|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 24, 2024 21:08:38 GMT
Pete Gilbert’s opinion about what? The condition of my boat's hull. Fascinating, but I didn’t comment on the condition of your hull. I just commented on the globs of rust hanging off it.
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 24, 2024 19:52:27 GMT
I guess it'll see you out 👍🏻 Rog I'm sure it will. I could probably never get it blacked again and it would still be afloat on the day they carry me out in a wooden box, but it's just nice to come and spend a few days with Pete and have a nose around Charity Dock. And then you can put on your CV that you have been working with a charity - very good for virtue signalling.
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 24, 2024 19:51:16 GMT
They are decorative rivets. What are those round things on your boat? Oh yes, lumps of rust. With all due respect I'll take Pete Gilbert's opinion over yours, thank you anyway. Pete Gilbert’s opinion about what?
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 24, 2024 19:11:23 GMT
What are those round things? They are decorative rivets. What are those round things on your boat? Oh yes, lumps of rust.
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 24, 2024 19:05:16 GMT
Boat's been pressure washed now, the hull's in pretty good condition, all things considered. First coat of bitumen going on today. Going to need four new anodes though, so that's another £300 on top of the bill. Break out another thousand. This is our hull 6 years after last blacking, post pressure wash. This is the difference between bitumen and 2-pak
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 24, 2024 7:53:01 GMT
Thanks for the responses. It seems generally that there's more concerns about the future and dissatisfaction with the number of boats, and the temperament of other boaters. Is that a fair assessment ? Rog Maybe it’s just that as we age, we become less happy. I have noticed that when I’m out with my children and friends, or out with the car club, that there is generally more fun and laughter to be had. I’m sure this is true - Jeff and I don’t go around laughing and having fun. Well not in public anyway! But we are always courteous and friendly towards other people. However there do seem to be an increasing number of grumpy miserable people on the canals - not hirers, but private owners.
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 23, 2024 21:49:52 GMT
Boating since the 1960s. Well, from say 1966 to 1976 when my school chum's dad had first a day cruiser, then a centre cockpit cruiser, then a bespoke woodentop narrowboat built by Rugby Boatbuilders (Colin Payne). Notable events were, aged 12 (and me being 6' tall) we were let loose by the parents to take the centre cockpit cruiser away for a 1/2 term weekend from the mooring at Lapworth into Birmingham. That was quite an adventure, and you can imagine parents of the 2020s letting their 12 year old kids do that! And then there was the trip up to Ripon on the narrowboat when I was around 18, a group of us (with no adults). Kids were resilient and competent in those days! Also a trip to Ely for an IWA rally with Chris' dad. I nearly sank the boat by leaving it on bottom lock gates in fwds tickover (outside the lock, waiting to go up) whilst the lock filled for the boat ahead - and leaked like buggery into the well deck and into the open front doors! Chris' dad was most displeased. Then a long hiatus until I introduced Jeff to narrowboating around 1992, on Chris' new narrowboat. In the 16 years from 76 to 92, a big difference in the number of live aboard boats (virtually zero before), a big difference in the number of incompetent private owner boaters, but I would say the system - and certainly the Birmingham area - was much improved. Central Brum having gone from a grimy dingy back-of-factories, to the Brindley Place etc we see now. Canals were cleaner. Between 92 and now, even more boats, many more moored boats, too many people who don't know how to tie their boats up and shout at you when you pass at tickover, even more totally incompetent and prissy private owners, too many "one click wonders" operating paddles, control-freak volockies, and generally a massive dumbing down of boating. But masses more piling which makes mooring much easier. Recently I would say more lock gates and beams in dire condition, held together with bits of steel etc. And those ridiculous yellow bags over paddles which say "this item is undergoing repair" when what they actually mean is "this thing is buggered and we can't be bothered to repair it until the other one breaks too"
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 22, 2024 21:49:10 GMT
The light cruiser has two engines each of which have A127 alternators. One of the alts doesn't work the other was working but stopped working and both the ind light and the oil pressure light illuminated even with the key switched off. No oil problem. There was also a parasitic drain. I am not that concerned as I have the godlike LTO batteries which would start a Diesel truck in a blizzard but it is slightly interesting to consider the reason for both of the lamps being illuminated. I think its a diode. The parasitic drain was really bad. I was shocked. Yes I would say a diode, that is allowing battery+ into the stator which then, via the field diodes, finds its way to the D+ terminal. Then back via the alternator warning light to the isolated panel +12v supply (ie the circuitry the non-battery side of the ignition switch) which is thus powering the oil light, the other end of which is connected to ground via the oil pressure switch. With the bulbs in series I’d expect them to be rather dim, but none the less visible. Doesn’t explain how the lights would be on with the engine running though - but perhaps you only noticed after you’d stopped the engine?
