Ally Charlton

Play nicely boys or someone will take your toys away I'm just hear to learn from people who have more experience, until I have enough of my own. Thanks to everyone for your opinions and advice, it's much appreciated happy new year to everyone !!

looked at an awful lot of boats In the last few months. You know what strikes me? How few have back boilers. We are looking for a liveaboard. Our mooring does not have shore power. We both work all day. Everyone I've spoken too says a solid fuel stove (which would seem to be a must for us) is economical to keep going 24/7, but few seem to have radiators/water heating running from this. For our purposes this would seem ideal, but of all the boats we've seem only one had a back boiler, how expensive are they too install? Are they worth it? Any thoughts appreciated.

Richard 10002 Thank you for your comments they are very useful. it seems to me that living costs vary wildly, depending upon where you are and what you get up to. I am not worried about this. my question was, as a first time boat buyer simply this, boats depreciate. the consensus seems to be that they plateau at a particular age, what is that? and if it's not universal, can someone explain what influences it? I can afford to live on and maintain a boat. I just don't want to loose a fortune when I buy one. I am serious about living aboard but do you really feel that to ask this question implies I am not serious? personally I think trying to ascertain depreciation values would imply that I'm trying to learn (preferably not the hard and expensive way) rather than I'm not serious. good heavens I'm bellicose tonight!!!! thanks for the second post Richard 100002 :-)

ah mike the stella's not bad either. I really do want a chuffy engine. What's a narrowboat without one eh? but as I've said before I'm a sensible girl and as much as I believe that chuffiness is the whole point can I maintain I 50 year old engine? No I can't. I will aspire to this, unless my heart rules my head, which it doesn't usually but probably will in this case However I am non the wiser in response to my original post? Is there an age I should look for? as in "buy a boat this old and there's less chance of you loosing a fortune?" Give me a clue you experienced people

evening all I know no question on this forum hasn't been asked before in some form or another. forgive me :-) I have been looking for a narrowboat to liveaboard (preferably with a chuffing engine in its very own room, one can but dream) I've got my head around running/maintenance costs of living aboard, no problems here. We set a ceiling for purchase of £40k. We've looked at quite a few but found nothing that was right for us. Now, in my folly, I've started to look at £60k boats. It's not that we couldn't afford to buy a £60k boat provided when we sell it its worth £60k. I know that boats depreciate in a way houses don't so we set the £40k figure and said "no more" I've searched the forums (for an answer to my upcoming question) and a couple of comments caught my eye: "A new boat has lost half its value after ten years, and another quarter after another ten. After that it's all down to how well it has been maintained, and how desirable it is" "Age-related depreciation in boats doesn't decline in the same way as it does with cars; it tends to decline more gradually and hit a floor where it will level out, because a good condition well cared for boat of any age will still hold value. After that it's all down to how well it has been maintained, and how desirable it is." Here is my question (don't throw peanuts/beer cans at your laptop screen, screaming "not this question again!!!") So let's assuming we bought a solid boat and maintained it, What kind of age does a boat need to be before buying it alone doesn't cost you a fortune? Or is it just not this simple? I've learnt loads from reading/posting questions on this forum. But I also realise that most of narrowboat living seems to be "suck it and see", that's fine for everything else. but please someone help me to not lose money I've been working for (and specifically saving for a narrowboat) my entire working life..........

thanks for all your opinions. Went to luck at Bramble this afternoon. 100mile round trip!!! Lovely boat and really helpful staff at Rugby but unfortunately not for us :-( although I have to say that this decision had less to do with the engine in the end and had more to do with having to walk crablike and sideways down the boat once past the galley. Can I ask changing topic slightly, are the corridors on non walk through boats of a standard width?, both me and my husband really struggle to get down them.

