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Just had the OP come and interview me. It seem he is doing genuine market research to the Company he named but neither ho nor the company has very much idea about inland boating, the type of people who do it, and the maintenance facilities that exist and how we use them. Did not seem to know about broad and narrow canals. I think his boss thinks we all need mandatory surveys every year so I explained the difference between a survey, BSS inspection and building to the RCD. He sis not seem aware that once bought its the insurance company who may demand regular surveys for older boats and not navigation authority/ or government requirement. I advised him to come back and ask for more interviewees who are less experience than many of us. He wanted me to attribute emotions to the stages of deciding I needed some form of service (survey, blacking, maintenance etc.) at each "stage" of the process but I simply could not relate to this concept so maybe he needs to talk to someone more prone to emotions about things that need doing. If he does come back and ask for more help he is a nice chap so please help if you can.

Just by way of an update the police have been and taken away a couple of items that the person touched/used. I can't fault Staffordshire police for their timely response. After the initial anger and feeling of intrusion I have decided that I can only feel sorry for the person who came onto my boat. They took money and cash and left other bits that may have had a resale value. I have to conclude their need was /is greater than mine. However they did commit a crime and if they get caught so be it. I am a little frustrated that it seems the other boater who had their boat broken into did not report it to the police. I would hope anyone who had their boat broken into would contact the police to help show there is crime on boats in an area.

Like a pullover, have the boat built inside out and you can then look at the outside whilst your on the inside.

Please don't get into the "I can go up there with this" fat boat brigade. You will have a MUCH happier time if you fit and don't challenge IMHO the 57ft myth is exactly that we have cruised very happily in 60ft+ for nearly 30 years so go for extra length rather than width. Tugs work well with dogs if you are happy to use the under deck area as a kennel - we have done that with 4 dogs very successfully. Make the decision to go narrow and then decide on length style engine room etc - don't dismiss engine rooms they are a godsend in wet weather when you have a pile of wet clothes, wet dog towels and your shoes to dry - they are like having a warm utility room available. I'm guessing that budget isn't a major issue for you??

Our Reeves :

I found our Graham Reeves to be an excellent hull. Fitted out by Welton and used for a year by them as a hire boat before being sold on. 1st private owner spent £11,000 having the bedroom and bathroom re-vamped and the pump-out removed.

I think you may find its illegal these days to ride a horse on the towpath as it may inconvenience an angler or cyclist?

Should have suggested a different forum to him. I can think of one that might have been suitable.

A fight with fencing mauls would be short and very violent, there could be a market on pay per view

Click the icon above the post that looks like three balls in a triangle. Copy the link that pops up. Paste it. Mike will now come along and say he doesn’t see any posts that look like three balls in a triangle... So I shall reword it thus: Above the post is an icon that looks like three balls in a triangle. Click it, copy the link, paste the link.

I think it would protect the boat quite well.

I will give you a condensed reply all from experience. A widebeam is MUCH MUCH more comfortable to live on. BUT it is simply an impossibility to cruise the UK inland waterways in one. The K and A is too small a canal for a widebeam as is the GU without peeing yourself and others off. If you go narrow forget the 57 foot mularky, we have all fallen for that yarn down the years. Go for 70 or as near as possible you still have a hell of a lot of cruising area. There are many well intentioned replies going to come your way but many have never lived aboard or owned widebeams and narrowbeams so the replies will be such that you will need to pick the bones out of them. For instance plenty of people live happily on sub 60 foot narrowboats.

My new water tank bladder took about 4 weeks to manufacture. They used the fittings salvaged off the old liner so that re-fitting to tails will be straightforward. On a fine morning, we decided to fill the liner outboard and make sure it's watertight. So far, so good.

Someone will probably see your post that lives nearby and may well offer to assist you. The reason people are asking you questions re the boat type etc is that we get people daily now that want to look at a boat to live on that have no clue and actualy think its cheaper to live on than a house. It isnt it costs a bomb. Hang on in there and play nice ?

I was trying to word it nicely

surely subtitles just transalated 'Hinnae whaeur hu dinnae fek de English coonts, ".. which came over as " there seems to be an issue, ask your friend in Derby"

Thank you - that saved me a lot of I know it's here somewhereing

Buying a knackered out old narrowboat and painting EVERYTHING inside with white emulsion is the "London Whiteout" It lasts a month or two before looking tatty and raises the resale value of the boat for the undiscerning buyer looking for cheap accommodation in the capital by about £10k for a weekend's work. If you actually like white interiors like this, then excellent. You get more boats to choose from!

