Slowly sinking new boater seeks emergency GRP repair advice

[Laurie Booth]

14 hours ago, Chris Yearsley said:

Update, and (mostly) good news. Many thanks for all the helpful advice.

 

We've booked the boat into the drydock at Hockley for next week, with WRComposites booked to do the repair. They came out to the boat (even though it was in a bad location) and managed an underwater patch repair that held perfectly while we cruised from Star City area to Hockley. I'm so happy it's working out, and I'm fitter personally after the exercise of the 24 locks we did on Saturday.

 

When we got to the boat on Saturday morning we found someone has smashed a window in - and moved the boat. Somehow someone moved it through New Troutpool Bridge and re-moored it on the other side (!!?? It's a narrow bridge ) Nothing had been taken and the cabin hadn't been entered. We're very confused. All we can think is that some joker smashed the window and set the boat loose, and then a good samaritan caught it and moored again. It was a distressing start to the day. If anyone sees chatter about it on facebook or wherever do let us know

 

Two thumbs up for WRComposites, but no thumbs up for the guys that RCR sent a week ago to fix the blocked cooling intake. They tried to scam my daughter telling her it needed two engineers as the seacock had to come right off, and demanded many hundred pounds. They forced her to agree by having removed the water pump and taken it away, before giving her the quote. And that's with 'RCR Gold - parts included - unlimited callouts'. However when the (lone) engineer turned up, he just cleared the blockage by hand in a moment and charged much less. Seemed like he wasn't willing to carry out the evil plan his colleagues had set up.

 

The drydock at Hockley operated by Sherborne Wharf is still in business but they're hard to deal with. They only use email, no phone, whatsapp, or messenger and they always take days to reply to each email. So arranging things is tricky but we think it's in place.

Excellent news !!

[Mike Todd]

On 05/03/2026 at 14:59, Francis Herne said:

I don't think it's particularly unfair to compare the two fuel suppliers on the BCN to each other.

 

I think Rich on Roach was about £1.05 and Alvechurch was £1.30 but including duty at 60/40.

 

I would expect 'marina' prices to be somewhat higher but over 50p more struck me as predatory. The only place I've seen a similar price differential was the Worcestershire Avon marinas which have something of a captive market.

 

I don't know if their diesel pricing reflects their other services at all though...

 

@Chris Yearsley it occurred to me that Swallow Cruisers on the North Stratford might be one for the list of options - it's a day or so further but no extra locks, another old-school sort of yard similar to Caggy's.

 

 

 

I don't know whether it is still the case but I long ago was given to understand that marinas with a significant hire boat operation (and often as a result much reduced passing trade for fuel) always charged at a higher rate because that was necessarily what hirers had to pay to return a full tank. It always seemed to like that but I cannot claim to have made an objective study.

 

It also depends on the size of the fuel storage tanks. A few years back when we stayed in the Milton Keynes area several times there are two diesel stations not far apart with the same owner. The price to boaters was markedly different and they explained that one had a much larger tank than the other and this made a considerable difference to the price from the wholesaler. This difference was passed on to the retail customer.

 

Would be interesting to know how this impacts fuel boat pricing.

[Stroudwater1]

On 23/03/2026 at 18:08, Chris Yearsley said:

Update, and (mostly) good news. Many thanks for all the helpful advice.

 

We've booked the boat into the drydock at Hockley for next week, with WRComposites booked to do the repair. They came out to the boat (even though it was in a bad location) and managed an underwater patch repair that held perfectly while we cruised from Star City area to Hockley. I'm so happy it's working out, and I'm fitter personally after the exercise of the 24 locks we did on Saturday.

 

When we got to the boat on Saturday morning we found someone has smashed a window in - and moved the boat. Somehow someone moved it through New Troutpool Bridge and re-moored it on the other side (!!?? It's a narrow bridge ) Nothing had been taken and the cabin hadn't been entered. We're very confused. All we can think is that some joker smashed the window and set the boat loose, and then a good samaritan caught it and moored again. It was a distressing start to the day. If anyone sees chatter about it on facebook or wherever do let us know

 

Two thumbs up for WRComposites, but no thumbs up for the guys that RCR sent a week ago to fix the blocked cooling intake. They tried to scam my daughter telling her it needed two engineers as the seacock had to come right off, and demanded many hundred pounds. They forced her to agree by having removed the water pump and taken it away, before giving her the quote. And that's with 'RCR Gold - parts included - unlimited callouts'. However when the (lone) engineer turned up, he just cleared the blockage by hand in a moment and charged much less. Seemed like he wasn't willing to carry out the evil plan his colleagues had set up.

 

The drydock at Hockley operated by Sherborne Wharf is still in business but they're hard to deal with. They only use email, no phone, whatsapp, or messenger and they always take days to reply to each email. So arranging things is tricky but we think it's in place.

Hope all is good, as David Mack mentions New Troutpool looks nice but it’s not ideal to leave a boat there. The Birmingham Canal Society (BCNS) published mooring slots recommended although I think it’s being updated. One or two are not ideal and they aren’t spots necessarily to leave a boat unattended. . 
 

https://bcnsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/BCN-Safe-Moorings-2017-12-06.pdf