Leaderboard

I think you probably have more reason than most to need to lose it now and then. Don't beat yourself up. ❤️

Ange, most of us here recognise if the drink is talking and all your real friends here cut as much slack as is ever necessary, ok? Just sayin'. Now have a hug

Seconded (Thirded?) Whatever - Apology not required - take care.

What MtB said. 🫂

Two books it is worth reading. Both by Graham Booth. Narrowboat Planning and Narrowboat Builders Book. Both are a little dated in places now, but they will give you lots of ideas. I used them when planning and doing the fit out of my boat. Jen

"Swan Knight", had an ignominious end around 1967. When she came off the hire fleet she ended up for sale at Nautocraft, Boot Wharf, Nuneaton. The price was around £200. My Dad, who was looking for a boat after having hired from Holt Abbot the previous year was smitten. He went to look at it a few times and as a result ended up visiting his Bank Manager. This savvy old chap was of the old school, the kind of Bank Manager we don't see any more. He picked up his phone and called Nautocraft. Claiming to be my Father he offered them half the amount. To everyone's surprise they immediately accepted . So he next said he'd pop down any day to sign and pay, and could they just pull it up onto their gravel slip so he could paint under the water line, he'd buy the paint from their chandlery. They'd arrange it straight away and looked forward to his popping by. My Dad was astonished, he was delighted at the drop in price yet more than surprised about having to buy new paint and finding the time to apply it. "I'll drop by there tomorrow and leave a deposit ..." he thanked the Bank Manager. "No you won't, he was told ..." The Bank Manager was suspicious. He didn't want my Dad to go anywhere near it, but made him an appointment to come back in two days. On his return my Father was presented with a foot square of soggy wood. Turns out a mate of the Bank Manager had been down there looking for a small boat, he'd been directed towards The Swan Knight, sitting in a cradle on the slip and resplendent in its previous price. It had taken him as long as minutes to find a spot under the waterline that resisted to his probing finger. We heard that everything was stripped from her and a Viking Funeral performed at the weekend. My Dad was requested to buy the Manager's mate a pint or three and purchase a couple of books of the bank's raffle tickets. Those were the days when a bank looked after you and you put a tie on before visiting the manager.

Who needs an engine when you've got a posse of clowns to pull your narrowboat?

We replaced the Alde boiler on our shared owners boat last winter with an Eberspacher unit fitted in the engine bay. So far it has performed well and we also get a bit more (narrow) cupboard space where the boiler used to live. The Alde had been a bit temperamental in it’s last couple of years. Gas is now just for cooking and a bottle lasts for ages. It seems to have been a timely move with the issues regarding shortage of Calor gas.

As Book23 says, you can't live on the Basy except by buying one of those abominations at New Haw. Administered by Surrey County Council IIRC. For the Thames, there are quite a lot of resi moorings especially down towards the Chertsey/Sunbury/Twickenham end but they are 'dead mans shoes' to get hold of, as well as nosebleedingly expensive should you find one. In general, the way to get a resi mooring on the Thames quickly is to buy a boat already on a resi mooring. Then once you have your feet under the table, sell the boat and replace it with the boat you actually want. Oh and there is also "The Willows" just along from Windsor Marina. Basically a caravan site with half a mile of river frontage which they rent out too. Nice place to live if you like lots of rules.