A huge shame. Graham was a lovely guy, as were his sons and we really liked his shells even though I know they don’t please everyone.

Ah well you can fire it up and still push with a little help from the clutch

But think of how much your roses would bloom with all the manure you’ll get!

?Hmmm - I could buy an old Butty and just pull round the canals with a horse. Moor boat and ride horse to the nearest Co-oP to get milk and carrots - ah just the life for me ?

You hit the 'nail' on the head there. ?

The last one’s a prehistoric tiger, the middle one is what I cover a chicken with in the oven and the first one is a short-changed Native Anerican’s house.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1586347351464763&id=211926942240151 Sydney had his rabies jab yesterday. So far so good although the side effects can take a few days to materialise. He is now booked in again in 28 days for his blood test.

Just so you don't think you are being ignored I know nothing about them.

I agree. My "long locking line" is one boat length plus twice the expected maximum depth of locks plus a bit more. It is tied to the front T-stud and reaches up the lockside, behind a couple of bollards and back down to the stern where it is either tied off to the handrail (singlehanding) or kept hold of by the steerer. It gives the advantage that the boat is held fore and aft in broad locks, the leverage discussed by @NB Esk comes into play and the line is long enough to climb a lock ladder with both ends tied to the boat. No macrame when ascending locks - just drop the line over a bollard or ladder and crack the paddles straight up. Descending broad locks just a centreline is fine.

Not always. When I meet one in a house when fixing the boiler, they often come and stand 1mm out of reach for even one stroke. Once tempted in, they are usually 2 stroke cats then they bugger off out of reach again.

It’s over the end of the cable that you’ve disconnected. It’s to prevent that cable accidentally shorting to the hull (or anywhere else).

Just a thought. If the genny doth protest, switch everything off and disconnect the charger cable that connects to the starter battery. Tape over the end with insulating tape. Try again.

If you want to CC and explore then get a 70 foot narrowboat with a tug deck and engine room, then exchange it for a dutch barge if and when you go to Europe (or if you can afford it have two boats). Find a nice second hand boat. Don't even think about specifying a new build till you have several years boating experience. 68 ish foot would be much much easier to handle in locks but if you enjoy a challenge and wan't to develop good boating skills then go for 70 foot. Most dogs will learn how to live on a boat without getting too much in the way. ...........Dave

By all means try the genny but if it tries to rev up and dies you know it can't supply the power the charger demands. The bets answer maybe to see if a neighbour could lend you a 20 amp or less charger for the next day or so. If you have the 12V "charging" lead for the generator then even that would be better than nothing but probably only about 5 to 8 amps. Over 10 hours that will give you about 50 Ah except it will be less in practice. If the genny revs up and stays running the carry on, best let it warm up for several minutes before you connect it to anything.

Ideally disconnect the fridge, use as little electricity as possible and charge them as much as poss. For best charging, I'd say try plugging the Sterling charger directly into the 240v mains output socket on your new genny and see if the genny will run the charger. Failure to run it will show up as the genny stalling, or the leeetle overload button on the genny popping out. Make sure the two output wires from the genny are actually connected to your bank of four new batteries, not something else!

Give that a try, what do you have to lose? I’d suggest charging the leisures, firstly because they’re reading the lowest and secondly because the starter obviously has enough in it for now as it’s starting the engine.

The guy is just another wind up merchant, he won't buy a boat, hopefully, because he won't last a month on a boat. he will have no batteries and no friends either with his bad attitude. I love these time wasters, they get all they deserve on this forum. Suck it up mate, we have been kind so far.

It has a warning that you need to connect all three outputs; "Failure to do this will reduce the charging performance." That is exactly what we are trying to do in this case so it can run off a 700W genny. Charles used to get a little* cross at people who only connected one output to the batteries then complained the charger was only delivering 1/3 of it's badged power rating. * Well, perhaps a little more than a little cross

Only if there are instructions on it or a manual, could not see a manual on the Sterling site. I must say the whole thing looks in much better order than I had feared so maybe it is all down to meter batteries and undercharging but we will see.