ambientskies

Just the sort of comments were after, thanks for that Golden Duck...happy chugging!

Just bringing this topic back up the list, to see if there's any more info/views from widebeam owners... before we take the plunge.

Is there such thing as a "tracker" for boats & the network for such a thing?

My wife has spoken to a Dutch barge owner, they have bought the boat to live on in France next year, but in the mean time they are scraping along the bottom near Milton keynes, although they are great looking boats, it's not for us. Thanks for the links & yes, this forum has a wealth of knowledge... lots to read up on. Cheers

Thanks for your posts guys, they have been a great help. Is there such thing as a widebeam owners forum/club?

If all goes well, our widebeam will have a Cruiser stern, entrance & corridor to the right, wet room, lounge area (with sofa beds) & open plan kitchen, 2nd d/bed cabin, bathroom & our main bedroom up front. Each bedroom will have the wardrobes backing onto the bathroom, just to make that night wee a bit quieter... We have gone for this design as we expect to have guests coming to stay, which would make sleeping a bit more of a private affair, as everyone can use the bathroom & Kitchen without disturbing others. Also laying in bed looking foward, or having breakfast/night cap sitting up front, is I think far better then everyone walking through our bedroom if it was at the back. Just my thoughts.......

Thanks Meggsy. We are booking a canal holiday in December, to see if our plans are realistic, although you have to take a chance in life now & again, it will have it's pro's & con's as with everything else no doubt. As for residential mooring, that has been arranged thanks. 11', I'll take on what you have said Gary & ask builders when going for quotes Thanks for all of your interest & good wishes cheers

Hi all......... First post and VERY new to this boating lark, so a few questions coming your way no doubt in the very near future! OK, I'm thinking of having some time off from mortgage repayments and selling my house to buy a live-aboard. My wife & I (no, I'm not royalty) have been thinking about having a wide beam made to our design. The thing is...as we have no real chugging time on the canals, what size boat can we get away with? Length would be around 65' and our initial thoughts of it being 10'wide, but a few canal people have asked why not 12'6” wide? We plan to live around Milton Keynes and use the Grand Union as our main up & down weekend chug & trips down to London & beyond. We have seen the maps of wide beam access, but would love to have experienced wide beam owners have their say/input on this matter, as I have learnt to listen when I'm about to shell-out around £100k. Thanks for your time Cheers