MrM

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but a couple of the smaller narrow boats i have looked at recently have outboards and 12 v electricity systems, are the leisure batteries charged off the engine as with an inboard ?

I've had 3 emails from her regards separate boats over the last fortnight, she must have quite a marina and ebay must have quite a warehouse to keep them all in !

Funny enough i was just asking my friend who lives on the canal, he doesn't fish but said at night you can hear large fish around his boat. Thanks all.

Today we covered many miles, viewed a couple of boats (very different). The first boat we saw was well floating......just, taking on water and the waterline on the boat suggested more had been taken out recently, the engine was a pig to start and took more than one battery. I evaluated and thought i am looking for a project perhaps i am expecting too much for my budget. The next boat however was only a little more and despite some updating inside needed nothing else, it was the same length and more traditional, great i thought and told the seller i would have a think and call him in an hour. When i contacted him he had sold it to the next viewer !!! The search continues, i did however learn many things today about boats and buying them so was a valuable experience all round.

I often power curse when things get bad sometimes cursing isn't enough ! Something tells me becoming a boat owner will put both my cursing and power cursing levels through the roof

There is a seperate entry for blacking at just over £27 so looks like they agree with that figure, i agree from research i have done and talking to boat owners maintenance does need to be higher. Even doing my own and the kindness of very useful friends i am allowing £100 to £150 for a 28ft boat when working out finances

I'm looking to buy my first boat soon, as a keen angler until i was in my 20's now seems as good as time to dust off my tackle. Does anyone know what sorts and sizes of fish i could possibly catch on the Leek and Caldon canal ?

All i have seen recently is a planning application on the old Adams food factory site which includes residential, tourism and leisure facilities including a marina. As there is still a derelict factory on the site, that would be some time off. However, we seem to be having lots of fluorescent jacketed men working on various projects on the canal side, surrounding areas and old railway which is supposed to be opening to provide better links. All in the pipework currently but will keep people updated as is on the stretch of canal i will be mooring on once i get a boat.

When i was a kid i had 'spokie dokies' basically they fit on your spokes and made a noise as the wheels go round, they'd do the job, think they came free in my frosties !

Please carry on, they are not stupid, as someone looking to buy there first boat they are very useful. The boat i am looking at if all goes well is from a boatyard that does licensing luckily so that is one less worry........the first time trip from Birmingham to Stoke-On-Trent on the other hand !!!

Thanks Richard the other one is very similar style without the higher part of the cabin, that part is a removable soft top with the rest of the boat steel. Fingers crossed it will be as the info and pictures suggest, more importantly when i step onboard it will feel like 'the one'

Thanks, I am new to the waterways other than a few trips with family and friends many years ago, in recent times I have been restricted to walking many miles of tow paths, locally to here it Bosley locks, Caldon and Leek branches plus Leek and Froghall tunnels so everything looks very narrow, i assumed (incorrectly) all locks were that narrow !

The 7ft 2 inch was this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231318952103?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 decided against it after a call to they CRT who told me that on my local canals ( i am in Leek) maximum advised is 7ft so for me it is not worth the risk in my opinion as i don't have spare money to play around with, also think the height would cause me issues. I am going to view the earlier mentioned boat at Lyons boatyard this weekend, that is the one with the single cylinder apex diesel inboard. From the pics and info i have received from them it is an ideal first boat as an all steel cruiser style boat which is 6ft 10 wide. If all goes well the fun then begins navigating the canals from Birmingham to the Caldon at Denford.

I am currently looking at boats to buy, one has an Apex single cylinder engine, has anyone heard of or even better had experience of these ? One boat i'm looking at is 7ft 2 inch, although only slightly wider than a standard 6'10 is that going to be too big for standard locks ? Most sources state locks as 7ft but CRT list them as 7.35 and 7.55 ft on the canals around here. Thanks

Just found this thread when looking for Gary Gorton boats. Just to let all know Gary is very much alive and well, his son is my best friend and i saw him not so long ago. He is no longer building boats and hasn't for some time. Thanks