Nitrowing

I went to speak to one of the directors today but they had taken their daughter to the dentist(?!?). The main reason for owning a mobile bed is to use it for accomodation - I work in different places in the UK and I love the idea that I can bimble through the country and sleep in my own bed rather than throw money away in hotels. Secondary is the fact the my lady and I can float through the countryside when she comes to visit. I discussed the matter of the other boats in the marina. One is a residential mooring from before the marina changed hands, another 2 are moving on and the other is just finishing their winter mooring before moving on. I had the boat delivered on the back of a Hiab as I wanted it now! I like the idea of cruising as the idea of being dictated to by marina owners has worn thin already. I'll buy a little petrol back-up generator and bimble up and down the Trent (unless I can find a friendlier marina on the Trent). I'm not ever intending to 'live aboard' - I have a perfectly functional house in Cleethorpes - I just want to be able to spend a few nights a week in it when I have to do over-time or the weather is atrocious.

I haven't actually handed over the mooring contract as it was posted to my house and the owners started making noises before I'd picked it up, I'm going in to see them tomorrow to show them my license, insurance etc and hopefully get this discussed sensibly. I can understand that the marina doesn't fancy the idea of a water-pikey rolling up and making a mess but it wouldn't be difficult for them to do a credit check (or look at the great big Honda GoldWing) and see that this isn't ging to be a 'residence'! The contract doesn't actually specify how many nights I'm permitted to stay on board and I'll quote the email from the owner... Now, to be honest, this isn't the sort of attitude I expect from someone who wants my money - nor does it explain what the other boats are doing having sat there much longer than me! I'd be quite happy to relocate the boat and pay them for a months mooring...

Good evening, I have bought a little 25' Dawncraft with the intention of staying on it while I work away from home - I've wasted thousands of pounds on hotels over the years! Now, I have done quite a bit of reading but I don't know how this will work. I have a mooring at Victoria Quays and when I initially talked to them, the idea was to spend about 2 nights a week aboard if I had to do some overtime but generally, I was going to commute the 70 miles from Cleethorpes. Unfortunately, I have not only done quite a bit of overtime but the boat has required a lot of work with changing the lights, insulating the floor, installing a new combination sink & hob etc The owners of the marina have got really pissy with me about this (even though there are a couple of narrowboats who live aboard there) and I don't know where I stand. It's a non-residential marina but I'm not intending to live there just spend some nights - maximum 10 in a fortnight but usually 4 a week. What gives?

Hello all! I'm Gareth and I've bought a 25' Dawncraft I'm completely new to boating, I was introduced to it years ago when working in Plymouth, my colleague bought a 28' to live on which ended up costing the same as my hotel bill after a year - I had a receipt and he had a boat... Since then, I've always looked enviously at people living aboard while I squandered my hard-earned on hotels, so I decided to take the plunge when I started a contract a few weeks ago in Sheffield. Just a bit too far to commute from Cleethorpes! I've moored up in the Victoria Quays Marina, which is quite nice. I'm already thinking of moving along as they have complained that I am staying aboard for too many nights (which was pretty much the point of buying the boat) and today stated that it was because I should be paying them more! The boat needs a bit of work, the previous owner had refitted it. I'm now trying to do it right! I was left with enough diesel to start the boat but it spluttered to a stop within minutes, so I'm going to have to try and bleed the injectors (BMC 1800). There's 3 great big leisure batteries which I have connected to a 14 Watt solar panel to trickle charge and I connect the battery charger for a few hours a day (Halfords Leisure charger). I've stuck a 5m roll of white LED's inside which gives much more light than all 4 of the 8 Watt fluorescents. New Spinflo combination sink is nearly fitted. A 600 Watt electric/oil heater and a boost from a 2000 Watt air heater keeps me comfortable. So, not a great start. This is the problem when you take up something new, having no idea what is normal behaviour and practise.