Mert

Thanks a lot for your info Pagan Witch. The reason I don’t want to buy a laptop is that I have spent thousands on this comp and it is the hub of my home on shore. It does everything from writing on here to playing the latest games, playing my music and feeding me Hi Def movies. To sell it cheap on E Bay to buy a notebook that doesn’t work as well just seems stupid. I also rely on it for E-Miether from work. I’m interested in T-Mobile at £29 a month using a USB modem but I heard that its 3 GB not 6. The boat I am looking at doesn’t have mains wiring, it’s all 12 volt. I am looking at a Honda True sine wave generator for cruising. Also to fit two more leisure batteries and an inverter and UPS I think. Do you have any idea on cost?

I don’t come from a family in the normal functional sense, we are spread across the globe doing a job that many people would consider ‘too much’ or even unacceptable. And that is why when I said I wanted to live on a boat not one member of my family batted an eye lid. They are concerned about the day to day things like electric and safety but otherwise they quite like the idea. We are defiantly non conformists. So my reasons for living on a boat are ten fold, firstly and most importantly I don’t do the rat race if I can help it. I love the pace of canal life and how it contrasts to the sixty hour working week that my job entails. Secondly I can afford a home on the water for a fraction of the cost of a comparable home. And yes I mean a comparable home. The home I live in now is 20k more expensive than the same house down the road simply because it as a lovely view onto fields. I can buy five Narrowboats for the price of this house and what do I get? A phone line, internet and central heating and a lovely view. On a boat I will get that view and I will be able to change it when I like! Abit of brain power will provide the rest. Finally there is a community on the cut that often doesn’t exist on the streets of suburbia. Just compare walking through a town to walking along the cut. Everybody in the town has their heads down going about their business, while last week I sat on a bench near to Wheelton watching a narrowboat going through the lock and a complete stranger parked up his bike and took a seat next to me. We then spent a while discussing dogs and boats and it was very pleasant. It’s a different world. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the shared rooms and dirty workshops that I have to endure while I work in hot and dusty parts of the world. I have noticed a boat fit out on the net. The boat is called the Antidote. That kinds of sums it up for me.

Could you please tell me if it is worth having a hull survey on a ten year old boat?

I’m a newbie to this forum and I can say that there are few forums on this ‘ere web where you can follow the exploits of a boat thieving painter and decorator, weigh up the pros and cons of using locks at night or even learn about a beer stealing ex special forces soldier called Finchie. I am seriously considering spending some of my summer on the Lancaster Canal, dependant on A: Buying a boat in time and B: Getting a slot on the Ribble Link. So the “right old whinging bunch” on the Lancaster canal are warned! I will raise the ensign. Bring my guns to bear and fire a broadside at anybody who tries to chase me off.

I took my dog on the bus to walk the canal looking for boats for sale and was amazed that they will allow a big black German dog anywhere near a bus. The sanitation and security implications must be huge for a bus company I thought in my government trained health and safety induced mentality. But no, two bus companies didn’t care about the dog and the Top Lock pub I doubt would have bothered, but I fastened her up round the back anyway. As for living on a large marina I am wary. My mum moored at a large marina on the Leeds and Liverpool and hated the gossip, she called it nothing better to do syndrome. I went to look at a boat at the said marina and the women who owned the boat was so horrible that I refused the boat simply because she would be a neighbour. That said the vast majority of the people I have met while looking at boats are good people, its just in my experience they don’t tend to live in large marinas

“This story will now make a good Tv show or film.” Like Bullit at 4 mph! Sorry to make fun Trish, I’ve watched this with increasing trepidation since I received a mail oh so long ago now it seems. At first I was gutted that maybe he had got onto a river and sunk, mainly for him but also for you. But now I know his greatest thieving talent is painting and decorating! And combined with malc’s testimonial that he can use a boat I am sure that you will get your boat back. Maybe his life isn’t going so well and the escapism of life on the cut was too much to resist. His life will be much worse when he gets caught.

