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An employee at Sainsbury's in Gloucester did take some convincing that I'd bring her trolley back! (the canal is right behind the supermarket) Didn't help that it was the canoe I was loading up, so invisible below the piling from any distance... got some odd looks from passers-by a few minutes later as I carefully dropped bag after bag of shopping into the canal. This was my record (35 - at least the less-squashed ones stacked!) for trolleys propelled by Lark Ascending. The most I've had actually on board was four and that got a bit cramped.

It isn't Tesco's fault. Their trolleys have an overpowering instinct to return to the canals to spawn. Most are caught by the brave man and women employed by Tesco to round them up in the car park, but a few escape and head for the nearest body of water. The wobbly wheels you'll find on some are the result of car park tussles as they are caught and returned to their life of servitude. Isn't nature wonderful.

One point that doesn't seem to have been queried so far in this thread is why the OP is going for a new build. He has no experience of canal boating, and admits that the discussion to date has identified all sorts of differences from his yachting knowledge, and that his design decisions are changing as a result. And so it is more than likely that as he develops his thinking, gets the boat built and then uses it for a bit, more things will emerge that he will wish he had done differently, but by then it will be too late and/or difficult and costly to change. New boats depreciate significantly, and probably more so if they are not of fairly standard design easy to sell on to the mainstream market. The bespoke boatbuilders all have a waiting list so it will be some time before the OP can actually get afloat. By contrast, second hand boats are half the price or less to buy, and can be resold for much the same as they cost, and are available at pretty short notice. The OP should seriously consider buying second hand first (and inevitably compromising some of his particular aspirations), get some experience of living aboard, of what works and what doesn't, and what in practice is important (probably rather different from what he currently thinks is important). And then he will be in a much better position to spec out his 'forever' craft. And if it turns out he finds life on the cut is not for him, he can sell up and move on with much less damage to his bank account.

Time to stop faffing with solar panels and fit some sonar perhaps?

Indeed. The whole trad stern thing makes a lot more sense if you don't have an "engine box". Put the engine in the engine room, forward of the back cabin. The other BIG advantage of this is you shut the engine room doors and get to cruise without the racket of a diesel engine roaring away immediately under your feet. Oh and you mend yer bike on the tug deck at the front!

Having a retail park near a canal is a recipe for trolleys i think....

And the OP has said he will be alone on the boat, so the social aspect of a cruiser stern is less important. And he also plans to be CCing most of the winter, so there is a strong case for being able to steer standing on the cabin step, with the doors closed behind you and the slide pulled up to your body - even in the cold and rain, at least your bottom half stays warm and dry. Replace the 8ft cruiser stern with a 3ft 6in trad stern and you reduce the overall length/increase the internal accommodation by 4ft 6in.

Think hard about this. Steering an 8ft cruiser stern is not a comfortable experience compared to leaning in the hatches of a trad stern boat. If only because in the trad you have a slide in front of you to put the map on, and yer tea or beer! Cruisers are especially not nice to steer in winter or bad weather as you are 6ft away from shelter and warmth, and especially not when the tiller bar is a bit low so you have to bend over slightly to keep your hand on it.

My boat has a 225 litre diesel tank, it lasts for about 25 days cruising at 6 hours per day with a Beta 43 engine. It has 400 litre fresh water and black water tanks. They last 2 of us about 2 weeks and 4 weeks respectively. One tip, macerator toilets come with a "tank full" light which is very conservative. I fitted an MCS waste tank gauge and found the light was coming on when the tank was just under 50% full. I empty the black water tank at not more than 90% full, so since fitting it have virtually halved my pump out costs.

My boat must be compliant - I built it myself and then filled the form in saying it was..........

Cuthound.. that doesn't sound good. I suppose the lesson for me is to make sure not to miss any area with the grinder. Actually.....I have just had a thought. Why do we have to black bottoms if anodes are in place? Don't the anodes see off the danger of rust?

This morning 2024 Diggle portal Standedge Tunnel HNC and some of the tunnel nearby .... and different linings. Then an expensive new radio communication system ... Compare 17Apr1979 26May1979 10Jan1987 29Apr2001 27Jul2005 3Apr2006 21May2008 (#2) 22May2008 26May2008 15Oct2008 19Jul2011 11Jul2014 2Oct2016 (#2) 16Apr2016 2Oct2016 3Oct2016 14Jul2024

Not so much an 'urgent probem', but I find when single handing I need to climb up and walk along part of the roof either to get to the lock ladder or to get back onto the boat from the lock ladder, in almost every lock. A roof covered in solar panels would make this quite difficult unless the stick-on type. When I lived aboard I had a row of 600mm wide panels flat along the middle of the roof, giving enough space to walk past them along either side.

I have a 57ft boat, with trad stern which will transit all canals. I dont see the need for a 60ft boat unless you have bedrooms, and children. It wont sell as easily, which may be important, and there are less mooring and winding oportunities. Might need a bigger engine than in a 57ft. I dont use my blackwater tank. It does not work. if having a boat built it would.be a Tyler Wilson trad with portholes and windows, just the same as now. Id have a really nice shower room with radiator from back boiler, as i have now. Buying a new boat requires optimism, patience and deep pockets. With modern batteries, maybe two alternaters, expect minimum probs with power, provided you dont try to run all the gadgets used on land.

In 14 years of CC'ing this has happened just once. A part self pumpout into a 25 litre platic container rescued us, so just once in 14 years have we been reduced to the indignity that cassette owners face every week 😀. We did keep an emergency portapotti under the bed for many years but it never got used so we gave it away. Maybe the OP should also consider a compost loo even though this forum is not fond of them.

Did they do a repair last week and its failed because I have seen photos of the chamber drained and a chap down there with the paddle in hand. I will try and find them Found the photo its in this blog quite near the bottom NB Bonjour: Chester (stillchuffed.blogspot.com)

Thanks for pointing that out. The boat mover has his own insurance, so i think were good to go.