David: Water points
KEITH Gudgin's piece about the new water point on the Grand Union reminds me that we saw several of these things installed on the Kennet & Avon during the summer.
I had assumed that they were simply a local peculiarity, since the K&A often does things slightly differently. Keith's article suggests that this is a policy change on the part of CaRT and so we must ask the question ‘Why'?
The cast iron water points have been the standard fitting since the 1980s and I reckon they are as close to vandal proof as you can get. In fact, they are so good that other navigation authorities use them, often complete with the British Waterways logo.
Their only weakness is the Yale-type locks, which frequently do not operate. However, some of them do, and the new style ones that I saw had no lock at all, though a hasp was provided as if the intention was to use the standard CaRT padlock.
Perhaps CaRT would like to explain why it is spending money replacing perfectly serviceable and rugged equipment with a much flimsier article, which certainly won't last as long. Could it just be because the old British Waterways logo is cast into the existing columns and this is being done as part of the 'rebranding' exercise? Surely CaRT would not waste money in such a trivial way.
Useful tip
Users of guide books while cruising will be only too familiar with the problems presented by rain and wind. We solved the problem for Pearson books with a purpose built Perspex holder, but it won't work for Nicholson guides, because of the spiral binding. A boater I shared with in the summer had a very neat solution to the problem, which was an A4 size flat translucent plastic box, secured with a couple of sliding clips, which accommodated an opened out Nicholson's perfectly.
These are sold by Poundland (for a £1, duh) in the stationery section and are ideal for the purpose. They prevent the pages blowing over and will protect the book from rain long enough to get it inside; I don't think anyone has yet come up with a fully waterproof solution.
David Hymers