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Hi, Just returned from a cracking 1 week holiday on an ABC hire boat (Mandarin Duck - I can heartily recommend the boat and the company). We started and finished in Worcester, and it was our first time on a river. Anyway, we made a time-lapse (with some aerial footage too) of the adventure. Sadlt, a tech failure meant that West Hill Tunnel got missed from the video, but it's not a bad 20 mins!! Have a look here and tell me what you think! Happy boating!

Some sheds are so well looked after they're kept in high class marinas

Well we just managed to make our tank last a week while in the dry dock, but that was using showers shore side and limiting washing up, I cant imagine what size tank would be needed for 2 weeks. But now when we are cruising and we come to a slow tap we just say sod it and go to the next, heaven forbid we had a tank big enough for 2 weeks, ran it right down for minimum stops and then it was a slow tap, we would spend all afternoon there. I would rather top up every 2 to 3 days. I cant remember how big or stainless tank is.

Ooh a p!$$ing contest - such fun Ladies meet the Sailing Vessel Flying Dutchman - https://www.scotland-sailing.com/highlands-loch-ness-2019/ But at 130ft she is however a tiddler compared to the Lord of the Glens - http://lordoftheglens.co.uk/video.aspx With the Lord of the Glens at 150ft she makes a 72ft passenger ferry look like a mini metro. Just as well the Caley isn't most canals innit. And anyone who says the Caley doesn't count is just a sore looser.

I've never tried using a Kingfisher to get away from the bank. Are they effective and how do you tie them to the boat? ?

Maybe the clutch was bit heavy on the removal van? I think it's a mistake letting a dog drive a heavy vehicle, but if you have to ask boaters for tips on moving home with a dog, you're already up agin it in my book. It's bound to be a bit hit and miss when you resort to that, so it could have been worse... imagine if you'd let him move the piano!

Oh! All this time I thought read meant no mooring! Duh. Even better - I can now see there are two spots at Hanham!

The road outside my door leads to Morrisons! Howard

Should this gent have know better?

Coming from Yorkshire I like my tea so strong that the brick would have just bounced off.

Another item to add to the list of faux pas while travelling up north. How I'll manage to be friendly and hold a pint-mug of tea is beyond me. I can barely manage the constant hellos as it is. Maybe I should stop saying "faux pas" and other poncey French stuff too. Merde.

That is true - but in the last 4 years I have been present at 2 such incidents. One went over the weir as the boat was rolled under the Dolphins, the second one* got his anchor down (Danforth) which would not set properly but slowed him down enough to give us chance to get a line aboard and tow him away - we were about 100 yards from the Dolphins by the time we got him secured - Brown trouser time all round. * Was Cromwell weir where 10 soldiers lost their lives when they (their boat) went over the weir. I try to work on the principle "better to have and not to need, than need and not have".

You don't go out cruising much do you.? It has other damping methods too...

Is there really a 'practice' of pouring stove ash into the cut? or is it just something that idiots do? I would no more pour the stove ash into the cut (bearing in mind that any coal ash will contain some nasty toxins such as arsenic,cadmium,lead, etc) than I would throw the black rubbish bag from the waste bin into the cut. I can only imagine that anyone who does tip their stove ash into the cut is of the same ilk as those who hang their plastic bags of dog sh*t on tree branches in some misplaced belief that 'someone' is going to clear it up after them.

While I greatly appreciate that this really is a very technical subject - Can we not just ask what other folks have and what do they use it for? And then just go with the one that fits best.

I am at Sheffield just put the dishwasher on, we have had tea via an electric kettle the list goes on solar is a great thing and for me suits my low carbon lifestyle

Your chain will weigh circa 2 Kg per metre, so if anchored in 10m of water (assuming 30m of rope warp as well) you are going to need to lift 30KG. Not easy. If in 3ft of water, then if you can drive forward over the anchor to retrieve it, then it is doable. I am not really sure what the question is. If it's about an NB, then deploying an anchor is likely to be in an emergency, to being able to drive over the anchor to retrieve it will not be an option ...so best to cut the rope.

