booke23

Oh that's even rarer than the 182!

Absolutely. I wouldn’t even recommend a Coleman stove for use in an open field……….I know they light easily, but the Coleman fuel/petrol is just too dangerous.

Yes, unfortunately a lot of the Primus twin burner models run on gas which is exactly what the OP wants to avoid. There is the Optimus model 182, which is twin burner and runs on the traditional paraffin. However it’s a rare model and that means moving out of the realms of “Cheap alternative” Optimus 182:

I am a bit of a collector of Primus stoves and that would be my suggestion too! I have one that is 100 years old and it still works perfectly. I have heard that the Primus stoves left at the south pole by Scott where working fine after decades out in the open. However for practically I would recommend a slightly more modern Optimus 111 stove (Primus was sold to Optimus in 1962 but the technology remained the same). Introduced in 1953 and stayed in production until just a few years ago. The early 111 models were Paraffin only, but later models could run on Petrol, Paraffin or Meths, although in my experience Paraffin is by far the best fuel….cheap, safe and burns with a very hot flame which will boil a pint of water 2-3 minutes. They would require quite a bit of ventilation if using in a confined space, but you already have to do that with an alcohol stove anyway. I’d get one with a silent burner rather than a roarer as they are quite loud (as the name suggests). Optimus 111T model with silent burner:

1. You can pretty much have a boat transported anywhere 2. Wide beams are better to live on as you get a lot more space. Don't go too wide though....10ft would be the maximum I'd go for as one of the Scottish canals have a maximum width of 11ft 6

If all those liveaboard boaters in the NBTA article actually CC'd in accordance (and the spirit) of their license there wouldn't be any issue. I'd actually be in favour of more 48hr moorings in the London area, as it would mean normal CC'ers and leisure boaters would have half a chance of getting a mooring should they want to visit London. As it is most boaters view London as a no go area due to the current mooring situation.

It was worse before it was regulated. There used to be stories of the final balance of the equity release exceeding the value of the estate, and the equity release firm pursuing the heirs for the remainder of what they are owed. Since regulation this can't happen.

You could always sell up and buy a narrowboat!! Seriously though, other than downsizing it's a tricky one to answer. 'Equity release' will never allow you to extract anything like all the value of your house as they need the estate to cover the final compound balance. I imagine if you equity release at age 55, they wouldn't allow you to extract more than 25% of the value of your house. The older you are I suppose the more they will allow you to release, but you want the money when you are still young enough to benefit fully from it.

They certainly wouldn't have done when your Dad signed up. Even the name equity release is very misleading and should really be banned as it's nothing of the sort. Lifetime compound mortgage would be more suitable but doesn't sound as good. Yes that is potentially a problem. Although in fact most equity release schemes do allow you to transfer it to another property, they would require you to repay a portion of the equity release balance if you downsized in value, so the lower value house would still be guaranteed to cover the outstanding balance at the end.

The marina I was last in had a clause in the contract that read "No guarantee is given as to the water levels within the marina" and words to the effect that they can't be held responsible for the consequences of water levels. In reality if the water level did drop I suspect any boats hanging off the moorings would simply rip the rings off the pontoon, as they were only feebly screwed into the wood (perhaps deliberately) so as to be a weak link preventing worse damage in the event of loosing water.

You'd think so, but I recently had to spell it out to someone who was thinking about it. They were surprised when I told them it was simply a lifetime mortgage (at a comparatively poor interest rate) that you don't make any repayments towards until you die with the interest piling up year after year. They were shocked when I told them their fairly modest £50,000 equity release would have their estate owing £170,000 after 25 years (assuming 5% interest rate). They didn't proceed and decided to downsize instead. The equity release market was unregulated for many years, where sales talk was king and facts were glossed over. I'm sure many wouldn't have gone ahead with it if they knew the facts, although it can have it's uses in certain circumstances.

And even if someone managed to seal the canopy and door and put a big stove onboard, there would be major problems with condensation....no matter how much Celotex and expanding foam is involved, there will always be cold spots.

Sod's law that the weather should turn so cold the minute you start your boating holiday. Still, you can now give a first hand account to the occasional new forum member who wants to convert a cruiser to a all year round liveaboard!

Don't forget to leave a bit of extra time at the start/end of your trip to go over the Pontcysyllte aqueduct. It would be rude not to as you are hiring from Chirk!

Really? Well in any case this argument was done to death in the thread below when it went up for sale, no point in a re-run. I do think you could be whistling in the wind on this one though.

Ah but it didn't go on the open market. They set up their own website to showcase the boat and advertised the sale to their followers on YT. Hence they were able to achieve an inflated price by selling to a naive audience.

Does turning the master switch and shore power off restore reception?

Does it get a signal outside the boat after 13.28? Hold off reporting to Ofcom RTIS* until you are sure it's not some piece of equipment on your boat.....they might confiscate it! (equipment causing interference on FM not the boat) *I've just read that Ofcom now no longer investigate interference to FM radio (they still investigate most other interference cases). So you need to report it to the RTIS (Radio and television investigation service - run by the BBC), who will then pass it to Ofcom if necessary.

Maybe try another FM radio to rule out any issues with your current one. If it still persists, report it to Ofcom....you can do it online and they'll investigate.

@RosieMarshall With the discovery of your diesel heating and the fact that it will (probably) heat your water, you can completely re-evaluate your need for a generator, at the very least you won't need a larger generator anymore, a 1kw model will likely be more than enough. Certainly live with it for a while and see how you get on. Your solar will likely provide all your needs from now until late October. Certainly since the 'George Orwell' thread drift on the Banbury sunken boat thread a few months ago!!

My sentiments exactly.

No, but it'll probably run a 30 amp charger. Not ideal, but if you're on a budget it's better than a frame genny. How quiet is it compared to the EU10i?

Not a bad idea for battery charging........but at 650 watts it's not powerful enough for the OP's requirements.

Interesting. Nothing would surprise me! It did strike me as strange that they should buy a brand new boat (the one they just sold) then 2 years later sell it to get another boat built. I mean who does that?

Is the immersion heater your sole means to heat water? I'd forget about the Jackery...I know they are everywhere on Youtube but that's because all the vanlifers and narrowboat vloggers have been given them for free to 'review' (advertise really). Your boat with it's battery bank and solar is essentially a giant Jackery anyway. The best generator in your budget is a Honda EU22......powerful enough to easily power a 1kw immersion. It actually might be slightly over your budget these days, but you'll still be able to afford it if you don't buy a Jackery.