LadyG

Yes, I am really not interested in house buying, I'm on the look out for an end of garden type mooring, should be near Services. Thanks for those who expressed concern, I think this is a one off, and I should recover, its just been exhausting as much as anything.

OK. So ive always been pretty strong and healthy overall, but recently ive had a minor illness for five weeks, which means Im pretty tired, to the extent that I've had to ask for an overstay!!!! First in six years ... My original plan was to boat for five years and then find a nice area, with a little garden, and some interesting wildlife. I could never live in a marina. I wonder if anyone knows of a location on tbe Rochdale or 'up north" I may have been unlucky, but ive yet to find this ideal.

Depends on your stove, they all behave differently and the weather will affect them. There is a huge difference in draw from house chimneys, the flue is too short. I buy dry logs, kindling and smokeless fuel. I also use firelighters. Did try to harvest a few dead branches, but it has not worked. In winter i may keep fire in 24/7 if possible but it needs fed every 6 hours. The coals essentially sit on the bottom the logs on top. Dont try to burn other stuff. There will be smoke when you start up, less once its all working.

That is exceptional I bought five agm batteries five years ago £500 and they show no signs of failing. My boat was epoxied from new, I put three coats on six years ago, should last another four years, unless boat comes out in the meantime £350. I think cost of launch was about £350, it was part of the marina cost. The first year I did some minor upgrades. £1250 included new foam and upholstery. I bought a 12v fridge £700, one off purchase. This was part of a galley upgrade, included professional labour, and no expence spared (!) so that year expediture was an eye watering £4K, included new oak dining table. I use a launderette as I can't deal with drying. £350 pa I try to keep on top of the painting myself: materials over 6 years £600, external labour £150. I hired a shed for £200 plus power £10. Extraordinary haul out and repair £1000 .

If you've got that sort of income plus a fat deposit, i think bricks and mortar are more sensible. I pay £1400 for my licence, £250 insurance, £1000 heating (coal. logs and diesel) , £85 gas £1000-£1500 for BSS, blacking, servicing and propulsion. You would be extremely unlucky to spend £3K every year on unexpected expenses.

Dont feed the troll.

Most sailing yachts are designed for summer sailing, once the weather kicks in, it's a different scenario. I follow a few sailing adventures on YouTube, they are very experienced sailors, couples who are committed to offshore sailing. Their boats probably cost about £100K!

I'm not sure of the OPs housing status, which does affect long term strategy. Living on a boat is not for everyone and is rarely cheap. Marinas do not often offer Residential berths, if they do, they come with Council Tax (a postal address), and security for the van. At age 50, presumably in good health, he might take a job in winter such as driving, net earnings will likely be £300+ per week, that's quite good over twenty weeks. Living off one's capital is a slippery slope and parcel deliveries pay peanuts, only just better than nothing. Upgrade the DL to make more money, get paid to travel abroad! The main advantage of a marina may be security of the vehicle plus the address for insurance. The disadvantage is cost. There may be a choice of marinas near his business, if he has to travel every day, that adds on to time at work, but essentially its unpaid. I have met people who start on the property market buying poor housing, stripping it out and renovating. One needs quite a few skills and it is essential to buy the right property.

There are a few, very few glass fibre boats that have an internal diesel engine and are suitable suitable for salty waters.and inland UK waters. If you have no experience of boats sign up to a five day course to do an RYA course. That will teach the very basics. You could try some of the sail training yachts, they are used to volunteer crew, and if you have some training this will build experience. You could also have a weeks holiday with a skippered yacht. It takes time to build experience, but there will be online tutorials on navigation and so on., it won't be wasted, but if you choose to stick to inland waters all you need is common sense and a few days experience. Singlehanding your own narrowboat can be an adventure, there are a few potential dangers, but just take everything very slowly and you will be fine. The skills and experience needed for safe coastal navigation are nothing like those required for pottering along a muddy ditch at 3mph. Most little steel boats advertised as Dutch Barges these days are absolutely not suitable for crossing the North Sea, it's just a stylised version of the real thing. BTW thousands of people have a dream, setting off and leaving the trials and tribulations of day to day life behind them. It's called mid life crisis.

