Sea Dog

You've answered your own question - you relied on the vendor's survey, which is a risk. Even if the surveyor was even handed, there's no way of knowing exactly what he was commissioned to look at. Rotten lesson though, wasn't it, and I'm sorry to hear your tale. I didn't have a survey, but I was aware of the risk I was taking and thought I had enough skill and experience to mitigate it to a level I could accept. There was still a little trepidation when I had her hauled out for her next blacking, but all was well. Still a risk though - sometimes they pay off, sometimes they come home to roost.

It's within a metre of your shore connection and it's a box with switches and buttons on the front - how hard can it be? I'll get my coat....

Ah, I feat it may take an appointment with the grim reaper plus an indeterminate number of years to slow them down once they have your name and address.

It's the 1960s LC, black and white tv on a screen the same size as the plate your 'curry' was on. Only the fact that noone knew any better actually let them get away with calling it curry. Re-runs of the Avengers with Emma Peel and John Steed as leading characters are on some minor channels, but I'm not sure they'll survive the timeshift for anyone other than the original audience. Many here will remember this stuff well, but you're probably not missing much by being born some years after.

Oh dear. A Vesta curry and Diana Rigg playing Emma Peel on the telly. Fond memories! Mostly not of the curry, to be fair.

Well, I do give it a good burst of that daily when it's "in" Bizzard, you're right, but when it is "in" I keep it "in" for several weeks at a time so it's ticking over overnight and a probably most of the day. My ready use fuel is always dry too, I'll grant. Are we sure this free flowing tar phenomenon is not caused in the main by burning dead badgers, recently liberated beaver dams and cow pats?

My friends' marine boats, sail and power, are expected to use 60/40 as the standard ratio and none have diesel heating or anything like the domestic electrical system demands of a Narrowboat. So, even if anyone at the Revenue was remotely interested, it seems entirely justifiable to declare a different balance in the usage patterns of canal boats. It's predicted use too, so it can't be anything other than an estimate. Winter and summer usage may be also be very different.

I have a relatively short chimney with a coolie hat and I've never had this issue. I only burn smokeless fuel or wood, and sweep my chimney once a year removing only dry light coloured soot. Am I just lucky with my stove and installation, is it purely a problem for those burning unseasoned wood and/or coal, or is it something else?

That's interesting. Is it concentrated or pre diluted? Not that I need to know for another 4 years 6 months!

Oh I agree entirely, but what always seems (to me) to be missed when the subject of anchoring a Narrowboat is that it's unlikely to be whilst one has lunch or takes the dinghy to the pub. Rather, it's likely to be deployed whilst helplessly travelling downstream without power or steerage in an uncontrolled 'Chuck it and hope' fashion to avoid fetching up on that nasty looking wier. For that to work, you need a shock absorber in addition to the chain. Getting the anchor back is a low priority bonus for later on.

Hang on, I thought GPS was down due to WW3 and there's been an electro magnetic pulse - what's the chances of a mobile app still working? Quite a good app to have this side of the apocalypse though. Eta: Psion - a sad loss that, Symbian was quite pioneering and I still remember my devices as outstanding in their day.

Hmmm, I have a certified chronometer from a very well respected Swiss manufacturer which I treasure. It is, however much I'd like like to say otherwise, pathetic in comparison to the average 2 quid petrol station digital in terms of accuracy. It needs a service at about the same interval as most quartz watches need batteries but at many times the cost. The wind up timex i had as a kid was less accurate, of course, but not the casios my kids had. I love it, but I understand why old fashioned Navigation resulted in the Caribbean islands being named the West Indies! If anyone is about to give me a lesson in Nautical Horology, I was joking - please allow me some latitude. And having set that one up, I'm off to set my chronometer by the pips on the TV in the kitchen, the TV in the lounge, Fm Radio, DAB radio... Oh no, they're all different!

Yeah, but it's all the books needed to interpret the sightings that make that a difficult back up plan, not to mention the perishable skills involved in the calculations after you've taken the sightings - assuming we're talking stars and not just Sun-Run-Sun! Well, that and also we might not be going sailing during WW3! Plus, I prefer narrowboating anyway.

John, it's so easy to accidentally pick up your rose-tinted specs when you're looking at a boat which ticks so many boxes for you. If you see two boats, one with a new engine but a suspect hull and one with a good hull and a suspect engine, which one would you go for? Now factor in that there are many on the market which have neither issue.....? Not edited at all - thought I had an auto correct error but turns out I didn't Actually, it turned out I did after all! Sorted....I think!

It's a but of a drudge whenever you do it, but I don't think it improves in winter temperatures!

All chain may be fine for marine anchoring purposes, but I'd suggest not for a Narrowboat. The function of an anchor in a Narrowboat is essentially as an emergency brake to be deployed on rivers in case of a propulsion or steering gear failure. Whilst the chain is effective in assisting the anchor to set and hold, a length of warp is necessary to allow stretch to absorb the shock when it does.

Might I suggest that you also look at your venture from the other end? By that I mean work out your cost of living on a boat at a standard of living that you're happy to accept. Factor in all of the annual mandatory costs of keeping a boat without coming into conflict with CRT (much of which can be found by searching here or by basic Googling), add something for fuel, maintenance and sundries, and add to that your own wants and needs, etc. Once you have that total, then you can look at the business model to see if it can raise that amount reliably. Good luck with following your dream!

Perfectly true, but it may be worth adding for those less experienced that when used on an occasional basis, perhaps when staying somewhere a night longer than your batteries can easily cope with, it's still the most practical option. The cost of buying a generator for these occasions will never be recouped, so you have to have other compelling reasons (which do exist) to go that way. Neither will either method beat being plugged into a shore supply. However, if we factor in Solar.... but that's another thread! Tony Brooks' post above is bang on (somewhat unsurprisingly) I think, and is very helpful in resolving the age-old in or out of gear issue raised by the OP imho. I'd give him a greenie, but I don't think I can do that from my mobile. Maybe someone else can and I'll see them right when I get my new specs