Satchmo

Kent class yacht I'm afraid, I did wonder about the reverse thing.

Full disclaimer: to my great embarresment I know nothing about engines/mechanics, so I apologise if I sound at all ignorant in this post, I am trying to learn. I took Baba Yaga for a quick cruise on Sunday and she was worryingly slow going forwards but seemed to be acting normally in reverse. After a quick chat with a fellow boat owner he suggested that the prop was either wrapped up with weeds or had come loose. He reckons it's come loose, explaining to me that the prop tightens anti-clockwise and therefore having it in reverse tightens it which is why it behaved better than when it was going forwards. Does that sound right? I'm still hoping it's just weeds. I'll be grabbing my wetsuit and going for a dip to try and confirm either way sometime this week but I want to be prepared for the worst and so, if the prop has somehow come loose, is it possible to tighten it while it's still in the water? I have access to a plethera of tools but, naively, I never thought to look closely at the prop while the boat was on dry land and therefore am not sure what to expect, is it held on by a nut that I could tighten? I can't afford to have her taken out of the water right now but if necessary I can think of a couple of places I may be able to beach her... (I'm on the broads which are tidal so low tide in some places should be enough to get her high and dry)

Thank you all for your input and suggestions, I feel far more optimistic about my plans now! Excellent point, I had automatically assumed it would be a costly HIAB job so had put road transport to the back of my mind but I guess it could be towed. I'm currently waiting for a reply from Tony Tugboat and in the meantime, does anyone have experience with other boat transport companys that they would recommend? Also does anyone know whether a yacht of this size could be loaded/unloaded onto/off of a trailer using a slipway or would it have to be a crane job? Also I was being pessimistic with the 8ft air draft, it's the only dimension I don't have an accurate measurement for but realistically it's probably closer to 6-7ft

Hello all! I'm currently living aboard a yacht on the Norfolk broads and have been thinking recently about moving to the canal network for a number of personal reasons but I'm struggling to find definitive answers for some of the issues this move would present. My plan is to stay exclusively on the northern parts of the system with York, Liverpool and Leeds being areas I want to spend most of my time around. And so I have two main questions for you wonderful folk: 1. Are the dimensions of my boat practical for cruising the canals? She's 26ft long with an 8.2ft beam and a 3ft draft (her sailing days are long gone so I'm going to remove the mast and use her as a cruiser, as such she has max 8ft air draft), I'm aware that this would prevent me from accessing many of the narrower canals but would the draft restrict me from using some locks or shallower passages? Looking at some "widebeam maps" has reassured me that I would't be too restricted by the beam but I have no idea how deep these waterways are. 2. How do I get from here to there? By land or by sea seem to be the two options and if possible I would want to do it by sea for money reasons but finding specific info for either of these options has been surprisingly tricky (or maybe I'm just a bit rubbish at looking for it) so if anyone has any experience with either of these, or links to helpful websites, or any vaguely-related info please throw it my way! A few dilemnas I'm anticipating are: do I need specific experience to take it around the coast, would it even be possible to take a mastless yacht with these dimensions around the coast (long keel, heavy displacement if that helps), where would it be from and/or to (would Gt.Yarmouth to Boston be sensible/possible), how much would it cost to take it overland (any rough estimate would be very welcome), etc? I know I'm asking a lot here, literally more than figuratively perhaps, but I'm after as much info as I can get my eyes on so many thanks in advance and I look forward to your replies! P.S, obviously with covid and whatnot I wouldn't be attempting any of this for at least a few months when things have (hopefully) calmed down a bit, in case anybody was concerned.