Ange

Well we had a triffick anniversary weekend. We'd already decided to spend our anniversary weekend searching for our boat (which I know is out there somewhere) so it seemed only right to book a hotel near to where the Saturday banter on the locks and at the junction was due to take place. We didn't have much luck on the boat hunting front - unfortunately we are both disgracefully disorganised and end up spending most of our time just trying to find brokers / marinas that are open on the day we choose to visit them. Places that are very easy to find on the canal can be a challenge for even the best map reader when you're finding them in a car! We met up with Alnwick part way down the Stourbridge Locks and happily joined the lockwheeling banter. It was great to meet Mr & Mrs Mole and their family, Wrigglefingers and Ellen and to re-acquaint ourselves with Graham & Jane, and of course Rosie who gives such lovely hugs! It's the first time I've seen a boat unable to leave a lock when the gate is opened because it's sitting on the ground and needs refloating! It also seemed that the more lockwheelers there were the less work got done as we were to busy nattering to pay attention to the fact that the gate that the boat was approaching was still closed! After seeing Alnwick through the locks we ditched the car at the hotel and made our way to Stourton where we had a towpath banter. I must confess to drinking a tad too much Portuguese Rose (well - it was my wedding anniversary!). We had a lovely evening talking boats with boaty people - the whole experience re-affirmed why we have taken the life changing decision to let out our house, give up our jobs and liveaboard all year round. The serenity, the wildllife and the people - we were gutted to have to get in our car the next day and drive back to Kent. We did make a brief detour to Braunston on the way home in the hope of having a look at boats in their marina but again our lack of preparation let us down. We'd chosen the day of the Braunston Historic Boat Gathering to drop in! Needless to say there was nowhere to park within a mile of the marina (unless we wanted to pay £10 for the privilege) so we had to give up on that and resorted to dropping in at Whilton. Thanks to everyone who helped to make our anniversay weekend one to remember. Also thanks to Graham for kindly giving us a tour of Alnwick - an amazing boat with the biggest engine I've ever seen! And I did like the bedroom under the tug deck.

We're in the area next weekend doing a bit of boat hunting. We can't make the Sunday banter (have to travel back down to Kent to be at work Monday - pah) but the mini banter on Saturday sounds great. Any clues where (we need to book accommodation)?

We had a lovely week on the Llangollan Canal on a Viking Afloat boat hired from Whitchurch. We chose them because we could use our Tesco Clubcard vouchers to quarter the cost and were more than happy (we've used them a couple of times since from different bases and have no cause for complaint - apart from being very obvious hirers on a bright yellow boat!)

Our current bike is a 1985 Kawasaki GPZ600R - unfortunately it's in a friend's garage waiting to be given the TLC it needs to be roadworthy! I've personally not ridden since the early '90s when I had to give it up due to the logistics of transporting a baby around (the sidecar was seriously considered for a while!)and lack of money to afford to keep it as a hobby. The last bike I rode regularly was a Suzuki GS850. I'd like to think I'll ride again.

Considering how the weather turned on us our first visit to Crick was very successful. We arrived on Friday and parked our caravan at the show campsite (a bit pricey but very handy). We had time to pay Whilton Marina a visit on Friday which gave us the opportunity to view a variety of boats. Being aware of the weather forecast we dedicated Saturday to seeing as much as we could in the show - at the moment any information we can gather is valuable so it was definitely time well spent (though the information from some of the salesmen did contradict advice from the forum - what a surprise!) On Sunday we went to the beer tent at 12. It took a while to meet up with forum members but we did eventually find the group (always difficult for a newbie). It was great putting faces to names and we were able to gain some valuable advice. We finished the evening in the beer tent with Peter R watching the line dancing (and very unwisely allowing my son to persuade me to join them with disasterous results!) Dr Bradley - we missed you in the beer tent in the evening. I hope you didn't end up drinking alone in a village pub. Rose - that was a lovely hug you gave me - you and your windlass will be more that welcome to join us on our boat when we do buy it. Peter R - thanks for the coffee on your boat and I hope you enjoy the cider.

tee hee I'm sure we'll figure it at the time - maybe have a couple of beers first - that always makes me braver! I'm looking forward to meeting new faces. BTW we've both ridden bikes in our time so I think we'll have more than an interest in boats in common with fellow forum members.

Dave & I will be at Crick with the extended family (all very interested in our boat quest!) Would love to meet fellow forum members in the beer tent on Sunday, but a bit worried about how we'll meet up (being newbies and only having met two other members). I don't fancy the idea of wandering up to groups of stangers enjoying a beer together and asking if they're from the forum. Any ideas?

I read on another site that marine mortgages are an expensive way of borrowing. Have other members found this to be the case?

Hi I was wondering if anyone had any advice on the best way to finance a second hand boat purchase? We were planning to raise the money by getting a mortgage against the equity in our house, but the mortgage market is not looking too healthy at the moment. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi I wasn't sure quite where to put this. Site crew - if you think there's a more suitable place feel free to move it. Dave & I are on our first fact finding mission we're currently in our caravan (very cold!!) at Braunston Marina. We're booked in tonight and tomorrow night. We had a great conversation tonight in the pub with a couple who have just bought their own boat and will show us round it tomorrow. I'm just wondering whether any forum members are in this area or nearby (we've got this week off to travel the Midlands area of the canal network). If anyone would like to meet with us in a hostelry in the area we'd be happy to buy them a drink in return for their wisdom / experience. It'd be especially sweet if anyone would let us look around their boat - we've so far only seen the inside of hire boats (more like hotel rooms than homes). Thanks Ange

Hi My husband Dave & I are so new to boating we haven't even bought our boat yet! We've got a week booked off work later this month when we're hoping to go boat shopping (we live in Kent which isn't too convenient for the canal network!) Our grand plan is to pack in our jobs and let out our house sometime between August this year and spring 2009 and embrace the canal life as continuous cruisers. We've just got to wait for our 19 year old son to get a job when he finishes college this summer, hence the big time window. I'm looking forward to getting to know fellow boating enthusiasts via this forum, and maybe even meet some of you in person once we get trucking. Take care Ange