Pacman1978

I thought Id been reported for something! Lol..

Oh so true. Its not been a life long burning desire (to live on a boat) but I do yearn for something different than your normal "9 to 5" life/subsistence. I've found this past 12 months that doing stuff "for me" is working to my benefit! Its only a matter of saving the pennies and doing some research and being diligent? I realise now, I was day dreaming a tad.. I will use the search function! thanks for the reply. I thought that was par of the course in boat ownership? Thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated ta! :-)

Wow so many replies! thanks all! ​I do agree 20ft is too small. Having spent the past 3 weeks obsessively looking at boat adverts, dawncraft seem a nice boat make. It seems to me that most GRP cruiser type boats are in the majority, petrol engined. In reality I need it to be diesel powered. at LEAST 28ft, preferably 30ft. The poster who mentioned budgets and what if's.. Thats something I had not thought about. I am practical and can turn my hand to most things given basic clear instruction. Youtube/google etc. should cover at least basic maintenance/repair needs. @Graham.m ​ My mental health has been a lifelong issue, from around age 8. I was the victim of a pretty nasty crime a while back which on top of my diagnosis for a type of personality disorder and anxiety/depression lead to a breakdown, so recovery is not as simple as say recovering from say a car accident. I believe Ive "recovered" to a point where its more about maintaining my MH. I'll never be the person I was but being a live aboard will certainly be positive for my day to day life. confined space (tho bigger than 20ft!) cold weather genuinely do not put me off. I've been worse off! even a 20 ft uninsulated GRP would seem palatial compared to previous times. The only real concern would be getting my medication. That's the only real issue as I cannot go without them at all. Would declaring a non factory fitted wood burning stove installed onto a GRP boat render insurances/certs void? I have read that its a massive no-no yet I do see many instances of live aboards not dying a fiery death! How many people have say 3 or 4 large capacity deep cycle leisure batteries? What would I need to be able to run the following without fear of running going flat. PC (all in one type, the bits all built into the touch screen monitor) a 32ish inch LED TV (lowest bar OLED power wise?) microwave, charging a tablet and a phone, a console.. I would use LED lower power lighting/bulbs, new decent batteries, and some solar panels.. I would love to be as self sufficient as possible. Lastly, am I right in thinking wooden sail boats in the 30ft range are actually cheaper than price/size comparable GRP canal cruisers?? Id of thought a "proper" wooden sail boat would be the more expensive craft? Cheers again for the replies (sorry for waffling!) Forum does seem to be occupied by many a positive person! EDIT - Same as everybody else at one stage.. zero boating experience.. :-)

Sorry for the late reply.. The tariff was originally only £15 a month til they upped it to £20. The tariff Is called "All you can eat data" or "All you can eat 20" I used wifi as my connection. Have used several handsets. Galaxy S3 mini, Huawei y300 y330 y500, and now a nokia Lumia 930. I did not use any 3 mobile app. Various OS's used doing this. From ice cream sandwich, jellybean, all way up to 5.1, and win 8,8.1 and win ten. You can also change the "APN" settings to bypass the networks filter.. I think the default is 3.co.uk, edit it to "three.co.uk" (or vice versa) and no more "sorry over 18 only" (Don't mean for "adult" stuff, more for streaming sites etc) There are NO pay monthly/contracts/sim only that offer unlimited data. Giffgaff offer it but not for tethering. As for being detected by networks, its all complicated stuff, but I figured tethering from an android device to an android device, or windows to windows was what kept me under the radar. Plus the fact I never EVER downloaded big files.. PLENTY of streaming though.. decent speeds too. Three (for me) are the fastest.. I couldn't offer an explanation as to why some say it doesn't work for them? Are these people using CRAPple devices? I know they removed tethering settings til a few years ago. For those that cant do this successfully, maybe think about using a google chromecast to "cast" (project) your screen onto a bigger device. I have an old cheapy Huawei android phone, with a chromecast I can put the whole screen onto my 51" plasma within seconds, whatever's on the phones screen, is displayed perfectly on my TV. Chromecast sticks cost around 20/25 quid and usually include an offer for 2 months free NOWtv.. Finally, if you do hammer the sim card and do receive warnings, just bin the sim and pay a pound for a new one every 4 weeks. You could just use an old phone purely for hot spotting. The people who say they cannot do this, can you post up what device/os/details etc please, really puzzled as to why you cant enjoy unlimited data?!?!?? Happy new year all!

As a new member I did the usual trawling of thread after thread in various sub forums, and I see the topic of mobile broadband and data limits questions being asked frequently. This may well be known or previously posted but if so I must of missed it.. Instead of buying MIFI's or dongles and the accompanying data sims and relevant data allowances, just simply use your android/windows phone "tethering" feature, turns your smart phone into a mobile hotspot.. THREE mobile PAYG do an unlimited tariff for twenty quid a month! and I assure you all, even with tethering it truly is unlimited data. Before I had virgin media installed I tethered 2 tablets and a desktop pc. I regularly used around 90 to 120 GIG a month.. NEVER received any warnings whatsoever.. You could also of course put a 3 payg sim into a relevant router with external Ariel's, google "load balancing" routers for even faster speeds. I know that once I realise my dream of being a full time live aboard I will be doing just this for my internet needs. DATA sims are a complete ripoff.. I could easily consume a whole months allowance in a few hours streaming HD content! I just thought Id post this bit of info as the thought of people paying stupid amounts of money for just a few gigabytes of data boils my urine. I did the above for well over a year, and the max I used in one month was 150 gig, minimum of 60 gig. Obviously I would NOT advise to use this to hammer torrents.. that would alert the network.. Cheers, hope this helps some of you save a few quid. EDIT - you get unlimited text messages and voice calls (mobile and landline) too!

Hello all, my first post so go easy on the newbie please! After a rough past few years and 12 months after seperating from my Wife the thought of CC'ing is getting more appealing everytime I waste hour after hour reading here and elsewhere! Realistically I could just afford a 20ft'ISH fibreglass cruiser/boat around 3-5k for a fixer upper, license £300? insurance £200-£400. I'd love to give CC'ing a go but maybe compramise with winter moored up.. I would be able to save up in under 12 months the cost of the boat and first years fees.. I have no issues with the lack of space (have lived in a tent for 3 months in the past) I am independant and practical, capable DIYer, not scared of mucking in.. My reason for wanting to do this is the perceived way of life. My mental health has taken a battering of late and I honestly believe this would be beneficial for me. I have no responsibilities, nothing to keep me from doing this. I understand I may be tinting my glasses a bit but I do realise it wont be all plain sailing (bad pun!) I would have a fixed monthly income of just under 1k a month. That would have to cover everything.. I have little outgoings, no mortgage, no debts, no credit cards or contract phones (always buy sim free and use PAYG) If it was not for my elderly disabled parents advancing years I would be off further afield. I would prefer to CC around the North West of England maybe Wales. I could in theory save around 8k'ish in 12 months.. and around 960pm to live on after that.. is it doable? Would I be better spending as much as I can for a better boat and budget for certs/insurance ect? The sense of adventure/freedom/peace/privacy/anonymity/travel is making me want to do this more and more as the weeks go by. The thought of being "trapped" in my concrete prison appeals less so!! I don't feel its a pipe dream, past few weeks of checking adverts show I could purchase a satisfactory boat.. Thanks for any input and seasons greetings to you all :-) (ps.. the cold weather does NOT bother me at all..)