Boaty Jo

Try a google for 'hybrid diesel boat engine' Lot's of sites crop up.

Here's a snip of a post which may help?

A neat one here...

Plumbed the Thetford loo into the hot pipe (by mistake). The resultant hot flush was rather comforting on a chilly morning.

You usually find that those most vociferous against bow thrusters haven't got one.

I cycled from Myhtolmroyd to Littleborough yesterday. Massive River Calder works underway in Mytholmroyd which should help alleviate flooding there but the whole valley is prone. They are 'upgrading' the towpath in a number of places on this stretch where it's been (I presume) compromosed by flooding from the adjacent river. Anybody cycling at the moment has to hop off the canal onto the nearby main road which is not much safer than jumping off a a building. There are a few quite pleasant-looking mooring spots, in and around Hebden and Tod for example where the valley opens out a bit. But much of the on line mooring looks scrotty. The canal and river are in a valley, steep sided at times, so sunlight looks to be in short supply There's an interesting mix of boats though including a tjalk, widebeams and NBs. Between Tod and Littleborough the valley opens out and is rather more open but very few, if any, long term moorings.

Well done! Was it shock or shock? In other words surprise / distress or clinical shock. The latter can be a killer. Your situation is a reminder that we should all learn some basic first aid. But well done for helping.

We were sub 20-metres. We were never troubled in Holland. In France we were boarded a couple of times, once in a very isolated 'lay-by' just outside a hamlet about 15km from Nancy. They checked all the stuff Tam mentioned. Our fire extinguishers were out of date. They gave us 2 weeks to upgrade them or it was a 1600 euro fine. In Belgium we were boarded three times in as many weeks by three different branches of the authorities. We were based pretty much full time there. First Customs, then waterways police then regular police, All the usual checks plus diesel tanks (no red for propulsion) and bilge pumps, which from memory had to be auto and manual. They also have 'control' locks where they check you and I believe have the right to refuse pasage. There's one near Veurne. The sands are shifting but the point is there is lots of stuff to get right.

In the same way that only the people who don't have bowthrusters don't like them, those with scruffy boats are the only ones allowed to call someone else snobby.

Joint venture with Basil Brush

The Fat Fox looks to have overseas spec (35 - 50 miles @ 20mph). The UK is governed back to 15.5 (25kph). Not that that's a problem? Just check for yourself but the only weight I can see is 35 kgs which is weighty if your lugging onto your NB roof for example. The YIWOZA bike looks incredibly cheap?? 26 inch bike it says. Don't know how tall you are but I'm 5'7" and have ordered a 17" frame after advice from local cycle shop. There are a couple more folders her: https://ebiketips.road.cc/content/advice/buyers-guide/9-of-the-best-e-bikes-under-1000-2020-electric-bikes-on-a-budget-2209 These have 20" wheels too but not as fat as Foxy's.

Our old barge was wheel, chain and wire with an emergency tiller. We could see the top of the rudder from the wheelhouse so didn't need a rudder indicator, on a widebeam I suspect you'd need one. Our cable snapped one day in the middle of nowhere (lucky because we didn't hit anything, unlucky because there were no shops to buy new cable). We had to use the emergency tiller to go a few miles including down a lock. I stood on the rear of the boat with the tiller while my wife operated the throttle and bow-thruster from the wheelhouse. If I was having a new boat kitted out I'd go for wheel and a strong bow-thruster. (Now being a certain age and fitness level).

Wide Beam??

We moved off 5 years ago due to grandchildren and a poorly relative. But we had scratched our boating itch after 12 years and when we started cruising places for a second time it was time to move on anyway. Mind you, when we came off we lived in a 25-year-old (knackered) camper van for four months while house-hunting - after that experience we were desperate to get into a house. You haven't got boating out of your system, it really sounds like you need to find a way to make it work.

Four boats in the boro this morning, never seen it as busy.