Hello all Saw this boat: http://rugbyboats.co.uk/Trads/traditional-narrow-boat-built-by-colecraft-for-sale.html really liked the look of it (online at least) and then noticed Dominic saying "vetus" in the walk through, searched the forms and got seriously put off because of this engine. Are they really something to be avoided at all costs? the posts seem to suggest that there are design faults which could cause overheating problems, catastrophic surely!!!! posts also seem to suggest that vetus parts are prohibitively expensive but can be substituted with Mitsubishi parts? I am doubly concerned as the advert for this boat suggests that this boat has been continuously cruised for 18months Any comments appreciated

Unfortunately not. But wey hey Junior!!! you have put down a deposit! Nope we are still like children with noses pressed against sweet shop windows. Except the sweet shop in question is usually some nice marina/mooring with a two year waiting list. I keep turning up to these places and banging on the gates to get someone's attention then smiling as sweetly as I can until someone let's me in so I can look around. However, the result is always the same, register interest and wait and wait and wait....... I must admit that even using my feminine wiles to a quite shameless degree does not move me up the list any faster There is a lovely mooring we like the look of (I've literally just seen it on the CRT website), now I have learnt something about the "dark art of moorings" as someone put it, and the idea that those offering leisure moorings don't always puritanically stick to the number of weeks you have to vacate it, however a CRT mooring labelled as "leisure" would they be really strict about this? ox eye/bulls eye, tomato, potaaaato, their both domesticated ungulates aren't they? (oooh I just Wikipedia'd that so I'd sound clever!!!)

I love this forum!!! look at the stuff you learn!!! but why oh why did you (tony and ian) ruin my nice, clean, easy to understand sums and disturb my equilibrium thusly ;-) I thought I'd got my head around it now I'll have to spend the night on google.

I posted a similar question several weeks ago. scroll down the "new to boating" forum and the post is "Helmsman and I'm not talking mayonnaise" (I'm sure that there is some fancy way I can link it to this message but I don't know how!!!) People commented about their thoughts on helmsman courses here. For what it's worth, I'm definitely planning to do one.

I don't know if this helps. but I was wondering about similar things. My question was how can I calculate how much electricity I need to generate in order to run the stuff I want to run on a boat (without a mains supply) Again I apologize if this doesn't answer your question but the following generally cleared a lot of things up for me, electrical wise! I asked a lot of people but in the end my friend gave me this (and relate this to Tony Brooks definitions of earlier) power (WATTS)(W) =VOLTS(V) x AMPS(I) therefore W = VI e.g. you have a 50W appliance (labelled on the thing itself) then, approx.: 50= 250 x 0.2 I = W/V = 50/250 = 1/5A A battery of 50Ah for example, that means will run 50amps per hour I don't know if that helps or not, but for me understanding the relationship between the volts and the watts and ampy things really helped!!! good luck!

Indeed it does Neil 2. However perhaps the naughty brokers should realise that it doesn't take a huge brain capacity to figure out who they are and then I just PM everyone I've met on this forum and say the naughty broker is not to be trusted. I think a broker naughty or otherwise must be an incredibly short-sighted businessman not to realise the detrimental effect that this silly, silly behaviour has upon his business. You "follow my thread?" naughty, silly broker, well I hope you followed that.

Ok I appreciate someone at some point is gonna tell me off for changing the topic of a thread. Should I start a new one? However I'll go with it this once until someone does tell me off! To all the brokers on canal world forums I think that all the naughty brokers out there should stop PMing newbies and not owning up to being brokers and telling us you have the perfect boat for us. I'm green, but not that green and I can spot you a mile off

Oh blimey I'm getting a headache (and I'm not even tanked yet) if I didn't like cruiser sterns but like traditional, does that mean I need to specify a separate engine room. I,e, I want a traditional style boat but with an engine that I or (let's be realistic here), my other half he he he!!! can get to. Does that mean in all likelihood I shouldn't restrict myself to a traditional stern? mtb could you please direct us to a link of your achingly gorgeous chuff (sensibleness aside I would love this, sensibleness probably should prevail, although having said that I wouldn't be leaving my house to live on a boat)

Hi Junior, Thank you for this I like you have no personal experience or opinion of dealing with this broker. There were phone calls to owners whilst I and other prospective buyers were in the sales office.

