grannykins

Really!! Not in the way, I hope! Thanks, will do. Will probably need a hand by then Thanks for that, will maybe have a look:)

So tomorrow we begin our first journey on our little cruiser - moving her from her current mooring at Hawkesbury Junction on the Coventry canal to our mooring at Ashford marina. We will be going up the Coventry, along the Trent and Mersey and down the Staffs and Worcester. Hopefully will take us about a week. If anyone sees a little white cruiser with a rather smokey old outboard (soon to be serviced or replaced) it will probably be us. Fingers crossed we make it in one piece!

Actually I'm usually standing at the side of the lock watching! Its the thought of the water flooding on to the bows and sinking the boat ! Stupid I know, but it worries me

Are these courses just aimed at narrowboats? Or can you do one on a cruiser? After several years hiring I've never yet steered through a lock - the cill one end when going down, and cascading leaking gates going up! Tbh I'm more than a little nervous at the thought of going through them on our little cruiser as we bring her back to our home mooring this next week, even though I will be the one working the locks and not steering. Not very good at parking either. ( I know, hubby also says its mooring, but in my opinion you have to get the thing parked before you can moor it!)

Thanks to everyone for all the help. After much research and many e mails we are now fully comprehensive with euro marine for £129, which we thought was good value.

Thanks Tuscan, will have a look.

Getting a bit frustrated here. All these online forms want to know things I havent a clue about - such as how many knots our boat can do, and some kind of serial number on the outboard. Also the ones I've looked at so far want a full out of water survey within the last 5 years. This is for the little old cruiser we have just bought. It hasnt been out of the water in the last 5 years (we knew this, and its factored in the price we paid). I dont know about maximum speed, and havent a clue about the serial number of the outboard. I have difficulty phoning the companies as I work 12 hour shifts, so by the time I'm home the lines are closed. We need to move the boat down to our mooring starting on Sunday. Any suggestions of companies I can try please - just want third party fire and theft. thanks

I'd ditch the candle - the only way I ever eat baked beans is cold out of the can

Thank you, we will indeed enjoy our time on her!

Its the 26ft Burland I posted about in the other thread. Its a much nicer boat than the Dawncraft - although it does need anti fouling and an engine service. Everything seems to run ok on it, and the inside is clean and tidy. Its only a foot longer than the Dawncraft, but is laid out differently and, even from the outside, somehow makes the Dawncraft look short and stubby. The owner had said we would go for a run in it, and we were out for about 2 hours, which gave both Ray and myself plenty of time to have a go. (Cant believe how different it is to steering a narrowboat!) The we all sat down to a hot drink (it was raining heavily most of the time we were out!) to talk business. We were all happy at the end result -£2800 and she was ours! Going back to have a really good mooch on Tuesday. We have to sort out insurance, and then we are off work for a week on the 23rd June and will be bringing her down from the Coventry canal to our mooring at Ashcroft marina on the Staffs and Worcester. Really pleased!

Good point. Will see what the current owner does when he takes us out on Friday. May have to make a couple of adjustments so we can raise them when traveling.

Hmm, there is no rail on the Burland we are going to look at, so I'm not sure what we would do there. I dont think they would stay on the gunnel.

Certainly dont like the idea of cruising with them down - (although slightly worried about crunching a cruiser, I know they are much more fragile than narrowboats and I've never driven one yet.) Are they the wrong size, or do you just mean the ball ones? Oh, and another question - do cruisers need front fenders? Dont think I've ever seen one with one on.

Brilliant, thanks

Thanks for alll the replies. We've spent years having canal holidays and researching narrowboats in preparation for living aboard in 3 1/2 years but, now we've decided to get a GRP to keep us going until then, 'we know nothing!' Frantically searching all the GRP threads, as we are going to see one we like the look of on Friday So thanks again! And many apologies to the OP for hijacking his thread.

Ok thanks, when we get ours we will lift them for cruising. Do they stay on the walkways? Is it difficult to lift and replace the ones that arent by the bank? (although I'm sure hubby will be able to do it without falling in ) The guy who owns the one were looking at is taking us for a trip in it anyway, so I guess we'll just watch him. Not sure whether or not I like the ball ones - they do look a bit huge!

