[Boating Crew Experience Needed]

6 minutes ago, Kev's Halcyon said:

I'm in the lucky position of owning my own house and my own boat.

This year Halcyon has cost coming up on £3500, she is only 36 foot long, but she is getting on a bit, just over 30 years old.

It just so happens that my house is also just over 30 years old, but the upkeep is quite a lot less than £3000.

I thoroughly enjoy my trips on Halcyon, last year I lived aboard for nearly 3 months, but I'm happy to come home to my house.

Prices and bills are going to vary, but the lifestyle is very different. I've been boating for 4 years and I've lived in my house for 28 years. I know more people in the marina than I do in the street.

Well done 'Forget me not' for listening and taking advice, I'm sure you'll find people around Leicester who will help and the offer of a trip from Thorne still stands.

 

Kevin

Thank you Kevin, your offer is more than tempting. Is there a PM facility on this site?

My mortgage alone is nearly £600 a month, I would be mortgage free on a boat and have worked out my budget by watching and reading boating vlogs, threads and articles, I'm fairly confident that it would be cheaper for me, even if I had a marina mooring.

[Boating Crew Experience Needed]

2 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Having outright owned both I can confirm the boat is more expensive. It can be cheaper if you don't do anything to it and sell it as a shed after ten years. A cheap marina say 3k a licence say 1k then insurance etc all before you spend a penny on life or the boat. This is for a whole boat if you buy par of one say 57 feet it will be marginaly less but not much.

Do you still own both? Would you go back to a house? 

I do need to try it before I can make an informed choice but I suspect my quality of life would be an awful lot better on a boat.

Are you suggesting that it's a bad idea? I don't want to share as I want it to be my home.

[Boating Crew Experience Needed]

5 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

All your wages will go into a mooring, licence and other expensive upkeep costs if you move on to a boat and intend to keep it in good fettle.

I believe BOAT stands for Bring Out Another Thousand.

i would still think it's cheaper than keeping a house in good fettle.

[Boating Crew Experience Needed]

7 minutes ago, stagedamager said:

Welcome fmn.

Where in the east Midlands are you based?

 

Kind regards

 

Dan

Melton Mowbray, near Leicester.

[Boating Crew Experience Needed]

20 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

It was a good suggestion try boating first. What is your desire to sell your house and buy a boat based on?

I visited a friend on her boat, which is moored in a marina. It was summer and lots of the boaters were out socializing with each other. I had a chance to look around a few people's boats. The boats were lovely and cosy and appealed to me. The cost of living was a big draw as all my wage goes into my house at present. The people and atmosphere were so lovely, welcoming and warm. I just had the gut feeling that I would really love the life. I've always enjoyed camping and caravaning holidays and as a child had a romantic notion that I should have been a gypsy. I am also a huge nature lover and would love to live a more rural life.

Since then I've viewed several boats and have become addicted to YouTube vlogs but I really need to try it out for size and see what it is like and how I cope.

[Boating Crew Experience Needed]

Hi, I'm completely new to boating to the point where I've never set foot on a moving boat. I am considering selling my house and buying a liveaboard. it's a huge step! I am wanting to check that the move will be right for me. 

It's been suggested that offering to help out as crew would be a good way to gain some experience.

Could anyone offer me a short cruise sometime in the New Year? I live in the East Midlands but I do drive, so I could travel to meet you. I would prefer a short trip of just a weekend as I have dogs that I would need to arrange a sitter for, and I have a job I need to get back to.

I am DBS checked for my job and I would expect us to find out a bit about each other first, to make sure we will both be comfortable.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Cheap boating experience]

18 hours ago, Kev's Halcyon said:

If you're ever in East Yorkshire, I can take you on a good trip from Thorne which includes an electric pedestrian bridge, and electric lock, followed by a manual road bridge, then an electric road bridge and a manual lock. In a 12 mile round trip, that's experience of the majority of obstacles you'll encounter on the canal system.

 

Kevin

Thank you so much, that is really generous of you. I may well take you up on that offer in the New Year. 

[Cheap boating experience]

On 18 November 2017 at 10:59, Kev's Halcyon said:

Have you thought as offering yourself as crew? There might be another single handed boater who would welcome the help and company for a trip or two.

 

Kevin

I didn't know that was a thing you could do. It sounds like a really good idea, thank you. Where would I advertise that, is there a thread on here?  Found the thread, thank you.

On 18 November 2017 at 13:11, OldGoat said:

This may be a bit of a flyer (that is, inappropriate - or seemingly so), but give a bit of consideration to the course that's run at Bisham Abbey on the Thames. OK - it's a way to go, but there's more chance to get some real experience of how to handle a boat, not only because it's a river with some flow, but also it's WIDE - and that means you'll get experience in manoeuvring and turning a boat because of that space of water. You can even learn something about locks in general on the Thames. 

Thank you. I will check them out.

[Cheap boating experience]

Thank you all so much for your replies and suggestions, I really appreciate the input.

 I will check the links out. I will be taking a female friend with me as I know I'll not manage the locks on my own as a newbie and I'm not sure how I'll manage even when I've more experience. I am also planning to take a helmsman course and an engine maintainance course. I really want to do the helmsman course before I hire the boat. I was thinking of WillowWren but I will check out Cheshire Cat too or any other recommendations that you might have.

[Cheap boating experience]

Hi everyone, I'm after recommendations for a narrowboat holiday. I've not got a lot of spare cash (understatement!) but all the advice is that, if you are planning to liveaboard, you should try a holiday first. So I'm looking for advice about

1 Easy stretches of canal suitable for total beginners.

2 The cheapest times of year to book.

3 Recommendations for the best hiring companies

Im only planning a short 4 day break and hoping to spend £500 or less.

Thank you all in advance.

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On 30 May 2017 at 14:39, Alan de Enfield said:

 

To achieve her aim then there is no option - it MUST be a NB (unless she intends to crane it out, truck it around the 'narrows' and crane it back in)

Hi Alan de Enfield, thank you for your reply (and all the replies) just so I have all the information, how much does it cost to truck a narrowboat? Catherine 

 

 

[Are you new to boating?? CLICK HERE]

Hello Everyone, I'm Catherine and I've not got a boat yet but I am seriously thinking about it.

I'm considering selling my house and getting a residential mooring. I've visited a friends marina and spoken to a few owners there and I've been researching online. It's very early days for me. This will be part of my research and I want to find out the down side to  narrow boats and the problems there can be, so that I can make a balanced decision as some of my family think I've lost the plot 

I want the biggest boat possible as a home but I would also like to be able to travel, I live near the Grand Union/ River Soar and I have family near the Leeds/Liverpool and family near the Kennet/Avon so my first question is what's the biggest boat I can get that can travel all these waterways?