pete the gooner

There are probably many who have been to a few Festival who could give an idea. That is why I actually asked the question. Pete

Thanks for that. Never realised so many. If you have been to the Skipton Festival how would you rate the other ones in order. the only Festival i have attended is Skipton and that was really enjoyable. Obviously the setting was magnificent as Skipton is a great place in my opinion. Thanks,Pete

Hi, Earlier in the year we attended the Skipton Festival and thoroughly enjoyed it all. We don't have our own boat(maybe one day we will)but still love being around narrow boats etc. There was a small clip on BBC News a few weeks back about canal(s) being closed at Skipton. I am wondering if this will have any effect on next years festival at Skipton? Does anyone know what the theme is likely to be next year? One other question please. Are there any other festivals happening around the country. I guess they would have to be something special to be better than Skipton- but who knows? Kindest regards, Pete

My wife and I attended the Canal festival and had a great time. I don't know who needs to be thanked for organising and putting on such a wondeful event-- I guess it was hard work. Of course, a big thank-you to all the boat owners for decorating their boats etc in the theme!! The Sunday evening 'sail-past' was spectacular!! Thanks everyone. What a great place Skipton is. We loved it there. Are there anymore similar places to Skipton that you can can rcommend. Any more canal festivals etc coming up? regards, Pete

Not long now till the Festival. Still cannot manage to get a 'programme of events'. However, Roger's info will do for me!! Hope the weather holds out-- al least stays dry-- but I am not holding my breath on that! regards, Pete

Roger and Matt, Thanks again for that valuable info. I hope my wife can get to like narrow boats etc. I thought going to the Festival would be a good start and then a short trip on the canal as a 'taster'. Been a long time for me as well. Shall definitely post some feedback after our week at Skipton. regards, Pete

Roger, Wow!! Thanks everso much for all that very comprehensive information. One thing is for sure-- we ain't gonna be bored at all!! Or go hungry or thirsty come to that!! I have just seen some old clips of film from a previous year on 'youtube' and it does look a great spectacle indeed. Obviously must thank all the narrowboat participants and the organisers Ian and his daughter. I am particularly looking forward to a pint or two in the Narrow Boat Pub. I guess that will be an extremely popular place over the Festival. Thanks also for the tips re canal walks. If we hired a canal boat for the day(after the festival), how far realistically could we go out and back on one. I think the hiring time is something like 10am to 4pm. Looking forward to a trip out on the Settle/Carlise railway as well. Janet, Yes, I agree with you about Farmer's Markets. We have them here in Caerphilly and they are well overpriced as well. Seem very popular though. kindest regards, Pete

Roger, Many thanks indeed for that info etc. Really looking forward to the visit now. The Narrow Boat Pub does sound just my sort of place. What is Skipton like for fish and chips etc? I assume they will have their fair share of curry establishments. I have never been to Skipton before and so pleased we chose that as our base-- it seems just the sort of town we like and being on a canal with a festival-- what could be better. Hope it is good for walking along the canalside as well. I also like railways and being on the Settle/Carlisle line is an added bonus. I hope they release details of the Festival soon. many thanks indeed, Pete

Sadly my wife and I don't own a Narrow boat, yet. I am still trying to convince her after recent health issues I have had. Anyway, that's another story. I have booked into a place in Skipton for the week covering the Festival. The cottage apparently backs on to the canal. I am looking forward to the Festival so much. Even thinking of hiring a narrow boat for the day after the Festival from Pennine Cruises. Cost about £70, i think. I have never been to or seen a canal waterways festival before. I have tried to find out the itinerary for the duration of the Festival but not released yet. Do any of you guys have any ideas what actually goes on etc. Entertainment, street theatre etc etc etc. I have read that it is going to be a "40's theme". I wonder if us foot visitors should dress up etc or would we look out of place etc. Also I read somewhere that the best place for decent real ale and atmosphere is the Narrow Boat Pub in Skipton-- any comments on that please. Looking forward to seeing all the boats etc. hope my wife likes it!! Cheers, Pete

I am afraid that we have no alternative but to sell the house. Hindsight is such a wonderful thing. It is far too personal for me to let you into all the reasons why. Anyway-- what is done is done and we have to move on to the future. Good health is not guranteed as you say, and how right you are. I am in remission from cancer and feel as though I have a second chance- what do I do? Sit down and start to regret evry bad decision I have made, of which there are many-- or just get up and go and live life! regards, Pete

