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Hello and welcome to what is, in some sense, a special edition of the newsletter because it is the 24th edition and therefore marks two years of publication!
I remember when I began pondering the idea being unsure as to whether there would be any interest in a few ramblings by email each month but so it has proven and a small (but healthy!) number of folk are now signed up to receive it.
As this by definition includes YOU, may I just say thank you so much for joining in here and I hope I will continue to provide at least some small nibbles of useful or interesting information every month.
Cheers
David |
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News from the canal world.
*** Press releases or other news snippets can be sent to me at newsletter@cruisingthecut.co.uk
Please make them about canals and inland waterways though! I really shouldn't need to say that. ***
Dry as a bone
Inevitably it is the ongoing drought situation that captures the top headline this month as, despite rain which would appear to have been quite heavy at times over the last month, there has been relatively little change in the situation of the canal's reservoirs.
To make things worse, the Canal & River Trust's regularly-scheduled shutdowns for winter maintenance across the network are about to commence (from 1st November).
Many boats are currently unable to return to their winter moorings due to lock closures put in place for water saving, which has prompted the CRT to issue a poll asking boaters to describe how the situation is affecting them, so that some kind of relief measures can be put into place.
That poll can be found at https://tinyurl.com/crtdrought
Work, work, work
Speaking of the winter maintenance jobs, the CRT has also issued a press release describing the plans they have for this winter.
They say works will span 45 canals and rivers and include 137 separate projects at more than 100 locks, 14 bridges, two tunnels and a host of embankments, sluices, culverts and canal walls.
Specific highlights of the repairs include:
North West: major repairs to the 100-year-old Sutton Weaver Swing Bridge on the River Weaver, and relining a 60-metre stretch of the Peak Forest Canal at Strines Aqueduct.
London & South East: the draining of Islington Tunnel on the Regent’s Canal for brickwork repairs and graffiti removal, alongside works at 16 locks across the region.
Yorkshire & North East: a full overhaul of locks 15 and 18 on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, plus embankment works on the Rochdale Canal.
West Midlands: extensive lock gate replacements across 34 locks, and major canal bed replacement works on the Tame Valley Canal.
Wales & South West: repairs at 10 locks, draining sections of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal for inspections, and vital work to Purton Upper Bridge on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal.
East Midlands: a full refurbishment of Dratley’s Bridge on the Ashby Canal, and work including lock gate replacements and heritage masonry repairs taking place at 10 locks.
You can find all the winter closure notices at https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices |
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Grow, grow, grow your boat
The Aquavista group, which operates inland marinas across the country, has announced a new investment partner to support the future growth of the business.
Antin Infrastructure Partners is, they say, "a leading private equity firm focused on" (wait for it ...) "infrastructure". Well I never did!
The company says it will continue its focus on improving its marinas and supporting further acquisitions. So, more consolidation in the industry seems likely. Whether this is a good thing is open to debate. |
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My recent videos
This month on the YouTube channel has followed a theme that will be in evidence until December, I think, namely a mixture of videos following the journey of Gentian down to the Midlands, plus repair updates on the cabin cruiser Twiggy.
Each month will have two narrowboat move videos and one about Twiggy, with publication roughly on the 10th, 20th and 30th of each month (slight variations on this may occur depending on how my diary looks on each specific day)
At the time of writing this newsletter, the format is slightly different in that there's been one recent narrowboat vlog and two Twiggy updates but by the end of 1st October, another narrowboat move should have gone online!
Click the links below to watch.
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Book your perfect canal boat holiday! |
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What am I up to?
Shhhhh... let me tell you a secret. Having brought Gentian down to its home mooring by mid-July, I have enough video footage from the trip to last until December (at two videos per month from the trip).
So my plan in terms of filming for the next couple of months is mostly to grab whatever good-weather days I can to do any progress on Twiggy at the boatyard.
That said, the 4-yearly Boat Safety Scheme examination is booked for Gentian in December as it expires in February (so I need to get it checked in time to make any fixes if needed before it runs out. Hence December).
Therefore I will likely make a video of me amending the handful of items that the boat's purchase survey highlighted as BSS failures and, if the examiner is amenable, the BSS check itself.
After that, winter will be upon us so there'll either be some cold weather cruising in store, or probably some DIY such as putting a solar panel on Gentian. |
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My YouTube top pick of the month
I've been finding things a bit thin on the ground in terms of new YouTube discoveries this month but one that did cross my radar is Boat Busters, a rather engaging channel in which an American chap buys cheap boats and outboard motors and then fixes and restores them before selling them on at a profit.
Watching his method of assessing the likely issues with each motor and how he fixes them is very interesting (to me!) and the videos scoot along at a good pace.
Watch at https://www.youtube.com/@boatbusters |
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Final Thoughts
I am delighted to report that, after the confession last month about the non-receipt of emails sent to the newsletter due to a technical issue, a number of kind folk sent messages ... which I received!!
Therefore the issue appears resolved and any feedback, suggestions, queries, comments and so on and so forth will now be seen if you reply to this newsletter.
Thanks for your patience and again for subscribing here.
Cheers
David |
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