Alan de Enfield

Totally agree. We are cruising & currently moored roughly North / South, and the panel was tilted slightly back towards the North, now tilted forwards so it is now slightly angled to the South. The Sun is tracking left to right across the face of the panel so should be 'OK' for most of the daylight. Even 5 hours at an extra couple of amps contributes to the fridge / freezer / central heating / computer(s) / phone(s) charging etc.

Good idea (assuming you have a Vetus driveline)

Sat here moored up on the River in the morning overcast waiting for the rain. The Sun pokes its head out of the clouds so I have a look at the Solar - getting 4.2 amps (not too bad from a dusty 170 watt panel angled slightly away from the Sun) Thinks - it is mounted on those triangular brackets with a slot so I could alter the tilt slightly towards the Sun rather than slightly away from it. Shoot back inside - reading now 7.1 amps so have gained almost 3 amps - got to be worth having for 1 minutes effort in 'leaning on the panel'.

As previously said, I have bought all sorts of boats with all sorts of deals without surveys - your story would not fill me with sufficient confidence to do the deal. Sorry, but I think you should give the seller 7 days to accept one of your options, or you will walk away - he thinks he has 'all the power', but he needs that extra link in the chain and thinks he has you hooked - prove you are not. You are the one with the 'power' in this deal - being the only link with cash and not needing to sell anything. Use your power to either buy or walk away. It may well be the boat that has pulled your heart strings, but if you loose all your savings you will not get any boat. There are others out there.

But doesn't the 2nd party need the 1st party's money to pay the 3rd party ?

Its being a good neighbour - it saves the smoke going into our cabin. Beat me by a second !!!

It's not until we moor up by a NB that we realise how wide we are. Moored up last night in front of this NB, and when you look out of the window ……………………………...

It appears to be of a much better standard that the narrowboat conversions seen in the past.

Its a submarine - took the wrong turn after coming up the Humber and ended up on the canal. He thought it may save time not having to open swing / lift bridges, just dive -dive-dive. but didn't realise that the water is only 3 feet deep.

I had a factory in France, and whilst touring the rural parts of France visiting customers I was very un-impressed by some of the local 'facilities' in the 'transport cafes'. One that will forever be in my memory : Needing a pee, I followed the toilet sign and ended up in a shower room. Fully tiled ,small hole in the middle of the floor and strangely two 'gymnasts rings' hanging down from the ceiling. Further investigation revealed a 'stick' leaning up in the corner - a light bulb moment. That's where the term 'getting the shitty end of the stick' came from. When you need to poke your log down the hole, ensure you grab the correct end of the stick.

I had a 7 month waiting list to get Blacking done in the Summer. (Unless done in a heated shed Winter blacking will need doing again a year later) You really need 3 coats and 7 days to do a good job. One Marina I spoke to were going to do the blacking in one-day (lift out, black, drop back in) and charge £5000 to do it. I don't think they did many blacking jobs.

It is the only minimal risk method. Payment will be the biggest problem (as has been mentioned several times) and I am serious about the 'cash in a carrier bag' (I have bought a 6 figure boat with cash - not £1000.99 either !!!)

You will be joining the 1000+ others looking to do the same. London is virtually 'closed' as the numbers of boats has now risen to 12,000. It is possible - almost impossible, but possible. Many people decide to 'live the dream' thinking its a cheap way of living, not realising that the cost of residential moorings can be as high as £15,000 per annum. Why London ? If your skills are transferable you will get a better deal (a heck of a lot easier, a much more pleasant standard of boat and standard of living and 50% cheaper) if you choose the Midlands instead. Good Luck

Very similar - once its tree has fallen down in the gales it is an incentive to flight and away it goes.

Which is why I have found Aldi carrier bags (the stronger 10p ones) are a boon to boat purchase. They hold well in excess of £50k in £20's and are not the most obvious method of transporting money. We went to look at one boat and SWMBO didn't know I had the money in the car, she was quite surprised when I said we'll have it, I'll take it now and SWMBO can drive the car home. handed over the cash, he removed his 'personals' and off I went. That's the way to buy a boat - no time to worry about what may happen.