Once a boat has been purchased is it possible to get the name changed to a name of your choosing? Pete

Probably a silly question BUT I am very very new to all this hence putting it on this forum. Is there the equivalent of an AA or RAC for the canals. Of course, I don't expect uniformed men/women to be in fast speed boats ready to attend any poor unfortunate. I was just wondering that in the event of a difficulty /breakdown etc that there was a 'place' to contact who would respond or am I living in cuckoo land! regards, pete

Thanks for that "escape the rat race" web site. That could be very useful for us in our 'plans'. What has been on me and the wife's mind is to live, say, 6 or 7 months in the Philippines(during our winter- my wife comes from the Philippines) and the remainder over here in UK. Renting a boat for 5 months or so would be a viable option for us early on. At least that way we can more or less get used to the idea or throw it out and start again! Mind you, we don't really want to do that. Was even thinking of a static houseboat- that may be an option as well. No idea though where to look for those as rentals.

Hi Barry, Like Marlene and Bill you have gone through all the stages that my wife and I are soon to venture on. I am sure that you will have a lot to share to guys like myself and my wife. We are just trying to get our heads round everything-- daunting task. Firstly we have to sell our house. What a shame that all this economy downturn stuff has happened at the wrong time for us. Barry, you mentioned that you had one or two regrets in the early stages- would you be able to expand on that if it is not too personal. My life has been riddled with bad decisions and would like , as near as poss, to somehow get off on the right foot. If you could keep us up to speed as to how you are getting on then I am sure it would be of immense help to many of us. regards, Pete

Hi Marlene and Bill, Thank you so much for your very encouraging comments. Your philosophy is so right. I was so sorry to hear about all the difficulties you have had- but hey! you've followed your heart! Time does go by very quickly doesn't it? I really want to enjoy life now whilst I am still relatively fit and able to. I guess 'dreams' are for the young-- they become more a possibility or probability when older! One of my favourite sayings of an old dear friend of mine-- long since gone- was "if you cannot change it- then why worry about it". To be honest I have spent quite a lot of time worrying about what I cannot change. Wrong decions made in the past etc. It's too late now and I cannot reverse what has happened. We were also ripped of by thousands by a cowboy builder. BUT- we can affect the future now. Please keep us all in touch with how you are getting on Marlene and Bill. I don't want to patronise in any way-- but it all could be very helpful and inspirational to many of us think of or in the process of venturing on to the canals. I have just bought a couple of CD's from Amazon(more clutter!). One is called 'Living on the Canals' and the other- 'A guide to buying and owning a Narrowboat'. I only had them delivered this morning but have not watched them yet. One thing that does inspire me is the sort of 'community feel' I pick up, even on this site, about life on the canals. That would be important to us. regards, Pete

Thanks Marlene and Bill, Looks as though you have already gone through what we are thinking about doing. What we have both agreed is that we want to move away. We have a three bedroomed house with so much stuff that it is beginning to be daunting to me as to where and how to start. How long it will take the house to sell is anyone's guess. Moving into rented accomodation for a while seems the way to go. What we have in mind is living in the Philippines(my wife's country) for the winter months and the remainder on the narrowboat. We do have a small place out in the Philippines. We will probably ship large box fulls of stuff out there. Just transferring stuff and then cramp up the place in the Philippines! Cannot win. We moved from London to Wales about 8 yrs ago and I thought we were ruthless then in discarding stuff but have soon accumulated it all again! Back to narrowboating. It does appeal to us a lot. I don't want it just to be a 'dream' now. I am in remission from cancer and want to take advantage of a second chance in life and try to live out our dreams. Our friends cannot see that what we want to do is a good thing to do. They are all discoraging us from doing it! I would rather do it and regret it than not do it and regret not trying, if that makes sense! Please keep in touch as I am sure you will be able to help us etc as we are about a year or so behind you!! Hopefully shorter-- but who knows? I never knew it would be such a big problem getting a resindential mooring. I am surprised there is not government legislation covering all this. regards, Pete

Thornhill, I certainly like your 'priority' procedure. My wife and I talked about this a few days ago. We both decided that NOW is the time to declutter. I never knew it would cause so many arguements lol. I know that if we don't knuckle down and do it now -- we will regret it later on.

