Filligree Fairy

We looked at the same boat a month ago when it was still up for ~£45k - needed too much repainting for us, but the inside's lovely. Where are you getting the survey undertaken? We've also just had an offer agreed on our first boat just behind the marina where Emanon's moored, and are still trying to arrange a surveyor (my laziness, not anyone else's fault). Best of luck!

Back on topic - Try Zipcar, you have to pay a membership fee and can then access a car locally by pre-booking it. Otherwise, liftshare.com is pretty good for finding people doing the same journey as you. a lot of new residential developments have car share schemes, but they're generally in a fixed place not over a wide area.

Thank you both, I've emailed Mike, and I shall give Alan a call later today. Then I can start getting excited about our boat

Afternoon. I posted this in the "Living Afloat" forum this morning, but I thought I'd pop it in here for a broader audience - can any of you lovely people recommend a surveyor in the harlow/roydon region? ta muchly...

Morning! Can anyone recommend a surveyor in the Harlow/Roydon/Ware area? We think we've found our boat... :-)

For the F1 - if you can find Astra 19.E, then you should be able to pick up the european coverage (German, I think) free of charge. Then just pop Five Live on the radio, problem solved, and less money in Mr Murdoch's pocket...

Not being married is a choice, filling out extra paperwork is just an accepted downside. And hey, if it all went horribly wrong, I could run away, and no-one could (legally) do very much about it ;-)

Blimey, it's nice to know it can be that simple

Afternoon all. A complicated question, and probably best answered by someone who's been in the same boat, as it were. We're looking to buy a boat to live on, but are unsure where the boat will stand as an asset. As an unmarried couple (shock, horror), neither has any legal right to the other's assets should one of us die - can we set up some kind of agreement to state shared ownership fo the boat, or do we just need to write wills that state that ownership would revert to the other? Sorry, it's turned into quite a morbid post, but we both want to be certain we get what we want, and all the advice I can find online refers to buying houses, which to be frank is neither of interest or financially viable.

Thank you Colin. It sounds like it's all fairly straightforward!

As a relative newbie, and soon to be boat owner, there must be a list of things longer than both my arms that I'll need to maintain/check/learn how to know is not broken, so please can you help me fill out said list? I know about hull blacking, and engine maintenance, but pretty much everything else is new

Morning! Although not my first post on here, I am a a bit of a newbie - multiple boating holidays, and soon to be buying our first boat and venturing onto the water full time. I've found loads of very useful advice, but I'm sure as we get closer to buying our first boat, I'll be asking stupid questions on a daily basis. I do promise to avoid any questions about toilets without reading all the threads I can find first

Try motorcycle waterproof gear too, we've got Weise all in one suits, at £35 a pop, add to that a decent wide brimmed hat, not got wet a bit, although you do look a little silly. Or shorts and a sleeveless top if it's warm - I've been seen more than once running down the towpath between locks in shorts a vest and sandals, drenched through.

A friend of mine swears by a combination of lemonbalm and lavender oil - she's put it in soap, moisturiser, and as an oil for normal use. two weeks on the rivers, she didn't get bitten once, which is quite the achievement considering she's usually and insect snack of choice.

Lovely, thank you all. Phoned South Island marina, and although the location's not great, we're going to look at a boat that happens to be for sale on moorings there hopefully tomorrow. As Dekazer points out, getting on the ladder is the hardest bit, so I'll try to be less fussy about moorings. I was spoilt by seeing Username's Wild Lady at Rickmansworth, which is beautiful, but pending discussions with in-laws, probably out of our price range.

Afternoon, A quick question - does anyone know how best to track down privately owned residential moorings? I know they're almost as rare as hen's teeth, but being as the lovely people at Roy Scot Larch are quite so keen to make a profit, our options are fairly limited, so we're trying as many sources as possible to find a resi mooring so that we can then track down a boat within our budget. Ideally, we're looking on the River Lea/Stort (as is everyone, I guess). Many thanks FilligreeFairy xxx

Just caught this - assuming no-one else has been equally unlucky in the same lock, the boat is floating again, if somewhat mud covered, moored towpath side just past the lock. A very sad sight indeed.

You can wave at us if you see us - black prince's Stefania, currently moored in Stratford on the Avon side of the lock, will likely be wearing silly hats on our way down to Tewkesbury, or dressed as pirates...

Thank you, all. We're going to keep an eye on water levels all over, and take advice from the boatyard when we arrive, which should be the most up to date we can get as far as the Severn at least. Some of us were very much looking forward to the locks at Tardebigge (two of us have been known to do 30+ locks in a day out of a crew of 8 on the K&A), and I seem to remember we did the Avon from Stratford to Tewkesbury in poor weather before, although not as bad as it has been recently. In the meantime, I'll have a look at alternative routes round Birmingham...

Hi, I'm due to go round the Avon ring from Stoke Prior at the beginning of August with a Black Prince boat, I'm just a bit concerned about the closures/stoppages, and what our options are. If the W&B is open between Tardebigge and Diglis, then should we go south rather than north, rather than risk getting stuck at Tewkesbury? Or should we just wait and see, and if needs be turn back at Stratford and come back the way we came? After 8 boating holidays, this is the first time we've had threats of stoppages due to flooding, although there have been plenty of close calls with low water levels. Your thoughts greatly received...

We did the Llangollen as an end to the Shropshire Ring, and it's beautiful. The only down side was the narrowness - the bottom is cut in a V, and we got temporarily stuck on a bend trying to pass another boat. The end towards Llangollen itself is also narrow - largely single boat passage, and we got caught up with some dayboaters who ended up needing to be rescued. So, all in all, beautiful and quite good fun, but can be a bit of a 'mare if it's busy.