coldor

I agree with all the comments about Timothy West & Prunella Scales, very enjoyable programme and very likeable people. Why was it only on More4, though? Given there are some 35,000 boats using the waterways, I'd have thought they'd show it to a much wider audience. I thought we were pushing it at 70 & 69 but greatly heartened by Tim & Pru's example. Hoping to see their boat as we're on the South Oxford at the moment. Does anyone remember Timothy in Big Breadwinner Hogg on TV back in the 70s?

NB Col D'Or Hi all. we're now out of the marina and continuously cruising, left Yelvertoft, wnet down the Leicester Line to the GU then Braunston, Hillmorton, Hawkesbury & the Coventry, now making our leisurely way along the Ashby. We've got 2 x 180w PV panels with a cheapish regulator. Can anyone please suggest a good, not too expensive MPPT controller? Thanks in advance for any help. Coldor

Wow, never expected so many helpful responses! Our grateful thanks to all of you who've responded (so far). The gist seems to be to check out different insurers & to check the weight distribution both of which we will do. I also like The Bagdad Boatman flanged box extension idea, very "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" style.

Hi Ditchcrawler. She was built in 1997 by Evans & son who I've been told are reputable boatbuilders.

That sounds like a very cunning solution, Bagdad Boatman, any pics available, please? Hi Ian. I doubt there's much fuel or water on board but there is an unused (ornamental?) Stratford 1910 stove in the stern area which we plan to get rid of and I suspect the difference in weight could well be significant. The insurance requirement was only as stated by the surveyor so possibly due to new regs(?). Hi Troyboy. I've now been told by the brokers that we should be able to get her insured ok, even given the 2 inch extension requirement, she is actually insured at this time by the soon-to-be-previous owners. We'll probably go for Saga as we're oldies and my son & his missus both work for Saga.

Thanks very much MikeV & Chalky, I'll look into both suggestions today, cheers, coldor

Hi all from a complete newbie in the Northampton area. We've just received the hull report on a boat we wanted to buy and all is fine except that the weed hatch requires extending upwards by 2 inches for the boat to be insurable. We'd be very grateful for any opinions on how easily this can be done and approximately how much it's likely to cost us. Thanks very much for any help with this problem. (This is our 2nd try, the 1st boat we had surveyed had far too many problems so we went for a much "younger" NB)

We're waiting for our chosen 1st ever NB to be surveyed Monday and reading up as much as possible in the meantime. This whole series of postings has been so edifying and educational, feel I've learned some very important lessons here. It's going to be quite some time before we attempt the Nene, or any other rivers for that matter, gotta do our time first.

Wife Doreen & I, both OAPs now, spent 2 brilliant weeks on the Oxford back in 1973 but nothing since, apart from reading about canals & checking out the various websites, so we're real beginners. We've now got the dosh for a for a suitable narrowboat to live aboard for a few years while we're still able to and looking every day for a good one; currently trying to disencumber ourselves of our static holiday caravan in Kent but when that's done, away we go! We've been browsing the various topics on Canalworld and have been amazed at the wealth of useful info to be found here. We've also been greatly reassured to read about the helpfulness and kindness of boaters towards each other, it's just what we were hoping for.

Reading all the posts here has been edifying, mystifying and highly entertaining, great stuff!

What a very helpful site this is, these postings have been very educational for me, thank you all for your contributions, I can see I'll be visiting this forum for a long time to come!

Many thanks again for your help all of you, that has cleared up one of our main concerns.

Thanks to all who replied to my query. Are the thinner plating specs ok with insurers?

Hi all, Doreen & Colin here, recently put our holiday home (static 38 x 12 caravan in Kent) so we can buy a narrowboat to live aboard. We had a 2 week holiday on the Oxford a long time ago but are essentially brand newbies to the culture/way of life. We're reading up on as much canal & narrowboat info as we can and we're wondering about the different plating specs we keep seeing. It seems clear that 10/6/4 is the best but what are the pros & cons and does it make a difference to insurance companies? Thanks for all replies, coldor