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 22, 2024 19:42:04 GMT
Just so all you people pretending to ignore Tony can read his post. Except that they have you on ignore too!
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 22, 2024 9:32:02 GMT
Sounds like a fun event Telemachus ? Did your club finish 4th ? 😁 Rog Yes. Out of 5 remember. Mostly this was because our intermediate pilot had a bad dose of the shits on Friday night following a takeaway curry, and couldn’t participate. And we only had the one day, Sunday it was raining and unflyable.
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 22, 2024 9:27:05 GMT
Sorry I misread your previous post where you mentioned penning out at Tarleton - I read half an hour after the ebb which I took that to mean 30 mins after the start of the ebb ie 30 mins after high tide. I have not been there, so I have no idea how much water is in the river at different states of tide.
But I see that is not what you said, sorry! An hour after half ebb - so with the times I mentioned that would be 14:00 departure to arrive at 19:30. This certainly makes it more feasible. I suppose one question that neither of us know, is how much depth there is around low water in 2024 - your experience is from a long time ago and you can bet that no dredging has been done recently, so it will depend on how much natural scouring takes place I suppose. Also around low water, how easy is it for an amateur pleasure boater to remain in deep enough water in the middle of large expanses of mud flats with fairly poor visual references?
In post < thunderboat.boards.net/post/395943/thread > I said " I'll deal with the other points you've raised after we've got your misconceptions about times for penning out at Tarleton straightened out.". It appears from the post quoted above that your misconceptions are far from straightened out, and you've yet to grasp the basic essentials of how to work round tides and tide times in rivers and estuaries. C&RT too, have little to no understanding of the basic principles and practices that really must not be deviated from or ignored. Lack of the necessary sound background knowledge, and being neither willing nor able to adapt to or make the best use of whatever circumstances and conditions prevail on the day is not a formula for the successful planning of safe and efficient routine tidal passage making. The two questions you ask above, and the answers to them, aren't applicable to planning Tarleton to Preston passages. The last couple of miles of the Douglas (Astland/Asland), on the last of the Ebb or around local LW, is no place for canal pleasure craft crewed by amateur part timers unfamiliar with tidal estuaries to be messing about. On mean tides or bigger, there's usually a fairly big fast moving tidal bore in the Ribble, . . comparable with the Trent Aegre from around Owston Ferry and on up to Gainsborough. There are also numerous sandbanks and shoals, many of which dry out at local LW, extending a good mile or more up the Douglas from Astland Light. The last few hundred yards of the Douglas, including the scoured out deepwater channel that runs close to the training wall, is almost like a mirror image of the Trent in the area of South Trent, North Trent, and Apex Lights. The question of dredging doesn't arise. The deepwater channel in the Ribble was dredged regularly when shipping was still using Preston Docks, . . but the lower reaches of the Douglas, all the way down to Astland Light, were always left to the process of natural scouring, in the same way the Trent is left to scour out the deepwater channel itself from Cliff End, past Middle Sand, to Apex Light. The only safe, practical, and efficient option for shallow draught pleasure craft making the Tarleton to Preston passage is to pen out into the river Douglas as soon as possible after arriving at Tarleton. This can be done at any time during the period of anything up to 16 hours out of every whole tidal day* during which there is sufficient depth of water in the lock tail and over the outer cill for them. Once in the river, they can, and should, move the short distance downriver to the boatyard, and wait on the boatyard floating stages in the river Douglas for the Flood (tide) that's going to take them up the Ribble and into Savick Brook. Making use of a few minutes out of those many hours of opportunity, by penning out into the river as soon as possible after arrival at Tarleton means, in effect, that you don't 'use up' any of one tide at all. It's the next tide - one tide only - that's taken up with the Tarleton to Preston passage. Unlike the ridiculous C&RT booking/scheduling arrangements that waste time, and one whole tide, by making you wait in the canal at Tarleton for the remainder of the day on which you arrive there, . . if you pen out into river as soon after arriving at Tarleton as you possibly can, then you're