SteveLevis

..not a good time to be going to Brecon by boat!!!

..yes, hydraulic drive not gearbox...my bad. In general the hydraulic drive itself was reliable, but the one time we did have a problem the unit had to go to Peachments for repair and from memory this took a few weeks, so no cruising, (syndicate boat). There probably are advantages to having a hydraulic drive, (eg no stern gland to grease), but I prefer the simplicity of a drive shaft...

Our last boat was a Hexagon built (Polish), boat which had a Nanni engine with hydraulic drive. In general the engine was excellent, however initially we did have some problems with the hydraulic drive, (a leak), that took a while to get sorted. The hydraulic drive did seem to be quieter than a convention shaft, but they are not as fuel efficient as a shaft drive, (probably about 75%??), so you will use more fuel. Also I think "AR Peachement" are the only company that deal with the hydraulic gearboxes..(I could be wrong). If it has bow / stern thrusters that are hydraulic the recommendation is that you change the hydraulic pipes at around 10 years, (not cheap, but would be a right mess if the pipes "burst"). If I was getting another boat I personally would not get one with a hydraulic drive...

..ta for the replies...all thhings being equal I think we will be "turning left / going straight on" at Fradley up the T&M then turn around sometime at around 3 days. (Canal planner suggesting a turn around at Stenson Lock No.6 winding hole).

Hi all, Just looking for suggestions really regarding an upcoming trip from Stone heading South for a total of 6 days, (3 out and 3 back)? As I see it there are 3 main options:- 1/ Turn right on Shropshire Ubion and head towards Wolverhampton, 2/ Carry straight on and turn right at Fradley and down the Coventry canal turning around just above Atherstone. 3/ South and then turn left at Fradley and head up the trent and Mersey for a bit? Any recommendations welcome.

I boat and cycle towpaths and I always slow down, ring bell, and take extra care when passing pedestrians. Just seems to be common courtesy as they have the right of way?

..if you are "local" to the boat and don't mind a bit of hassle you might as well sell privately and save the commision...? I am sure that if the price is right you will shift it easily, particularly around the spring time...

..what...there is no blue sign!!!!! ..if he had fallen he could have sued CRT??

......a bargepole springs to mind?

As per all the above comment really. I would not be interested in the "continual cruising" option, (ie no home base marina), better to have a "fixed base" IMHO although this does restrict your cruising options, but in our syndicate we had an AGM and every 3 years or so and voted on a move to another marina. (This may be more of a problem if you are "managed" as this may restrict which marinas you can use). If you are buying into a "home based" marina boat it is worth checking if the synddicate have any plans for a move. anytime soon. ie you may think tthe current marina is a great location, but oncce you have joined you may find out the syndicate plan to move it next season to somewhere that may be less conveinient. Also important to know if managed, or self managed. Self managed is great, (and saves about £500 per year each), BUT you have to have able and willing syndicate members! When we joined our self managed syndicate all members were keen and happy to "share the workload", but over time some of the original members left and were replaced with (mainly), syndicate members who just treated it as a cheap hire boat and were not prepared to "do their share" leaving all the work to a few willing members. In hindsite it would probably have been better to spend the extra money and get a management company involved? Whatever boat you buy into make sure there is a healthy "sinking fund" as you don't want to end up paying for a share of a new engine or repaint during your first year or two of cruising!

..one of the (many) things that has gone up by way more than the 10% headline inflation rate. We are currently paying around £19 for a 25kg bag of the black stuff, least season around £12.50...

I think it can be a bit of a "catch 22", a lower share price would be for either an older boat which may well then require higher ongoing maintenance costs, (or possibly a newer boat with only "low season weeks available"), or initially pay more for a newer boat which requires less maintenance? When we first started looking at shares (about 7 years ago), we looked at some boats around the £2.5k for a 12th share and soon realised that we would need to spend at least £1k+ more to get a boat that we liked. We ended up in a really nice self managed syndicate which also saved us around £450/yr each in management fees, however this does mean that all the syndicate members have to take an active role in doing all the work necessary, and as time went on and new members joined the syndicate there were fewer and fewer members who actually wanted to share this level work preferring to leave it all to the ever diminishing and willing "few". We liked to keep the boat well maintained and promptly replace any items that had failed, or were likely to fail so that other members would not lose their holiday weeks. We also liked to maintain a healthy sinking fund (£6k+), so that if the engine went south we couldm get it replaced with minimal financial impact to the existing syndicate members. (ie if you do buy into a share boat ALWAYS ask what how healthy thier sinking fund is as you don't want to buy into a boat that suddenly needs a new engine or £12k repaint and nothing "in the pot" to cover it!) In some respects the actual buying cost of a share is not really an issue (assuming you have the money in the first place), as you could well get most of it back, particularly in the current climate. (We had members who actually sold their share after a few years for more than they paid for it in the first place), and the longer you are in a syndicate the more "cost effective" it becomes compared to renting. The only rel downside to sharing is that you are always limited to the marina the boat is based in, (which can be moved with agreement from all members), and the fact that the weeks you can choose very much depend on where you are on any particulr years "pecking order". I guess you pays your money and makes your choice......happy hunting!

....we had expensive tastes..... ... .....around £1k, maybe £850/£900 some years depending on what bits we wanted replacing each year, (eg solar panels, new cooker, fridge, annual blacking and winter works, we also wanted to maintain a healthy engine replacement / repainting / sinking fund should we need it being an older well used boat. Also turnaround maintenance, every 1or 2 weeks as the the boat was more or less in constant use both high and low seasons, and as an an older boat that regularly required maintenance to the standard we wanted... ......and a "Marina of the year" that liked to charge you for the priviledge!

...I think this is a good suggestion/compromise, but I think the costs quoted are a bit low, (....in the current climate), particularly if you go with a "managed" boat. We were a self managed (12 shares) boat and probably paid around £1k each per year to cover all our running costs, (eg maintenance, replacements, licenses, mooring fees). We approached a management company and were advised we would need to pay an extra £450 'ish (each) on top of this. When we started looking £2.5k would not get a "decent" quality/newer boat and we ended up spending around £4.5k. (You can get lower costs if you buy shares with weeks that are "out of season"). Mind you whatever you pay for the share you may well get back when you come to sell given the popularity of canal boat sharing?