Made me giggle

I have been dipping into some old posts on the blogs that I follow and I found the following entry about the Bridgewater Canal:-

“I don't know what it is about this particular canal but none of the boats with Bridgewater registrations slow down; maybe they think that because the canal is owned by Peel Holdings British waterways rules don't apply?”

It made me giggle because, as stated above, the Bridgewater canal is not owned or run by British Waterways so of course BW rules don’t apply!

Incidentally, Bridgewater Canal Company rules DO state that you should slow down past moored boats, but there are a lot of people who disregard this rule – Bridgewater and BW registered boats.

A lot of BW licence holders don’t realise that that they are no longer on BW waters while they cruise the Bridgewater Canal and that they are only allowed to navigate the Bridgewater Canal free for a period of seven days at a time. Nor do they realise that, unlike on BW waters, they are only allowed to moor for a maximum of 24 hours in any one place. 

Refitting after the stretch.

I have just realised that I have not blogged since Christmas! I hadn’t looked at the blog for ages and had forgotten that the last post was my Christmas greeting. A bit out of date now, so I thought i had better add something new.

Although we check the boat regularly and spend the day or weekend on board, we have not been out cruising yet this year. So no new stuff to report.

Every time we decide we will have a weekend cruise, something else crops up. I don’t suppose we have tried hard enough.

We have had a lot of work done on Blackstone over the last couple of years and she is looking good now. I have already blogged the stretch and the repaint, but I never got round to blogging the refit so here it is.

Saloon before the stretch.

After the stretch, with just the floor laid.

Batons in place.

       

 

Insulation fitted.

 

 

Walls boarded above the gunnels.

Roof boarded with tongue and groove.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below the gunnels done - routed to look like tongue and groove.

 

 

Front bulkhead and new door.

 

Some of the trim.

 

 

 

Building the dinette.

 

 

Table in place.

Corner cupboard and shelves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Building the shelving unit.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cupboard doors to hide the TV. Floor covering laid.

 

Roof finished. LED lights and new brass vent covers fitted.

 

 

 

Side hatch lined and beautiful panels fitted. Panels painted by

 Canal Arts by Terence.

All done and several coats of varnish later ………..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

………. and Blackstone’s refitted saloon is ready and waiting for us to furnish and decorate.

Looking forward to the extra room when we go cruising this summer.