LadyG

Nor me (Frenchmans might be some sort of hitch I suppose) I have found it amazing that many boaters have no idea how to throw a rope, it can be returned with knots because they sort of wrap it round their hands. Pulling the whole boat directly rather than taking a turn on a bollard when ashore, I suppose their own boat must be quite small so they can manage it.

You now have eleven posts, you might be able to pm him now.

Good heavens, you don't mess around, lol. Y.ou might be liable for Council Tax,, there is no Poll Tax as such.

If you live in a marina with shorepower it's not too difficult, but it's not cheap, can be anything from £2000 to £10k, the former being up North and the latter down South. Marinas come in different grades, from swish with restaurants etc to basic with car parking, bins, water elsan. Electricity pretty much at cost, not all moorings have power. it's not necessarily a cheap option, you have no security of tenure, and boats do not increase in value like bricks and mortar. They require maintenance, so it's best if you can do some things yourself. I have heard £5K being proposed as annual costs, it's not easy to know, depends on so many variables. Insurance is relatively cheap, everything else can be expensive!

I spoke to my farrier about taking on his apprentice, this was before the lads were subsidised so we were hit with a twenty percent increase to pay for the lad. He said he had guys asking for a job every few weeks, but most could not deal with metal. It took him ten minutes to assess them. The lad he took on became a world-class farrier, doing demonstrations all over the world, etc, and also top man in the UK farriers society. I was his first customer, £8.00 to remove four shoes, so he knew how to charge! I was top in engineering in my class, but only cos I passed the written exam, I was not good at engineering. I could fill the tractor when it ran out of diesel, and pump the lift pump.

As you are experienced boater, could you venture in to project territory, or look up North. I bought my boat three years ago, and it has not gone up £30k even though I've spent £4k on it. This has to be the peak time for buying. Knock off ten to fifteen percent from asking price if you can just buy today.

Ok, I have three battery banks and two gauges, one LED on the bow batteries, they feed the fridge and I keep them as high as I can by turning off fridge, I think that's as much as I can do. It's only in the depth of winter I struggle to keep on top of everything i cc and the plan was to use a marina for a month or more in winter, but that has not worked out so far, for other reasons. A battery monitor is not going to help significantly. I'll still have to replace the batteries when they die before me!

Make sure batteries are fully charged before leaving the boat of course. Not sure if it wouldn't it be a good idea to fit a proper battery monitor to make sure the batteries are , well , monitored.... They can be expensive, would a smart Victron inverter charger or charger fixed permanently do the job just as well? Asking for myself.

I have a back boiler stove (centrally placed), the pipes run through the bathroom, creating an airing cupboard without a door, then a small chrome radiator, then at they turn ninety degrees along the bed head which allows warm air in to the bed area. It's just enough to keep everything dry. Not an immediate fix, but next time you replace the stove or for anyone fitting out a boat, this is a clever solution. My boat is only 57 foot. In winter I have heavy curtains (eBay) which isolate draughts from front and back. Of course you must ventilate the boat adequately which is not happening at the moment. Short term I'd be inclined to go for tubular electric radiator (greenhouse type) under the bed but trying to run heating off the batteries is a recipe for killing batteries. . If it is dripping wet I'd say this is very unhealthy, so I'd be looking at ventilation as well, a fan to extract shower water from bathroom, maybe an opening window. Keep the moisture inside the bathroom.minimise shower water getting out of bathroom, it just shouldn't. I sometimes just use a big jug of warm water for shampooing my hair and rinse off with the shower, this uses less water, but critically in your case, less water in to the air. I have my stove working twenty four seven in winter, boat is warm and dry, but you have an extra thirteen feet, and critically the stove is in the wrong place. I would think a Webasto, with rads under bed and in bathroom are needed, the only problem is the noise at night, but rather that than this very unhealthy dampness. It's going to be expensive, but your health is going to suffer, not to mention mould. I'm afraid I would also think about selling this boat and getting one which is better suited to liveaboard. Depends on your needs, do you need a narrowboat, do you need seventy feet? Does it have to be long suffering wife who cleans under the bed?

I think you'll find cows pee on the grass not in the cut, whatever gave you that idea?

Yes, sorry, my computer sometimes jumps to the wrong thread, I've noticed that before, but usually correct it in time.

And its clouding over now,

I have a 5amp Cetek smart charger from auto days, it can bring all my six agms up to 13.something if left on 24 hours. Not ideal, but it's all I've got! I don't like leaving anything switch on when I leave the boat. It looks as though you may have killed your batteries, hope not.