Hot feed to the left (thermostat runs on hot feed)

There is a Canal Closed sign posted at Summit. Walked up there today. Closed between locks 61 and 64 for essential repairs. Is it current or an old notice?? No date on it. But there's a phone number 03030 404040 or Cart's website.

We live in Littleborough (house). it's as safe as anywhere. It's one stop on the train back to Rochdale if you want to explore. Town Hall is impressive, in fact we married there in a bit of a hurry.

An alternate approach?? Perhaps a chat with these folks? https://www.maxkote.co.uk/shop/maxline-100-flexible-water-tank-lining/#:~:text=MLI 100 – Flexible water tank lining,-SKU%3A MLI100 Tags&text=Maxline 100 flexible lining and,protection against erosion and corrosion. https://www.corrolesseastern.co.uk/services/tank-reline-tank-linings/

That trip in 2014 was a wonderful memory for me but I'm no longer involved. We left St Jean for Belgium the following year. I have read that it took three years to restore, which implies that it is finished but I agree the site link at the Musee is vague. There's a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/asterpeniche and the photos section on the left seems to have plenty of the restoration. If they have indeed finished it they've done very well because parts of it were pretty tatty and rotten. There's a record of the trip here... https://abargeatlarge.co.uk/articles/aster.html I've been meaning to get a photo album together from the hundreds I took. I'll contact Charles Gerard and see if he can put me on to some of the restoration and up to date ones. I remember Fragnes Dave, it's a favourite stopping point on the Canal du Centre. I still have my T-shirt!

Referring to the Euroclassic boats, my feeling is that as a novice you would find it very difficult to modify a craft. Internally not too bad perhaps, although this invovles upgrades to many systems, particularly if you're considering winter living. Batteries, heating, insulation are all pricey items and to get a yard to do it for you satisfactorily would likely be expensive. Then there's the handling charateristics. I believe apart from anything else these boats tend to side-slip. For the novice this is not easy to master. We had a flat-bottom, round bilge barge and it took a while to get the hang of (one ot two expensive lessons on the way). I see you've been on the DBA site and so you have some ideas of the difficulty involved with modifying a boat. I'll be honest, all this would put me off, paticularly if I couldn't do much of the work my self, purely from a cost perspective. One thing that sages on here say about buying narrowboats is that it's perhaps better to buy a good second-hand boat that is well maintained and tried and tested rather than a shiney new one. Budget is against you of course. But I came across a number of non-Europeans cruising in Europe (Aussies, Kiwis, American, Canadian) who bought pretty high spec boats, cruised them for 2, 5 years, whatever, then sold them on again. A good boat will hold it's price. Even though the outlay was considerably more, they had confortable year-round cruising, winter living, not many mechanical issues and they basically got their money back. Good ones that I came across regularly were Piper, Sagar and Delta to name but three. Plus any number of converted old Dutch barges, some good, some poor.

Euroclassic boats do have a mixed reputation. Not to be confused with Euroship Services boats, which are even further out of budget.

Just to counter the anti-H2O post, we lived in the Gare d'Eau for five years. We had extensive dealings with Max (son), and Gerard and Patricia and never had a cross word. There are horror stories from every country. We got shafted in Holland and there are people who have had problems in the UK too. Your budget of £50k for a winter-suitable boat for extended stays is tight. To fit decent insulation (and heating) retrospecively is tricky and likely expensive.

The penichettes look good, that's possibly partly why you were attracted. We saw them in Lutzelbourg on the Marne au Rhin. Without researching, I suspect the larger ones that would suit you will have more than two bedrooms, one of which will be below the rear deck and second steering postion. Converting one would not be cheap I suspect not least because there are not that many suitable boatyards in France. Can you do it yourself? Or at least some of the work? If so a friendly yard may offer you space but it's not unknown for yards to charge quite a lot because their own staff are not working on the boat. They will have some form of heating but I doubt they are well insulated. Very different having a holiday (summer) boat and a live aboard. When we looked at ex-hire boats, mainly Le Boat, I thought they were expensive.

Check valves hot and cold on all appliances. They will need service / replacement.