Bettie Boo

Yeah but, If you travel to the other side of the country, it's still the middle of the night

Thanks for that, I missed that thread

That sounds like a very confident statement made by someone with loads of experience on both the tillers of NB's & WB's - can you confirm your experience please? And what exactly do you find to be a PITA

We went up the Stort to Sawbridgeworth last summer, and at 10.10 wide we were sounding the horn a fair amount - to say it's very windy & bendy is an understatement IMO - but beautiful country side, so glad we did it (without incident) I'm quite surprised there is width guidance in the Nicholson's about the northern GU / northern Oxford but nothing about the Stort where you are right, there are many spots it would be too tight for two of us to pass.

Personally I have NO experience at the helm of a narrow boat, so can't say first hand if they are easier than a WB or not. Dave came back from his helmsman course (on a narrow boat) saying he felt they were a little easier to control in certain circumstances (turning was easier), but not too much difference. He did mention that other boaters seemed friendlier, when he was on the narrow boat then on the wide beam

As others have already stated, depends on your personal circumstances and what's important to you. Big investment in a WB to use it as a wkend cruiser for 2, but then again, trying to raise a young family of 3 little ones on a 40ft NB isn't something I'd relish. Tell us a little about yourself and we'll give you some things to consider.

Thanks for the links Alan

Hi Alan, Do you have any information on the June meeting? I did a search, but couldn't find anything. Could yo let us know if you have anything as of yet? Ta B~

That's what I was thinking

Personally I wouldn't think twice about seeing a boat moored there, but I'm not familiar with the location or how deep either side of the canal is. And before anyone shouts "it's ok for her, she's bound to have a bow thruster in the fat boat", we don't, unless you include me out front with me boat pole As for "debris"; are we talking about that blue chair? If so, pack it up and send it down to me, I'd love to have a spare

What a lovely photo - Great shot

Sorry Ray, but Loddon is right ^^ I only made it to about the 5 sentence, I'll come back to it tomorrow and I'm sure it will be lovely and with all the best intentions

And a greenie to you sir, I just love it when someone makes the same point I'm trying to make, but does it so much better than I do and with WAY less words

So to stay on my point for just a moment... You live on your boat, you boat fulfills your wants & needs, and your happy with your boat. Great, good for you. One last question, why do you give a monkeys armpit what type of boat I like, or do you feel my wants and needs should be identical to yours, or that I am not just as happy with my choice as you are with yours? You might like to give this a try, it's worked for me quite well in the past. If I find something unpleasant in my line of sight, I look away in the other direction then the offensive object is no longer a problem No offense, but I don't "think" you are someone I would find "interesting" to share a lock with either, but I could be wrong, you may actually be a really nice guy face to face

Please may I ask you a couple of questions Gareth; Do you live on your boat? Does your boat fufill your wants & needs of it? Are you happy with your boat?

Really??? Is it that slow out there that we are having this conversation Again? For real? I thought this was a winter topic? I really don't think you'll ever convince me it's nothing more than "male reproduction organ envy" I had started to write a long winded reply about all the different types of boats out there and that there's a boat for everyone, just take your time and you'll find something that suites you, but really can't be asked.

Exactly, and then there's CRT selling LTM's to WB's between Braunston & Berko as well. So if we aren't meant to be there that wouldn't be happening would it? Shhhhhhhhhhhhh Let them fight over the K&A and London, we don't need anymore boats up here during the winter helping themselves to the free wood, Armco moorings with wide open vista's for solar and a decent amount of working services DO WE???

If it were me Ray, and I had heard your horn I would have given you a toot back Not sure what Dave would have done, but more than likely he would have as well. We do use our horn for "most" blind spots, not all, and to be honest I don't think we've ever used it when going past a marina entrance, but when we are exiting a marina we do. Silly ol' live isn't it?

Hi and welcome to the forum & what a gigantic maiden voyage!! Good on you

No, no, no, Not the GU, they hate us WB's on the GU. A couple of days ago, someone on here, tried to tell me we weren't meant to moor north of Leighton Buzzard. two boats - 1 mooring? Just a guess Sorry - forgot to add, we've lived onboard for 3 winters now, 1 in a marina and 3 cc'ing. All 3 have been fairly mild, we've been froze in 3 times but only for 2 or 3 days each time, and had it been Very urgent most of those days we "could" have moved without causing too much damage to either our boat or other's that we past. However, you don't know when you go round a bend if you're going to come across a moored plastic boat and to be honest I don't fancy either of us out doing the locks if there is even a little ice on the top of the gates. I just make sure there's a good stock of coal/wood for the stove, the larder is fully stocked, we have some jugs of water to use for the loo so what we have in the tank is for cooking / coffee / tea, a full spare gas cannister and ensure our diesel is topped up every couple of weeks when the fuel boat passes by. I've called CRT a couple of times letting them know where we were and that we didn't feel safe to move, but our 14 days would be up the following day, they were most understanding and said to only move when we felt it was safe to do so and thanked me for the call.

Funny you should say that, the one I was having a bit of a chin wag with when we came through was telling me that their record is 63 in one day, but it was day after a festival/rally had finished and everyone was headed home again. The day we came through was a fairly quiet(ish) day as there had only been about 25 and we were the last he would be assisting before calling it a day, not positive, but I "think" it was a Friday we came through. I know we popped into Wyven for a pump out as it was completely empty (Wyven, not the loo) and when we had come down though the week before it was chaucker blocked 4 deep at some points.

Just catching up, so back on topic...We've not encountered any problems that I can remember with the volockies so far. We came through 3 Locks a couple of weeks back and he was lovely, opened the gates for us, waited till I gave the all clear (bike on the back of stern) before closing the gate and waited till I gave the nod before opening his paddle 1/2 way and then giving him the thumbs up before fully opening it - Dave on the other gate gets the nod and fully opens the paddle. More often than not we go through locks on our own, but we sure are grateful when there is someone to close that second lock gate for us and if they have a windless to close the paddle all the better. I don't remember having an occasion where any of them have done something before I was ready, as I would be annoyed if they took assumption that I was if I wasn't. As someone has already pointed out, this floating piece of metal is my home not a toy. So with that said, I would hazard a guess that some of the message CRT are trying to get through to the lockies is indeed, hitting it's mark. Let's hope it continues to do so, and for those who encounter problems address them through CRT.

WoW - if they can ask 95K for that, then ours is certainly worth a hellva lot more than what we paid for it 3 years ago... not that we're looking at selling, but if we do, I think we'll take a cruise down to the big smoke before putting it on the market