OK, so let's say I work up to the chuffy engine, if I survived my first winter on board. All I've heard are "chuffy" or "a fecking row", Am very intrigued by the idea of a "silent" engine. Definitely have not come across one of these so far. Can you give me some examples. Or better yet, does anyone know a good website? Also just spent a drizzly afternoon at Whilton Marina (educational purposes). Two In particular caught our eye. Unfortunately I cannot seem to paste the links but it was "Elvira" and "Charlotte". OK questions, if you'll indulge me please: Mitsubishi 1400, 4cylinder what's this like? Fitted out by owner (is this necessarily a bad thing? seems to make me nervous for some unspecified reason) If you had entirely 12v equipment and did not plan to use a shore hook up, is there any point in having an inverter? Can you really run umpteen radiators from a solid fuel stove? And forgive me this last one, it's embarrassingly naeive I know, but I thought (obviously incorrectly) that trad meant the engine wasn't under your feet. I'm 5'10" and my husband is 6'2" and a big guy, there is no way either of us could actually physically get to these engines, without dislocating something. I think this is why the idea of an engine room appeals because it's accessible to work on. What am I looking for if I want an engine that is not under the floorboards?!! Also further to earlier posts, have learnt several new parts to name (including, bulls eye and Houdini hatch, it's quite worrying that this pleases me quite as much as it does)

thank you so much for the comments and support. For me it's not really about making a decision about this or that feature on a boat, at the moment, but for the record thus far, I want to spend £30-40k (not including a huge contingency fund!!!)) and would like:- 1) a chuffy engine, (I think a real "chuffy" (as in old) engine, is something I'll need to progress to, maybe boat number 2, in it's own room? (For the first time on canal world ventured into the vintage engine forum, whilst this scared the bejeezus outta me, my husband was glued) but I swear, the guy last weekend who showed me his 2 cylinder engine (ooer missus) said it was modern, it looked modern, and it chuffed!!! 2) a solid fuel stove 3) side hatches 4) traditional that's it! thus far, anything else I can live with, don't need space, and still learning about sanitation, electrics, hulls, surveys. I posted my original post as a future query, I actually think that getting a boat if you're not too fussy and get a sensible second, third, fourth opinion and an independent surveyor will be the easier part I can't get a boat until I have somewhere to put it and that's proving the difficult part, so whilst I talk to as many people as I can and visit boatyards and brokers at this stage I mostly visit moorings, to try and secure one. Someone told me a month ago that moorings are like gold dust, I now see what they mean. I cannot CC, it will not work for my lifestyle, trust me, I've thought about the possibilities of this a great deal. What's going on with moorings. Somebody enlighten me. Weren't things supposed to improve with CRT?

just to clear the matter up, that guy didn't get my email from here, it was from a mooring that I'd registered interest with

Oh Lord just re read my last post One really must remember ones own rule and not post whilst under the influence. I do get enthusiastic when tipsy don't I ?I!!! No offence intended Athy,this is what I do every weekend for a couple of months now, look at boats, look at moorings, talk to folks but thanks for the advice and Im in Birmingham. and Id pass the naming of the pigeon box now. Thanks for the correction with pigeon box. but as for boatmans cabin, everyone calls it boatman's cabin so I can be forgiven for that one. A few days ago a guy took me into his boatman's cabin (it's OK, it was all very proper and for educational purposes) and said "this is my boatman's cabin", so you cant blame me for getting that one wrong Johnthebridge I'll PM you some stuff if your interested!

in response to old goat OH MY LORD!!!! BUT LET ME RESPOND!!!!!!!!!! How can you disconnect the present from that past, the only reason that YOU HAVE A BOAT!!!!! on the inland waterways is because of it's HERITAGE!!!!!!! Canal's would not exist if not for the working heritage. I am a soon to be boater of today and I absolutely want to "festoon my vessel with a piece of brassware designed to soothe a working horse in it's travails" I do not want my heritage to be in a dust covered museum. I AM PROUD OF IT!!!!!! I want to pay through the nose for finely painted pigeon boxes that serve no boatman's cabin because it reminds me that they did. Subject it to today's diesel smoke, it will survive.

ray, oh my Lord, I could never expose this to the elements. I WANT ONE!!!!!

you know for ages I have been staring at that weird little roof thing and wondering what is it and what is it for. Thanks to Rays post I now know it's a Pigeon Box and what it's for. I really like these, you know the pretty painted ones? Grant, if you're reading, can you cover the cost of one of these pretty paint jobs, its on my wish list. he he he!!! juuuuuuuuuuuuust kidding!!! Tuscan what nautical terms did you have in mind?