John, Many thanks for the idea of mail forwarding. I'll check that out. regards, Pete

Hi there Dave, I had the same idea you have and here is my story of how I got afloat!! The first problem to overcome is a mooring and if you are a live-aboard its a permanent mooring you will be after with plug in electricity which costs 2.55 for a 50kw card this lasts me about a month or so depends on what appliances you have on your boat and I have an all electric ie washer,oven,vacuum, and a kettle. It has water on tap and a toilet and sluice facility and also waste disposal. Then there is parking the marina has safe parking for liveaboards only weekend boaters have to park outside the gates after 11.00. Now you need to look at as many boats as you can, it took me 7 months to find a boat I traveled all over the country and I found Rebekha a 57 ft semi trad in Macclesfield fell in love the first time I saw her (am a soft sod)she had been a live-board and it had been a family of 3 so just thinking Dave 23 foot would be a bit small. Rebekha has a gally kitchen with hob,sink,oven,washer and dryer. the lounge has a woodburning stove.I have a single perm bedroom with wardrobes then a walk through bathroom with shower,cassete toilet and sink.Then finally a perm double bedroom with lots of storage space. You see the big difference in a live-aboard is as it says you need all the home comforts not like a weekend boat where you can get away with a 2 ring hob and a make up bed. So there is alot to think about Dave I wish you luck and good cruising and do it soon cos you will love it!! Chris Hi Chris, What me and my wife have in mind seems to tie in with your ideas. I, like many others it seems, is new on this forum. When i read through most discussions I sometimes get encouraged and then discouraged. That is healthy really as most people post exactly what they 'feel'. I wish Dave all the best in his venture and also all the new people like myself who are testing the water(probably not the best expression!) The problem is really knowing where to start. We would like a fairly comfortable narrowboat with a residential mooring(are they really that hard to come by?) Would be nice in a Marina that is near a railway station for trips to London to see our daughter. We also only really want to spend about 6 months on the narrow boat a year. My wife is a Filipina and we want to spend the winter months over in the Philippines. We intend to sell our house to fund it all. When back in this country we would also want to cruise around a bit but not continuously. Any recommended marinas? regards to all, Pete

Denboy, To be perfectly honets I really don't know what 'expensive' is in terms of residential moorings. Could you give me some idea of what they might be at a few other marinas etc. If that is possible I will then be able to guage it, so to speak. Thanks a lot, Pete

Thanks for that. I rang them up earlier and they told me I could get a permanent residential mooring if I bought the narrowboat from them. Would you say it would be ideal for a residential mooring in your opinion? cheers, Pete

Thanks Keith and Smelly for your input on what could be very important for me if and when we do take the plunge. I am probably naiive but is there any sort of Legal Legislation covering 'residential' and 'winter' moorings or is it just up to the individual marinas etc. As I mentioned in a previous posting my wife and I will split our time between the Philippines(my wife's country) and the UK. My main concern is the continued entitlement to NHS care. I had cancer last year and, thankfully, am now considered to be in a complete remission. They will never say 'cured'. There is always the possibility of a relapse. If this happened in the Philippines then I would want to return to the UK for treatment etc. I really try to be as positive as I can about everything but I guess one has to think about the 'worst possible scenario'. We felt as though I have been given a 'second chance' and that has motivated us to live our dreams. Difficult to expalin our feelings really. One thing that does impress us about living on a narrow boat is the 'community spirit'. That is a very important factor to us as well. I'll stop there as I am getting away from the point! Anyway, we are so pleased that there is a website like this where we can get real help and advice from very experienced and caring people. I am sorry if that sounds patronising at all. Thanks, Pete

Hi, I am interested in this Marina as a place to try to get a permanent residence,if possible. They also have boats for sale. Does anyone have any experience of this Marina and could make some general comments. Is it really close to the city centre? Anything really, regards, Pete

Good luck with everything. My wife and I are just starting out and hope to reach where you are soon as well. Pleas keep us informed as to how you are getting on-- it would be so helpful to us as well. kindest regards, Pete

Hi Marlene and Bill, I think as well as you two guys are seeking help and info etc from established narrowboaters etc, I think you may be in a good position to help me and my wife. You probably have just gone through the stage we are at at the moment. We are at the stage of seriously thinking about living on a narrow boat. I am so glad I came across this site as I just did not know where and how to start. I am now retired(on health grounds) and my wife is shortly due to retire. We just want to sell up and start a new life. The problem now is what do we do now. If it is possible could you let me have a sort of 'resume' of how you went about things etc. I have just been spending my time on the internet looking at what is for sale and at what price etc. Any help, guidance etc would be warmyly appreciated. regards, Pete