Do you ever throw anything in the cut ?

[Mac of Cygnet]

I also throw in biodegradables, mostly vegetable peelings, but feel rather inhibited if there are lots of boats around, and not if I'm in a marina. It depends if they sink or float (eg onion skins float, tattie peelings sink). And I always draw the line at banana skins. It's all very complicated, isn't it?

[Starcoaster]

Stuff under my boat at the moment that went in by mistake includes my ash pan, a full bag of coal, a plate and two mugs. Other items I have no doubt forgotten too, and one time I totally lost a hot rotisserie chicken somewhere between the supermarket checkout and unpacking the shopping, and that might have ended up down there too.

[Athy]

I have seen a horrid cut on someone's leg from some broken glass that went through their waders.

 

Ach. makes me wince just thinking about it.

 

Our involuntary contributions to the contents of the cut include an engraved Zippo lighter, a purple Buckby can (by Sovereign Wharf, just in case anyone comes across it), oh and Mrs. Athy and an Ikea bicycle, the last two simultaneously. Both emerged wet but unscathed.

[Paul G2]

I get very stroppy with people in this area throwing anything sharp, broken glass etc overboard. We are on a drying creek with quite soft mud and it is quite common for people to be wading through it to get ashore. Usually when they have misjudged a tide. I have seen a horrid cut on someones leg from some broken glass that went through their waders.

 

 

I see from your signature that you are now a full fledged FBAS member. When did you graduate from provisional status? I must have missed the announcement.

 

Belated congratulations and a hearty "Namaste" for your inner fluffy bunniness!

[furnessvale]

1 box... the contents of which I am still trying to identify (lost overboard on moving in day) but do know of the following items...1 highly decorated solid silver antique candle stick, my Dad's funeral book, a Webster's leather bound dictionary that had been in my father's family since the late 1800's, two very old photo albums of my Dad's, and numerous pieces of silver plate

With those contents I would have followed that box into the water!

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[magnetman]

. Then I must ensure that the people picking over the rubbish (yes gentle people, they exist) before it is even collected are safe.

.

Are these the same scrap metal collectors who smash the "guns" off old crt type televisions leaving broken glass all over the pavement

[John V]

 

 

I see from your signature that you are now a full fledged FBAS member. When did you graduate from provisional status? I must have missed the announcement.

 

Belated congratulations and a hearty "Namaste" for your inner fluffy bunniness!

 

Also I crave pardon for Yes Great honour such as this is comensurate with great responsibility, that at times I will find a heavy load. My thanks for your kind good wishes !!!

Edited January 3, 2015 by John V

[the barnacle]

i guess as long as a canal is used often and churned up the ash wil just get washed out with the overflow? - i have pulled spades and wheel barrows from the canal - last yr i went in after a prop that a chap had lost with my metal detector - the canal was packed fill of rubbish i could hardly walk around for bars gurders and sheet steel.

[magnetman]

I take it you are referring to a dewatered section ?

Or is it an inderwater detector? I'd have thought there would be too much iron and it'd completely mask anything interesting

[the barnacle]

I take it you are referring to a dewatered section ?

Or is it an inderwater detector? I'd have thought there would be too much iron and it'd completely mask anything interesting

 

its an underwater detector i use mainly abroad in the med, i was just after the large banging targets then feeling with my feet for the shape of the prop.

[Dyertribe]

Nobody bought me biscuits I went to buy some Quality Street, mainly for the free tin, but found that they were in a plastic container as were the Celebrations.

Ahhh, that's cos you were looking at the 750g size £5 in Tesco whereas the 1.3k size was in a tin £7.50 from Tesco

[Athy]

I found a proper tin of "Biscwits" quite economically in B&Ms. Not only is it real metal, it comes with the lovable Vinnie's mug shot too.

[Bettie Boo]

With those contents I would have followed that box into the water!

 

George ex nb Alton retired

 

In fairness George, it was a very dark, wet cold February night in Braunston marina. At that time we had no boat hook, magnet or even a decent flash light. Over the course of the following months we did have a good root round, but never came up with anything.

 

However, about a week after we moved on board a fellow marina dweller returned some of the old photo's and album he had found floating around his boat and had the kindness of drying out for us.

[dor]

I did once "throw" my glasses into the cut one summer. This resulted in considerable entertainment for people on the towpath as they walked past this rather overweight (at the time) man standing in the canal in his underpants gingerly feeling about in the mud for said glasses (yes I did find them).

