Wyke

Thanks for the advice John. But no worry about me spending money before I know what I am doing. I am a Yorkshireman after all I think that I am pretty much set on a traditional narrowboat as I'd like to be able to go everywhere. The Humber bit was a bit of a dream too far, even I can see that. But I guess that I was hoping that somebody would come up with something like "Oh don't worry about that Dave, you can get clip on out-rigger to turn your narrow boat into something like a South Seas Canoe" As for the rose tinted glasses? Well it doesn't hurt to have then to hand, so to speak, we have to keep the dream alive, but yes, that is one thing that I am already coming to terms with. I'm actually quite surprised that 'the system' seems to be quite anti-liveaboard. This I find quite odd, as I imagine that most people who follow the life are similar to me, long term professional, or ex-professionals who have independent means to support themselves so are not a drain on the system, and who are the last folks who want to see the British waterways spoilt. I've already ordered a couple of books from Amazon, and the next time I have a weekend free am planning to nip over to Nottingham too have a look at some boats, (looking, not buying). This is defiantly the reccy phase, I need to apply myself to sorting the rest of my life out, so come Sept 2013 I am free to go before I start to think about committing to it all. Dave

Hi folk, As I mentioned in my introduction post in 3 years I can take early retirement and am looking to sell everything up and spend a few years as a liveaboard. The first thing that I am trying to get a feel for is what I can realistically consider getting as a boat. Doing some quick sums now, I can be looking at having something like £100-£120k to spend on the project. That is for buying a boat then squirreling money away for upkeep cost. Daily living should be covered by my pension payments. I'm looking to solo and continual cruise, with wintering moorings possibly; and perhaps spending 10-15 years doing so, or until my health hits a point that I can't manage the life My initial thought is to go for a narrow-boat, or wide-beam in the 30-40 foot range. However, I live in Hull and that's where my family and friends are, so it would be nice if I can travel the Humber, from the Trent/Derwent to Hull. But I know enough to know that The Humber can be pretty mean even on a good day and even I can see that a flat bottom boat, even a wide-beam would be unsuitable for such a trip. From my initial reading, I think a dutch barge type might be more suitable, but they appear to be more costly to buy, and I will guess will have higher upkeep cost too. The Humber part may be a dream too far, so is not an absolute must, I thought I'd throw that in just in the hope that somebody can suggest something else. OK, after my lengthy preamble my main questions. For a 30-40 foot narrow or wide-beam, how much roughly should i expect it to cost annually to run? I know that this can only be a rough answer, but it is the one thing I am struggling to get a feel for. Next question, is there any mileage in going for new over second hand? As I said, I am looking to settle back down eventually, so in some respects I need to think of resale, eventually. Apologies for the basic and vague nature of my questions. I'm still in the early planning stage of things, but need to get a better idea of what I can realistically look at aiming for before planning further. Thanks again. Dave

Hi Folks I'm Dave and live 'up north' in Hull. I'm also one of those lucky so and so's who will be able to take early retirement (at 55) in three years time. So I have decided to try and follow a life long dream and spend a few years pootling up and down the waterways of Britain as a 'Liveaboard'. I know enough to know that a couple of boating holidays on the Broads is very different from living aboard full time. So have been looking for a good forum site to start asking the myriad of questions that I have floating about my head Thanks to everybody in advance and I hope that I can eventually contribute something back as I make my journey from being a land-bound house owner to river bound liveaboard. Dave