strummerjoe

Hi, A few weeks ago I came across a post which had a link to a website where you could plan out the interior design of your boat. Unfortunately I forgot to bookmark the post. Does anyone have the link (or even know what it is I am talking about)? Cheers Dave

Thanks for the info, it will really help me if I decide to head south for a boat. Cheers

Hi there, I am looking for any information people may have on moving a boat via the road network. I am in Edinburgh and I am wanting to follow my dream of moving on to the water. I now have a little bit of money and, hopefully, access to a mooring, all I need now is the boat! Unfortunately, there is not a great deal of choice up here on the Union Canal and so I was thinking about expanding my search possibly into England. So what I need to know, so I can factor it in to my search for a boat, is how much, roughly, would it be to transport a boat by road. I understand that it will depend on a number of factors such as boat size, weight and how far it needs transporting but if anyone has any experience of this then I would love to hear from you as even a rough idea will let me know what price range I can look at for boats. Cheers! Dave.

HI Thanks for the replies. With regards to the boat restrictions at Linlithgow, I got a pack from the Living on Water people and in the section regarding the moorings it said this: Mooring No. Boat Length Min. Boat Length Max. Draft 1 16m 19m 1.02m 2 16m 19m 1.02m 3 16m 19m 1.02m 4 16m 19m 1.02m I haven't contact them yet to comfirm whether the boat I am looking it is suitable or not but I don't think it relates to the payment as this is done on the auction system and, as far as I understand, is not based on the size of the boat. Again forgive me if I have picked up the wrong end of the stick on this one. Cheers

Hi Just thought I would add this link: http://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/feature.phtml?id=380216 Out fo the boats that I have been to see so far this was my favourite. As I said before there is a guy who works on most of the boats in the area and he has been positive about it from what he has seen (as someone rightly pointed out, he may be good friends with the owner so to be taken with a pinch of salt though I think he was being fairly honest as others vouched for him). It is a fairly good size for me, though its biggest problem is that it seems to be too small for a lot of the berths available. For some reason maybe someone can explain to me, the berths at Linlithgow have a minimum length requirement of 16m and this one is only 14 or so. As I have said, the exterior is in good order having recently been blacked and completely repainted. The interior is not as good though still looks really well for it age. It is the original fit out and is showing its age in places but this is fine for me as I would like to change it to my liking anyway. My only concern is that the chap said he had to reseal the windows as they were leaking and you can see the water damage around some of the frames (not sure how drastic this is?) It is 17 years old and the current owners have had it for 14 of those years which I think is a positive. I got a lift with the women after the viewing and she was really nice, a 72 year old retired school teacher as is her husband. Which I also think is a positive thing though not sure why. From my research of other boats in this range I think they are asking quite a lot of money for it. I would be really interested to hear what everyone thinks with regards to price based on what they can see in the advert. Cheers

Hi, Rubblequeen: Which LPG boiler did you go for? Tom: The problem I am faced with at the moment is that there are only a few boats for sale within travelling distance for me so I am limited in my choices, In addition, Scottish Canals have, in the words of boat owners I have spoken to, gone a bit crazy with their mooring policy. My local mooring point, and where I would want to be, is Ratho. They have just built a new marina there and I expect the berths to go on auction in the next few months. Though word of mouth is that the moorings will end up being quite expensive, the start price is £3500 and many expect them to average out around £5000. I am not sure of how accurate this is but there are 4 berths at Linlithgow which I was advised had a 'guide price' of £3500 so I expect the same if not more for Ratho due to its proximity to Edinburgh. The upshot of all this is finances. I only have a certain amount of money to buy a boat and do any upgrades required. Factor in the rising costs of moorings and their limited availability then I have to be careful with what I buy. Hence my coming here for as much advice as possible. To answer your question: i have just found out that, even though the owner of the boat I was looking at has just paid 12 months mooring, the mooring does not pass with the boat. So I spoke to Scottish Canals regarding what I would do if I bought the boat and they said that all they could do was send me a form to join the waiting list for their moorings or bid online for a marina berth (run by a seperate entity). So if i couldn't get the leisure mooring which has no hook up then I would probably have to go to a marina with all the mod cons of electric hook up, water, showers etc... I cannot see what other options I would have as the Union canal is too small to CC I think and I would need to be reasonably close to town for work etc... I hope this all makes sense. I think what I am looking for in general is what others would buy and fit with the benefit of experience? Thanks again all.

