Ewan123

If you get it done to a good standard for £2000, please let me know who does it (seriously!). I didn't get a quote much below £5000 I think it was, for off-the-shelf type cabinets to be fitted (once you include removal of the old stuff and the gas fitting).

Yes that's true. In my 62' narrowboat I think it would be fun going downstream against it, if it went smoothly. I can see it going very badly though.

Is it? For a subject that will have a material effect on all boater's wallets, I would have expected a higher turnout than that. I would say that turnout suggests that quite a number of boaters were unaware of the survey/unable to respond for some reason.

I also don't actually mind paying some more in principle (liveaboard CCer); however, I don't expect this move to increase CRT's budget for maintenance, rather just try and plug the gap left by the lower DEFRA funding, so it seems more likely that it might enable them to maintain current standards rather than improve anything. To increase the budget significantly they'd probably have to hike the price to beyond what many will pay and thereby not gain much overall when some chose not to. I think high management salaries are a red herring/not useful in this discussion - they take pennies from the overall budget and you do actually need some high paid bods in an organisation as big as CRT, which is responsible for the generating and spending of many millions of pounds.

Is it bad that I see this and think Cor that looks fun!

Last year they gave us a quote just based on me saying it's a 62ft narrowboat. With obvious caveats for "this is only an estimate" etc. I'd just get in touch and ask them to start off with, rather than getting too caught up in what the website says.

Oh that's interesting. Yes our baseplate was done while inside (BTW for @Tigerr that's also relevant to the recommendation - Debdale's default position is to do the baseplate as they are set up such that it's easy for them to do it properly). Looking back at the photos, they did have a semi-covered area next to that shed too, though there was no boat being done there at the time - I suspect because it was mid-December so not suitable climate - so perhaps they use that when they can at other times of year? You can see it behind the yellow beast that they used to move the boat here:

Canalplan defaults give just over 3.5 days from Cropredy to Debdale, though I've not done it myself to know the reality. Of course we don't know how far OP considers a day's cruising to be which could make a big difference. Also for @Tigerr, I'm another vote for Debdale. It's not been a year since ours was gritblasted and coated in epoxy so can't speak to the longevity, but they struck me as professionals to deal with and communicated very well.

You must be thinking of somewhere else - Debdale have a full on temperature-controlled shed so the boat is completely inside for the blasting and epoxy. Here's our boat about to emerge:

Could you expand on why it's not worth it?

Sounds like an ex-hire boat would be just the ticket, especially with the emphasis on four berths. I would contact some hire companies direct to see whether they're selling off any boats. One might need a lick of paint and some tidying up but it sounds like you've got the budget for it.

I'd vote for some proper fat fenders. They are so much better at absorbing impact/motion, I don't even notice speedy boats passing on some days.

I think it's more the wake which causes the moored boat to wobble about, your distance from it probably won't make much difference unless on a particularly wide body of water. Also just don't worry too much. I live on a boat that sits in water - I expect it to wobble

It's rather frustrating. I was very happy with it before the prices went way up (we bought a load of boxes just before the war in Ukraine). I also know of at least one fuel boat and one marina that had new tanks installed specifically for HVO, but couldn't get the right supply. There was even a fuel boat being repaired in East London that intended to go 100% HVO. I hope it does improve. At the very least the exhaust was noticeably not smoky and better smelling.

I was not aware of that, thank you! Well I think we've decided on the Shroppie. Roughly aiming for Gailey, Gnosall, Market Drayton and maybe Nantwich if not straight onto the Llangollen. Hopefully some isolated weeks in between settlements if work travel-needs allow it. Thanks for all views and advice. Now to get hold of some wheel-fenders for this infamous shelf.

My own perception would be generally in line with that age balance shown in the charts Ian shared, but as for income there would appear to be a variety at all age levels, mainly judging by how new/shiny/big one's boat is. Then again, one who can afford a shiny new boat to live on might not be any more financially well off than someone who can afford own a house and to keep a tired old boat on a mooring that gets used for a few trips each year. I've seen enough shiny new widebeams owned by young people too, that I just don't think there is any simple categorisation to be done as regards income/age levels.

It's probably not available, but it would be interesting to see how that is distributed across the country. I've definitely felt more like a 4% since we escaped London last year, though there were still plenty (still a majority) above the lowest few age brackets there too. Do you know what year that relates to?

Thanks all so far, the Shroppie is certainly winning the popular vote today. Are any of the Shroppie proponents reliant on launderettes and don't have a car?

We're heading north (currently at Tixall), aiming for the Llangollen and need to choose between the Staffordshire & Worcestershire then Shropshire Union canals, or Trent & Mersey then Middlewich branch of the Shropshire Union. We'll probably continue north after the Llangollen so won't be back for a while. As far as I can tell, the Shroppie looks very rural (less easy public transport, more scenic?) but maybe less interesting to cruise (lots of straight bits??). The T&M has more towns (less pretty, more convenient?). Can anyone strongly recommend one route over the other? We usually prefer rural but good transport links (and laundry access!) are also important, so we're a bit torn. We liveaboard and would be doing a full day's cruise every week or two, so not high-speed travelling. Stoppages seem similar, need to get close to Llangollen before November basically (and go over the Pontcsyllte and back before it's closed January-March next year). Estimated journey time on canalplan is only about 1 hour dissent between them... not much in it!

AJ Canopies did a good quick job replacing a zip on our cratch earlier this year 👍

Oh dear, my dreams are already dashed! (Balanced reviews obviously important though). I can at least say that there appears to be no issue with our bow thruster after being at Debdale.

Having seen a few threads and comments recently, one could easily come to the conclusion that all boatyards are full of cowboys. Obviously the ones in question are rarely named (I can understand why), so perhaps we can all share some positive experiences and share names that have a good reputation? I hope this might be useful to others in future... I'll start: We got a new stern hatch fabricated and fitted, and Yale door locks fitted at Stanstead Abbots boatyard - good job done, on time and cost as quoted (also small added extra of straightening out some doors that had been bent). We got the boat blacked at Debdale Wharf (gritblast and two pack epoxy) - very good communication, they needed to move dates around and we got offered a discount in exchange for volunteering for a different date. Work done was transparent (in a good way!) as photos of all stages were provided after it was complete. Too early to say whether the job will last years yet but it appeared well done and so far so good. It's probably too much to hope that sharing more good reports will encourage the wrong'uns to do better in the hope they get recommended, but one can hope.

Without wishing to sound facetious, I would think from the bit that sticks out furthest at each end. Think in terms of fitting in a lock, or fitting boats along linear mooring spaces. So that would generally between the end of each fender I expect.

The ones that say L & L Canal on I think second pic down. Though it's not a clear image so I may be mistaken.

Leeds & Liverpool represented there too.