tree

never give up, to succeed in any aspect of life , takes a lot of hard work, especially going self-employed. Decide what skills adn interests you have and write them down on a sheet of paper, then see if you can possibly make money out of any of them. Once you have decided on something then think of a business name and get cards printed as that always looks professional. Always try to be presentable as sadly folks do 'judge a book by its cover' if it is going to cost them money. A very simple business i set up a few years ago was a gardening business, i only did basic gardening cuttin lawns ectera , keepin the gardesn tidy but it was a good way to earn money. Living on a boat should be no obstacle as long as you prepare yourself properly and irecon you will get more good advice on here. Good luck with your venture and remember 'nothign ventured, nothin gained'

As a lone woman about to move onboard soon , i think that you have to be extreemly aware of dangerous situations whether you live alone on a boat or in a house, good security is essential on both.But i also agree that having confidence can be a powerful tool to have as people who look confident and seem unafraid ( even if you are quakign in yer boots lol ) are a very visual deterent to possible weird folk. But I also have a dog who is also another visual deterent.The majority of boaters are decent folk but sadly in life you will find a few that are not genuine, you just have to be alert to this and hopefully you will have a wonderful life onboard.

For anyone to feel so despondent,that they feel they have NO hope and feel that they have no other option but to end their life is so terribly sad. I did not know you, but I hope that now you are at peace and your spirit will be cruisin the 'CUT' amongst us. Rest in Peace.

Hopefully the authorities will manage to contain as much of the pollution as possible.

Hello everyone, I would like a bit of advice please, my engine is being taken out tomorrow and I am going to clean and paint the engine bay. Now am I doing this right? (1) Clean out most of muck, (2) Degrease the whole area; (3) Scrape away any flaking rusty bits; (4)Use a good primer then paint?? What is the best product to use ? as knowing me when ime let loose in any chandelry i tend to go a bit doolally ( spend too much ) many thanks

Hi can anyone tell me why the chat rooms says it can have 50 members but 5 folk are in now and it won't let any more in ?????

Sadly you will always find ignorant, miserable people where ever you go in life. What I tend to do when I unfortunately bump into one of these folks is to smile and when I receive a horrid or abusive reply, to my request for them to 'slow down please' I reply ' that is not a nice thing to say, how would YOU feel if some one said that to you or one of your family? this usually results in a red face on their part and an apology ( well 8 times out of 10). What we should all remember is that we are all boaters and it doesnt matter if you have a 70ft trad with a beautiful stonky engine or a fibre glass boat because we are all BOATERS and are helping to keep our heritage and traditions alive by keeping our beautiful waterways OPEN I have had a 70ft trad and now I have a 38ft cruiser-style n/b, but it doesnt matter as long as Ime on the cut , so always remember 'you reap what you sow and if you treat everyone that you meet the same way that you would like to be treated you wont go far wrong. Happy cruising fellow Boaters and if you see me adn 'treespirit ' on the cut say hi and smile as I am basically a newbie oh plus yer carnt miss my beautiful lickle shiny green boat with flowers on board and of course my 'L' Plates :)

yikes i know that i dont like wearing 'frocks' but a bowler hat with my mop of hair hmmm... interesting

Glad that you all had fun and what a wonderful adventure, nowt better in my mind than just messing around on the river/canal

Hi I was wondering if you could do that to all types of boats and would it be expensive to fit ??

Hello again Tony, Sorry! for the lateness of my reply as I have only just seen it ( my newbieness really shows now . I have not been able to get back to my boat since my last post in June, due to work commitments and distance, but I will be going back to my boat this w/e and hopefully the marina engineers will have had a look at the problem. As I know nothing about my engine (as yet) then I have to rely on others peoples expertise, which for me as a woman is very frustrating especially since I live in Wales and the marine maintenance courses are such a long way from me. Still this should be soon rectified once I move onto my boat full-time next summer, which will enable me to learn hands on so to speak. Thank you ever so much for your advice and I hope to attend one of your courses in the not too distant future. Lorraine. n/b treespirit

