pedroinlondon

(I meant: "Continuous cruisers of London, please help" but dunno how to change the tile...) Dear Brethren, Once again I will have to rely on the suggestions and ideas coming from you good people, and this time it's more crucial that any other time since I began thinking about buying a boat and living in it! Thanks to my stupidity naivety, I only started seriously looking for moorings in and around London after I ordered my boat. After three long week of calling marinas and talking to people through this forum, it looks like there aren't any suitable moorings except for a possibility with BWaterways (an extremely expensive and still not very likely possibility) and nothing else. The fact that I'm buying a sailaway gives me even less time for waiting for a vacancy, as the building time will be about half of a fully fitted boat. It is supposed to be delivered to me at the end of April or soon after. In a way it may have been a good thing I didn't wait for a mooring to appear, as that could have meant that I would not buy a boat at all, so at least this way I did go ahead with my plan, and hopefully things will get resolved eventually and I will have a great boat, after some hard graft and lack of sleep. Obviously, I need to conform myself to get a continuous cruising license, which is not a bad thing in "normal" circumstances. My circumstances are not very normal, as: 1. I will have to continue with my full time job in West London. 2. Line the boat out and install the kitchen, sink and shower as soon as possible, with cordless tools mostly. I'm lining it completely open plan, just with the shower room and the toiled separated, which should be really easy, but still... 3. Move around every 14 days, while still be in a reasonable (up to two hour) reach of Fulham Broadway station by train or bus. I am not asking for help with the first two points, but I desperately need information that can aid me dealing with point 3. So, all you continuous cruisers around London and surrounding areas, please send me tips on safe areas to moor the boat during the day, information about ccruising etiquette and anything else you can think of that could help me. If you give me a list of good locations, I will walk there and check them out on foot, and possibly start planning a map of locations for the next six months. My prime concern is actually security. Even though I will come back to the boat every evening after I finish at 5, it worries me leaving it on it's own for 10 or so hours. If there are any danger spots in and around London, please let me know where they are. I understand that this ccruising is a touchy subject to discuss in the open for a couple of obvious reasons, so if you prefer send me personal messages to my account or email me directly to pedroinlondonAThotTmailDOTcom Thanks in advance. Pedro

I see. It's just that I've seen a few all black boats and I thought they looked cool, in my extremely subjective opinion, than the red or green ones. As the summers are fairly short in the UK, I would still tend to prefer black to other colours, as the reverse (not so cold in the winter) must also be true. What about the paint itself, do you just recommend the extr. expensive marine paints or have you achieved satisfactory results with more common oil based varieties?

Why not?

What brand did you use? And is it gloss or matt? I am expecting my sailaway in early May, which will come with a coat of primer only, and I cannot believe how expensive marine paints are. Suggestions for alternatives?

For some reason, International don't seem to make black paint, only red and a few other light colours. Have you used any black paint you would recommend?

Do you mean inside Brentford Dock Marina? Do they allow residential use? That sounds too good to be true!

I've sorter the craning problem, thanks. It turns out it's not 30 ton but only 23 ton, which several London boat yards can handle. Thanks. Now my problem is finding a mooring.

I agree with you. Even though I would like to cruise down the canal as soon as I get it, it would be much easier to have it there, where I could ask for advice from the staff and from other boat owners, and also as no one will mind with the noise of cutting wood, the smell of paint, etc. I will try to visit them soon and ask if that would be possible. Thanks for that.

I don't! I was hoping that would be easy, but I've asked Bridgewater, Willowtree and Lee Valley marinas and they're all full. I know that Roydon is not, but I would like something closer to West London, where I work. I came across the bw mooring vacancy list, but there's no indication of the max boat size allowed. I emailed themas they're closed for the weekend. This "let's live in a boat" process is starting to feel more difficult that buying a flat! Suggestions welcome (once again...)! I thought my plan was quite secure, obviously not! I've asked Bridgewater, Willowtree and Lee Valley marinas and they're all full. I know that Roydon is not, but I would like something closer to West London, where I work. I came across the bw mooring vacancy list, but there's no indication of the max boat size allowed. Suggestions welcome (once again...)!

No idea whatsoever why! The broker did tell me it's 23 tons and I've been corresponding with an owner of a boat exactly like "mine", made by the same people and he had it craned at Watford with no problems whatsoever. Watford crane's limit is strictly 30 tons. And I do not have a mooring organized yet. I will call a couple of London marinas tomorrow. I do know that Bridgewater Marina is full, that Lee Valley don't want me there, but I also do know that Roydon is far from full. Roydon would be the worst case scenario. It's lovely quiet marina but a bit too far away (20 mis from Tottenham Hale), and I wouldn't be to keen on going such a long way right on my first day. I would prefer something easily accessible from Fulham Road, which is where I work, so I'll give Willowtree Marina a call in the morning. Any other suggestions? Preferably, a marina that tolerates some light work noise, like drilling. Thanks! And by the way, the boat is fully ballasted.

I don't think I could cope with a project that big. I lack patience as it is probably obvious from the way I panicked here! I won't be have internet access on Friday until late in the evening, but I hope it all goes well with your craning and that you continue your first class boat building blog. I shall copy a few of your ideas once I have the boat!

