booke23

Yes canalplan is good and generally gives a reliable indication of timings. However with the Llangollen canal being the busiest canal in the country and that particular section of canal having two Aquaducts and two tunnels (both narrow and therefore one way) as well as two locks, there are inevitable delays. We got through the Tunnels and Aquaducts with no delay (very lucky) but there were 5 boats in the queue at the first New Marton lock so we spent an hour or so queueing there.

Ah I see. There probably isn't any advantage to staying in a marina, you'd be better off mooring near a pub and having dinner there. In August last year, we did Llangollen to Ellesmere in 8 hours. And that was with a bit of waiting at the Tunnels and locks. So it's easily doable in a day. Although I'd recommend an early start just in case.....we left Llangollen at 7.45am.

Llangollen basin are first come first served and cost £6 a night. I imagine the marinas are bookable but would cost significantly more. Any particular reason you need to stay in a Marina overnight?

Yes, I think that's what I would go for too.

I suppose they still use it for solids late at night, as the incinerator is loud. But yeah, their composting toilet is effectively an expensive adapter/pee bottle holder. I wonder in hindsight, having the luxury of two toilets if they wished they'd just installed a pump out and cassette for half the price of their current setup. What would you all advise? If you were actually building a new boat and decided to have two toilets what type would you install?

Presumably. Obviously vented outside on it's external chimney, but you probably wouldn't want to stand downwind of it! The article mentioned the boat has two toilets, the other one being of the composting variety and that they tend to only use the incinerator toilet for solids.

According to the article I read, the device can handle 4 deposits one after the other. After the first deposit the waste gets 'flushed' into the the incinerator and it starts burning. It can then be used again with subsequent deposits added to the already burning material and the incineration time increased. Yes, diesel fired with a back boiler and the idea might take off!

57’ (although 58’ 6” is apparently doable if you lift the fenders)

Funny I was just reading an article about the Cinderella toilet in a Waterways World article from 2019. Sounds a bit faffy....you've got to put a liner (greaseproof paper type thing) in the bowl before use, you do your business and it takes 40 minutes for the incineration to complete. The incineration process is loud so not ideal for middle of the night use. The cost for the system is £3500 and you have ongoing propane and liner costs. The ash bucket needs emptying after 100 deposits, they say it is totally sterile so can be treated like stove ash........put it in a bin or under a

No you can't book....First come first served. There are a lot of online moorings on the approach to the basin too (you still have to pay for these). As a general rule the earlier in the day you arrive the more likely there are to be moorings. Having said that, last August when we went up there we arrived at 7pm and there were still moorings in the Basin although we chose to moor on a very nice free on line mooring about a mile out of Llangollen with a lovely view of Dinas Bran.

It really depends how much cruising you want to do per day. That's a fairly relaxed weeks cruise. Canal plan suggests that will take 17 hrs, so less than 3 hrs of cruising per day with only 4 locks. That gives plenty of time to spend looking around your moorings. If it was me, I'd go beyond Ellesmere and go at least as far as Wixall moss, as it's quite interesting there. I wouldn't go any further than Grindley brook (staircase lock followed by 3 normal locks) as it'll probably take half a day to get through there! Whatever you do take it easy and enjoy yourself!

As you know I am currently looking to buy and I seen your boat as soon as your broker put it on Apollo Duck. I just didn't make the connection when you advertised on this forum! I think your broker is doing a good job. Their website is slick and more importantly they advertise on Apollo Duck which is where everyone looks anyway, so I wouldn't be too hasty. Give it a week or two longer, then perhaps think about reviewing the asking price.

We are a family of four and we would fill a 20l Thetford cassette in 2 days. That would equate to 11 days with a 110 litre tank. If you stick with your original tank, it's worth investigating the 'full warning light', as you hear of these being set up very conservatively and coming on with the tank only just over half full.

I'm not the OP! I just posted the ad for clarity sake, sorry for the confusion! If the OP only intends to use the boat on the Mon and Brec then I'd say it's ideal.....it's even got a custom V hull for the shallows.

Yes I suppose that is why it hasn't had many views. All the disadvantages of a wide beam, with none of the advantages so it neither appeals to narrowboat buyers or wide beam buyers. It's a tidy looking boat though and is keenly priced, the extra width is noticeable in the internal pictures but I guess resale will always be an issue.