Ange

Nice pics Rose! There's something very special about the canals in mid-winter - I've particlularly enjoyed watching the ducks skittering along the ice. We've only just had our hull blacked so we wouldn't be as brave! I do pop my head up and wave to passing boaters though - they're a rarity at the moment.

Hi Lois Teething problems - I could fill a page (leaky water tank, perished cratch cover, fridge doesn't work, no hot water)! Don't worry though - we bought a 20 year old boat that hasn't been looked after very well in recent years - you should be fine with such a recent boat! Best of luck! Ange

CONGRATULATIONS!! We've only recently bought our first narrowboat so I know it's an exciting and scary time. Keep us posted with your progress.

I agree. We've hired a boat on four different occasions for a week at a time and have always appreciated the assistance offered by boat owners (and experienced fellow hirers). We've found varying attitudes from boat owners - I suppose you have to view the boating community as a cross section of society - you're going to find a mix of friendly and helpful people and those that make the world a less pleasant place. Now we have our own boat I'm hoping people don't assume we know what we're doing all the time - we're reasonably competent most of the time but there's going to be a lot of situations we haven't come across in our four weeks on popular sections of the canals. We're going to be more than happy to take advice.

Hi Fortunata I'm sorry your immediate family haven't given you more support in you venture - I've followed your posts from very early on and you have taken a cautious, sensible approach to buying your first narrowboat. I hope your family change their view in the summer when they've had the opportunity to enjoy the canals without paying somewhere in the region of £1000 per week for the privilege. The savings in hire holidays has to be taken into account (if you've fallen in love with the canals as we did and would spend this money if you didn't buy a boat). We are lucky enough to have family who have embraced our adventure and join us on the boat whenever they can (though the muddy towpaths at the moment put them off a tad!) I wish you all the best.

And a Happy Christmas and New Year from me, Dave & Matt

You've given me hope - I've been told it's a boater's rite of passage and have been dreading it! To date (two months of boat ownership) 1 tiller pin (after spending many hours polishing it until it gleamed!) - not retrieved though we've bought a magnet and know where he dropped it 1 Nicholsons map - retrieved but will never be the same again On an earlier hire trip my brother dropped his mobile phone in the Coventry Basin. He returned the next day with full Scuba gear and retrieved it - he was mostly concerned about the SIM card with his numbers on it - I can't remember whether it worked again I'm sure there'll be more but still hoping it won't be me!

We'd love to be there but think it's a tad too far from where Iona is moored at the moment. Boo.

We'd just picked the boat up from the brokerage and moved it a few hundred yards down the canal for our first night. The next morning Dave goes to start the engine - nothing. Took all the covers off the engine, nothing obviously wrong. Took the engine room cupboard apart to get behind the control panel, nothing obviously wrong. After a couple of hours of going over the same stuff the dreaded call is made to the brokerage - whose response was "not our problem now - it's your boat". They did organise an engineer from another boatyard to come out to us. How silly did Dave feel when the engineer moved the battery isolation switch beside the steps which Dave had unknowingly kicked when he first went out there and started the engine first time! Thankfully he only charged us a fiver so it was a cheap lesson.

Thanks Allan - very useful info. Dave says is it the same for all toilets - ours is a Mansfield.

Thanks for all your replies It's a simple dump through - at present the water doesn't stay in the bowl, so Dave thinks it might be a seal that's failed. Does anyone know if this is repairable and just how disgusting a job is it?

Thanks Alan