You need to define your needs, if a singlehander then you dont need so much sleeping accommodation. If a couple with two teenage kids then a double bed plus two singles and good shower facilities. To a greater or lesser extent there is an element of a camping holiday, particularly with a narrowboat imho. Check that the plumbing works, have a look in the calorifier cupboard, that will give you an idea of the general standard of the fitout. An owner fitout may be more be difficult to assess, but a proud owner will be happy to explain everything. It's unlike domestic plumbing and electrics, so try to figure out what is happening. There will be a starter battery, and a few domestics, the general state of wiring should be good, there should be evidence of good workmanship in the engine hole and the battery connections. There tends to be an idea that one can fix any minor problems in a few days, if this were so, the current owner could have done it! Minor alterations may be more difficult than one expects. A modern widebeam is likely to be a significant investment and of course they can't use the narrow canals. If you are a party animal then a cruiser stern is the place to partake of canapés and prosecco. If you want to travel, and use the boat all year round then maybe go for something 57ft or less, with diesel heating, solid fuel stove, and a trad stern. It depends on budget, and your capabilities, but be aware that a project boat is not a good idea for a newby. A modern boat should have foam insulation. There should normally be a reliable old school diesel engine, you can have the oil tested for engine wear if you think it might need a replacement, due to age and infirmity :). One would normally expect them to last a long time if serviced. If the external paintwork is tired but not rusty and peeling, that may not be too off-putting, but look inside, is there water ingress round roof vents and windows, water stains, under the floor, in the engine hole? There are a few top end hull builders, these would likely be fitted out by top end boat fitters, they will command a premium. There are a few production boats, which may be OK, and in decent condition, regular maintenance is required to prevent corrosion. The industry tends to be small scale, so there will be one man and his son building a few hulls every year, hull is transported to one man in a shed to do the internals. The hull builders may produce sailaways, ie boats with and engine and a few basics, to be fitted out by a semi skilled owner. One would expect to have paperwork which will have evidence of the build, the baseplate. Invoices for blacking etc. Budget Looking at boats priced £50 to £60K Hope for 10% discount, BUT you may want to fork out up to £5K in your first year, whether this is marina fees, or maintenance costs, or just having things that are important to you. Of course you may not need that even so, be prepared to stash away £500 to £1000 every year, upgrades and maintenance.

Im not too clear as to OPs long term plan here, if he is considering exchanging bricks and mortar for the freedom of life 24/7 on board., then he needs to work out his costs realistically. Its a huge lifestyle change, obviously, and if a couple, both need to be committed. The cost of boat owership is likely to be considerably more than at first glance, even if one can do most oneself, a figure of £5K per annum is not off the scale. Essentially boats depreciate, houses appreciate.

I prepped my roof using a single pack paint described as suitable for undercoat or topcoat. It has a matt finish and due to time delay has now attracted some dirt and possibly black moulds. I did clean it with sugar soap and wet and dry, but again, never got the topcoat on in time. Ive got enough of this undercoat to give a quick light coating, then quickly paint with single pack alkyd topcoat. I intend to sugar soap with wet and dry to once again get rid of this organic contamination, but would i be OK to do that, rinse and then top coat. Im not sure if its best to scrub clean the undercoat and immediately topcoat, or risk a quick thin layer of undercoat, which will at least be clean, but will it risk poor adhesion after all this time. Im fighting the elements, its either too wet or its too hot or the trees are dropping muck at every oportunity. PS im beginning to think i'll need to find a covered painting shed.

Poor hygiene covers handling and storage, I used to be a Food Hygeine Officer, I have the T shirt.

When I was in LA, I went to a conference where a .lecture was given, with illustrations, of a Chinese Take out place that had had three official cases. Its always very difficult fo verify as the consumers may have taken the stuff home, consumed the evidence, and often have had too much alcohol. The place was notorious for poor hygiene but they did not care. I think they eventually got closed down by HMRC. There was a similar vomiting outbreak, at a local conference centre. Within two hours of consuming some specialist raw milk cheese, the factities were overwhelmed!

I used a powerful Services supply about six weeks ago, the water out my taps then went brown, as I'd disturbed rusty sediment in the tank. I added half a bottle of Domestos to the tank and flushed clean, using the water to wash my roof etc. The hot water system was also sterilised, which is not a bad thing, It's taken about three weeks to settle back to normal. Take it from someone who has a scientific background, including inspecting water supplies, and testing for potability: do not rely on a home made filter system, unless you are prepared to sample and test on a regular basis as these systems tend to fail over time. The standard test for water requires the sampler to use a prepared bottle, not any old sample bottle, and there is a prescribed process from tap to test. It's unusual for water supplies to be tested regularly for chemical contaminants. I have used a filter jug in the past, but not convinced all nasty chemicals will be removed so readily. For the average boater, use your own hose, the correct type of hose. Run the tap for two minutes, then fill the tank. I always check to see that a non return valve has been fitted by the supplier at the Services, this would be unlikely in a marina with many taps. If the tea tastes OK it's probably fine. I dont like the taste of UK tap water, and only use it for hot drinks, I buy bottled water for drinking. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD I TRY TO FILTER CANAL WATER.