vulch

Sorry I haven't responded before. Been busy. I thought I would expand on one of the questions I asked in my original post just to show I'm not all hot air, but I'm not getting into any debates 'cos I did all that during the design of my present boat. Water Tanks: 2 careful adults + washing machine = about 100 gals a week. I believe a large capacity tank (say 300 gals +) is very desirable when CC'ing. It's more about what you have in reserve than what you actually use. Having been trapped by 4 inch thick ice on the River Stort for quite some time, I know how vulnerable it feels to see you reserves of any of your consumables dwindling away with no hope of moving the boat in sight. (In fact, as a general CC'ing principle, it's better to be able to fetch what you need to the boat than have to take the boat to what you need. Where at all possible. If not, try to have a large reserve of whatever it is you can't fetch in. I knew of a CC'er who had a large water tank but had to fill with gas oil every week to feed his diesel heating system. So it's not just water that can be a problem). Many Narrowboats are trimmed bows - up. If their water tank is filled & vented from the stern end of the tank a large air pocket can form at the front / bows end. This means you lose a significant percentage of the water capacity you need & have paid for & that your tank may well f***t back at you when you fill it; very vulgar!! I personally prefer an integral tank for CC'ing. Having tried both types of tank the extra capacity for the volume, the ability to inspect & clean it & the reduced surface area exposed to the indoor air (see below) make it the better choice in my view. I do accept that, like so many other aspects of narrowboating, this is a personal choice & differing views exist. When you fill your tank frequently, it should not spill excess water on to the deck when the tank is full. What is an annoyance when the weather is warm becomes a hazard when the temperature drops. The water spilt just will not completely mop up or dry off often leaving a thin film of ice to slip on & promoting rust. When the temperature does drop below the dew point, any surfaces of the tank exposed to the inevitably sightly damp & hopefully warm air inside the boat wil condense large amounts of water. When I had a stainless tank on a boat, I was convinced it was leaking badly, such were the quantities of water produced. Retrospectively lagging the tank with rockwool reduced the problem but did not eliminate it, so sprayfoam would seem to be the way to go for tank - lagging. The tank also created a cold area at the front of the boat. Perhaps this is one reason SF stoves are often situated by the doorway? With an integral tank, there is likely only a bulkhead to insulate, reducing the condensing surface area. The perfect Narrowboat will never be built but none of this is Rocket Engineering. It's all obvious when you see it written down & I don't claim to have discovered or invented anything here. But I will claim that there are many boats out there that suffer from one or more of these design oversights, & plenty more. Why? Mainly I suspect because these details cost but don't sell boats & that many don't really matter when the vessel is used for leisure a few weeks a year. But their lack really adds to the work of CC'ing the whole year round. I was really fortunate in having a builder in Roger who was prepared to accommodate my many fiddly requirements! To bring attention to all of this is why I asked awkward questions in the first place!http://www.canalworld.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/cheers.gif Joshua, My experience with "separate" handrails (mine are flattish cross section rather than round) is that they are buggers to paint & keep clean but absolutely worth the effort for all sorts of reasons.

Hi guys, Sorry my first post has ruffled a few feathers; not my intention! It was banged off in a hurry! I have never posted on a forum before so I am very much a newbie & have no intention of deliberately breaking etiquette. Please feel free to advise me, I will do my best to comply. I was asking questions that didn't seem to be coming up in this thread & which will be very relevant to Joshua if he pursues his dream. Others (perhaps CarlT?) may have time to answer them on the forum. I just don't, & this is probably the most time I will spend replying to posts from now on! Skipper says "See this is your first posting guess you have been busy collecting your years of experiences before letting loose this deluge of knowledge on the boating world." In a nutshell, & not as I would have phrased it myself, but... yes that's exactly what I have been doing. Sorry if that offends you. I'm not claiming to be the font of all knowledge, only to have a lot of experience in a particular way of life. My post was intended to offer that up so that others don't make the same expensive mistakes I have. I simply have neither the time or inclination to spend my time at a keyboard entering into this kind of discussion. So rightly or wrongly, I put a post on this forum that was aimed at assisting someone who I recognise as being in a similar situation as I was many years ago. Probably a mistake, would you say, Skipper? I am privileged to be the owner of a Roger Farrington boat & I would be happy to show anyone who wants to take the time to travel to Northamptonshire why Roger's boats are exceptional, IMHO. I spent about 8 years CC'ing, gathering every scrap of practical advice from my own experience & listening to the experiences of others. The reality of this lifestyle is far removed from many people's dreams & preconceptions. There was so much I learned from the way others had found solutions to the unique problems we were all facing. I took the best of those ideas, added a few ideas of my own, & asked Roger to build me a boat incorporating it all. It all works pretty well & has stood the test of time, but it is my own approach which would not suit everyone. It suits me, it works, I'm happy. Doesn't mean I think I know it all. So I am willing to spend time chatting or passing on hard won experience in person or on the phone, & happy to leave others to decide the value of my opinions. I am sure they will not be what many want to hear & lots people will disagree, which is fine by me. I'm not prepared to spend time on a forum playing "I'm right, your wrong". I would rather be boating. I didn't mean to, but I did provoke a discussion "on a website that is designed to provoke discussion" didn't I? :-),

Hi Joshua, I have 18 years' experience living on narrowboats - a Hudson & Farrington to be precise. 14 of those years were spent CC'ing until I finally settled on my present residential mooring. If you would like to chat directly, I can save you a lot of time, money & disillusionment. I have an answer to, (or at least an opinion on), just about every point raised on this thread. My answers may not be the only valid ones, but they have been proved to work in the real world of all- year - round CC'ing, & provide comfortable & practical solutions to problems that you probably don't even realise exist! For example, how to keep your boat cool in summer & warm in winter? If you are using a pump out toilet, have you thought what you will do when the canal or the marina pump out machines are frozen solid? Do you know how long your water capacity will last you or where you will store the bulky garbage you will accumulate between rubbish points? Do you know the favoured break - in methods of boat thieves & how to design in protection? How will you wash, dry & air your laundry? Keep the boat from running with condensation without being icily draughty in winter? Keep the cupboards & wardrobes from getting damp? Store all the rarely used items such as documentation & tools, that would go in the loft or garage in a house? Because living on a boat is YOUR LIFE & you need so much more with you than on even the most extended holiday! If you want to contact me I would be happy to chat on the phone. I don't know it all bu I have learned an awful lot the hard & expensive way. Living on board can be done & it can be a great way of life, so go for it! Good luck.