Naughty Cal

We have seen plenty of tug style narrowboats on the Trent and they seem to manage just fine. What makes you think you will have a problem?

The Propex heaters are very effective. We had friends with a Fairline Holiday that had Propex heating and it worked a treat in their 23ft boat.

Are you going to be fitting a source of heating?

I prefer sleeping in my bed to be honest

If anyone is considering buying a slow cooker then Tesco have an offer on at the moment on "The Original Crock-Pot." Usually retails for between £35-£40, currently on offer for £14.50. We have finally gotten around to buying one for the house. Not sure why we have taken so long as we love cooking with the one on the boat! Lamb shanks in garlic and mint gravy for dinner tonight

You can get a gauge fitted to the pump out tank so that you know where the level is easily enough. We have not suffered a problem with freezing, blockages or leaks from our pump out tank in 7 years. Personally I don't see the attraction in getting reacquainted with your waste a day or so after you have evacuated it

I'm fairly sure that our marina charges for elsan use for non moorers unless of course a major purchase of diesel is made or items from the chandlery. Why not? The berth holders are after all paying for the service within their mooring fees and the marina will have to pay for the disposal one way or another.

We never use any chemicals in our tank and there is no odour from it. Some of the worst smelling tanks are the ones that do use Blue That all depends on the size of the tanks of course and how often you use it. How long will a cassette last you? Where will your nearest elsan point be?

On the scale of things having the tank empited is really one of the cheaper aspects of boating. If the cost of having your tank emptied a few times a year is putting you off, then you really should look into other boating related costs before taking the plunge.

If you already know that the boat has pump out on it, what's the problem? It has what it has!

We have a pump out loo which we are very happy with.

A few more: http://www.newark-marina.co.uk/used-boats/fairline-turbo-36/ http://www.newark-marina.co.uk/used-boats/princess-37-2/ http://www.farndonmarina.co.uk/brokerage/boat-listings/item/202-sealine-365-bacardi-breeze http://www.farndonmarina.co.uk/brokerage/boat-listings/item/217-humber38autumngold http://www.boats.co.uk/boats-for-sale/corvette--1317 A couple of these are a bit over your budget but don't forget that they are only asking prices. You can always haggle a bit on that.

Has it got to be steel? Some other options. http://www.nya.co.uk/princess41-2.html http://www.nya.co.uk/alpha326.html http://www.nya.co.uk/aquafibre37-1-for-sale.html http://www.norfolkboatsales.co.uk/used-boats/broom-crown-37-autonomy-214.asp http://www.norfolkboatsales.co.uk/used-boats/aquafibre-37-prelude-359.asp http://www.norfolkboatsales.co.uk/used-boats/aquafibre-ideal-45-magnifique-259.asp

We do this simply by plugging in

What are you planning to insulate her with?

We just ploughed through it. It did slow the boat noticeably though. None of the boats we were with had a problem with it but they were all fairly powerful cruisers. Checked the weed filter when we got back to the marina and there was no sign of any weed in there so it must stay fairly close to the waters surface and not grow under the surface as some of the other weeds do.

So you have no advice for the OP and are instead just trolling once again?

The Fossdyke and Witham do seem to have more than their fair share of weed problems. This time it is Fairy Moss that has taken hold of the Fossdyke. http://www.lincolnshireecho.co.uk/festive-Brayford-Pool-suddenly-decorated-harmless/story-27997742-detail/story.html This was the scene at Drinsey Nook yesterday afternoon. Horrible stinky stuff

Indeed. We have seen several on our travels that are now on that site. Hopefully they can all soon find new homes.

So your only advice is to look at the transport side? Boats are transported around the country all the time. It is hardly something new. It won't be cheap but it is hardly going to be a deal breaker. If you are willing to do some work yourself then there are plenty of boats here that would make lovely liveaboards. http://www.alanpease.co.uk/boatsforsale.htm

Perhaps Kris could offer the OP some hints and tips on living on and cruising a boat of this size?

The alternator was supposedly refurbished a couple of weeks ago now. Don't really trust it so Liam is getting a new one, hopefully today or tomorrow. We can't really have it being unreliable so we are just going to put a new one on. The wiring on the boat was all checked when the engineer came to the boat and it's fine. Liam checked all of the connections and the belt on Saturday afternoon and it was all ok but the alarm still going off. Come Sunday morning it's working again. Back on topic. Python looked great on the Trent and sounded lovely.

Our alternator sprang back into life on Sunday morning!

Hope you all made it back safely.

Could be. We are however replacing the alternator as we are pretty sure that this is where the problem lies. Will update this next week when the new one is fitted. I strongly suspect the problem will then be solved.