Ynot

I used to know her Dad. Am I entitled to royalties?

We have ended up living on the boat for a while by default. We put the house up for sale with a view to downsizing and the market was very sluggish. After only a couple of weeks SWMBO spotted a bungalow which we ended up buying, so we now had 2 properties. The obvious solution was to rent it out and shortly after the house sold, so now we have a tenant in the bungalow, no longer have a house, so the boat was the obvious solution. Its been about 6 weeks and so far so good. Worldly accumulated goods in a shipping container, a close relatives address for post, and money in the bank! I dont think we will be rushing back to the bungalow, but then again, we haven't made it through a winter yet.

We put citronella candles in various corners and have convinced ourselves that it is effective for deterring them harmlessly

Our current narrowboat mooring is £37.50 per annum per foot. Our next one (soon) will be £47.36 per annum per foot. Both in the West Midlands.

Another brick less to worry about

Your options will depend on the size of the boat you buy

Well maybe, but it isn't normally like this and has been back up to normal levels in between times. Do locks suddenly go leaky?

On 2 separate occasions this week I have walked past the pond between the 2 river locks leading onto the Severn and the level has been at least 2 feet lower than normal. This morning it would have been too low for navigation. Anyone know what's going on?

Could be useful to make sure the dog doesn't run off last thing at night

Its definately a bit of a black art. I find that a compass (away from close proximity to the boat) and a spirit level to be essential. Once you can establish roughly where the satellite should be, and that it is clear of obstructions, the LNB has to be off set (rotated)at a small angle but the arm holding the dish should be level left to right and marginally lower than level back to front. It does take paractise, but is good when it all comes together. My early experience gave me as much of a headache just getting the boxes to talk to each other as the alignment.

There must be something in the air at the moment. As you were writing your last post, we were moving the last bits and pieces on to our 57 foot boat, having just sold the house. We are giving it a try to see how things go and have rented out our "bolt hole". We are of a similar age to you both so if you do take the plunge it will be interesting to compare notes in a few months time. I must admit I have been quite inspired by Starcoaster on this forum who, if you read some of her threads, seems to have been totally inspired by the experience and has a lovely way of saying it the way it is.