grannykins

We are aware of this. He doesn't, so its ok.

Wow, not an easy answer then. I was thinking about when we buy later this year. Was thinking 50 - 60 ft, so we can do as many canals as we can. But it sounds like even if you buy a boat that is described as 57ft, then there is no guarantees it will actually fit through the short locks? Although tbh, as we're buying a liveaboard, we may well end up with a longer one and just live with the limitations of travel. Thanks for all the replies.

A quick question - when describing a boat as a certain length, does the measurement go from tip of the bow to the stern, to the end of the rudder, or does it include the fenders? Thanks.

We are going to use our sons address for our mail when we have our boat and are CC ers, and change our address to his at our GPs. He lives locally, so we will keep our GP and just register as a temporary patient if needed, the same as we would if we were on holiday.

We went last year - we hadn't actually realized that it was the river festival. Plenty of moorings in Bancroft Basin - we arrived on the Friday evening and left Sunday afternoon. There were vacant moorings in the Basin all weekend. Don't know if we were just lucky, or if you can book moorings in the Basin in advance.

Hello and welcome. Download the whatgas app for your phone. This will let you find the petrol stations along the way - boatyards dont sell petrol for your outboard. We found it tremendously useful when we had our GRP.

We had no shower or bath on our 26ft GRP. We managed well enough with strip washes and showers from the occasional CRT facilities. Longest time spent out on the boat was 19 days - don't think we smelled too bad at the end of it

There is an app you can install on your phone called whatgas. This will show you every petrol station wherever you happen to be. We found it very useful when we had our GRP. As we started to get close to where we wanted to moor for the night we would keep an eye on the petrol stations. You can zoom in and see which bridge is closest to the garage.

Congratulations! Tell us how you get on!

Not a board game, but a card game. Need more than 2 players though - Fluxx. Brilliant game and comes in various guises - Pirate Flux is one of my favourites, but several others also on the market. Never seen it in shops though, have to buy online. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Looney-Labs-045LOO-Pirate-Fluxx/dp/1936112159/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1459699353&sr=8-2&keywords=fluxx+cards

Some of the lock gates on the Stratford were really really stiff when we did it last year. In fact one of them was really bad, and it took myself, my husband and a burly jogger to move it! I believe CRT were supposed to be doing work on them over this winter, so hopefully they will be much better. Enjoy

Have been following this with interest. Sooo jealous! However, i've decided to retire a few months early, so roll on August when we can look seriously for ours! Good luck - let us know how it goes.

We did Birmingham last year in our little GRP. Its fine. Safe moorings. And interesting to see what they've done with the canal there. The odd grotty bit is easily passed by during the day, so no need to moor up there. Felt a lot safer there than we did going through Stoke the other year.

This is a good idea, thanks. Bit awkward if we're up north/down south somewhere as he lives in the Midlands and works. I work in a hospital where Oromorph is treated as a controlled drug. Seems to vary from place to place.

Going to see if doc would be willing to keep us on his list if we still have a postal address (my son) in the area. just have to make sure he is ok with the faxing of prescriptions. If not, then we'll just use temporary GPs. It is important to try and keep registered with a GP, so you dont miss out on stuff like screening for bowel, breast and cervical cancers.

Just be aware that, with an outboard, you're going to have to sometimes walk for some distance to get petrol for the boat. There is a phone app called Whatgas which gives you location of petrol stations, and you can see which bridge is nearest to the garage you are going to use. You will also need to store enough petrol to top the engine up to allow you to get to the next garage. Storing petrol ( and also filling the tank from a petrol can) needs to be done as safely as possible. Having had a boat with an outboard I can say that its sometimes a right pain. Personally I wouldn't go down that route again. I'd try and find one with a diesel inboard instead. Much simpler.

I order my prescriptions by e mail, and the doc faxes the prescription to whichever local chemist I want to collect it from. Hoping hes willing to do the same with out of area pharmacies when we start living aboard/continuose cruising in autumn.

What router do you use and how many devices can you tether to it please? Looking into this for when we move onboard at the end of the year.

We were up that way around June/July a couple of years back and really enjoyed it. I suggest you take along lots of insect repellant, bite cream and antihistimines - it was swarming with horse flies and even my husband, who never usually gets bitten, was full of bites.

I'm not stupid. I always try google first. Then I ask for advice on here. When good advice is given, I take it. There are things advertised in the boat magazines that do not necessarily come up on a google search. Thats why people come on here and ask questions.

I'm not stupid. I always try google first. Then I ask for advice on here. When good advice is given, I take it. There are things advertised in the boat magazines that do not necessarily come up on a google search. Thats why people come on here and ask questions.

Hi Tim, We are in Shropshire/Midlands, so London is a bit far to travel. We usually get the Towpath, but haven't seen any advertised in there. Which magazines are they usually in?

Just had a look and the RCR courses look to be exactly what we're after, thank you! And they are reasonably priced, multiple dates to choose from and not far away from us at all. Brilliant! They do do an electrics one, but the boat and engine one is recommended first. We are both going to book for both courses. And when we do get our boat, we may well also book the personalised one, where they come and go over your own engine with you.

At the end of 2016, our 5 yrs of planning will be complete and we will be retired and in a position to buy our liveaboard We sold our little GRP this year, so we could have time to de clutter in preparation for renting out our house. So.....no holidays on the cut for us this year There are, however, a couple of things we need to do. We need a course on understanding boat electrical systems and power management. Preferably one we can attend and not just read about. It goes in better for us that way. O level Physics was many many moons ago! We also need a course on basic engine maintenance. We will be joining RCR, but need to be able to do at least the basics of servicing and have a simple understanding of how stuff works. Hubby is good at DIY, but not electrically or mechanically. The other thing we would like to do ( a want, not a need) is to do a course on painting Roses and Castles. I know that using the search facility brings up several things regarding the above, but I have a habit of paying out for stuff and then someone saying 'oh, the other one would have been much better', so would appreciate any recommendations for the above please. Ta muchly

We didnt, Never thought about doing it at the time. I was so angry with him. Should have done I suppose.