Really? Thanks for the info. How do we know how much of each to put in to get the mixture right? I presume the oil can be just bought from a regular garage?

Probably a stupid question, but where do you put the fenders on a GRP cruiser while you are on the move / going through locks? The cruiser we are going to look at has quite large fenders, with two huge balloon shaped ones near the front, but there doesnt appear to be anywhere to put them whilst moving. The chains / ropes attaching them to the boat are not long enough to reach the roof. Thanks

Thank you for this info - we are going to look at a GRP cruiser next Friday, and really didnt have much idea as to what to look at. A brilliant check list for us! By the way, what difference does it make if the engine is a 2 stroke or 4 stroke? Ours has an outboard and its a 2 stroke.

Wow, enjoy your day and the years ahead! Cant wait for our turn !

Thanks Cal, will look at that insurer. Just had a really good afternoon. We decided to go and take a look at Hawksbury junction to see if the Burland was anywhere to be seen - and we found it! It was on the side opposite the towpath, so couldnt get as close as we would like, but here is a pic of her this afternoon Looks to be in ok condition from the outside, so we will definitely go and see her properly next week. The guy said he will take us for a trip in her Then we were talking to a lovely couple who live aboard nb Lady Heliotrope, Maureen and Peter, who very kindly invited us on board for a cuppa and showed us around. On our way back to the car, we stopped and chatted for a good while to a guy in a small 18ft cruiser, who was telling us all about cruiser clubs with cheap moorings. All in all, a really enjoyable afternoon

So jealous! We have 3 1/2 years yet before we can move onto a boat. Good luck, and dont forget to put up pics when you are all sorted

Thanks again for further replies. We did consider a boat on a trailer, but find that most seem to need a 4 x 4 to tow properly. I cant run one of those as I do too many miles and need 50 miles to the gallon from my car. Also, there doesnt seem to be that many places that you can get them in and out of the water. The Dawncraft seems to have the vote so far - does sound like it has been maintained better doesnt it? The guy at Ashcroft also pointed out to us that its a buyers market and that the boat has been up for sale for quite a long time. He was obviously hinting that we should offer lower. Any idea on what would be a good offer? Would £3000 be too low as a starting offer? The guy with the Burland now tells us that the boat has been re named. Making me wonder if the boat in the picture is the same one, or perhaps a pic of the boat as he bought it 5 years ago. When I asked about how much licence was on it he just said he pays monthly for his licence and would just stop paying it if he sold the boat. Maybe I should ask him for a current picture. Or drive over to Hawksbury on our day off and see if we can see it around. Dont want to drag him dowm from Cumbria if its going to be an obvious waste of time for all concerned. Someone has also told me that we wouldnt be able to get insurance if the boat hasnt been out of the water for 5 years. And no, we wouldnt consider going on the water without a licence. The same as we wouldnt drive a car with no tax. And when we do eventually get our narrowboat home, we will continuously cruise (that way the kids wont have a clue where we are )

Someone I know has suggested that, as the cruiser we are going to look at hasnt been out of the water for 5 years, we wont be able to obtain insurance for it. Is this right? What would be the approximate cost of having it taken out for anti fouling? I know it will need doing anyway. Thanks

Hi, thanks for all your replies. I'm just glad we found out about the explorer licence before we bought anything. The marina owner rang CRT to confirm what we had told him, as he was unaware they are stopping them and has several other people at the marina who have been using them. Its Ashford marina on the Shropshire and Worcester, so not on a river. We have, however, decided to go ahead anyway, and just buy either a 6 or a 12 month licence. We saw this one today at Ashford http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/feature.phtml?id=252794. Didnt look too bad, but at the moment we are thinking about this one http://www.boatsforsaleuk.co.uk/burland-26-for-sale-1591/ The guy who owns this one doesnt live local to the boat, and we cant meet up with him to see it till Friday 14th June. Any tips for when we go to see it would be appreciated. And if we were to get it, how long about would it take to get from the Coventry back to Ashford? We are off work for a week from Sunday the 23rd June.