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Post by pearley on Jul 8, 2018 8:04:38 GMT
So what's happened to the water? The CRT man we met yesterday said he thought a paddle had been left up but that would need another left up at the other end or some really leaking lock gates.
The Andersen hire boat that came through yesterday has just passed us at Halsall Green said he was scraping the bottom all the way uo the pound. Given the relatively shallow draught of most hire boats us boars needing a good 30 inches don't stand much chance.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2018 8:15:38 GMT
The top and bottom gates at 70 leak, so even closed they're losing water. There's several muddy patches on the pound, one's been like it for years at lock 69 where water's obviously leaking through the lock wall. In winter the towpath at that point is almost always under water. There is a 'shortage' of water as it's been dry and hot, but I think the weather is simply showing up the underlying problems on this long pound. A very nice C&RT lady has appeared this morning and told me ALL the things they told me yesterday (sending water down blah, blah blah) but the fact is, the level has not altered since 2pm yesterday, and the lady is on her own today. One boat has come down, but he is 22" and was scraping all the way and occasionally stuck. And of course the pound is now one boats worth lower and we're 28". I wish I felt we'd be moving today Rog
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2018 8:35:07 GMT
A bit of a gloomy dusk shot but you can see plenty of water coming over Brandon sluice. The Nene is well down at the moment.
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Post by kris on Jul 8, 2018 8:51:17 GMT
There is a 'shortage' of water as it's been dry and hot, but I think the weather is simply showing up the underlying problems on this long pound. This is the problem with not fixing leaks. Just lowering the levels to reduce the amount of water being lost( this has become carts preferred remedy for leaks) means there is very little margin for when we have dry conditions like this year. Also it's very difficult to raise the levels again when the banks have been dried out.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2018 8:53:16 GMT
There is enough for the farmers to toss over the fields too π’ππ»
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Post by TonyDunkley on Jul 8, 2018 8:57:17 GMT
By way of re-emphasizing what I said yesterday, . . the present, widespread canal water shortages are NOT directly attributable to the recent lack of rain. They are the inevitable result of 5 years of the canals being operated and (not) maintained by an organization that's achieved the astonishing feat of being even more useless and incompetent than BWB became in their terminal years.
In my view, anyone incapable of grasping this simple and demonstrable fact has, in Parry and his useless beyond belief 'management team, precisely the navigation authority they so thoroughly deserve.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2018 9:03:35 GMT
There is a 'shortage' of water as it's been dry and hot, but I think the weather is simply showing up the underlying problems on this long pound. This is the problem with not fixing leaks. Just Β lowering the levels to reduce the amount of water being lost( this has become carts preferred remedy for leaks) means there is very little margin for when we have dry conditions like this year. Also it's very difficult to raise the levels again when the banks have been dried out. Exactly. That coupled with lack of dredging (which would make the canal able to hold more water in the first place) will lead to negative outcomes. This drought is going to expose some serious problems I reckon and where is the money going to come from to fix the problems ? It would get quite costly to recover too many stranded boats. Oops.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2018 9:13:09 GMT
By way of re-emphasizing what I said yesterday, . . the present, widespread canal water shortages are NOT directly attributable to the recent lack of rain.Β Β They are the inevitable result of 5 years of the canals being operated and (not) maintained by an organization that's achieved the astonishing feat of being even more useless and incompetent than BWB became in their terminal years. In my view, anyone incapable of grasping this simple and demonstrable fact has, in Parry and his useless beyond belief 'management team, precisely the navigation authority they so thoroughly deserve.Β Can't argue with that but the simple fact is someone has to run the system. Its OK to say the current management is shit and its true but at the end of the day is there a realistic alternative which would improve the situation. Sadly my prediction of CRT being a vehicle to deliberately degrade the canal system appears to be coming true.
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Post by TonyDunkley on Jul 8, 2018 9:23:14 GMT
By way of re-emphasizing what I said yesterday, . . the present, widespread canal water shortages are NOT directly attributable to the recent lack of rain. They are the inevitable result of 5 years of the canals being operated and (not) maintained by an organization that's achieved the astonishing feat of being even more useless and incompetent than BWB became in their terminal years. In my view, anyone incapable of grasping this simple and demonstrable fact has, in Parry and his useless beyond belief 'management team, precisely the navigation authority they so thoroughly deserve. . . . . . . . . . . Its OK to say the current management is shit and its true but at the end of the day is there a realistic alternative which would improve the situation. Yes there is, . . . hand the lot over to Thunderboat, . . . and I'm NOT joking !