SWL is usually one sixth of the breaking strain. Howard

Because from what I see 75% of the population can't reverse a car, so how would they cope with having to reverse a trailer. ?

The converse used to happen on our Mooring on the Northern GU at Napton Junction. We never ran the engine in gear whilst moored, but even after a few weeks not mooving we had to plough our way off the mooring over a ridge of silt thrown up by boats passing us too quickly, and if we were away for four or six weeks, the ridge spread across our mooring, requiring us to plough oy way back into the bank. I should point out that we also had a deep drafted boat but once in the channel, there was plenty of depth for two deep boats to pass without any grounding.

We're still here!! Sorry we have been so quiet. We were hibernating for the winter. Absolutely we are still loving every second of life aboard. The way we went about it was too much by the head and not the heart for a lot of people, but for us it really worked out well. We ended up with a fantastic bote, for a price that we knew was terrific, and we sailed away in confidence even though neither of us had ever driven a boat before. She ticked pretty much all of our boxes, but of course there had to be one or two things we overlooked! Honestly I think making a list of your needs and wants is still a great idea, and I'd do it again - the point of them was not to list dealbreakers, but rather things that counted for and against each boat we looked at. It's a big decision and there are tons of factors. There are the must haves, the nice to haves, the whatevers and the definitely nots. To be fair to the forum, the advice everyone gave makes so much more sense in retrospect. One piece of advice that we received time and again was to go out and look at boats. We looked at over 50 that were for sale before we bought ours. Still not totally sure what it means that the boat found us. We found her on Facebook, I don't think she was even looking for us . But when we saw her... we knew instantly that she was the one! (Partly thanks to the spreadsheet, of course...) @Fly Navy have you found your boat yet? Happy to offer more tips from our buying experience, if you have any specific questions. We might have a different perspective as boaters less than a year in. In the end we settled for an ex-hire boat, and I would encourage new boaters to do the same. We got a Black Prince. Absolutely fantastic boat. She's got the typical BP bumper on the front and rear, has very generous sacrificial chines, and is built like a tank besides, in 10/8/6mm steel. These features are designed for hirers - and are all really helpful considering for the first few weeks you are going to have exactly as much experience as a hirer. You're also likely to get a relatively new boat for relatively low cost. Beta engine. Yes, ours is awesome. Silencer. No. Don't think so anyway. Why? Seems pointless. Epoxied hull. I also wanted this but changed my mind - the expense isn't justified IMO and I don't want to worry about my epoxy with every bump. I actually want her out of the water every couple of years to get a good look at her bottom, so blacking is the way for me. Cruiser stern. Actually we originally wanted a trad for more internal space. So glad we got a cruiser. Ours is 65' so there is plenty of space anyway. It also makes the engine and weed hatch really easy and convenient to get at. I might consider a trad in future if I ever go for a shorter boat, but I would really miss that back deck. Reverse layout. I can see pros and cons. We have a walk through bedroom, I originally wanted a cross bed for the extra width. Forum advised against the cross bed and now we're very comfortable on our small double. I really enjoy being able to get out of both ends of our bote. Cassette toilet. Agreed - wouldn't have it any other way. I could always tell which boats for sale had a pump out. By the smell. Besides they take up a lot of space. Emptying the cassette is much less disgusting than I'd expected, as long as you aren't stingy with the Elsan blue. Double glazed. This was also on my list, but it's rare so something you'd have to install it, probably. Black Princes like ours have a double glazed bow door, and I really can tell the difference in noise insulation. For that reason I'd love double glazing everywhere one day. Heat insulation, it turns out after having cruised through a winter, doesn't really matter that much. All it means is that you'd save on coal - and considering you're willing to burn diesel to stay warm, heating costs doesn't seem to be a concern for you. Refleks stove. Too expensive to run. I can see the convenience and lack of coal dust being nice though. Maybe I'll consider that for our second stove at the stern end of the cabin. I do like the redundancy, in case we run out of coal someday while frozen in. Our Morsø Squirrel in the saloon right near the bow goes all night and heats two thirds of the boat with minimal fuel and we love it. (Side note: After trying a lot of different fuel brands, we're Excel devotees). Bow thruster. Yes - the missus and her barge pole. Unless you mean the expensive unnecessary extra-moving-part kind, in which case, begone heathen. Cratch. Nah. If your boat is big enough, you'll want the outside space. And the cratch covers I've seen tend to end up looking tatty. Convector fans. People either swear by them or think they are quackery. We don't have one, so I think they are quackery, naturally. Victron inverter/charger. Nope. We run everything off 12V and a single 110Ah leisure battery. So far, so great. We don't have a washing machine yet though, and it has been winter so our fridge is not an issue. And the wife is increasingly dissatisfied with her 12V hair dryer Christmas pressie. So, we'll get one of these once we have the money for this and a washing machine. Calorifier. OH YES. Hot water in 15 mins with the engine running. And I really like the redundancy of having the calorifier and Ebersplutter. I'm even considering adding a second stove with a back boiler, I love redundancy so much. LED lighting. There are other kinds?? (This is easy to change if the boat doesn't have it). Gas galley. Has to be. PV panels. Not yet. The most important part here - how many watts? We've been living without PV for several months as we try to determine how much we'll need. Walk thru bathroom, no bath, shower only. Yes. This was our criteria too. So much more space. Ex-hire boats don't usually have this, so we were extremely fortunate that the previous owner had redone the bathroom. Ebersplutter/Webasto. Yes. As I said, I like the redundancy. However we exclusively use our engine for hot water - since we don't have PV and it has been winter anyway, we need to run the engine for electricity anyway - so the hot water is for free. The Eber is going to be a boon once we have PV though, I think. 4 plus 1 battery bank. double alternators. split charge relay. Only the split charge. See the electrical posts on this forum. You need to be doing a proper electrical audit before you can confidently say you need all this gear. We do 100% fine on the one batt. Lots of other people are horrified to learn this. Really depends on your usage. LPG changeover valve. No. And I don't want one. Although when it was a hire boat it had one. Changing a pigtail over is almost as fast and you do it once every 2 months. What I would rather have is a low pressure hose with a regulator that screws directly into the bottle. Less pipe under high pressure = less chance of leakage.

