MtB

Indeed. I've seen the water level below the tail of Osney Lock so high there was only about 3ft drop in the lock. I'd driven there in the van to check, not tried to boat through!

I have to say these decimal feet being quoted were troubling me too, but if the differences are important then I'd say its far too tight to risk! Yes I agree the other bridge seems tight too, and narrow but we know @blackrose goes through so it must be at least 12ft wide. I suggest Ciara goes and spends a Saturday afternoon watching some boats go through, and watching how tight they seem to be and how big they seem compared to hers. Also the full flow of the Kennet goes under High Bridge so the air draft in the bridge may well be 3" or 6" less on the upstream side than the downstream!

Its a rounded arch bridge so a definitive number for the air draft is not possible to state. I suggest you go and look at it, and the bend it is on. Then you'll probably decide you don't want to take your cruiser through it going upstream, as doing the same bridge going downstream is a whole lot more risky. My point being, its a bridge over quite fast flowing water so on the way back you can't 'inch' your way through it like in still water. You just have to go for it and hope you can steer through the bend in the river without hitting the bridge.

Yes and I reckon this wave logo was replaced with the "bridge and reeds" logo in the mid 90s... but my memory is weak!

I reckon the previous owner knew little about the boat and told them it was a 2008 Liverpool Boat - this being just a guess - and nobody in the sales office knows enough about boats (or cares) to even question it.

Gosh, it happened twice??!!!

Something else odd about this boat is the top bend at the bow and the shape of the stem post are not at all like a standard Liverpool Boats shell from that era. Also, standard Liverpool shells had a sensible degree of tumblehome on the cabin sides unlike this boat. In addition Liverpool were not prone to making 'specials' around 2008, they were churning them out like a sausage factory when the recession hit. Consequently I'm really not convinced this is a Liverpool boat. This would be easily settled by the HIN if it has one, but I suspect it actually hasn't or someone at Venetian could have looked up the builder and checked.

Yep, my acronym was carefully chosen!

That would be an egg hatch, Shirley?

Ah thats another thing. No space to sit on it. Yes I know the pan swivels out but that will prove to be a PITA to use.

The thing that troubles me most about that term is a hatch is a horizontal lid or cover, not a door in the side of a cabin. "Swan doors" would be a better term for the side doors for those who can't cope with using the correct name for them!

I agree. And the more cushions one tries to use, the shallower the seat squab gets! My first impression was what a great example of a simple, well-presented boat but the closer I look at it, the more I notice that would stop me buying it. Square stern Vertical sides Crude interior fit-out Doubt about age Uncomfy seats Not enough worktop in galley Over-priced If it was £25k I'd say jump at it but £36.5k seems ambitious.

A brief google suggests probably not. This is the marina's latest update (16/6/25) https://www.leicestermarina.co.uk/single-post/update-on-oil-spill-incident-at-leicester-marina-and-ongoing-cleanup-efforts But Daisy posts a photo today showing a very oily water surface in her marina. Google thinks its Leicester but she doesn't actually say so. https://www.ephotozine.com/photo/looks-like-war-71339128

Finally, it looks "fully priced" to me for a 2008 boat of this basic design and fit-out. If it turns out to be pre-1997, it is overpriced in my personal opinion.

The listing states the boat is "RCD compliant" so there must be a hull plate and hull number (although Wilton/Venetian are noted for sharp practice business-wise so this may not be true). If there isn't a hull number on the boat to establish the build date, then it isn't RCD compliant. QED. The whole boat looks smart and well presented but the interior carpentry style looks a lot older than 2008 to my eye though but I think the presence of the hull plate (and RCD "boat manual" containing all the individual component instruction booklets) should nail it definitively. Absence of the hull plate would suggest a boat much older than 2008 (1997 or older in fact) so take this into account when assessing the value. Also this might make it harder to sell when you get bored with this boat and want a better/newer one!

I'd suggest anyone of a nervous disposition considering buying a boat and and seeking to erase all risk needs to give their head a wobble, put their money in a fixed interest savings account and just watch youtube videos instead. Buying a boat is only for those who can afford to throw away the purchase price and stump up £ks on end for routine maintenance. Just sayin'!

And just up the road Thames and Kennet marina can be relied upon to have a working pump-out on the services pontoon. Mind you the performance of it was pathetic when I bought my first boat with a pump-out bog. After spending £30 on it (20 years ago!) I gave up and bought a Porta-Potti like my previous boat had. Hopefully it works better now.... P.S. beware that Better Boating place. The bloke there can moan for England about any subject you accidentally touch on, lol!

And there was a thread on here two or three years ago about a GRP cruiser exploding on the fuel pontoon in a marina IIRC. The owner had been in the habit of taking his petrol-fueled boat to the diesel fuel pontoon to fill it with petrol from cans he brought along himself, and it exploded, or something along those lines. ISTR several boats were lost.

You're right! But around here its worse. I'm now hearing them described as "plug sockets", FFS. Plug sockets into which one plugs plug tops, jeeez.... <Double shudder>

In normal language the use of term "plug" and "socket" suffice. In the world of electrical installation the perfectly adequate term "plug" seems to have had the redundant word "top" added to it, making the supposedly correct new term a "13 Amp plug top" ISTR. I think this happened around th 1990s as they were just called a "13 Amp plug" when I was a brat.

I bet you're a hoot at parties too, lol!! (Just kidding )

Yep, obviously CRT's fault, this stoppage.