Joshua

Many thanks for these links. Does the 2008 conclusion (At the time of writing this split charge system simply cannot be improved upon.) still hold good? As a boy, I practically lived in my fathers garage helping him with his hobby restoring classic cars and bikes but despite this and the fact that my father was a professional mechanical engineer responsible for overseeing the build of the Uk’s first nuclear power stations, I never could grasp electrics ! I’m great with spanners and oily hands but nervous with wire cutters and electrical screw driver. With the help of the almighty ( Wikipedia ) I understand the articles and the simple systems they describe. But what about generators? How do they dove tail with the boats systems and what are their pros and cons? Also, how do I calculate my likely power demand and then work out what I need to satisfy it? What are the limits, pros and cons of simply adding more and more batteries to the domestic bank? I will be Ccing and hope to expand on a passion for film making. I don’t think my cameras will be a particular problem (they all use relatively small long life 12v batteries) but my Mac Pro tower computer and wide screen monitor, used for video editing and graphics, I’m guessing will be? Unless marinas provide a mains power service, on a day to day basis, to passing boats and film makers, I am going to have to generate all my own power. Joshua Many thanks for this advice, I will look up your book. Joshua

I am a prospective first time NB purchaser looking for a boat to CC. I am looking for a clear, simple explanation of a typical electrical power system on a NB to give me some idea of what to look for and what I am looking at, when I view boats for sale. Can anyone recomend an earlier thread on this forum that covers this or another web site or good book? And; Has there been any significant development (say in the last 10 year) to that electrical technology as applied to boats? I ask the latter to give me some idea of when an unmodified boat may be considered ‘out of date’ as far as electrical systems are concerned. Joshua

Thanks for your enlightening post. It has got me rethinking my own plans. Firstly, boat size. I had initially worked on the principle of maximise living space minus 4 feet to make locking easier and just accept that I wouldn’t be able to travel a few canals = 68ft. Missing out a few canals (I thought I could always rent or borrow a boat to explore those) seemed preferable to loosing the space. It would be nice to know if there was anyone CCing with a 68ft boat who have any regrets about where it can’t go? The second point is sale of house contents. I would be interested to know if it was worth it. My partner and I are following in your footsteps and have just cleared out our home in preparation for its sale. We have 20 rooms full of ‘stuff’, 35 years collection of what I always thought had some value until I began trying to sell it. My first thought (to get rid of it all in one go), was auction, but my local auctioneer told me it was hardly worth the trouble boxing it all up for sale as the market was so dead. There is far too much to sell via local classified announcements and besides I would then have to spend half my life answering the phone and accommodating curious buyers. E-bay was obviously a thought but then I wondered about all that cataloguing and photographing and posting. So, would you do it again? I would obviously prefer to raise cash for future living expenses but given the almighty job of selling it, if the return is relatively small I would prefer to give it all to charity. Joshua

Many Thanks, I'll scrub plan B! Joshua

I am trying to buy a narrow boat for CCing, I often see a boat with all the right equipment and fitted out in a style that I like but with a disappointing arrangement of windows. Is it possible and if so practical to have a boats windows altered/refitted? Joshua

But most of the broad bits seem to be isolated by narrow canals so from a practical point of view, the UK canal ‘system’ is narrow ? Joshua

Your talking about 3 different waters for which you ideally need three different boats. Narrow boat for the inland UK where 90% of the canals are narrow, broad beam barge for Europe where ALL the waterways are broad and a boat with a keel to sail off-shore. Joshua

If Forums had a section for members to officially declare themselves in hiding thats where I would be, in the absence of which; I get the impression, that as Continues Cruisers, we are going to have to be especially vigilant to avoid the risk of being tarred with the free-loader brush. To avoid any misunderstanding, we decided to become Continues Cruisers because for us ( and I stress that this is a very personal opinion and in no way a judgement on anyone elses life style ) being moored in one place was not much better than parking the boat in the middle of a field. We want to explore the corners of the UK and get up close to the industrial heritage of its canal system and after a 32 year wait, we now have the chance to do it. As someone who finds most popular culture difficult to swallow, I have had a lifetime of experience having to keep a low profile, its a bit disappointing that I may still have to go on doing so, but Im a pragmatist if nothing else. I found the RBOA Web Site article very useful, I am sorry if I gave a contrary impression to anyone, however, the forum comments leave me much better informed, thank you. Joshua

Thank you, I am getting the picture. Its ironic how simple it is to make life complicated but how complicated it is to make life simple. Cheers, Joshua

I thought most moorings were run by private enterprise, I had not appreciated that mooring profits were ploughed back into waterway maintenance. In those circumstances, I can see why people who do have to stay in one place and pay these fees might begrudge those who don’t, but surely people on the move all the time must be providing considerable income to the waterway industry in other ways that static boat users don’t? Joshua

As someone who is planning to become an inland waterway ‘Constant Cruiser’ in the very near future, I was a bit taken aback to discover (from the Residential Boat Owners Association) that I will be “reviled” by other waterway users as a “free loader”. Why? I am 53, my partner and I have been together for 35 years, we have both worked hard since our teens and never at any time asked for or received state financial help. We are both uncomfortable and always have been, with the worlds insatiable consumerism and see life afloat as a way of minimising the need to be a part of it. We wont be asking for anyone’s help to pay for this life style (which as far as I can tell is not particularly cheap) and will be making some considerable life style sacrifices (all-be-it willingly). I had imagined that many other, if not most, other Constant Cruisers held a similar philosophy so I am puzzled by the ‘free loading’ label? Cheers, Joshua

Hi, Have just joined the forum. As soon as our house is sold, my partner and I are going to try living on the canals as continuous cruisers. We first tried to do this in 1988 but were forced to abandon the project after 12 months of careful planning due to the pressures of my work. We are now in a much better position to make this work and pending the sell off of all our possessions, are steadily gathering information that will help with the choice of boat we buy or have built. What is the position regarding the use of wood as a solid fuel on a narrow boat? Our current home is heated very efficiently by 8 wood burners so we know a bit about burning wood! We own over 25 acres of woodland around our property so we also know a bit about felling trees, logging and seasoning. We would love to continue to use wood to cook and heat our future boat but not if its going to be a pain in the arse! Experience has taught us that the quality of the wood is the essential ingredient and we would not normally consider burning anything seasoned for less than 3 years. I appreciate it’s a bit of a broad question, but how accessible is seasoned fire wood on the canal system? Is there any canal side demand for an experienced woodsman that might make this easier to manage? Its bulky stuff so I imagine would need frequent ‘collecting’ for such a small living space. Anyone have experience ? Cheers, Joshua