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Newbie here. Shortlisting design criteria for my "new" boat.... Need your advice/experience please? Having now done several tours of many narrow boats, I notice there are few (if any) that use glass for partitions. IE: Glass shower unit, Opaque glass dividing walls. These make compartments look more spacious and also light and bright. Thinks bubble: Is this deliberate because the average NB is known to flex, either on the canal with people climbing over and around it and/or when it is lifted out of the water for dock work? Flexing boats would not be good for sheet (laminated) safety glass obviously. The same goes for porcelain tiles. I have surplus 300 x 600mm porcelain tiles from a previous house build. Now would these crack if I used them in the bath compartment - surrounding the shower cubicle for instance - if the boat flexed?

Just looked at the web site - for a company that is 28 years old, the site is awful! No contact details other than in an advert at the bottom of one of the few pages that works. Have finally e-mailled them

The actual lay person will have no say on this. Environmentalism carries huge momentum and it is growing every day. If we stay inside the EU (God help us) it will happen faster than we expect, if we leave the EU, we will still move away from diesel. Be it 10, 20 30 years, diesel is dead. Once EV's and electric planes (Easyjet have just signed up to research), electric lorries (already here) and of course electric boats (lots of them) become the norm, diesel driven vehicles will be the first to be targeted. Good riddance I say. Enjoy the ICE while you can.

The 1st question to ask before purchasing a 2nd hand EV is: How much to replace the battery pack (or how much is left on the battery warranty)? It is still early days for used EV's and the subsequent owners arent used to their battery packs reaching their sgelf life. Example: BMW i8 is now 5 yrs old. Battery life: est. 8yrs. Replacement cost out of warranty: £8 to £10k!

Sorry. I should have been more specific. For "Narrow Boats" use: "Canal Boats". The Canal Trust like lots of other quasi 'non-governmental' entity, is required to be stand alone by various dates. I used to work for one. That said - Environmentalists are becoming more and more vociferous as the years pass and the government see "green" as a vote winner. Either the canal users embrace change (in this case by going electric / hybrid early), or the government will do it for us (on their terms rather than ours). The Canal Trust are best placed to be the voice for the users..

Alan, don't you think I know that? Why talk about 'other' boats on a NB forum therefore? It could be that because canal boats are a confined audience (ie: no-where for them to go / easily controlled/ etc) that the canal trust get into bed with the government and tie up a deal in return for funding - to ramp up the demise of diesel on canals?

Touchy topic, I know but the more spoken about it, the clearer it becomes, not to mention the more acceptable the inevitable will become! The UK government have proposed to ban the manufacture of internal combustion engines by 2040. The Green Alliance think tank are lobbying the government to bring this forward to 2030. Diesel engines are now the bad boy of motoring where car manufacturers are having to curtail their output due to bad press. Environmentalists have the demiase of diesel firmly in their sights. So we have roughly 20 (maybe 10!) years to go before diesel engines become unavailable (as new) and consequently diesel supply will start to reduce. Obviously those with existing diesel engines in their cars/boats/lawnmowers/tractors will need access to a supply - but at what cost? [How much will the government charge / gallon, to make it an unattractive option? And will ther government offer incentives to replace your existing diesel engine with new technology engines? (As they did electric cars for a while). So the big question is - IF (and it is a big IF) the environmentalists get their way and IC engines cease in 10 years time. How long thereafter, will there be a government mandate to stop using diesel? The consequences being that every NB in the UK (32,000 are there?) will need to replace its engine for electgric presumably?). Secondly - for those where the costs of converting are too much - will their boat depreciate exponentially? [IE: Will a £50k NB (now) become a £5k NB in 2035 for instance???? Are there any NB manufacturers converting and tooling across to hybrid/electric? Are the Canal Trust taking this seriously and researching charging points along canal routes. It will be eerie though - all these boats navigating the canals in complete silence..................?

Is there somewhere in the North West where they sell Refleks stoves?

Markinaboat: WAFU is the term used by "real" sailors onboard ships that have aircraft. It is used for members of the Fleet Air Arm when they are embarked on carriers or frigates etc. Wet and ***king Useless, I believe the term is! I was a pilot for 17 years on Carriers and Frigates. Never called a WAFU .........to my face of course! At the end of the day we had a job to do - and all of us did it well. I believe I may have found a name for my boat now?

SeaDog - have plenty of experience sailing yachts and owning and driving cabin cruisers but when I was thinking of what to do during retirement, it needed to encapsulate a series of interests. Mr Smelly(?) - Does your handle point to you being a submariner then ?? We were/are only called wafu's by sailors because deep down they are jealous of our lifestyle!! I 'normally' restore and enjoy classic cars, love engines etc. I have also built my own house from scratch. I love messing on the water and enjoy mixing with other people. Narrow Boats seems the answer. My plan is to 'mess' about with NB's, not necessarily living in them but refurbishing one if needed and pottering about locally. My 'base' will be Chirk and so I have the added advantage of experiencing a World Heritage Site too! (Not forgetting the Poncysyllte Aquaduct!). So NB's suits my majority needs - what it doesn't do (being an ex aviator) is provide me with the need for speed! But I have that in bucketfulls with my car! I'm looking at a mid 2000 onwards 50+ foot cruiser. Back to double glazing - ooops, I seem to have opened a can of worms here! Good points indeed from both camps. Mmmmm?

That's interesting feedback - thank you. (and yes I am a WAFU!).

How common is it for glazing on 'modern' NB's (post 2000?) to be double glazed? Secondly, if the chosen NB does not have double glazing, how easy would it be to retro fit DG? (In a house, it is obviously very easy provided there was enough meat on the cills and frames). [I don't much fancy the idea of secondary glazing!]. There must be significant heat loss on boats with single glazing?

I like this. Good solution: So a Refleks supplying 2 x rads and the Calorifier. For redundancy, link the Calorifier to the engine too. A small feeder tank between the main diesel tank and the Reflex which gravity feeds the stove. Either manually top up the feeder tank from the main diesel tank or use an electric pump. I noticed on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiWihfNoIzA&pbjreload=10 at minute: 1:20 he uses an overflow tank. This is to capture overflow from the refleks regulator, he tells us. How does this get catered for when installing a Refleks in a NB?

It is highly recommended that the stove has plenty of access to a decent air supply. Has anyone had problems locating the stove where free air flow to the burner is a problem?

Thank you very much guys - appreciated. I notice, when I look at NB's (and I have looked at a lot!), NONE have the Reflex stove fitted. Are they not popular? For those who do have them, from the moment I pour the alcohol into it to start it up, to when it starts to pump out heat - roughly how long? On the subject of heat and heating - given all the options out there, if you all had the chance to start from scratch again, what stove would you put in and what system would you use to heat the water for taps/shower?

If a calorifier was plumbed in - presumably this would only be because one needed hot water yes? (taps/shower).

Does anyone have one installed? Can they be used to heat 2 or 3 radiators? Many thanks

Hello all. Brand new to narrowboating (but have a navy background!). At this early stage (after doing my research, hope to buy in the next 8-10 weeks or so), my prime concern is making sure that when I part with my 'green drinking vouchers', that I am comfortable in the knowledge that I haven't bought a Hire Purchase or stolen boat! Reading up on NB's in general tells me that the fraternity is a long long way from having its "ducks in a row", so to speak. Unlike buying a house or car, there are very few (if any) checks and measures protecting the buyer. My research to date suggests: Lean more towards purchasing through a broker, rather than private sale? Buy the boat on credit cards to be able to protect the purchase if things go wrong after the sale? IF private, ask the seller for his/her passport and or driving license details? Your advise - greatly appreciated. Fly Navy.