Solentsailor

At the very last minute I refused an excellent offer for my Yacht. I could simply not give her up. So thanks for all the helpful advise I got on here and sorry that I am not going to put it all to use just yet. So safety harnesses and stugeron are being dusted off and first trip to Normandy is being planned. Tim

Autopilot/sail bit tongue in cheek but reckon one could set a yacht tiller pilot up to provide remote steering. No, only for holiday cruising and for family to use and otherwise as our country cottage/shed. Tim

Still got the sailing yacht but now have an interested buyer. Bit quicker than I had expected as I had planned a holiday hire on canals to see if it is REALLY what I want but hey ho, bird in the hand and all that. Questions again: Mooring first or boat first?? Anyone want to give a rough guide to annual cost of keeping a 57 footer, using a towpath mooring in the south? Do we use Red diesel on the canals at lower than road diesel price? Water? Are toilets flushed to holding tank with tanked fresh water or canal water? Is any water discharged into canals or is it all held in holding tanks? If boat is only lightly used, can holding tank "hold" until full or does it need to be cleared at regular intervals irrespective of fullness? Is engine cooling water used to cool exhausts? Are autopilots any use on straight lengths of canal, My yacht can be steered to within 0.5 degree in still water by this means? I generally find steering a boring task but seascapes and straight courses are generally less interesting. In a similar vein, anyone make use of a small square sail to help things along? OR is nowhere straight or long enough for either? Is there a lower age limit for "skippering" a boat? I am thinking of say a 15 year old with a couple of friends? The questions are stacking up still, but enough for now. I know I am mad, my friends tell me I am mad, my family tell me I am mad. people on this forum tell me I am mad, and that I will miss the adreneline of sailing to France and so on but i wanna put my feet up without having to look at weather forecasts every few hours and without worrying about tidal gates and when to reef etc. Just thoughts! Tim

Hey everyone, that is great, maybe a picture will emerge eventually, so thanks. More questions posted but as New Topic titled "more yet more questions" Tim

I am considering changing my sailing yacht into a narrow boat. I have thousands of questions. A few for starters. I am quite used to having yacht craned out each year and antifouling the hull and changing anodes. Seems as though this is done far less often on narrowboats, any one tell me what would be normal. Is it a DIY operation or not? Are towpath side moorings safe or can i expect boat to get broken into? With large extended family it looks as though an ex hire boat will fit the bill because of the number of berths. Are they a reasonable bet or will I have to buy and fit loads of extras to make them suitable for family cruising. Do they strip them out of things like fridges and tvs before selling them? I would expect also to go singlehanding from time to time, is that practical, 57 footer I think. What diesel consumption can I expect? enough for now! Thanks Tim

Hi everybody. For more years than I can remember I have sailed my sailing boat up, down, along, across, over, and under the English Channel, North Sea, Irish Sea and so on and so forth. This year I plan to sail to the Farne Islands and Lindisfarne and am looking forward to it. But, not getting any younger and I am thinking I might sell the Fulmar and buy a narrow boat as a way of getting many more years on the water. Many questions to be answered before I do this. My canals experience is limited to: The only canal I have been on is the remains of the Wey-Arun in a canoe in about 1953 mainly carrying it. I have cycled along the Kennet and Avon and walked the tow path of the Wey Navigation. I just remembered that I did see horses pulling barges on the Wey when I were a lad. Been up and down most South coast and East Coast rivers and Rivers of Normandy and Brittany and even on the Broads once as far as my c17m air draught allows. Anyone done this? Anyone out there got any thing to say that may sway me one way or the other? Maybe someone might like a trip around the Solent in exchange for a bit of time on a canal later in the year? Greetings again Tim