almost-calamity.html

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Braunston, just over a week ago. This is just after it had settled down a bit, too busy to even take a photo before.

Several boats right behind us too including an old tug with a lovely sounding Glennifer engine. 😀

Luckily no widebeams.

Busy Braunston.jpg

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14 hours ago, nicknorman said:

It seems very hit and miss. We left Fazeley Tuesday morning, now at Gt Haywood. We’ve seen a lot of boats moving, and yet loads of space at Fradley moorings on the Cov,  Rugeley visitor moorings were nearly empty, Gt Haywood moorings below the lock pretty quiet and ditto above the lock (although mooring there was suspended until recently due to towpath upgrade). In other words, it does seem pretty busy but plenty of mooring availability.

Yes, and some spots can be busy one day and quiet the next. I was boating 12-16 July. Nottingham to Fradley was quiet, but Fradley all the way through to Stoke was very busy, including long queues for the locks at Stone and Stoke. Rugeley visitor moorings were very busy on that day !

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We just finished a 2 week trip doing the Thames loop. Very busy down the South Oxford, then quiet down the Thames to Limehouse and up the Regents and GU until we got to around Milton Keynes, then it got very busy again, especially going through Braunston.

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On 18/08/2021 at 22:15, MtB said:

That'll be because they are all on the Coventry and the Oxford. 

 

Never seen it so busy here.

 

Indeed, I have lived on the Coventry for over seven years now and have never seen it so busy. Must be 50 or more boats passing every day now.

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8 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Indeed, I have lived on the Coventry for over seven years now and have never seen it so busy. Must be 50 or more boats passing every day now.

Perhaps it's just 25 who go past, meet the widebeam from another thread and have to come back again? ;)

 

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Ok. I take it all back.

After climbing the Stockton flight on our lonesome,  we were lulled into a sense that peace reigned. Until the top lock, where two Kate Boats showed remarkable skill in not being able to enter a broad lock. Did not bode well.

Up the last three and left at Wigrams...

It is manic.

God help us passing through Braunston.

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6 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

Indeed, I have lived on the Coventry for over seven years now and have never seen it so busy. Must be 50 or more boats passing every day now.

We just turned onto the Coventry at Fazeley and yes it is heaving. We were the back end of a chain of 4 boats, met plenty coming the other way. We've stopped at Huddlesford and the moorings are rammed too 

 

On 18/08/2021 at 22:59, ditchcrawler said:

Having read his blog I'm glad I didn't meet him. He'd have probably given me plenty of 'advice' for going too fast / too slow/ cutting corners/eating at the tiller/ reading a Nicholson's whilst steering etc...

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3 hours ago, johnmck said:

Ok. I take it all back.

After climbing the Stockton flight on our lonesome,  we were lulled into a sense that peace reigned. Until the top lock, where two Kate Boats showed remarkable skill in not being able to enter a broad lock. Did not bode well.

Up the last three and left at Wigrams...

It is manic.

God help us passing through Braunston.

You must have passed us, it was motorway busy from Braunston, just ridiculous. Why, why are we on the Oxford/GU in August, just a stupid decision. 

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19 minutes ago, matty40s said:

We went to the Nene, no boats move there except for weekends, other than the silent WillyWatt electric boat that twatted us on a blind corner. 

 

I'm surprised they didn't hear your horn signal on a blind bend, especially as they didn't have to listen over a noisy engine ...

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I've just spent a couple of weeks out on the Oxford and yes it was busy. However it wasn't the numbers out and moving that caused my blood pressure to raise it was the number of boats that had obviously been left unattended at popular locations thereby denying spaces to multiple mobile boats. By way of a not unrepresentative example, Immediately below the lift bridge at Aynho there were 9 or 10 boats moored. Of these, there were, I think, 6 unattended for at least 3 days. This was over a weekend so there was every likelihood that they were left for at least 2 weeks.    

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8 hours ago, Slim said:

I've just spent a couple of weeks out on the Oxford and yes it was busy. However it wasn't the numbers out and moving that caused my blood pressure to raise it was the number of boats that had obviously been left unattended at popular locations thereby denying spaces to multiple mobile boats. By way of a not unrepresentative example, Immediately below the lift bridge at Aynho there were 9 or 10 boats moored. Of these, there were, I think, 6 unattended for at least 3 days. This was over a weekend so there was every likelihood that they were left for at least 2 weeks.    

 

Whilst it is probably inconsiderate, and they could leave their boat in a less desirable area for 2 weeks, they are doing nothing wrong - they (presumably) have paid their licence, BSS and insurance just as you have, and nowhere in any documents, rules or T&Cs does it say that the boat must remain inhabited whilst moored.

What is actually the difference between a 'mobile boat' mooring there for 2 weeks, and thus depriving other 'mobile boats' the opportunity, and a 'dumper' mooring there ?

 

How do you think that people of "working age" can CC without having to leave their boat for a week or two whilst they go to work, come back, cruise over a weekend and 'dump' it again.

 

You may well consider the fact that ONLY CCers have the legal right to mooring for up to 14 days. Boats with home moorings have no such legal right and the fact they can, and do, is purely permissive.

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Whilst it is probably inconsiderate, and they could leave their boat in a less desirable area for 2 weeks, they are doing nothing wrong - they (presumably) have paid their licence, BSS and insurance just as you have, and nowhere in any documents, rules or T&Cs does it say that the boat must remain inhabited whilst moored.

What is actually the difference between a 'mobile boat' mooring there for 2 weeks, and thus depriving other 'mobile boats' the opportunity, and a 'dumper' mooring there ?

 

How do you think that people of "working age" can CC without having to leave their boat for a week or two whilst they go to work, come back, cruise over a weekend and 'dump' it again.

 

You may well consider the fact that ONLY CCers have the legal right to mooring for up to 14 days. Boats with home moorings have no such legal right and the fact they can, and do, is purely permissive.

I understand fully, and accept the points you make. Indeed, they have all been made many times in the past. My point was that this year the incidence of both 'dumpers' and lengthy stopovers for CCers seems to have exploded. I chose to mention 'dumpers' only. Had I chosen to include liveaboad CCers I could have reduced my number of mobile boats to 2.   

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