Hi, Again thanks everyone for taking the time to give me your advice, much appreciated. Survey: I think this is a definite just need to look into local companies. Electrics: With regards to the electrics I think that it would be better for me to simplify rather than spend money on an inverter and associated costs. I am sure that I can pretty much find a 12V charger for most of the things I want to bring with me (radio, laptop, etc...) though not sure how I will power my George Forman grill However, I am wondering, for the long run, it may be better to get an inverter. This is because of where I am in the country. My boat will be on the Union Canal and there is a shortage of moorings here according to Scottish Canals. The boat is currently on a leisure mooring and I hope to remain there living aboard if I bought the boat until I was a bit more organised (my main concern here would be running the engine every evening on a leisure mooring and if this would get me in trouble). But sooner or later I think I would have to move to a residential mooring and as this will have onshore electrical supply then maybe I should look into a full 240V system as this would give me more flexibility? As for solar panels I think this is a definite for me. Batteries: Will put money aside for when they go. Hot Water: Is plumbing the hot water into the solid fuel fire a simple or complicated job? As that sounds like a good option. Thanks again folks.

Hi Thanks for both of your replies. With regards to the invertor, unless this was something standard to the boat when it was built then I am going to doubt that they have had one fitted as everything seems as it was originally. Though having just rechecked the advert it does say this: '12 volt lighting system in the accommodation, with sockets for re-charging devices' - though I suspect that these are still only the 12V sockets as i don't reacall seeing any of what i would call normal sockets on the boat. My feeling is that I would have to do something regards the electrics though I am not sure what that would be. Any tips would be great. Cheers again

Good evening everybody. This is my first post here after joining so forgive me if my questions are a bit basic (or thick). I am serious about moving on to the water to live. It is something I have been wanting to do for a long time as bricks and mortar are not really for me. However I am a complete novice when it comes to the world of canal boats. I have been on them and even stayed on one before but I have never been involved in owning one or knowing anyone who has. And so before I buy a boat which I have seen I have a few basic questions relating to making a leisure boat suitable for living aboard, and please forgive me if these questions have been answered a thousand times before. And so in no particular order, if anyone could help me with these questions to start: Survey: Not knowing much about boats I assume it would be sensible of me to have the boat surveyed first, can anybody give me a rough idea of costs involved? (I was chatting to another boat owner when I went to view it and he had worked on the boat and said it was in really good order mechanically,had low hours on the engine, had recently been blacked, and had a long safety certificate etc... Plus he said it was the same owners for 14 years and they looked after it really well and this is reflected by the overall decent condition the boat was in when i viewed it) Electrics: The boat currently has a 12V system running the lights and a 12V fridge. As I have a small number of appliances which would require traditional mains sockets what would be the most cost effective solution to providing power for these? Batteries: The boat has been up for sale for quite a long time (over 9 months i think) and the owner only comes out every now and again to turn over the engine and occasionally take her out. Is there a simple way to check the state of the batteries or would I need to rely on a full survey? Hot Water: The hot water is currently supplied by this method: 'engine cooling water circuit is fitted to a vertical calorifier' - As i understand it I would need to run the engine every day for a couple of hours or so to provide hot water. What is the best/most cost effective alternative to this system so that I could have hot water without running the engine? Heating: The boat currently has a solid fuel stove which is connected to two radiators for heating. Is this the most effective way of heating the boat or are there better alternatives? These are the most basic questions I have at the moment and I would really appreciate any advice you all can give (after browsing the forum for a while I know that have more money is probably the most valuable advice). Finally, my plan is to be as independent as possible which means not using a residential mooring and so having limited access to on-shore power so any advice on starting up, converting a leisure boat to a live aboard or any other general advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all your help Dave