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Weed.

MoominPapa

By MoominPapa
in General Boating

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FadeToScarlet Veteran

FadeToScarlet

Posted
Posted (edited)
At last, a use for a Cambridge Education: all those summer afternoons punting down the Cam came back to me, but it's a lot harder work punting a 60ft narrowboat.

 

Having punted the Duck down the Northampton flight, I find it's a lot easier to do it improperly- stand on the roof at the front, drop the pole in, and lean and walk towards the stern.

 

What you really need, however, is a revolutionary external power-source, that won't get clogged with The Weed, and that will please traditionalists greatly...

 

452124766PrXLcP_fs.jpg

 

Bowler hat optional.

 

NB: Lack of towpath might mean the horse has to walk in the river, Cambridge- style.

Edited by FadeToScarlet
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MoominPapa Veteran II

MoominPapa

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Having punted the Duck down the Northampton flight, I find it's a lot easier to do it improperly- stand on the roof at the front, drop the pole in, and lean and walk towards the stern.

 

What you really need, however, is a revolutionary external power-source, that won't get clogged with The Weed, and that will please traditionalists greatly...

 

452124766PrXLcP_fs.jpg

 

Bowler hat optional.

 

NB: Lack of towpath might mean the horse has to walk in the river, Cambridge- style.

Your picture is broken, but I'm using my imagination......

 

Not having a horse to hand, I did try bow-hauling myself, but not only are there no towpaths, there's also lots of nettles, and I was wearing shorts.....

 

It's quite deep along there, if the horse has to walk in the river, we'll need to equip it with a snorkel.

 

 

MP.

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Brummage Contributor

Brummage

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The sunny weather has been helping the weed grow, out here in the fens. Between Lode's End lock and Ramsey St Marys there's all sorts. Water Lillies. Something which looks like under-water christmas trees. Waving green fronds of under-water grass. Any of those will catch on the prop and slow you down, but they're quite easy to mince, and not much problem.

 

But worst of all, there's BLANKET WEED.

 

A weed-hatch is no use whatsoever, a quick burst of reverse is enough to clear any of this stuff once you're in clear water, including the blanket weed, but where it's thick the blanket weed winds around the prop faster than it can be chopped up and turns the prop into a useless spinning green ball. We're not talking a bit of black smoke, or a hot engine, or going slowly, it completely stops the boat.

 

I've tried going in slowly in an attempt to avoid disturbing the stuff (that works for old weed that's sunk to the bottom, but not the new stuff which is green and growing). I've tried giving it welly to keep the stuff well minced. That doesn't really work either. In the end, the only solution is to pole or bow-haul the boat into clearer water and try again. Don't try this on a windy day, and clear the accumulated mats from around the bow with a boat-hook first, it make the poling easier.

 

MP.

 

Hi MP. I'm resurrecting this old thread to ask you (or anyone else for that matter) what the weed is like now on the Middle Levels. Is it still as bad as when this thread started? The Nene sounds okay according to Sue (nb No problem)but what lurks beyond Stanground Lock?

Edited by Brummage
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MoominPapa Veteran II

MoominPapa

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Hi MP. I'm resurrecting this old thread to ask you (or anyone else for that matter) what the weed is like now on the Middle Levels. Is it still as bad as when this thread started? The Nene sounds okay according to Sue (nb No problem)but what lurks beyond Stanground Lock?

Terrible admission, but we've not actually been anywhere since I started this thread.

 

I've talked to a couple of people at Bill Fen who have complained about the Nene, but not the Middle Level. Starman posted here that he was having weed problems on the Nene, but didn't mention anything about the trip between Ramsey and Peterborough. There was a weedcutter boat tied up by Lode's End lock, so maybe the commissioners have been active?

 

The amount of blanket weed evident in the marina and outside the entrance has, if anything gone down, so maybe we're over the worst?

 

MP.

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Brummage Contributor

Brummage

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Terrible admission, but we've not actually been anywhere since I started this thread.

 

I've talked to a couple of people at Bill Fen who have complained about the Nene, but not the Middle Level. Starman posted here that he was having weed problems on the Nene, but didn't mention anything about the trip between Ramsey and Peterborough. There was a weedcutter boat tied up by Lode's End lock, so maybe the commissioners have been active?

 

The amount of blanket weed evident in the marina and outside the entrance has, if anything gone down, so maybe we're over the worst?

 

MP.

 

Thanks MP.

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Brummage Contributor

Brummage

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Not quite in your patch Brummage, but the Old West River was very weedy as of a week ago ... straying off the centre channel meant instant weed-wrapped prop.

 

I'll maybe leave a trip down that way till the autumn when the weed will hopefully have gone.

 

Great avatar btw. :lol:

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FadeToScarlet Veteran

FadeToScarlet

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Not quite in your patch Brummage, but the Old West River was very weedy as of a week ago ... straying off the centre channel meant instant weed-wrapped prop.

 

Yes, lots and LOTS of moaning on the GOBA forum about it!

 

 

Haling way surely? MP and the Duck

 

I thought of saying that, but translated it from Fenlandese to Rest-of-the-country-speak so people would know what I was on about!

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Dawnie Collaborator

Dawnie

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I'll maybe leave a trip down that way till the autumn when the weed will hopefully have gone.

 

Great avatar btw. :lol:

 

Is the avatar of Phylis and her other half?

 

"Yes, lots and LOTS of moaning on the GOBA forum about it!"

 

theres lots of moaning on the GOBA forum full stop!!

Edited by Carol Whale
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FadeToScarlet Veteran

FadeToScarlet

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Gosh, yes, isn't there? I don't normally read it. It's like NarrowboatWorld with tupperwares!

 

MP.

 

I was tempted to reply to one particular thread, but managed to restrain myself:

 

"It;s all to do with the cost of boating coming down, it's allowing far more people of every sort onto the waterway and is lowering standards".

 

I was tempted to reply,

 

"Maybe we should ban the cheap Tupperware, then, and make everyone get expensive narrowboats instead! That would ensure that only the best class of people can use the rivers".

 

I managed to restrain myself, that would probably have got me banned!

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MoominPapa Veteran II

MoominPapa

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"Maybe we should ban the cheap Tupperware, then, and make everyone get expensive narrowboats instead! That would ensure that only the best class of people can use the rivers".

 

I managed to restrain myself, that would probably have got me banned!

We'd have heard the explosion from here! Do you post there at all. What's your username?

 

MP.

 

 

 

 

It's not my imagination: there's less banket weed floating in the marina than there was a few weeks ago. Blanket weed is algal I think, and I guess it just starts growing in the spring when the water warms up and the sun shines. When it reaches the limits of waterever nutrient is in shortest suppy, it stops growing and sinks to the bottom.

 

So floating blanket weed may not be too bad as the summer continues, but it lurks on the bottom all year round. (Don't ask me how I know this.)

 

 

MP.

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Heffalump Rising Star

Heffalump

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I was tempted to reply,

 

"Maybe we should ban the cheap Tupperware, then, and make everyone get expensive narrowboats instead! That would ensure that only the best class of people can use the rivers".

 

I managed to restrain myself, that would probably have got me banned!

 

URL plz? haha :lol:

 

I don't like causing a stir, honest.

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FadeToScarlet Veteran

FadeToScarlet

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We'd have heard the explosion from here! Do you post there at all. What's your username?

 

MP.

 

T446, haven't changed it from the default yet...

 

Don't ask me how I know this

 

Oh, when *ahem* someone who shall not be named fell in? Complete with gas bottle? :lol:

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