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Which is exactly why he's posting here, being very honest and trying to find as much as possible from folks who know. Commendable in my view, far more than those that watch a few UTube vlogs and dive in without researching first. To the OP we bought and moved aboard a narrowboat after a few holidays. I was starry eyed looking forward to this idyllic life basking in the sunshine while waving and smiling at passing boats. Yes, it was a shock when we found out the realities of living off grid (we continuously cruised during the summer and worked during the winter). This forum was an incredibly valuable resource, for particularly when it came to electricity. We bought a boat with a teeny weeny inverter. Naively we thought switching that on after a day's cruising would mean we could watch a bit of telly and charge our phones up. Our inverter very quickly shrieked, I asked advice on the forum an was given spot on advice about conserving leccy and making sure the leads from the inverter were appropriate. Sorry, waffling 😊 The point being to the that no matter how much research you do, and we walked the towpaths chatting to boaters (well worth doing, but set aside a lot of time, boaters have a propensity to talk for England!) there will be situations that bite you on the bum because you had no idea that'd happen. In our case we got on with it and, with a lot of help and advice from friends made on this forum, we figured it out. It can be bloody difficult sometimes, especially when the canal freezes and you find yourself in the middle of nowhere with no car! Our first winter aboard was 2010 - when we got through that we knew we could do it. You're going the right way about it, go for it, you'll always wonder how it might have worked out if you don't. Hey you've been gifted a boat, we spent every penny we had and borrowed to the hilt to buy a very cheap boat. It's the best thing we ever did in our lives. We hoped to carry on until old age but unfortunately my ill health ended our dream. How special that we experienced it while we could. Good luck x

Didn't you say all that yesterday?

My advice is to not make it too quiet. Its a good indication of when you have a leak.

Mrs Midnight is the world's leading expert at steering under willows and bridges and knocking chimneys and coolie caps into the cut. One or two were retrieved but several manged to swim for cover and remain submerged. Her unbeaten world record is 4 folding chairs.

It should just take someone to call C&RT and say "I'm trying to apply for a CC licence but cannot find the form - can you tell me where it is ?" And when told, there is no separate form & just use the 'Pleasure Boat Licence form' you can say "but your terms and conditions say there is a CC licence, and then you go onto say All boats must have the right type of licence for the planned use of the boat, & you use your statutory powers to remove boats from the waterways that are not correctly licenced. How do I get correctly licenced ? They do repeatedly make themselves look stupid !

If you look at the simple statistic of property price v earnings you will find that the current situation has not happened in the last 100 years. The last time it was 8:1 was in about 1905. Before that it was even higher. It is impossible and pointless to predict the future but the trend is suggesting a return to pre Victorian times in this regard. In those days there was no state support. Now there is. One wonders going forward how it will deal with this problem. Graph https://www.schroders.com/en-gb/uk/individual/insights/what-174-years-of-data-tell-us-about-house-price-affordability-in-the-uk/ It is basically wrong for people to own more than one land based property. Legislation should be enacted to ensure this does not continue. It won't be because people in a position of influence all have loads of properties and do good money out of it. It is still wrong.

I know someone who was chugging down the G&S when he saw a Ural with sidecar veer off the towpath into the canal. As it happens his boat has a small crane on it so managed to pull it all out too. Reckon that takes some beating...😀

Rod here. Me and Penny want to do the Lancaster canal in late September but are confused about the Ribble link and in particular Savick brook. Penny assures me it'll be fine, with plenty of water. She tells me the first cut is the deepest, though she does have misgivings about the half tide barrier and stormy waters. Mrs Rod wants to park at Penny Street basin, whilst I am attracted to the Lune aqueduct. All we need is a friend to lend a guiding hand. Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Anyway, I don't want to talk about it. Thanks for all the help. You're in my heart. X

Nothing is safe. For example, beds are highly dangerous since most people die in bed! You have to look at the risk (severity of hazard x probability of it happening) and no point in focussing effort on reducing a very small risk whilst ignoring much greater ones. I suspect many more people die falling off boats than do so from electrocution. We just tend to focus on stuff like electricity because it’s invisible and a bit mysterious and therefore something to be frightened of. it’s not rational.

Interesting you say looks well maintained, the first shows a very clean neat engine area and painted bilge, tidy battery installation the other shows nothing

I'm talking about my experiences of canal boats in inland marinas - in answer to the above , it is not specifically an adress they want, they want to see evidence that YOU (not your parents are paying council tax (it may help if your Fathers name is identical to your own. IYou (and others) may consider it 'scaremongering' but it is also factual, and something the op may come across and should be prepared for.

Read the guide. Do lots of research until you have sufficient knowledge to ignore the guide. Then do a safe and sensible install. If you follow the guide then always wear full fireman's gear and have a fire engine standing by when using the stove, for full safety.

Being too small also has its own problems. Th thermal mass of the fuel on a larger stove will carry it overnight, or whilst your out at work all day, whilst a smaller one, unless well designed is less likely to.

I'm not a socialist ! I could participate in this scheme if I wanted to and the woman will have the option of buying her council flat at half price shortly but neither of those things will happen. This is because we both have some morals and completely disagree with these models. Fine to make money no problem but making money out of basic non negotiable needs? No thanks. You are in danger of making unfounded judgements against people whose circumstances you are not privy to. Be careful doing this. To suggest someone is only against the BTL profits because they are not receiving any is either a joke or just being gratuitously offensive. I expect and hope it was the former !

With careful manipulation of the valves on the bottles it should be possible to bypass any locks on the system... 😂

I think your size of boat, hull profile, being fitted with a small electric motor/solar and the benefits a trailabe boat would give, to cover all the inland waterways and lakes, would be a more attractive proposition to buyers then a full size Narrowboat/widebeam in this material. I can see the boat in the Thread becoming an expensive project/concept boat and that’s it, not a viable financial investment to carry on further or to put on the market.

