Hobson

So if I understand the op corectly, basically, you can fill it up and declare 90/10 - heating/propulsion. Say you never go anywhere and challenge them to prove it if queried? It sounds to me like HMRC can't enforce this and so isn't going to bother. They are just banking on 10% on your fill up bill going to them and leaving it at that. There's no way I'd pay nearly 100% more for 80 litres of fuel if nobody was actually going to check. As for farmers and builders, you have got to be kidding? I've never met a poor farmer, despite their (perennial) protestations of destitution and builders! Pah! As for battery charging, it takes hours .. plural. 3-4 min. to do a cycle/recharge on a bank of 3-6 batteries. At least it does for me. That means the engine is running, including hot water, for at least 6 hrs a day when I am out and about. I worked out that it comes in at around £7-10 a day in diesel just to re-charge your batteries! One of the reasons I have ditched the fridge! Its probably cheaper to just pay for a mains hook up somewhere or buy a dedicated small bore charging generator. Actual propulsion is a meagre percentage for most people, unless you are a CC? I can't see it being more than 25% of your consumption quota ..? - Hobson

Buying/building a new boat now is not good sense if you care at all about value for money and depreciation. To be frank, making any substantial investments now is not a good idea. I'd wait out the winter and see how things are in the spring. - Hobbs

Bad day? 1. Ltd. company has many advantages over Sole Trader status. If you mean why as in, why bother being legit then you answer your own question there! 2. Of course it does? Since you fail to expand on your objection, I am assuming you are drunk, bored or just a troll? 3. Ahhh you must be a one of the 'on the clock' kind of people. You wouldn't get it then .. All in all, if you have nothing to add but objectionable outbursts, why add anything? - Hobbs

What we need is a body that will act on behalf of the interests of social and domestic waterways users. Similar to the BMF for bikers. Anything else is a waste of time imho. http://www.bmf.co.uk/pages/bmf_main_pages.php?area_id=5 Using that as a template, go to it! Let me know when you want my subscription fee. - Hobbs

That's why you tend to find specialists in each field: they know from experience what they can do in what timeframe and how much the parts will cost, where to source them at the best price etc. If you are general, non specific fixer then you need to be sociable and flexible enough to quote for a job and know that you are being reasonable and that you can finish it to budget. Its why tradesmen, good tradesmen, have years of experience and can simply walk in and decide whats wrong in minutes then quote accordingly. My best advice is to be sociable and forthright first and forget about hourly rates, negotiate a fee based on what's required. You will get more work and more repeat business in my experience. Sadly most people are only after the quick buck these days and it shows. Call out fees etc are for cowboys - but that's just my opinion. EDIT: Yeah you will need public liability insurance, unlikely to need VAT but I'd register with companies house as a Ltd. company just in case. It also makes trade accounts and business banking a doddle. Personally, I always worked cash in hand and if I broke something, I covered it. But I never did more than engines and I made sure I had a good relationship with everyone I worked for - none of that 'I'm a tradesman and I'm on the clock' crap the middle classes seem to expect. There's always a cup of tea and a chat and a mutual evaluation prior to anything else - and yes I have turned down work from people I didn't like. - Hobbs

Most odd job folk charge by the job not by the hour. - Hobbs

Count me in Fuzz! - Hobbs

Looks like a load of knackered old junk .. Probably being replaced or simply got rid of init. - Hobbs

Mr. CV you are indeed extremely carnivorous! Personally, I never quite got past that stage whereby you don't eat anything that doesn't look like it has any business being eaten. This includes: Fish, insects, lobster, crabs, mussles, welks, cockles, worms, squirrels, pigeons, kidneys, livers, spleens, tongue, little baby sheep, dogs, cats, horses, monkeys and whatever my dog finds on the floor in the town center etc. - Hobbs

Didn't know that Alan .. ! Learnt something today. Is it usually a fixed amount or a percentage? - Hobbs Six months time and I'd have snapped their hand off. Grr.

Shouldn't you get the survey before you hand over any money? Don't want to put a downer on your dreams but 15k from a broker is 'last legs' money. Unless its only a tiddler, 30ft or something? EDIT: And despite my endorsement of the engine, if its 20 years old it will be shagged. New ones are 5k min. That and the hull thicknes/overplating might be why its cheap? I know you won't want to be hearing this, but another 10k will buy you a lot more boat and you will easily end up spending that much sorting and refitting an old boat in my experience .. and at the end of that process, its still an old boat. - Hobbs

Depends which one tbh. The air cooled engines are bullet proof in my experience! Boat wise: big ugly tractor lump. Can't go wrong really. - Hobbs

In the Olde Days it used to be economical to cede dormant accounts to an inactive list, then eventually delete them. Nowdays, in the age of terrabyte HDD's and SQL it doesn't really matter .. I'd still do it, but I'm borderline OCD. - Hobbs

I'm not a prude or anything, but 50k is a lot of money to spend. Did you have many sleepless nights? - Hobbs