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Ray T

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So that's OK? I assume it was meant in jest. As an example the bridge (a listed structure) at the top lock in Stoke Bruerne was hit by a vehicle recently - there's visible damage above the towpath just below the lock. The decking is owned by Northants County Council but the parapets are owned by CRT. With heavy transport, buses, refuse lorries and farmers agricultural equipment using the bridge (only non-weight limited east/west road between A43 and Milton Keynes) the parapet has moved slightly so the push is on to have it repaired - eye watering amounts of money which will initially come from CRT (and our licence fees amongst other sources) and may, just may, be recoverable from the insurers of the person who hit the bridge (and to the best of my knowledge it wasn't his fault) but all that is known is where he works! There will be huge inconvenience to the village, visitors, walkers, boaters and so on all for the want of, what I understand, was a 30 second wait by a vehicle wishing to use the bridge so it is not only the financial impact, eye watering as that cost is, but the social implications of the possibility of restricting traffic (no buses to/from Towcester, difficulty in refuse collection, farmers unable to access their land on the other side of the bridge and so on) whilst authorisation for the spend is gained internally within CRT and the requisite planning permissions (because of its listed structure) gained. Planning may be fast tracked with any luck.

 

Of course in jest - but it does have validity, CRT workers need to feed their kids and pay their mortgages too. Especially with the coming cut in wages proposed by the Bullingdon Club coming - they're making cuts themselves too, Michael Gove is getting only 36,000 Pounds bonus - he may have to go shopping at Aldi instead of Waitrose.

 

Why should CRT fork out for the damage? Insurance company of the vehicle that did it! That's what insurance is for! Probably too much bother for the Police to track the vehicle owner down...? How was it not the fault of the vehicle that hit the bridge - especially if they scarpered and haven't bothered to inform of the accident? "All for the want of a 30 second wait" - can you explain?

Guilty parties could be dangled from the (new/repaired) bridge for a week for boats to bang into them as they go through, seems like time-to-fit-the-crime to me wink.png

 

If everyone in the local area chipped in you'd have a new bridge built in a day.

Edited by Emerald Fox
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Thanks for that information. I am amazed that you still have some SR2s in your fleet - they must surely be the last such engines in hireboat service (though UCC have some Sabbs which must be just about as old). Which of your boats still have these engines?

Buckaroo & Little Gem. In the case of Little Gem we retro-fitted the SR2 and the engine is somewhat older than the boat! We've got a rebuilt spare engine & box in store, and enough engine & gearbox spares that I think we can keep them going for many more years. The only downside with the aircooled lumps is that the boat is then wholly dependent on the central heating system for hot water so reliable boilers are a must.

 

They're not overly noisy unless thrashed - so that's a plus point as far as I'm concerned!

 

Jonno's Sabbs are lovely.

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I may be wrong - but both of those clips were taken on the Oxford and the boats were from Oxfordshire NBs? (I'm sure someone will correct me).

It doesn't help that the canal is shallow and the track is very V shaped. So a moment / moments of inattention means that a 'disaster' is inevitable....

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Running a single day boat myself; I'm aware of these problems. I'm probably lucky, the vast majority of my customers are families who invariably do not get drunk, and at least try to navigate safely, without hitting other boats, bridges etc. Probably 10-15% of my trips are from customers such as Rose Narrowboats describes. The mini bus rocks up, several youngsters stagger over under the weight of the alcohol they are carrying. My spirits sink. Having said that most times it works out OK. Maybe I'm lucky.

 

I don't accept booking from under 25's. I've considered upping that to 30 but that might be bordering on some type of age discrimination. Engine is an Isuzu 42 with a throttle restrictor bar for forward gear, limiting the boat to just under 3 mph. I make it clear to such parties that they must have respect for other canal users and that any willful or reckless damage caused, including any caused under the influence of drink or drugs, is their responsibility. I'm not sure what else I could do really.

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I thought both videos a bit tame.

