March of the Widebeams

[peterboat]

2 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

For anyone who has Facebook access, I don't know how I can share it here for others 

(8) Facebook

 

2 hours ago, IanD said:

 

What a twat! For mooring there, beyond belief, instead of grassing him up they should have moored him somewhere else I would 

[PaulJ]

3 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

For anyone who has Facebook access, I don't know how I can share it here for others 

(8) Facebook

I passed that at 8.00 am this morning- did think at the time I was glad I wasnt on a widebeam..

Interestingly both top gates were wide open which was great as it saved me having to fill the lock and open them myself😀

[Victor Vectis]

4 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

An update 

 

 

Apologies for any inconvenience caused I was moving the boat from Redhill to Mercia yesterday and ran out of daylight so we left it there not realising it was causing an obstruction.

We did come back at 7:30 this morning to try and move it on to Mercia but the ignition barrel was frozen solid and it wouldn’t start.

As others have mentioned it was too icy to attempt moving it by hand and ropes were frozen so we left it until the sun had defrosted it and returned this afternoon to collect it.

People need to think there may be an innocent reason rather than jumping on the band wagon and hurling abuse and insults.

And as for the OP try talking to you’re neighbours in front they were there when we tried to move it this morning so knew it was us.

Maybe try grassing up the widebeam in Willington village that’s been there on short stay moorings for over a year now, it’s amazing how CRT can contact the owners of a boat that’s been there less than 24hrs but happy to let another overstay for 12 months 

but the ignition barrel was frozen solid and it wouldn’t start.

So, heat the key (match, gas hob etc) then insert in keyhole.

and ropes were frozen

Ahh, diddums. Where you worried your hands might get cold if you tried to untie them?

People need to think there may be an innocent reason rather than jumping on the band wagon and hurling abuse and insults.

But, then again, if the cap fits..........

 

[peterboat]

18 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

but the ignition barrel was frozen solid and it wouldn’t start.

So, heat the key (match, gas hob etc) then insert in keyhole.

and ropes were frozen

Ahh, diddums. Where you worried your hands might get cold if you tried to untie them?

People need to think there may be an innocent reason rather than jumping on the band wagon and hurling abuse and insults.

But, then again, if the cap fits..........

 

I came up Tinsley Tinsley flight the other day my ropes were frozen as well, that's life, boating in winter can be difficult at times, I dropped mine in the canal instant defrost

[Ken X]

They wouldn't like hire boating 😀. 

 

Not often the golly freezes overnight.  Had to break out of Whitchurch.

 

And, yes, the ropes were frozen.

 

[frangar]

10 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

but the ignition barrel was frozen solid and it wouldn’t start.

So, heat the key (match, gas hob etc) then insert in keyhole.

and ropes were frozen

Ahh, diddums. Where you worried your hands might get cold if you tried to untie them?

People need to think there may be an innocent reason rather than jumping on the band wagon and hurling abuse and insults.

But, then again, if the cap fits..........

 

From the wording on the post it almost sounds as if it could be a boat mover…..and if they can’t cope with that it’s a worry!! 

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

11 hours ago, peterboat said:

I came up Tinsley Tinsley flight the other day my ropes were frozen as well, that's life, boating in winter can be difficult at times, I dropped mine in the canal instant defrost

See you may be stuck top pound for a few days, boat going down has just come back, unable to open the locks all iced up❄️🥶❄️

Edited December 2, 2023 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[ditchcrawler]

On 01/05/2018 at 11:05, cuthound said:

Whilst walking the dog, I came across this widebeam moored at Alvecote on the Coventry Canal.

 

Hopefully it is an escapee from the adjacent marina, waiting for a pumpout or diesel.

 

If not he has a very limited cruising range and a few low bridges to contend with. ?

Its moored about 6 boats down from me

[haggis]

10 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Its moored about 6 boats down from me

Maybe he just wanted to do some boating so came out of the marina and moored up. Long journey 🙂 

[peterboat]

1 hour ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

See you may be stuck top pound for a few days, boat going down has just come back, unable to open the locks all iced up❄️🥶❄️

Locks arnt iced up at all, the canal is iced up but that's it and it's an inch thick

[noddyboater]

3 hours ago, frangar said:

From the wording on the post it almost sounds as if it could be a boat mover…..and if they can’t cope with that it’s a worry!! 

From Redhill to Mercia is a common move for widebeams going up for sale in Mercia, usually by marina staff.

What I can't understand is from where they left it to the marina is a straight run, even in the dark.

I'd guess it's more a case of they'd have enough for the day and didn't fancy any overtime.

 

[Ex Brummie]

18 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

 

Maybe try grassing up the widebeam in Willington village that’s been there on short stay moorings for over a year now, it’s amazing how CRT can contact the owners of a boat that’s been there less than 24hrs but happy to let another overstay for 12 months 

Two wrongs don't make a right.

[magnetman]

14 minutes ago, noddyboater said:

From Redhill to Mercia is a common move for widebeams going up for sale in Mercia, usually by marina staff.

What I can't understand is from where they left it to the marina is a straight run, even in the dark.

I'd guess it's more a case of they'd have enough for the day and didn't fancy any overtime.

 

Maybe the insurance doesn't cover operations after sunset. 

[noddyboater]

31 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Maybe the insurance doesn't cover operations after sunset. 

Possibly, but I doubt it.

They certainly would have expected one of their regular paid movers to complete the journey rather than abandoning it so near in a crap place.