all set to catch the next day's tide - one tide only - up the Ribble to Preston, . . at exactly the right time. Catching the Flood running up to Preston at exactly the right time - which is NOT possible if you follow C&RT's Mickey Mouse and potentially quite risky scheduling for penning out into the river at Tarleton - means that you'll have the Flood under you all the way upriver from Astland Light, and you'll be turning into the Savick Brook's Ribble outfall on a rising tide, which rules out any possibility of having to divert to Preston Docks Marina, and having to wait, . . and pay, . . overnight in there for the next day's first tide to get you the mile and a bit back down river and into the so-called 'Ribble Link'. * Average duration 24 hrs 51 mins. Ok so I think what you are saying is that instead of waiting for the flood to lock onto the Douglas, you lock onto it earlier, during the lengthy period when there is enough water to do so. You then can cruise down to the boatyard without having to punch the flood. From the boatyard, you still have to wait for the flood but of course it is earlier. You still have to punch the flood to Astland lamp, but it is obviously a shorter distance. So the saving comprises 2 elements, one being the earlier flood at the boatyard and the other being the shorter distance to punch the flood to Astland. With the flood being fairly short lived I guess it could well be that the flood has expired before you get to Astland lamp. But then that last point applies even more to departing Tarleton on the flood. So although it isn’t going to make a huge difference, even an hour earlier arrival at Savick is going to virtually eliminate the possibility of having to divert to Preston, and / or increase the number of days when the transit is feasible. The fly in the ointment being that there has to be space and permission to tie up at the boatyard. I doubt that would be free and the boatyard might not be prepared to guarantee space months in advance. I’m not sure how many boats typically make the transit, but narrowboats take up a lot of space even when rafted.
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 22, 2024 8:09:58 GMT
A league Telemachus ... is that points for distance achieved by each club member, totalled over a number of 'matches / flights ? I didn't know there were glider club leagues. Rog It’s a low-key friendly competition amongst the 5 Scottish clubs over a weekend, twice a year. Hosted by the 4 main clubs in turn. 3 classes of pilots entering, novice, intermediate, pundit. So 3 pilots from each club. Each of the 2:days (weather permitting) a task is set (a route via a start gate and a few turning points, back to the host airfield). You get distance points, and speed points if you complete the task. BBQ on the Saturday night. I managed a meagre 74km but then it was a shit day!
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 21, 2024 22:52:40 GMT
Flew in the Scottish inter club league from Portmoak. My ASH25 is still out of action awaiting a new rudder from the manufacturer in Germany, so I was flying the Ventus. 16.6 metres instead of 25 metres. Still, it is a much more agile glider. But it was a shit day with a shit sky - a day I would never normally have bother to fly cross country. I did manage about 80km but then the ground came up to meet me and I ended up in a field somewhere the other side of Lake of Menteith*. Nice field and very friendly farmer and his wife, but still it was 1hr 15mins by road from Portmoak, which made for a rather long retrieve. *The only lake in Scotland
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 19, 2024 8:18:24 GMT
If you look at the CRT schedule - days available to be booked per month - it is quite limited. Maybe two groups of 3 days per month each way. This is because these days are the only days with sufficiently big tides to do the trip in one tide - ie leaving Tarlton as soon as there is enough water in the Douglas, and getting to the 1/2 tide lock on the Savick Brook in time for there still to be enough water. Currently there is no availability in May, very little in June and even less in July. So the passage is well booked up well in advance. If for some reason we miss our slot, it seems likely that the transit would be scuppered for this year. ________________________________________________________________________________
So by means of the Dunkley strategy, many more days could be made available and once you go for the 2-tides solution, it makes it feasible to have opposite direction traffic at the same time. ________________________________________________________________________________
So there is merit in his proposal, but for the time being CRT are taking the easy route of keeping it simple and having fairly few days when the transit can be made, perhaps to avoid the situation of having CRT people attending to pass just one or two boats.
