Athy

A greeno for that quite splendid expression.

Have have rather moved the goal[posts (you did not previously mention that passageways did not constitute space) but yes, you have a point.

It is some years since I passed my maths O level, but I do recall that 14 is two times seven, not three times seven,

Have you not considered that the reason may be historical? I don't know when BW introduced licence fees, but it was probably at a time when the vast majority of boats on the canals were narrow ones, so it never occurred to them to create a different pricing structure for the very few big 'uns which were aroiund?

It does sound suspicious. If you have no details of the boat, how do you know that its price is below market value?

In the Fens yesterday we had a succession of very brief (a minute or so) hail showers, interspersed by sunny intervals, and it was windy, but not sufficiently so to blow the dustbins over. More like "April showers bring May flowers" than a proper storm.

Thank you for answering. You've got the job.. Because that's the essence of discussion Not sure what you mean about "loaded" questions. Do you feel that there have been some in this thread? If so it's hardly a rarity, as most people asking a question already have a point of view about whatever subject it may be.

No, there's not. But this is a discussion forum and ,if no on ever answered anyone else's questions, there would be precious little discussion.

Yes. They couldn't reed.

That was rather the point. It was a Common Entrance history outing. Earlier in the day we had been to a working watermill, which was probably so century-before-last. One of the advantages of teaching is that one can go to fun [places and the school foots the bill, as long as there is educational value in the visit. I also travelled on the Kent & East Sussex Railway and had seven or eight free holidays in France, though accompanied by between 15 and 40 pupils each time.

Done that only once, on 'Iona' on the Wey & Arun (or is it the River Wey?) early this century, so I know what you mean. However, I was accompanied by a 15-strong Common Entrance form, so the silence was not unbroken.

...where half the posters are fine, sensible people and the other half are total comedians and/or dangerous lunatics, you mean? Which half, of course, is in the eye of the beholder.

When it catches fire, you mean? Note to Sylvo: humour is not banned on CWDF and many of us indulge in it, with varying degrees of success.

\welcome to the forum. I understand the "missionary" angle, as I was (whoops, were) brought up in Sheffield but spent six years educating the natives in Bletchingley. In your preamble you say that you look forward to positive comments about Sea Otters. Fine, it's always pleasant to be complimented on one's boat, but you'll learn more by being receptive to less flattering comments too. For example, I hope that MTB's earler post had you scurrying out to buy fire extinguishers and/or blankets.

Tee-hee. Having had boats with a Petter, a Rigas Dizelis and a Gardner, I've never felt the need for them....though come to think of it I had a little Springer for a while about ten years ago, and its mini-digger type engine of indeterminate parentage was a trifle abrupt - perhaps because that boat, unlike all the others, had a cruiser stern.,

Does anyone on the canals really want that? The sound of a diesel engine, be it a burping Bolinder or a bumbling Barrus, is part of the attraction and ambience of the inland waterways. Are there people who actually wish to pay far more money for something completely lacking in character? I suppose the ability to scare the bejasus out of waterside fishermen may be an advantage for some, but that pleasure comes at a high price.

There are few things more evocative than the memory of a taste you enjoyed but can never taste again. At certain times, if I close my eyes, I ca taste my Mum's lemon pie; I've not tasted the like in 25 years and shall not do so again, but my taste buds retain the memory.

Diesel is usually required, then? Yes, as I thought. So, a diesel-powered boat which has a solar panel on its roof is the best buy, you're saying? That sounds reasonable.

Yes, and what powers tat engine. Diesel, I fancy. That's simple, indeed.

Precisely. It is obviously, therefore, serviceable. If the boat had no batteries, the Beta 43, being a provenly reliable and widely-used diesel engine, would be able to propel the boat all on its ownsome. So why encumber it with electric gadgetry and sting customers for another forty thou?

No, same boat, Waterhorse, whose advertising blurb says that it has a Beta 43 diesel as well as electric power. If it's not serviceable, what's it doing in the boat?

But you are not reading: OH YES IT HAS!

Of course, unless it's the price of something I'm selling which is tumbling. But would YOU pay £50k, or even £40k, to have an electric motor installed in a boat which has a perfectly serviceable dies engine in it already?

Thanks for the information. I haven't had a new boat built since 2007, but I have always taken an interest in new boats. We did let our subscription to CB lapse last year, so perhaps I'm not as closely in touch with the market as hitherto. The boat from Orton Marine (whom I haven't heard of) may have sold, but for how much? If this one sells, it will reinforce the adage that a fool aqnd his money are soon parted.

The internet tells me that prices have risen over 50% since 2012, which would make that £65,000 bout £100,000 in today's money, so the increase is slightly above he general rate of rising prices. But that's aaprice for a new boat: we are often told that new boats lose a great deal of their value (20%?) in their first year, so a price of over £150,000 for a second-hand narrowboat is at best optimistic, and at worst just plain barmy.