Recent content by wee_niall

thanks for all the info guys - some good food for thought......it does look like this is a step closer to happening as scottish canals have announced that they are fixing the bridges on the F&C: https://www.scottishcanals.co.uk/news/bridge-restrictions-operational-changes/ Just need to see if...

i remember when i was a nipper about 25 years ago writing a letter to Alan Hill (i think he ran a survey business by that time and i spotted the add in PBO) to get more details on the Striker that my dad had just bought and not only did he write back, he provided a full set of A0 drawings for...

some great news here for the F&C: https://www.scottishcanals.co.uk/news/bridge-restrictions-operational-changes/ Sounds like they are doing a proper job and not just a quick fix for a couple of years.

are you guys using a silencer with these units and if so what type?

The F&C is the elephant in the room as far as next summer goes....hopefully we'll find out in the new year that they've installed some nice new bridges :D We'd defo be in class 9.....apart from not having a spinnaker the calamity that would ensue if we tried to fly one would be quite a sight...

Not sure i'd be able to do the friday feeder race to ardrishaig but my plan would be to keep the boat for a month or so in loch fyne after coming through the F&C so chumming along with the other folk going through the canal on the saturday sounds like a good plan. Had a wee browse of the website...

Cheers Q - i assumed the slowest would be last away to avoid getting in folks way but it would be good fun being in the thick of the action (at least for about 5 mins!). Doing the passage races might be a good option and might suit the guys better...still need to see if i can get them to...

morning folks - been pondering for a few months now about taking the boat west to do west highland week in 2019 but i'm wondering how numptie friendly WHW actually is? My boat would inevitably be the slowest in the fleet (Marcon Striker 22 bilge keel) and the last time i raced was round the...

this sounds encouraging: https://www.scottishcanals.co.uk/news/additional-funding-for-scotlands-canals-vital-repairs-to-go-ahead/

No probs - although i'm a Niall, it's pronounced Neil anyway (scots Gaelic rather than the irish)

i thought it was interesting in the IWA response that the contract to repair the bridges on the F&C has been awarded with work to start in Jan '19....nothing like that on the SC website and when i emailed recently about 2019 transit they told me they didn't know and any info would be published...

also, here are the minutes of the committee meeting - does appear that the issues (not just about the lack of an ombudsman) are being taken seriously. http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=11705&mode=pdf

Good response from the IWA to the Scottish parliament: https://www.waterways.org.uk/news_campaigns/campaigns/consultation_responses/pdfs/iwa_reply_to_scottish_parliament_re_petition_pe1693 Might be worth flagging up the issue to MSPs to see if it can gain some political traction

I've got a vague memory from my school years that when researching the crinan canal with the local archivist that it wasn't technical reasons that the canal wasn't built at tarbert but effectively local politics/land owner disputes that scuppered it. I've got an even more vague memory of seeing...

Scottish Canals is still technically British Waterways - it was the english and welsh waterways that were hived off into a charitable trust....i guess there's pros and cons with both structures but it does feel like SC are happy to manage decline of the waterways and focus on regeneration and...