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BCN Challenge 2014 - 24 & 25th May

junior

By junior
in General Boating

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Ange Veteran

Ange

Posted
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Sent off the 17 squids and application form. Eeek, what are we letting ourselves in for!? The clincher was when I got an advance copy of the rules and apparently one gets a bonus point for each "rivet" on one's boat that reaches the end without getting wiped off.

 

Excellent stuff! We never did meet up on the Shroppie - we were always a day behind with fellow forumites who'd spent the eveing before with you and Jeff telling us you're a nice chap in person. I'm looking forward to finally meeting you :)

If it ends at Hawne Basin, I sincerely hope all those rushing down there in great haste know just how small Gosty Hill tunnel gets in places.

 

I have this vision of 20 boats lined up behind the one that is a bit generous on air draft and cabin width, and has become firmly wedged in!

 

EDIT:

 

Bloomin' heck! - Iona is in it - Some serious roof clearing needed there Ange & Dave!

Oh lordy! Dave had to clear stuff off the roof today to get through the Harecastle Tunnel and that's got quite a lot of clearance!

 

The front deck's going to be very busy!

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nicknorman Veteran II

nicknormanDonate to Canal World

Posted
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... telling us you're a nice chap in person.

 

??? Shirley knot! (I'm slipping).

Oh lordy! Dave had to clear stuff off the roof today to get through the Harecastle Tunnel and that's got quite a lot of clearance!

 

The front deck's going to be very busy!

If you have never done it before, be warned that it starts off very high, then somewhere in the middle there is a massive change of section and it is suddenly at handrail height. The historians will be able to tell us why, but I guess it subsided and the worst bits had to have the roof raised, leaving the less worse bits original?
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Ange Veteran

Ange

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Which answer do you want, the boaters or the BCN challenge opposition one?

 

Richard

oo Unkle Richard you wouldn't be so unkind as to try to sabotage Iona's challenge would you?

 

Hmm ....

 

Actually ...

 

Having crewed on Team Tawny and knowing the single mindedness of the skipper ...

ok - the boaters please

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john6767 Veteran II

john6767

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Will everything have to go? Even the bike? Trying to get a feel of quite how low it is.

I would say loose the bike, after all I don't want you getting stuck in front of me biggrin.png. For us it is inches from the handrail at both sides at the front of the cabin.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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Actually I don't think its particularly narrow unless you try to pass a car tyre, but it is a low in the middle, no problem for our boat but the boat we used to borrow (a Mike Heywood) had about 2 ins between handrail and tunnel, and that was only if you were dead in the middle.

Yes, it's all about height and width across top of cabin.

 

Chalice is "Evans & son", which is also effectively "Mike Heywood" as well.

 

She was moderately tight in there, (although certainly not Froghall tight!).

 

Certainly I think not many boats would allow anything as big as a bike left on the roof.

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Mrs Trackman Proficient

Mrs Trackman

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I enjoy.reading about the bcn challenge. You make It sound such fun and I think it's great for the bcn.

However our boat struggles.to get through ashtead.so I've.never fancied.gosty hill. How do people think they compare?

Love the sound of ma purdoes though. Might try to find that by public transport.

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Rob-M Veteran II

Rob-M

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Time-lapse going through Gosty Hill Tunnel at 30 seconds in. We were following Altas, it was very noisy and smoky so we dropped back a bit.

 

 

Watching your video and identifying all those places should help Junior with his route planning.
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dave moore Influencer

dave moore

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Hi all

 

Thought that some of you would be interested in the origins of the modern challenge. I was part of it in 1968. In those days I spent most of my spare time in Gas St basin, hanging round with the Birmingham and Midland boaters and the owners who moored ex working craft there. We used to traipse to the Crown on Broad St for a few beers on Saturday lunchtime, lots of virtual boating done in the lounge at such times.

 

Not long before the IWA had introduced the Silver Sword scheme, which was meant to encourage boaters to use remainder waterways as well as more popular routes. Certain bits of the BCN carried more points than others and were doubled, I think, in winter months. The scheme was under discussion one Saturday lunchtime and one of our group reckoned that sufficient points could be earned to obtain an award in just a weekend of BCN boating in off season times.

 

Tony Phillips ( still boating, still moored in Gas St) took Tay, the Clayton motor he'd bought when they finished in 1966. He towed Jim Marshall with Dublin, a wooden bitty. I was aboard along with Charlie Foster and his son Horace, both ex working boaters. It's all long ago now and I can't recall the other boats, but I've an abiding memory of trying to sleep on Tays cross bed while the Bolinder hammered away too closely. That was a modern cold start job, not the hot bulb older version! We eventually tied up back in Gas St late on Sunday, shattered....and I don't know whether Tony ever claimed his sword.

 

Back in 2007 I was talking to Jim at the Stourbridge gathering...it would be fun, he suggested, to recreate the run next year, 40 years later...an idea unrealized. Happy days!!

 

Cheers

 

Dave

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nicknorman Veteran II

nicknormanDonate to Canal World

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I enjoy.reading about the bcn challenge. You make It sound such fun and I think it's great for the bcn.

However our boat struggles.to get through ashtead.so I've.never fancied.gosty hill. How do people think they compare?

Love the sound of ma purdoes though. Might try to find that by public transport.

I would say Ashtead is marginally worse than Gosty, although of course only on one side. Ashtead's other hazard is the possibility of the lock above being drained at an inopportune moment thus raising the water level to beyond criticality.

 

Ma Pardoes aka Old Swan, Netherton, is worth the effort!

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Ange Veteran

Ange

Posted
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What I usually do is to put up the names of forum members, assuming that others will announce their own. So, I'll list you crew in future

Iona - Ange, Davel & Divum Draconis

 

Matt has just confirmed his attendance which makes me a very happy mum :)

 

Thanks all for the photos and videos of the tunnel - clearly we'll need to have a full sweep of Iona's roof. We did get under that low bridge on the Droitwich when Dave had to remove the tiller pin to fit so we can do it :D

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