I used to live round the corner from the new marinas at Rufford. If I remember rightly the one on the left has you come over the bridge is owned by a guy called Alan who owns the residential home across the road. I used to pretend I was eighteen and have a pint there when it was a pub. As for the Tarleton yard my mum and dad had a boat there for a short while and they know a lovely guy in a big offshore looking thing that I can only describe as a ship. His name is Geoff I think. When my parents moored there it was the old owner but they have promised to go and see the new owners about me mooring there. That promise is unfulfilled at the moment because my dad works in the gulf and they are rightly too busy enjoying his time off at the moment. But we are definitely going to see about a mooring next week. Tarleton would be perfect for me because I have friends and family in Chorley which is a 25 minute drive or two day cruise, and I love the Lancaster Canal. Hey Mac we might be neighbours!

Oops i wanted to say to Supermalc that i have just been reading your site and its great. Pressed the wrong key though so sorry all for the double post.

Well my search for a suitable boat began today, and within the first two boats I have realised that 40 foot is probably too small. The first was described by the owner has his mobile garden shed where he escapes from the wife. Unfortunately it looked like a garden shed too. And the second was owned by a young lady who assured me that 40 foot is plenty of space for living aboard, before she retreated to her new wide beam boat. So it looks like I am going up a size or two, probably 50 feet or a cheaper 60 foot boat. Another thing which maybe some readers of this post may get upset at, but at this point I am just covering all the bases and asking allsorts of people for advice, is that I met a gentleman who lives permanently on a 60 foot boat on a BW wharf today and he says that all he does his send his cheque to Watford? Every year stating where he is moored and the “Monolithic Dinosaur” has he described them bank his cheque and ask no questions. Don’t get me wrong I have to work abroad so that means a violation of the rules sticker is not an option for me, plus going grey is enough of a problem without being a law breaker. But this chicken and egg business between buying a boat and getting a residential mooring really is a pain in the A*$£. So if I can quietly park up for a month or so while I find a mooring without a black Mercedes Narrowboat sailing by full of trench coat clad BW operatives, that would be very nice indeed. So I am looking for a boat I can live on that won’t sink, blow up or drain my wallet. That can accommodate a dog. A lovely lady and visiting friends and I have forty grand cash. It must be within two weeks sailing of the Wheelton or Tarleton area and you can mail me through this site. I am still excited, just a little wiser too.

Thanks to all for your warm welcome and appreciated input. I’ve firmly realised that I need a residential mooring with a phone line and neighbours. Otherwise I would spend my days abroad chewing my fingernails with worry about the boat and the rest of the time collecting e-mails from anywhere I could get them. The nomad life is obviously not for me. But the decision has been made and I will be afloat in the next three months. There is an outside possibility that I can get a mooring on the Rufford canal. It’s an outside chance though. If that doesn’t work out then I will cruise till I find a mooring. I know about notebooks but my PC cost £3000 and notebooks to match cost silly money.

Hello all, This is my first foray into the world of living afloat and I must admit it is exciting and somehow fraught with danger. For a start I have a Doberman that can’t swim (I have seen her flounder in a the bend of a stream!) I also positively need my desktop PC on board for work. A suitable laptop would cost too much. I think I will buy a 40 foot boat to start me off. My initial investigations suggest 40 foot is enough for one and my visiting girlfriend. Another problem is that I am called away with work occasionally and this means the hated time in hotels. To make matters worse I usually get about five days notice to fly. I have come to realise this means I will not be able to survive on a continuous cruiser licence. All these problems!!! My aunt and uncle had a boat for many years and I know it is the life for me. So that is why I am asking for any information anybody can pass on about living aboard that you cant find on Google. It is exciting looking at invertors and 12 volt monitors on the web, but its all adverts and I don’t have a clue. I would also like to moor on the Leeds Liverpool near Wheelton, or the Rufford Canal from Tarleton past Burscough, if anybody can point me to contacts. Exciting days though!