grannykins

Thanks for the replys. Looking forwards to a good day

We're thinking about doing some of the BCN in August, and considering having a family get together at the same time(all the kids are scattered around down south). Anyone know which of the Birmingham canals is closest to Cadbury World, and whether it would be feasible to moor there for a day in August please?

We have a 26ft Burland GRP, as we cant afford a narrowboat as yet. If I had a choice, I would go for a small narrowboat for the following reasons :- *Although we have a small camping heater we use when its cold, it does lose heat very quickly when its turned off. It can be cold at night early and late in the year. *I personally find it more difficult to get on and off than a narrowboat, as its much higher. *We have looked at smaller narrowboats, and even a 26ft narrowboat has much more useable space inside - not really an issue if its just you, but there are two of us and we are going to have to start bringing our two dogs with us as our son is moving out. *Its a pain finding garages near the canal to top up with petrol (although there is a very useful phone app called Whatgas) Having said that, we do enjoy our boating. Having a small lightweight boat means you dont have to bother finding winding holes, you can just flip it round from a rope on the towpath. We are going to pull it out of the water at the end of the season for antifouling, but it hasnt been out for the 5 years before we had it, and we dont have any leaks. Our boat was much much cheaper than your available budget, so you should be able to get a really good GRP for about half of that.

Went for a look around Whilton. Lots of boats, but even to my inexperienced eyes many of them seemed overpriced. Bit of a moot point now, as we've found we definitely have to wait till the end of 2016 to be able to buy one suitable for a liveaboard. At least we have our cruiser - although I'm having a bit of trouble with one of my hips and its making getting on and off a bit difficult. Thats one of the reasons we were thinking of getting the narrowboat earlier - they are much easier to get on and off!

What a lot of comments, and useful points raised. Thanks to everyone for your contributions. Lots to think about here as usual.

Sooo jealous! Have a wonderful time! 2 and 1/2 years and counting till we can join you.

Thanks

Ok thanks. We do plan to visit Whilton fairly soon.

Thanks Martin for the link. And thanks to everyone else for your comments. We have decided to pass on this one and keep looking. I know many liveaboards prefer trad sterns for the extra space, but we have decided that the convoluted gymnastics required to enter the boat from the stern are not for us . And we would need a cruiser stern for the dogs really too. Since arriving home I have found that Venetian marina are a branch of Another Marina which does not seem to have a great reputation. Does this then mean the same concerns expressed about The Other on here are valid for Venetian?

For various reasons there may well be a chance to buy a narrow boat sooner rather than later. Weve been looking at one or two, and intend to look at quite a few more. It would be for holidays at the moment but would need to be a potential liveaboard for the end of 2016. We saw one yesterday we quite liked.I cant post a link as were out on the boat and I dont know how to do that with my phone, but its on Venetian Marinas website- Maid of Steel. We found the unconventional layout quite appealing. The wet room isnt. Its a toilet and wash basin in a small room lined with a shower tray. We would take out the back bedroom and use part of that space to put a shower in. There is also a radiator that is connected to pipes that end at the fire but are not connected to anything. I'm not sure of the significance of a keel cooled engine. We would have a full survey of any boat we intended to buy. Just would like opinions on this boat and her price please. Thanks for reading.

I use the Nicholsons. Have looked at the Pearsons and just dont like the format.

Last year we bought a Burland 26 and we love it. We are moored on the Staffs and Worcester at Ashwood Marina. We havent managed to do more than a week in her yet, due to annual leave restrictions, but have managed to get two weeks off together this year and are looking forwards to 16 whole days together on the cut. WE would have preferred a small narrowboat, but didnt want to get into debt, and the cruiser cost us less than £3000. Money well spent indeed (The only thing to be aware of is that most of these cruisers have petrol engines, and routes have to be planned that take into account stopping for petrol, which entails a walk with petrol cans. The whatgas app is very useful for showing garages close to where you are.)

Thanks, lots of ideas there Maybe we'll bump into you one day Arbutus!

Thanks for that. Not sure about the rivers though - I have an irrational worry about going on rivers. I had a look in the canal guide books to check out the routes and it was full of weirs and strong flows! I know we're in a cruiser so should be fine but, I just have this worry. I will go and look at the other routes.

This year we have about 3 single weeks off together, but have also managed to get a fortnight together the last week of June/first week of July. We are moored in Ashwood basin on the Staffs and Worcester, and were wondering if anyone has any suggestions for our fortnight. We wouldnt want to be doing 8 hours every day, but would be doing probably at least 5 hours and wouldnt mind up to 8 some days. We really would like to take the opportunity to go further or do a ring we wouldnt be able to do if only out for a week. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.

We cant afford to buy a narrowboat until we retire in 3 years time, (at which point we will become liveaboards!! ) so we bought a cheap GRP cruiser. Paid less than £3000 and, being only 27ft is fairly cheap as regards moorings and licence. Bit like a caravan on water really, but we had some really good times on her last year. We are going to be selling the touring caravan come spring though, as we didnt use it at all last year after we had bought the boat.

They are already on the shopping list - if I can find some to fit. I may have to do some trimming of the legs, as I'm cuddly and also vertically challenged Done that in my dim and dark past Tilley hat also on the list - with strap, as I have already lost a summer hat that way

Thanks for all the contributions. Ended up with a desert Camo gortex ex army jacket. Already proved itself to be indeed wind and waterproof, and therefore a good buy for £30

Wow thats great! Pics, pics, pics please. Really green, we have another 3 years to wait yet!

Lots more places to look, thanks, though rather attracted by the idea of the dustbin lid - if I were to fall in the cut a plastic one would float and Ray would just be able to heave me out by the handle - and if I also had the carrier bag over my head I wouldnt be embarrassed if anyone was looking as they wouldnt know who I was

Thanks - will go have a look at gortex.

Been out on our little cruiser recently and had a day and a half of really wet weather. During this, I found that my waterproof jacket actually isnt. It may just about be shower proof. The trousers werent quite as bad. Which waterproofs would any of you people recommend for actually keeping one more or less dry? Thanks

Thanks both of you. Will continue to look around, and ring the outboard center on Friday when I have a day off.

Thanks for all your replies. It does sound a little more difficult than I initially thought. Didnt think about all the electrics too. Is it a long job? We have seen a likely engine advertised here http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/outboard-engines/honda15hp-PEM204 They are a couple of hours away from us by road, and we cant get the boat to them. They have said they will come and change the engines for us for a cost of £1150 plus our old engine. Is this a good deal? thanks

We knew when we bought our 26ft Burland that the outboard would need servicing as it hasnt been touched in over 5 years. We're also considering changing from a 2 stroke to a 4 stroke. The manager at Ashwood Marina gave us the name and number of a guy (from somewhere on the Llangollen Canal) who does the outboards at the marina. The problem we are having is getting hold of the guy. I have spoken to him once, and he said he was coming to the marina the next day and would see us there. He didnt turn up or call us. We have since spoken to a woman at the place he works several times, and have been told he will call us back but he hasnt done so. On Wednesday she told us he was planning to come to Ashwood on Friday and that he would ring us, but he didnt turn up or ring. We wouldnt mind having a go at things ourselves, but need some information as we are new to this. The present outboard is a Mariner 20hp 2 stroke. It starts with a key in the ignition, not a pull string. These are the things we need to know:- 1) How do we get the outboard off the boat? Do we have to get the boat out of the water to do it? I've searched the net, but cant find any instructions about this, although there are instructions on how to service it once its out. 2) If we did decide to replace it with a 4 stroke, what size/type would we need to be looking at? 3) How do we put the outboard back on the boat? Any help or advice would be welcome. Thanks