There was NOT, and never has been, any suggestion from me to make the Tarleton to Preston passage over two tides rather than one. That's a misconception, and it comes from an incorrect presumption, on your part. The incorrect presumption being that penning out into the river at Tarleton is only possible for a very short time during the course of only one of the two daily tide cycles. The reality is that it IS possible, and practical, for shallow draught pleasure craft to pen out into the river Douglas at Tarleton at any time during the approximate total of 16 hours out of every whole tidal day* during which there is sufficient depth of water in the lock tail and over the outer cill for shallow draught pleasure craft. Making use of a few minutes out of that 16 hours of daily opportunity, penning out into the river as soon as possible after arrival at Tarleton means, in effect, that you don't 'use up' any of one tide at all. It's the next tide - one tide only - that's taken up with the Tarleton to Preston passage. Unlike the ridiculous C&RT booking/scheduling arrangements that waste time, and one whole tide, by making you wait in the canal at Tarleton for the remainder of the day on which you arrive there, . . if you pen out into river as soon after arriving at Tarleton as you possibly can, then you're all set to catch the next day's tide - one tide only - up the Ribble to Preston, . . at exactly the right time. Catching the Flood running up to Preston at exactly the right time - which is NOT possible if you follow C&RT's Mickey Mouse scheduling for penning out into the river at Tarleton - means that you'll have the Flood under you all the way upriver from Astland Light, and you'll be turning into the Savick Brook's Ribble outfall on a rising tide, which rules out any possibility of having to divert to Preston Docks Marina, and having to wait, . . and pay, . . overnight in there for the next day's first tide to get you the mile and a bit back down river and into the so-called 'Ribble Link'. * Average duration 24 hrs 51 mins. I’ve addressed this misunderstanding in the relevant thread.
|
|
|
Post by Telemachus on Apr 18, 2024 21:58:19 GMT
So, keeping things simple and as a worked example, let’s say high tide at Tarlton is 08:00 and low tide is 18:00 and next high is 20:30. So you would propose leaving Tarlton at around 08:30 with a view to arriving at Savick Brook around 19:30 or so. I’m sure this would be feasible and economical but it makes for a very long duration passage, and whilst feasible with the tide times given I think there would be plenty of days when tide times were different, when the passage couldn’t be completed in daylight especially if you include completing the rest of the “link” up to the Lanky. Stopping overnight at the boatyard would be a possibility but again this adds to the duration considerably, and most canal boaters prefer being on a canal rather than overnighting on a tidal river (not that there is anything particularly wrong with overnighting on a tidal river, it’s just something leisure narrowboaters aren’t used to. And I can’t really imagine that the boatyard owner would be offering this service for free! So whilst there certainly are alternative strategies, they aren’t without their own problems. Your proposal would certainly increase the number of days when the transit was possible, but then we also have to look at the demand and the cost of manning and managing the transits. No, . . I certainly would NOT propose leaving Tarleton at around 08:30 with a view to arriving at Savick Brook around 19:30. Your estimate of Flood and Ebb duration at Tarleton is about right for basis arbitrary working figures, without reckoning in and allowing for the effects of wind direction and strength, and atmospheric pressure. Your simple worked example, however, with HW at Tarleton and Preston at 0800 hrs, starts with a major incorrect presumption about departure time, and then continues in the same vein about what happens next. Penning out into the river at Tarleton, at or shortly after local HW is absolutely NOT what you should be doing if bound for Preston. The Ebb at Tarleton runs down for around 10 hours. In anything apart from exceptional weather and tides there's normally enough depth over the outer cill for shallow draught pleasure craft to pen out into the river at Tarleton for a total of around 8 hours, twice every day -- local HW minus 2 hours to local HW plus 6 hours. Any boats bound for Preston should be making good use of ALL of the daylight hours out of those 16 hours out of every day, . . and penning out into the river as soon as possible after arriving at Tarleton - NOT farting about, wasting time and oportunities, waiting for the 'booked in' time they've been given by some office chair polishing goon at C&RT. Once they're out in the river, depending on the time of day and the time of the next Low Water/Flood in the Ribble, they can then make the choice to either carry on up to Preston with the next Flood on that day, or wait overnight at the nearby boatyard for the next day's tide. I'll deal with the other points you've raised after we've got your misconceptions about times for penning out at Tarleton straightened out. Sorry I misread your previous post where you mentioned penning out at Tarleton - I read half an hour after the ebb which I took that to mean 30 mins after the start of the ebb ie 30 mins after high tide. I have not been there, so I have no idea how much water is in the river at different states of tide.
But I see that is not what you said, sorry! An hour after half ebb - so with the times I mentioned that would be 14:00 departure to arrive at 19:30. This certainly makes it more feasible. I suppose one question that neither of us know, is how much depth there is around low water in 2024 - your experience is from a long time ago and you can bet that no dredging has been done recently, so it will depend on how much natural scouring takes place I suppose. Also around low water, how easy is it for an amateur pleasure boater to remain in deep enough water in the middle of large expanses of mud flats with fairly poor visual references?
|
|