Many years ago we had a 30 foot steel narrow boat. It was built of 1/8 " steel and had no ballast. The bottom was flat,but had the center of the bottom 12" deeper than the outside of the bottom. This narrangement gave standing headroom in the center passage and lower each side. The advantage of this arrangement was stability (avoids a v bottom like a Springer),light weight less boyancy from each side which removed the need for ballast. The shape of the bottom gave strength and rigidty.It also acted as a keel,so the boat performed well on a windy day.Driven by a BMC 1.5 d. Dont know the weight,but it could be towed on a trailer behind a large 4x4. Although the boat looked like any other small narrow boat in the water the inovative design worked well,

Thanks Ange for the support. I appreciate all views and knowlege on this, and yes Arthur,Tracy i can understand through my posting that I might not be coming across 'serious'. Aside from youtube videos, i am yet to delve deep into the sites mentioned here let alone maps and routes. I thought first port of call is to seek out a forum, and post under the 'New to Boating' topic. The many replies i have received, and many being very honest with the reality check, are very welcome and I appreciate the time taken to reply. Each to their own in regards to learning, understanding, myself i like to see the pros..and more the cons..and the bigger picture. So, this is all helping. Again, without bogging the thread down, hence inital lack of posting personal details, i was just putting the question out there - but i am very serious about all this, it's a viable option, as mentioned before, a run down villa in Italy i would prefer but thats a lotto win away! Right now house to sell, some of the pennies will allow me to board my parents 'unused/hobby' canalboat. Been on it a couple of times, its..up the to job..a lot to learn. I would be living on it on my own. I am not a particularly confident, outgoing person, so some of the 'community' things..or the reliace on others makes me think twice so to speak, not unfriendly in any way, but given the choice, happier to be out of the limelight. A bit of hard, messy work, hands on, does not scare me in the slightest and i actually welcome it, once i know what i am doing. I would be looking at a few courses taken by 'experts'. The appeal of not stuck in a rut like i have been, from personal to work and the 'opportunity' of the canalboat option appeals because I will..for a while at least feel a little bit freer / a change albeit with the many problems and issues outlined in this thread wants me to give it a go. I am well aware 'wanting a change' may sound to some as foolhardy considering canalboating is a way of life and not to be taken lightly - and perhaps should just rent a small flat near a bus stop. But, i am very determined not to do that, been there had the flat etc No. I can really see myself doing ok on a canalboat, it would just be the right fit I think. But without doubt, questions raised on this thread, are important to me and a real plan needs put in place. As the title states, mid-life crisis, im under no illusion here. One worry is i do not drive. And although i could learn..i doubt I would. I am no stranger to lugging bags of shopping around, i was 'saved' by my partner many years back, car, house etc - but as mentioned - changes - and seems life is a cycle indeed. A mooring site where washing machine etc and a town a bike ride/bus line away is 'the dream' for me right now. Keen to avoid Brum only because for many years lived there, moved well away, coming back..pin in the map idea clearly isnt the way forward then going by the replies...Onewheeler mentioned Lancaster canals which i will take a look at,likewise around Chester area. Paul C. you mentioned parent/council tax. Im going to use that word again 'naive' to all this. Parents, retired, own house. Thats it. I would be moored a very good distance away - some families closers than others lets say. Other comments about no address, postal, doctor ( i havent seen a doctor for 20years! and keen to keep it that way!! but , yes, knocking on..so whats the odds ). SO, can i put down parents even if stacking shelves a good distance away? or will it be ok then with that Residential mooring for a year or two? ( again, have to re-read all replies here, a lot on my mind ). It does appear ( in my mind, despite what some have said ) - please correct me if i am mistaken here - I can 'simply' look around, find a 'residenital mooring site', pay a 'few thousand' for the privledge of having onsite facilities for a year..ok...clearly be more than a year to find my feet..2 yrs! Bike into a job, agency, tesco etc , battle with some hardships of the maintence of the boat. A few times venture out onto the canal ( assuming I need to get bottles of gas, water etc..unless they come to you whilst docked?....and see how it goes from there. Build up some confidence ( hopefully ) and then, perhaps, down the line I move on to another spot..or maybe not. Aware, inital money will run out, hence job from the very start, to keep things going ok..packet noodles as one mentioned does not appeal! but beans on toast or even cold beans on bread if the elec./gas a problem will suffice time to time! SO, am i far off the mark here? some said do-able - so..will stick with that. Whittling on, but just hopefully answering a few of the posts re. being doubtful -which again, totally get. Asking silly questions i know, but thats always been how i learn best. Thank you all once again, not dishearted by some comments, seems like theres a lot too it. I was hoping that some things like the way water/gas/elec/batteries/engines may of...improved over the years, being 2022 as a kid in the 70's, a bit of caravaning, things are still very hands on and same old issues. Please don't think i am disallusional i am not, but maybe i have viewed too many youtube videos with posh canalboats, the white ceilings, spotlights..no wood paneling in sight! 'My' canalboat has the panalling, but with the few quid i would have as a starter, i would be looking at a few things to make maintence easy, aka, better life batteries, wall panal / press a button for heating etc..thats all for another thread perhaps in the future!...the Capt's steering wheel appeals but even i can see the cost of fitting that ( if possible ) I'd be stretching it a bit!!

After this unbeatable gem, all the others posts somehow seem superfluous.

We do, regularly. Not for use on the boat obviously; the energy density is too low. People who extol the virtues of hydrogen often ignore the energy density...

1) My Wife 2) All sense of dignity