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Post by kris on Jul 8, 2018 9:26:40 GMT
By way of re-emphasizing what I said yesterday, . . the present, widespread canal water shortages are NOT directly attributable to the recent lack of rain. They are the inevitable result of 5 years of the canals being operated and (not) maintained by an organization that's achieved the astonishing feat of being even more useless and incompetent than BWB became in their terminal years. In my view, anyone incapable of grasping this simple and demonstrable fact has, in Parry and his useless beyond belief 'management team, precisely the navigation authority they so thoroughly deserve. Sadly my prediction of CRT being a vehicle to deliberately degrade the canal system appears to be coming true. You don't have to be clairvoyant to have seen that coming,just not have your head in the sand. After all it was written in the articles of incorporation. As to what comes after cart well cart has to go first.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2018 9:40:54 GMT
So what is the reason for CRT deliberately degrading the system? Is there some sort of agenda ?
Its a bit of an odd situation.
Is it perhaps quite useful for some groups that a lot of people think CRT are useless?
I'm really intrigued as to what a realistic solution would be which resulted in a well maintained thriving canal system.
I suspect the best option for the actual canals useability would be breaking up and selling off individual areas to private ownership. However this would probably increase costs and make certain types of lifestyle very awkward or expensive so I don't believe it would be a good thing.
I would prefer the current situation to that.
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Post by zigspider on Jul 8, 2018 10:11:47 GMT
The logic behind the argument is if people routinely leave gates open and pounds run dry then eventually the maintenance will have to be done or the system becomes unusable. Closing all gates can effectively mask this lack of maintenance so it doesn't get done. And another great side effect is that if you leave gates open other boaters get pissed off so its boater v boater. Divide and rule again. All a bit cynical but on a properly maintained canal system gates don't need closing unless the lock is being used. When we came down the Northampton line, all the bottom gates had been left open, so we assumed that was the done thing. We had been followed by another boat who had a little shout at us about not closing the gates. Turned out ok in the end, as they joined up with us on the next 10 locks on the river. We had explained how we had found the locks. Jerry
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Post by TonyDunkley on Jul 8, 2018 10:29:28 GMT
The logic behind the argument is if people routinely leave gates open and pounds run dry then eventually the maintenance will have to be done or the system becomes unusable. Closing all gates can effectively mask this lack of maintenance so it doesn't get done. And another great side effect is that if you leave gates open other boaters get pissed off so its boater v boater. Divide and rule again. All a bit cynical but on a properly maintained canal system gates don't need closing unless the lock is being used. When we came down the Northampton line, all the bottom gates had been left open, so we assumed that was the done thing. We had been followed by another boat who had a little shout at us about not closing the gates. Obviously dedicated members of the unthinking contingent who believe that closing gates is a work/labour reducing courtesy for following boats, . . I hope you educated them in the error of their ways.
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Post by kris on Jul 8, 2018 10:30:12 GMT
So what is the reason for CRT deliberately degrading the system? Is there some sort of agenda ? Its a bit of an odd situation. Is it perhaps quite useful for some groups that a lot of people think CRT are useless? I'm really intrigued as to what a realistic solution would be which resulted in a well maintained thriving canal system. I suspect the best option for the actual canals useability would be breaking up and selling off individual areas to private ownership. However this would probably increase costs and make certain types of lifestyle very awkward or expensive so I don't believe it would be a good thing. I would prefer the current situation to that. The current higher up managment of cart aren't interested in waterways, they just want the property portfolio. The waterways and the boaters that come with them are a hinderance and a nuisance. So to answer your question. Basically any organisation whos main focus was maintaining a navigable waterway network would be better than cart.
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Post by JohnV on Jul 8, 2018 11:06:22 GMT
There is enough for the farmers to toss over the fields too π’ππ» If this heatwave goes on into mid August I wonder how many canals will be pumped dry to water crops in the national interest? I know it may horrify boaters but food produced is ar more important than leisure boating?
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