 

The other object was myself one Christmas Eve. Somewhat chillier.

 

 

As regards ash, or at least wood ash, it sounds a good idea to fill holes in the towpath but when it gets wet it is like a very fine grey clay which treads everywhere.

[Timleech]

Plastic biscuit boxes (can't call them tins really, but then do the metal ones actually contain tin nowadays?) have their uses too, because they don't rust. They're good for storing a home-made cake, as long as the cake isn't too tall to fit. Unfortunately the box I have is not quite wide enough to take a whole cake from my circular spring-form tin, so I have to slice it up and eat some first. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.

 

The metal ones are made of tinplate, which is steel which has a thin coating of tin on each side. So far as I know, they are still.

 

Regarding throwing stuff over the side, teabags do unfortunately usually float. We always use loose tea at home, but teabags on the boat for convenience. Sometimes they will go over the side, but I generally try to put them in the bin.

 

Tim

[Southern Star]

 

 

 

Regarding throwing stuff over the side, teabags do unfortunately usually float. We always use loose tea at home, but teabags on the boat for convenience. Sometimes they will go over the side, but I generally try to put them in the bin.

 

 

Dry them out, soak them in paraffin and use them as firelighters.

[DHutch]

I chuck hot ash from the stove in the canal from time to time.

 

Cold ash from the stove goes either in with ash from the boiler if there is a sack on the boat, hot ash goes on the towpath if its suitable, but sometimes there is no where obvious that its safe or sensible to put it and as said the volumes are tiny.

 

We done live on, so my years ash from the stove is maybe a bucketful.

 

Ash from the boiler is emptied when cold every 3-4days steaming and places in the household rubbish.

 

 

 

Daniel

[Timleech]

Dry them out, soak them in paraffin and use them as firelighters.

 

We don't have a fire on the boat.

[Harpur Hill]

When I was a young lad my father always used to throw his used razor blades on the fire & I presume they were riddled out with the ashes. I

 

asked him why he did this, he said it was to make them safe. I don't imagine they melted but perhaps they distorted & crumpled and the

 

cutting edge was well dulled by the heat. (this was 65+ years ago)

 

If this really worked for razor blades then perhaps it would also work for craft knife blades.

 

HH

[Timleech]

The heat will certainly soften the razor blades, and if the fire is hot enough may well reduce (or oxidise) them to almost nothing, because there is so little actual metal in them.

 

Tim

[Peter X]

 

In fairness George, it was a very dark, wet cold February night in Braunston marina. At that time we had no boat hook, magnet or even a decent flash light. Over the course of the following months we did have a good root round, but never came up with anything.

 

However, about a week after we moved on board a fellow marina dweller returned some of the old photo's and album he had found floating around his boat and had the kindness of drying out for us.

 

Given what's down there, there really ought to be a scruffy old-looking map with "Bettie's Treasure" in gothic font and an X to mark the spot.

[Mrs Tawny Owl]

I remember my gran, in the 60's would stuff tin cans with potato peelings and similar and put them on the fire to burn.

Not sure what was left but I certainly remember this.

I don't put peelings in the canal because I think they float and look a mess. My only exception is Apple cores, but they get quickly eaten any way. And our teabags only go in if they fall out when I empty the dregs out of the hatch, they usually go in the bin.

Never put ashes in, but then we don't have a stove.

 

As regards to sharp objects, I wouldn't put them in the cut, I'd do what I always did at home before wheelie bins and wrap broken glass, blades etc in newspaper or empty food boxes or tins. Anything to stop them coming through if they are in a bin bag.

 

Anything else is not intentional and gets retrieved if possible, or grumbled over if not!

 

Sue

[madcat]

My gran used to have a pig bin that food waste went into, collected by the pig swill man . Not allowed now due to risks of disease transmission from inadequately boiled swill plus issues of feeding bacon and pork scraps to pigs.

[Peter X]

More about teabags: most are not fully bio-degradable because they contain some polypropylene:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jul/02/teabags-biodegradeable

I used to put mine in the compost heap, and found as per the article that the remains of the bags are in my soil years later, but can be picked out when digging and weeding.

Do most marinas have recycling bins for the usual stuff that councils routinely collect from houses nowadays, i.e. glass, cans, plastics, paper and food waste? If not, why not?

[madcat]

I've found the bags I buy are ok now but I've had problems with the compost in the past having tea bag ghosts in it.

 

On the boat tea bags get put in the stove after they've hung out in the teapot doing their tea bag thing.