A case of office staff playing at boating I'd guess.

Edited December 2, 2023 by noddyboater

[Captain Pegg]

23 hours ago, noddyboater said:

Possibly, but I doubt it.

They certainly would have expected one of their regular paid movers to complete the journey rather than abandoning it so near in a crap place.

A case of office staff playing at boating I'd guess.

As a regular paid mover for a well known brokerage or two I’d say there’s no point in arriving after hours.

 

For one of my regular clients I routinely moor up less than an hour short of destination where I have access to facilities and can arrive at opening time the next morning when the staff have plenty of time to deal with the boat and I have plenty of time to get home.

[IanD]

1 minute ago, Captain Pegg said:

As a regular paid mover for a well known brokerage or two I’d say there’s no point in arriving after hours.

 

For one of my regular clients I routinely moor up less than an hour short of destination where I have access to facilities and can arrive at opening time the next morning when the staff have plenty of time to deal with the boat and I have plenty of time to get home.

But would you have moored *there* ?

[Captain Pegg]

2 minutes ago, IanD said:

But would you have moored *there* ?

I don’t know because I don’t know the full circumstances. Sometimes you have to moor in less than ideal places. In this case it would have been a lot more palatable if the crew had remained on board and moved early the next morning. How you do something can be as important as what you do.

 

I’d also observe that similar things happen with narrowboats but of course they are less likely to get lampooned.

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

35 minutes ago, IanD said:

But would you have moored *there* ?

And then bugger off for the night

[PaulJ]

44 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

I don’t know because I don’t know the full circumstances. Sometimes you have to moor in less than ideal places. In this case it would have been a lot more palatable if the crew had remained on board and moved early the next morning. How you do something can be as important as what you do.

 

 

You wouldnt have done.

You would probably have gone past the two narrowboats and moored closer to the entrance of Stenson Marina than you should have instead. Makes more sense if it HAD to be left.(Assuming it actually had some mooring pins on board of course)

But then I doubt you would have left it either..

I am guessing the fact that the canal froze up ovenight was the main reason it didnt get moved first thing in the morning. Shiny new boat blacking and all that..

 

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by PaulJ

[MtB]

1 minute ago, PaulJ said:

I am guessing the fact that the canal froze up ovenight was the main reason it didnt get moved first thing in the morning. Shiny new boat blacking and all that..

 

 

This seems more likely.

 

"Ignition lock frozen" does sound a bit feeble as a reason to leave the canal blocked most of the day.....

 

 

[IanD]

46 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

I don’t know because I don’t know the full circumstances. Sometimes you have to moor in less than ideal places. In this case it would have been a lot more palatable if the crew had remained on board and moved early the next morning. How you do something can be as important as what you do.

 

I’d also observe that similar things happen with narrowboats but of course they are less likely to get lampooned.

 

A narrowboat wouldn't have caused the obstruction so not a problem. Nothing to do with lampooning widebeams, just people in general who moor stupidly.

 

Which is more likely to mean widebeams, simply because they're more likely to cause an obstruction... 😉

Edited December 3, 2023 by IanD

[Captain Pegg]

2 minutes ago, PaulJ said:

You wouldnt have done.

You would probably have gone past the two narrowboats and moored closer to the entrance of Stenson Marina than you should have instead. Makes more sense if it HAD to be left.

But then I doubt you would have left it either..

I am guessing the fact that the canal froze up ovenight was the main reason it didnt get moved first thing in the morning. Shiny new boat blacking and all that..

 

 

 

Yeah they should have taken it past that narrowboat. Plenty of piling and not too close to the marina entrance by the look of it.

[PaulJ]

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

This seems more likely.

 

"Ignition lock frozen" does sound a bit feeble as a reason to leave the canal blocked most of the day.....

 

 

Shame- if they had have waited for a bit they would have seen I had already cleared a path from Willington 😀

Edited December 3, 2023 by PaulJ

[Captain Pegg]

15 minutes ago, IanD said:

A narrowboat wouldn't have caused the obstruction so not a problem. Nothing to do with lampooning widebeams, just people in general who moor stupidly.

 

Which is more likely to mean widebeams, simply because they're more likely to cause an obstruction... 😉

It wasn’t exclusively addressed to you or about this incident.

 

At this time of year there are plenty of places where moored narrowboats restrict passage. Places like Clifton or Tardebigge old wharf. Yes I know that some folk will get excited about that but for the most part folk deal with it rather than putting it online.

 

Leisure boating in the summer is easy. Things get more complicated when you’re moving a boat that potentially has no equipment on board, in poor light and weather and when all the convenient places to moor have been taken up and you need access to public transport or some specific amenity on the bank.
 

As it turns out there was a better solution seemingly available here but it’s easy to criticise and it’s almost certain the number of people criticising was infinitely higher than the number of people that were actually inconvenienced.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by Captain Pegg

[noddyboater]

1 hour ago, Captain Pegg said:

As a regular paid mover for a well known brokerage or two I’d say there’s no point in arriving after hours.

 

For one of my regular clients I routinely moor up less than an hour short of destination where I have access to facilities and can arrive at opening time the next morning when the staff have plenty of time to deal with the boat and I have plenty of time to get home.

My point was it was less than an hour to the marina, with no more locks and not difficult in the dark.

As they were marina staff involved in the move there wouldn't have been an issue in where to leave it etc. It's also well lit once inside the marina area.

With freezing conditions forecast I'd have got it there rather than abandoning it so near.