Time to ban motorboats from the Solent?

rotrax

Well-known member
Joined
17 Dec 2010
Messages
15,944
Location
South Oxon and Littlehampton.
Visit site
Used to love slotting my narrowboat into those locks a few inches from the disapproving glares of the gin palaces cheerily waving. Very few of them can drive the bloody things as well as them being wildly inappropriate craft for a non tidal river.

A neighbour and I went to Abingdon Lock to see a well known inland waterways bod taking a Leeds and Liverpool short boat - 60X 14 feet - on his way up the Thames to Oxford before he took it across the Channel to explore the waterways over there.

Big and smokey air start Dorman diesel IIRC, so he was allowed to keep it going in the lock chambers.

The weekend Admirals did not like this at all. When a lady crew was sent forward from a flybridge type ocean going cruiser with the boat hook to fend off should it be required our Hero, dressed in bib and brace overalls and a disreputable blue sweater took his pipe out of his mouth and called out
" Dont you scratch my nice black paint! "

How we laughed............................
 

newtothis

Well-known member
Joined
28 May 2012
Messages
1,493
Visit site
There is an awful lot of money being spent by ship owners to install scrubber systems in order to clean up exhaust emissions and get within limits in order to get into ports. Perhaps similar systems will be needed to keep MOBOs going in the future.
Scrubbers are only to remove sulphur from bunker fuel. The alternative is to use low-sulphur fuel, which is generally more expensive, although the spread is low at the moment due to current events. The diesel used by mobos is already low-sulphur.
It would make more sense to hang on for a bit while the big boys work on ammonia and hydrogen and the trickle-down effect leads to viable fuel cells. Till then, stink pots gonna stink, stink, stink.
 

wiggy

Well-known member
Joined
13 Jun 2001
Messages
1,488
Location
Portsmouth Harbour
Visit site
It's not a refinery, that's a myth. It's a chimney factory. The big one that's there at the moment is the one that's just about finished. It'll be gone soon, you'll see!
When I worked at Calshot Activity Centre, about 30 years ago, we use to tell the kids that Fawley power station was a Cadbury factory and that the IOW was France. Watching them try to ask for an ice cream in French on Cowes prom after sailing over in Wayfarers was priceless.
 
Top