 

I am struggling with this comment. Are you saying you want video's with more damage done, a boat sunk or people injured?

 

I thought the mistreatment of the boats, possible damage to the infrastructure and perhaps bank erosion, upset moorers because of the speed of the boats was bad enough.

Edited by Ray T
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I am struggling with this comment.

I'm not. Of course we would like there to be no accidents ever, but as accidents go, these are indeed a bit tame. There have been far worse. No one was killed or even injured.

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Buckaroo & Little Gem. In the case of Little Gem we retro-fitted the SR2 and the engine is somewhat older than the boat!

 

Just to say that my very first experience of canal boating was hiring Little Gem for a long weekend. (In, I think, 2000) We got as far as Braunston and back.

 

Anyway, I got hooked and now I own my narrowboat. So thanks for that.

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Just to say that my very first experience of canal boating was hiring Little Gem for a long weekend. (In, I think, 2000) We got as far as Braunston and back.

 

Anyway, I got hooked and now I own my narrowboat. So thanks for that.

Ahhh, sorry about that!!

 

Seriously, I sometimes wonder how many people those two little boats have started out on a long term affair with boating. I bet we have 20-30 people a year in our shop who point to our boats outside and say something similar, or "Do you still have such and such - that's the first boat we ever hired"

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I've never met anyone in the marine trade who was particularly fond of Alphas, or the plant trade for that matter.

 

SR/HA/HR/TS on the other hand are pretty bomb proof. We've still got some SR2s and TS3s in the fleet that have outlived several later generations of propulsion power, and our work boat fleet is all HR or TS. I've no intention of changing them either!

 

The Boat at Newbold went through several owners in short order and as of last year is owned by the Barley Mow, who use it for functions etc.

I hired a boat with an SR2, from Dratline I think. It was like having a holiday on a noisy dump truck. For years after, I asked if boats had water cooled engines before hiring.

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I hired a boat with an SR2, from Dratline I think. It was like having a holiday on a noisy dump truck. For years after, I asked if boats had water cooled engines before hiring.

 

I wonder whether the above was intended - if not 'twas rather amusing. I was always impressed with their slidey-back-roofs (rooves), giving a river cruiser feel to their boats.

 

Our first hire was from Planetfleet (? Planetcraft) - Saturn which had an SR2 - totally gutless, but it was 1975 when there was no water....

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Nice wide gunnels for flouncing on - you couldn't do that on my boat. It would be more of an undignified shuffle.

 

Having said that - bit of an invasion of privacy posting that - it being such a well known boat and all...

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Having said that - bit of an invasion of privacy posting that - it being such a well known boat and all...

 

Been posted here in another thread not long back. So too late for not invading their privacy. having said that, the number of boats they passed clearly shows she doesn't give a rats arse. As asked previously, what are they arguing about?>?

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Nice wide gunnels for flouncing on - you couldn't do that on my boat. It would be more of an undignified shuffle.

 

Having said that - bit of an invasion of privacy posting that - it being such a well known boat and all...

 

As this vid has had 37,540 views on youtube thus far, i recon any concern for invasion of privacy is a boat long sailed!smile.png

 

Anyhoo, as my old mum always says, arguing in public is unnecessary and uncouth - the folks i pity are those who moor anywhere near 'em..ohmy.png

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As this vid has had 37,540 views on youtube thus far, i recon any concern for invasion of privacy is a boat long sailed!smile.png

 

Anyhoo, as my old mum always says, arguing in public is unnecessary and uncouth - the folks i pity are those who moor anywhere near 'em..ohmy.png

 

I pity the new owners when people post that video as it's such a distinctive boat. Why people feel the need to upload videos like that is beyond me.

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The comments below the Youtube clip provide some mirth:

 

"Which is why you've been married four times"

Comment: may be 5 times by now

 

Comment: Isn't it about time that this video was removed. I'm sure the arguing couple and their daughter did not give their permission to have this aired.
I'm all on for a bit of a giggle and banter but this is really an invasion of privacy which youtube wrongfully allows in my opinion.
The airing of this video must have caused terrible embarrassment to the couple and their daughter.