If the boats used reasonably regularly the berth shouldn't get silted up, just motoring away from it and returning usually keeps it clear. Its normally boats that never ever move that get silted in and possibly dumping their stove ashes overboard too which encourages more silt.

I know a Yarwood with a bit of fancy on the rams head: And it is a bit cleaner now, and awaiting refitting (along with a few other renovated bits and bobs) once this boat has completed its restoration:

Yes I've read the brexit thread.

No idea Richard, that image was one of the previous owners. He pointed out that there was a problem with the starter motor, failing to mention there is no starter motor. So trying to identify the engine to replace the starter motor..

Nom idea on the engine but if I may suggest you get rid of that 'Black & Decker' twin (orange cable) - having it running over the water pump and fan belt is not really 'good practice'.

This should be in a book of boater quotes.

Sorry but after re-reading the thread I have to revisit this. It really isn't evident at all. Also, comparing yourself to Frangar and Nut is just an attempt to seem better relatively. If one can only seem compassionate in relation to a pair of angry nut-jobs, then one has lost the argument. ?

I hope you threw it back in readiness for the BCN Challenge.

That is a dangerous practice as there is a 99% chance that someone is in the cabin holding a mug of tea.

Is that the one where you moor up and don't move at all ?

It is amazing what percentage of the time the gas runs out when you are actually using it - middle of boiling the kettle, Sunday Roast etc. Strangely enough I find the same with my stapler - stapling away doing jobs and then 'click' and no staple. Never runs out when I'm not using it !!!!

A funny bunny. He was magic, in a roundabout kinda way!