Bacchus

Err... I could chip in with some old petrol and a box of matches?

It can't all be rotten? Surely furniture makers could do a lot with the planks? I'd wager there would be a market in the canal community for a decent kitchen table made from wood salvaged from a historic boat?

It depends how perfect it needs to be. When I do a job like that, I see the flaws; other people see "the whole of the moon" and don't notice the minutiae. Personally I would clean it with a bit of bleach and a toothbrush, then just use a bit of filler or even just a bit of reasonably-matched paint wiped over the exposed non-glazed area of tile. It won't be perfect, but it will probably be "okay".

Excellent. I think what the BBC and the council seem to miss entirely, is that the looped boat suggests a snail; a creature which travels at a serene pace and takes its home with it!

A photo-history of that happening at St Aines this year. Feel very sorry for the boat and owner, but there was no attempt made at all to loosen the lines before it got too late... Sadly when the river came up a little further... Then after being submerged for a couple of months and the tender headed off for an adventure of its own, and now lives on the weir at Penton Hook

Boats are never really "an investment", they are generally something you spend on because you love the life; that said, I have certainly made money on boats which I have improved, or simply through buying and selling at the right time. I have also lost money. As others have said, levels on canals tend to be more stable in times of heavy rain (like the unprecedented wet season we have had on the Thames for the last six months), but properly moored and attended boats are usually fine. That can be in a marina attached to a rising pontoon, attached to sturdy posts with the ability to rise and fall with the water levels, or simply moored correctly for the conditions and attended when conditions change. On rivers you can use wider, more "boaty" boats (or sturdy sea-going vessels), on the canals you have thousands more miles of exploring. I am Thames based and have a boaty boat - I know most of the river pretty well so exploring is pretty limited for me, but I still enjoy just being aboard either on my own or with friends. It's about a harmonious environment as much as seeing new places. I converted a camper-van a few years ago - that is terrific for seeing places...

such a vague question, it's difficult to know where to begin What does "looking eventually to buy a narrowboat" mean? At the end of this summer, or in thirty years time when you retire? And why a narrowboat if you're considering being on the river - narrowboats can, and do, spend time on rivers, even tidal rivers, but they are suited perfectly to canals. If "eventually" means more than a year or two, why not try hiring both on a canal and on a river and seeing what you prefer whilst learning the difference?

And the harbour-master is very hot on the staying aboard stuff - the marina is surrounded by flats and they don't want it to become residential by stealth. Also you will only get a boat >30' in there when the lock is on free-flow at high spring tides, which rather restricts access.

sold for 100k apparently! I would say that someone has got good value! https://www.auctionestates.co.uk/property/lock-house-lock-row-torksey-lock-lincoln-ln1-2eh-239828

If you forget narrow canals, a Peter Nicholls Huffler will take you a lot of places...

There's a skipper 17 facebook group - not a massive group, but very knowledgeable about the marque (I have a skipper twin lifting keel - lovely little things, although I haven't actually sailed it yet...). I was rehearsing getting the rig up only yesterday with a saily mate.

Oh, and a bit more advice for the OP - do the research, look at dozens, maybe scores of boats, decide on exactly what you want, and then fall in love and buy something that doesn't tick any of your boxes, but speaks to you! Can't speak for everyone, but that certainly seems to be what I do...

fair, but the OP said that he/she wanted "to view a range of boats and different sizes to get a better understanding of everything". Whenever I have been to a brokerage, it has been to view a specific boat. I wouldn't have thought a broker would take kindly to showing someone round every single boat they have. Going to a boat show will give them an idea of what they think they want to purchase, then they can start looking at actual boats for sale - and anyway the OP didn't specify second-hand. The boats at a show will be for sale too, and they may have just won the lottery 🙂.

I should have thought the best place for a novice to pick up information would be at a boat-show. You're not wasting anyone's time there, they're literally there to tell you about their products. If it's canal boats you're interested in, you could do a lot worse than going to Crick (https://www.crickboatshow.com/) If it's other types of inland/sea-going boats, one of the boat shows at Southampton or Excel might be better.

I bought a house in Reading with an EOG and had mooring/fishing rights "automatically". Maybe things have changed, or maybe it was because it was on a river part of the K and A. As far as the OP is concerned, a good place to go for ideas (although perhaps a little far...) - plenty of variety, including what looks like an old narrowboat being used as some kind of garden building.

Get on a little boat, tootle along the canal, and see what others have done...

Have you checked all of it? Because there is quite a lot of information if you look closely.

actually I have just checked the local recycling centre and they do accept gas bottles (and don't specify that they have to be empty... I guess they all have some gas in so they must be able to deal with it) Cool. Ta all. Jobs a good 'un

I did that! A friend of mine wanted to go into movie special effects, once we built a farmhouse out of plaster of paris, and wrapped the can in a paraffin-soaked rag, set fire to the rag, then shot the can to see what it would be like "on a film-set". To scale it would have been if someone had accidentally set "Little Boy" off in the farmhouse... I live in Surrey. They do eff-all. The recycling site is so expensive that most people seem to just fly-tip around the local lanes (which, of course, costs far more to clear up than it would to run a proper recycling facility, but Surrey put the moron into oxymoron when it comes to "council logic"!

I did contemplate flaring it off like an oil-rig...

I did think about that... somebody recently took a defunct mitre saw that I left by the bin for that reason. Bit worried about it going in the crusher half-full of gas though! I wondered why it always feels so roomy!

I did wonder about an art-thing, or maybe a stool/coffee table, but there's a lot of gas in it which can't safely be used. It literally leaks from the valve as soon as the valve is opened.