Sorry everybody. Just panicing over nothing. All this because someone told me a boat this size would weight around 30 tons (which I now now to be ridiculous, unless the hull is made of gold!). The builder said it weighs around 23 tons which several cranes in and around London can safely lift. Thanks you all. I finally feel like I will have a boat soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shepperton can lift up to 23 tons. Will try the E Agency, even though I'm not keen on leaving it on a dry dock at all. Oh the stress!

Thanks Frank. I might try to go there in person. I see. That may not work for me as I'm buying a sailaway so I need to finish it before I can apply for the boat safety certificate. Until then I need to keep it "out of sight" so I couldn't just take it from there to a marina. At least that's how I understand it.

I will keep calling them and by tomorrow I should know the weight of the boat, and I'll def keep trying Watford, as it's where most people do this kind of thing. It's just that I need to confirm with the seller as soon as possible. I could not make much sense of that "Environment Agency Dock" in Sunbury, aren't they a large marine repair yard of some sort?

Hi everybody. I'm just about to send the payment for a 60 ft by 12 ft widebeam. The boat will be brought to London where I will need to organise its unloading onto a canal, preferebly with a marina where I can leave it for a few months. The most obvious site is Bridgewater Marina in Watford but they don't seem to reply to the emails and messages I've left in the last couple of days. Does anyone know of alternatives, if any? I also emailed Shepperton Marina today even though I'm not sure they deal with canal boats. Thanks in advance.

Thanks you all. The seller has actually organised the craning (up) and the transport to London. Now I just need to find someone to crane it into the water and a maina to keep the boat until I finish lining the inside. I've been trying calling Bridgewater Basin's office but haven't managed to find them in. Other suggestions welcome.

I'm not Mr. Djalili, yet. I might turn into an Omid soon if I persist in taking full fat milk with my lattes. Great blog Biggles. Straight into my bookmarks!

I'm still looking to buy a wide beam canal boat, and I've narrowed down my options to three brokers/builders. Unfortunately, all of them are located north of Rugby and I'm in London, where I need to get the boat to, and it's impossible to get a wide beam across by water. Can you good people tell me of you craning/lorry experiences? I would appreciate any tips you can give me, from prices paid for lorrying, craning, craning in London, etc. Many thanks. This transport problem is (I hope) one of the last obstacles I will need to overcome before realizing my boat ownership dream. A link to other discussions already existing around this topic would be great too. Either reply here or email me directly to pedroinlondon@hotmail.com (if that is allowed by the moderators).

Hi y'all. In the discussion topic/cry for help that I started a couple of weeks ago (Buying a sailaway widebeam. HELP!) someone opined that I should consider buying a stock boat. I had a look at a couple of builders websites and they do have a few stock boats that seem to fit my exact requirements, which are: 1. being wideams 2.Having a motor, basic wiring and tanks fitter and only needing internal work which was always my plan to do myself. Has any of you ever bought one and did that? (finishing fittings and stuff). And to go straight to another point, my fear is that those boats may not have been demos but products refused for not meeting the standards promised to the buyers. What does anyone think about that? Keep your thoughts coming my way! Thanks in advance.

Yes, this discussion turned kind of sideways from the beginning. I wasn't actually looking for an opinion on "narrow vs wide" but on advice on builders and stuff like that. Anyway, I think I'm looking for a smaller version of your boat (10 feet but only 40something long). So, you do a fair amount of cruising. The fact that you own an "abomination" does not hold you back then?

I do not. I am planning in leaving it on a marina as a non-residential for a while, and then try to organise a proper mooring. I'm concentrating more on finding a boat builder I can trust. I will most definitely go for a wide beam. Narrow boats are good for extensive and safe touring, granted, but a bit, well, narrow, for living in and partying. I am aware that I will not have access to the North of England on a widebeam. Lady Muck, that thread will certainly be a lot of help, I just didn't find it on my own. Thanks a lot. I will think about moorings once I have found a builder. Thanks a lot! Lady Muck, that thread will certainly be a lot of help, I just didn't find it on my own. Thanks a lot. I will think about moorings once I have found a builder. Thanks a lot!

Hello everybody! My name is Pedro and I am new to boating. I've done the Inland Waterways Helmsman's Course and I've finally raised enough cash to buy a sailaway widebeam. It's not a "on the spur of the moment" thing. I've been planning to buy a boat and moving into it for about three years now, but my previous work situation and other (finally resolved) problems I had delayed my project. I've started a post named "Buying a sailaway widebeam. HELP!" under New To Boating. If you have the time to help with advice, please do it there. Thanks in advance.

Hi everybody! I've finally gathered enough cash to go ahead with my plan of five years of buying a wide beam houseboat, and I desperately need your help. I'm looking to buy a sailaway wide beam (10'') and would like to hear from your experiences with boat builders, in order to avoid signing a deal with the wrong crowd. I've visited a fair amount of builders' websites and saw a lot of suitable boats, as well as a few ones who seem to be a bit too cheap to be good. You may know who I mean... Just post your comments here or email me directly to pedroinlondon@hotmail.com if you prefer not to make your opinions "public" ; ) All your input will be extremely appreciated, and everybody will be welcome to the inauguration party!

I'll be keeping an eye on this discussion you've started. I'm also looking for a widebeam sailaway (but shorter) and then complete the inside myself. I cannot help you with advice (quite on the contrary) but hope to learn what you find. Good luck.