Using solar products can work really well, I have a solar shower kit which I bought for £4.99 and I chuck it on top of the boat and use the water that has heated up for washing the pots and small items of clothing. I also bought a couple of battery operated camping lanterns and use these at a night, and they are bright enough to read or watch a dvd on my lappy. I love my pressure cooker and after bringing up 4 children on land it is one of my essential pieces of kit, as it has saved me so much money. As you can cook a hearty meal in a matter of minutes.I will be a liveaboard next summer and intend to invest in some solar panels, I do not have an inverter or water heater on my boat, but I have bought a genny for emergencies. Just have to say a big thank you to everyone who contributes to this site, as a newbie, I have found such a lot of advice and information which is invaluable to me Cheers folks keep up the good work. tree

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice I had a bit of a blip at the w/e I had to remove the old exhaust and fit a new one well 3/4 fitted it myself and change the oil pressure switch. Without the help and advice of fellow moorers it would have taken me longer. But like 'stellar' I also need to do a course specifically for my engine a Perkins M30. If possible in the Northampton , Braunston, Crick area. Because I live 5 hours away from where she is moored in a marina. Happy days always everyone Thank you for the advice Thanks

The old pagan way of re-naming a boat is as follows : (1) Take the boat out of the water (if possible)i.e. when it is being craned out or in a dry dock or is being pulled out to do maintenance work. (2) Have some offerings of flowers or food. (3) When the boat is going back into the water and at the point before it enters the water, you can say these words: I RE-NAME THIS BOAT ...whatever name you have chosen MAY THE GODS AND GODDESS'S BLESS AND PRESERVE HER AND ALL WHO SAIL IN HER. AT THE SAME TIME AS YOU SAY THESE WORDS OFFER THE FLOWERS ( as in my case) into the water. Job done so to speak, but then again I am a bit of an old pagan. I know others would do it different but hey its your boat do what feels right for you. Mind you the face's of the crane operator, marine owner and lorry driver were a picture I was laughing so much

Tony I will check out the website as long as the training people have lots of patience

Hello again folks I have my boat near Braunston and I need to attend an Engine Maintenance Course from the second week in August as that is when I will be back in the area on my boat. It will have to be one that caters for ancient females who have a basic but limited knowledge of engines ( no offence to my fellow females) but I aint got a clue but willing to learn. I do possess a degree but when it comes to engines I am as daft as a brush Any advice will be appreciated because at the moment ( now no offence to you males or enginners)but I am at your mercy as you could tell me owt and I have to accept that. I am sure that I will get there in the end and become a competent engine problem solving boater , well a Perkins M30 one Thanks in anticipation.

Thank you Tony for the advice and I will check all the cables in the morning. As I am a total novice and have bought several books from the chandlers, I still need to attend a course because while looking at the engine - I just thought 'oh! my giddy aunt', as I was looking through my boats workshop manual and trying to see what was what and what went where still we all were in my position once I will ask the marina engineers to check again. I might have knocked a cable whilst I was putting in the new exhaust ( I managed that quite well )

Yikes!! it put me off my supper

Hello to everyone out there, My name is 'tree' and my 38ft n/b is called 'treespirit', I am currently moored in a marina on the Grand Union after buying my boat early this year. I am a novice and look forward to attending an Engine Maintenance course asp (work permitting), so that I can keep my lickle beauty in good order and one of the prettiest boats on the 'cut'. Happy cruising days always everyone

Hello everyone, I have a 38ft cruiser-style steel n/b with a Perkins Perama M30 / 103.10 engine. I am new to 'boating' and have just has a new exhaust fitted. My concern is that although my boat had an 'engine service' 5 months ago and I have only been out on her twice ( with no apparent problems), when I started her up today after a few minutes running with no problems, suddenly my ENGINE & BATTERY warning lights came on and stayed on. I had an engineer check the boat over and while he was there (sod's law lol ) she ran fine. About 5 minutes after he left the Engine warning light came on and stayed on. A few folk that I have spoken too said that it was possibly the OIL PRESSURE SWITCH. If anyone out there can help advise me as I am a complete novice and promise to attend an Engine Maintenance course as soon as I can (work permitting) Thank you.