 

Comment: There's a lot to be said for sitting in your overalls or work clothes, eating a bacon butty with a mug of tea listening to a diesel ticking over as you wipe the grease from your bottom lip, rather than listening to a rat-bag.

 

I found this video a week ago on Youtube - how have I not noticed it before? I thought it inappropriate to post it - it's been going almost 4 years already - however, now I can tell our little story in that last June we passed Sharpness on the Worcester & Birmingham early one morning, it was all covered in leaves and looked like it had been there a while. The night we spent in Lapworth and set off early again only to find Sharpness in front of us! How? Passed during the night. It's an unusual boat and the (nice) man driving it said it's one of the Wast Hill Tunnel tugs and that another is in a museum... It seems there were three of them, Sharpness, Worcester and Birmingham, and here's linkies:

 

http://www.ww1britainssurvivingvessels.org.uk/vessels/sharpness

 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/national-waterways-museum/the-museum-collections/historic-boat-collections/worcester

 

'Birmingham' tug boat seems to be sitting in a small compound at the Tardebigge New Wharf, and seems to be one of CRT's fleet of Heritage Working Boats.

 

(edited to say it weren't me wot posted it!)

Edited by Emerald Fox
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As for the two 'shocking' videos in tge O.P., some people need to get a life. Those were mishaps, dealt with as good as can be expected from people who are perhaps steering for the first time. The kids didnt hit a bridge, they hit the overgrown remains of an old swing or lift bridge. These are a nuisance at the best of times, creating an obstruction for no reason. They didnt gun the engine in firward when they hit the bridge, but reversed and corrected the situation. Not pretty, but certainly not a ' shocking' incident. And the second video shows someone cocking up going through a bridge. Btw, when you quickly need to bring the bow over, you apply a burst of forward, with the tiller over, as he did. Again, not pretty, but no great problem.

Some people just enjoy watching other peoples misfortune, and love nothing more than disapproving tutting. Go get a life.

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Luctor

 

1 I have a life, I do not need your advice about getting one.

 

2 Please show me where I used the word "shocking" in the OP. The words I used were "Have these two crews been watching too much of Mr West?"

 

I am not sure how you construct the word "shocking" from that sentence, It does not include the letter K for a start.

 

3 Please point out where I said I enjoyed watching them, "Some people just enjoy watching other peoples misfortune, and love nothing more than disapproving tutting," which is what you infer.

 

Do not suggest your priggish thoughts, attributal to me, which I have not said, thank you.

Edited by Ray T
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Ahhh, sorry about that!!

 

Seriously, I sometimes wonder how many people those two little boats have started out on a long term affair with boating. I bet we have 20-30 people a year in our shop who point to our boats outside and say something similar, or "Do you still have such and such - that's the first boat we ever hired"

 

I wager that if N.Bs. were as vulnerable to collision as boats made of less resilient materials owners/hirers would be far less understanding regarding collisions and scrapes with banks - bridges and other boats.

 

I've owned wooden and GRP boats and have been subject to the, 'I'm bigger and tougher than you' mentality of some people in N.Bs. (Usually in hire boats or novices) and I feel that the forgiving attitude towards these numbskulls would soon evaporate if it was your pride and joy - and the safety of your family/friends being jeopardised by foolish people who fail to at least take a basic course in boating or even learn boating 'etiquette' which keeps the boating community so uniquely unified, tolerant and ready to lend a helping hand to any who may need it..

Edited by northerntrades
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'Priggish'. Excellent word and very apt!!!!

The central consonants are correct, I assume?

The comments below the Youtube clip provide some mirth:

 

I'm all on for a bit of a giggle and banter but this is really an invasion of privacy which youtube wrongfully allows in my opinion.

 

Mirth mirth mirth indeed.

"Privacy"???? Teeheehee. If you want to keep something private you don't stand in the middle of a canal screeching like an inebriated banshee.

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