How busy is the Llangollen at the moment?

[Tony1]

2 minutes ago, Leemc said:

Just back on Nantwich embankment after 5 week trip and exactly the same boats are still here on the 1 day mooring before the basin and 2 day ones on the embankment. Enforcement?!? Don't think so. Never feel guilty about overstaying a day when some boats are clearly overstaying for months!

 

I don't really understand what's going on at Nantwich, I must admit.

I know the spotters are out and about.

In fact I got a polite email from CRT asking me to move on after I'd been stooging around for 5 months on the 8 mile stretch between Chester and Ellesmere Port (which included a total of 8 weeks in the museum basin at £70 per week). No complaints from me about that, it was a fair cop, and it was very unusual for me to stay in such a short stretch for so long.

I was stretching the rules somewhat, trying to prolong my stay in the area for family reasons. In  my defence there were hardly any boats around, so I wasn't blocking popular moorings etc.

But I'd only been a week at Stoak when the 'sling your hook' email arrived, and Stoak is one of the quietest spots I've seen so far.

No other boats moored there in that week (not very many even went past), and only one or two boats have stopped there on any of the other occasions I was moored there. 

But clearly the spotters are (quite rightly) walking even the very quiet stretches of canal where few boats travel, and if you are too slow moving- even taken over a cumulative period- they will quite rightly ask you to move further on.  

So there is surely zero possibility that these static boaters at Nantwich visitor moorings have not been spotted by now. In fact I reckon they will have been spotted many times over.

If CRT are checking up at Stoak, they are definitely checking Nantwich. 

I guess its possible that one or two have genuine breakdown issues and cant move, and perhaps some others have medical issues that mean moving is difficult at the moment. Apologies if this seems hypocritical after I got a notice myself, but if I'm being honest its a bit out of order for an embankment full of them to park there for most of the summer.  

Something doesn't seem quite right there. 

 

 

[Leemc]

People just take liberties and think the rules don’t apply to them. Great spot near facilities and shops, I bet they’re getting emails and ignoring them

[haggis]

We have noticed a lot of boats moored in prime spots in the last few days and we came to the conclusion that they are hunkering down for the winter. 

[Tony1]

4 minutes ago, Leemc said:

People just take liberties and think the rules don’t apply to them. Great spot near facilities and shops, I bet they’re getting emails and ignoring them

 

But surely that path will end up with them having their boats pulled out?

I guess some people are more hard-nosed and will take more risks than other people, but for me there is also a selfishness at play.

Everyone knows how popular the place is for boaters, and how busy. 

To stay on a 2 day mooring for weeks and weeks on end (without a genuine reason, e.g. breakdown), even if CRT are not chasing you- really does look like pure selfishness.

I don't think it reflects at all well on the people who do it. 

 

 

[Tony1]

8 minutes ago, haggis said:

We have noticed a lot of boats moored in prime spots in the last few days and we came to the conclusion that they are hunkering down for the winter. 

 

I have an odd feeling that things are not going to quiet down in November as much as they usually do....

But regardless, at Nantwich many of the visitor moorings state that they are 2 days max for the whole year, so there should never be any hunkering of any sort going on there, although I can understand it creeping in at other locations after the end of this month. 

Personally, I may actually move more often during this winter than during the summer, stoppages permitting. The peace and quiet is lovely to experience when on the move. 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by Tony1

[David Mack]

On 25/09/2022 at 23:11, Tony1 said:

Not that I'll be doing it solo, I think. I passed Hurlstone junction a few days ago and there was a queue of boats waiting to go up.

A couple of years ago at Hurleston I bowled up from the Barbridge direction, went straight past all the waiting boats and turned into the junction. I could feel the hostility from the waiting boat crews, and the boat moored immediately below the bottom lock hastened to untie his ropes lest I steal the lock from him. And I just carried on turning until I was pointing back towards Barbridge and returned whence I had come!

[Tony1]

52 minutes ago, David Mack said:

A couple of years ago at Hurleston I bowled up from the Barbridge direction, went straight past all the waiting boats and turned into the junction. I could feel the hostility from the waiting boat crews, and the boat moored immediately below the bottom lock hastened to untie his ropes lest I steal the lock from him. And I just carried on turning until I was pointing back towards Barbridge and returned whence I had come!

 

I missed what looked like a right kerfuffle about to happen when I came through there southbound. 

There was a boat following me about a hundred yards behind. I never saw them later on, so I assume they were wanting to get up through the locks. 

I think it was around midday so it was never going to be quiet there, but there was a queue of I think 3 or 4 boats waiting on the towpath for their turn to go up the flight. I then noticed a boat slowly emerging from the bottom lock, although I dont know if he was headed north or south.

The boat on the lock landing was slowly pulling out to get into the lock, and the front boat in the queue on the towpath was starting to edge across to take his place on the lock landing. 

I think the boats in the queue were getting a bit anxious when they saw the boat following me, and they probably wanted to make sure their place wasn't taken.

Then as I got through under the bridge I saw another boat coming towards me, and he then went through and into the junction northbound at a fair clip. 

So it looked like for the next few minutes there would be four boats on the move in that winding hole, mostly in different directions. 

Sadly heavy rain was imminent, so I didnt stay to watch how events unfolded, but it must have been a very interesting few minutes in there. 

This is why I rarely even bother to try a busy lock flight between 10am and 4pm. 

Don't get me wrong, it can be fun and I've often had help from hire boaters around me, and some lively chats with the families, but in places like Hurlstone where boats can come into the queue from two different directions it does seem to give rise to a bit of queue anxiety during the peak hours.

Like Arthur , I much prefer to go through lock flights early doors if its feasible. 

In fact, I'm quite decadent doing them at 7am, he prefers 6am. 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by Tony1