OurLass

Hi Alan, it is a narrowboat and not a widebeam. Food for thought with your and Dominics reply.

Many thanks John and Catweasel for your replies. Here's hoping we finally exchange contracts on our house sale very soon

Hi, We are considering putting in an offer on a 60' Reeves cruiser stern boat that has a Isuzu 55 engine. As we are complete newbies please can you advise of any drawbacks with an engine that size? Many thanks, Lyn

Congratulations Patrick!! We are hoping to be on the water with our first boat in August....we'll sound our horn if we spot you hehe:) Lyn

Summed up beautifully Phylis

Many thanks for the replies. It sounds like a travel iron is the solution and a table top ironing board. The microfibre mop or a good old brush will take care of the floors. Fantastic responses

Hi Everyone, We are moving onto the water in a few weeks or so and I was wondering about the practicality of using electrical appliances on a tow path mooring ( no hook up). I only iron when absolutely necessary and my husband says he could shave using the soleplate as it's so shiny , but I was wondering if you can use an iron or do I need a 12v one? Same question regarding a vacuum cleaner - 12v or dustpan and brush? Many thanks, Lyn.

Hi, We viewed a 57' boat today that is all portholes. It also has two sidehatches and inserts so plenty of light when they were opened. Just wondering about positives and negatives with regard to portholes. Many thanks.

Wow..thank you all for your speedy replies, very helpful. Just wondering though if I have to state the beam width when applying for my license? Lyn.

Hi Everyone, We secured a towpath mooring last year and we are almost ready to purchase a boat but I've just discovered the beam width of the boat we want to buy is 6'10" and the maximum beam width on the mooring site is 6' 8" . So my question is will BW allow the extra 2 inches? I've looked on the Jim Shead site and found that other boats on the same stretch of long term moorings are 6'9" so I am assuming there may be some leeway. Many thanks.

Really not sure Sue...last time it happened we contacted the local Mooring Officer and he had actually agreed that it was ok for a boat to do renovations there He is long gone but left all the rubbish he didn't want on the grass area...old planters filled with dead plants, planks, glass pieces etc etc. Hope BW will clear that mess away before we put our boat there Thank you so much Ange...will do that just as soon as we sort out finances.

Update........'Friend' has decided he now doesn't want to rent out boat Good news is we have found a 1989 boat today that is in excellent condition, we would be able to proceed just as soon as we exchange contracts on the cottage Fingers crossed that it will work out...we both got that wonderful feeling when we went on board...yes it's quite old-fashioned...but it felt right..roomy and so comfortable.

Gilby...we won't need a marine mortgage if we buy the old one..we would be able to get a smallish personal loan Athy.. we still have to sort out the finer details and I appreciate your advice..we would only rent for a couple of months until we get other funds through to enable us to buy. Yes we are on the towpath..near the marina..trouble is another boat is sitting on our mooring at the mo Look forward to meeting you, Lyn Cheers Rebsy...we have lots of thoughts along those lines too. Thank you Ange...it certainly does make sense to consider the older boat..and I will let you know our decision just as soon as we know what that is!! Lyn

Hi Ange.......yes I think we appreciate the opportunity to try out a much older boat than we planned to buy. We weren't looking for a completely new build just one built in the past 6 years of so. Our mooring is at Fenny Compton, Warwickshire.

Many thanks Athy and Jim.. sound advice and very much appreciated. Lyn.