BigAl40

Yes, we'd all like to cruise for six months and just pay for a marina berth in the winter. Can't imagine that marina developers would be too keen on having no income for half a year - they'd just charge double for winter moorings!

Hi just picked up on this discussion - we're the proud owners of Sweet September - now at Wigrams Turn whilst Darren completes a few "snagging" jobs and we'll be off cruising next week. Lots of interest and positive comments at Crick and we're very happy with end product. Gillian & Alan PS Darren's previous boat is owned by Gillian and Jeff, and Per Angusta by Gillian and Ian - is there a trend here?

I must admit that I hadn't thought about payments - am I naive or less cynical than gaggle? If the roles were reversed I think it would cost more than £30 to sacrifice my integrity>

Thanks for that - Darren actually took us to meet Ian and Gillian on Per Angusta and another boat he'd just completed for the owners of Clifton Cruisers - it seems to me that if previous customers are prepared to give up some of their time on a Saturday morning to show people round their boats, they must be pretty satisfied with their purchase.

We've now booked a slot for 2007 with Darren Aldridge in Rugby,. Thanks to everyone for their advice - I'm sure there will be other questions we'll be asking in the months to come and we appreciate the help on offer

New Boat Co was the first builder we went to (mainly because they were local) and like you we were impressed by the Manhattan but as I will be running a business onboard I need "office space" so a bespoke boat is really the answer and we're looking to spend £80-90k. We went to New Boat Co's open day a couple of weeks ago and found it most instructive talking to other boaters - some who had already boat from New Boat and some prospective customers. We'be been doing the rounds of builders since August and each time we've come away with some good ideas and conflicting suggestions and I entirely agree with your comments - you need a clear idea of what you want and find someone that you feel can fulfill your requirements. We found "Narrowboat Planning" by Graham Booth has been quite helpful in deciding our clarifying what we want. We're visiting another boat builder this weekend and feel we will have to make a decision in the new year if we're to have a boat by Spring 2007.

Haven't been back here for a few days so thanks for all the comments - we're feeling a little like Denis R and I quite agree - we will probably draw up a short list of builders and decide on the standard of workmanship and if you feel comfortable to "work with" the builder. We took a second look at the New Boat Co' s boats last week and were disappointed with the standard of work on the Liverpool Boat Co's boats - chipped veneer on a couple of doors and it had been varnished over so must have come out of the boatyard like that. And my wife ( who has a thing about this with picture frames) noticed that a control panel wasn't straight. Now we're getting more befuddled looking for moorings and problem of mooring over winter. We won't have a permanent address anywhere else (on land) and the marinas we've looked at so far don't have residential moorings although it seems they might turn a blind eye to this fact - any thoughts - should I start a new thread?

Hi My wife and I are looking to buy a liveaboard in early 2007, so we signed up to Canal World to get some tips and guidance and this is my first posting. As advised in all the books and mags we've been doing the rounds of boat-builders and we've learnt a lot. We were impressed by the boats at Otherton Boathaven but have since been told that the build quality might not be up to scratch - I realise that, as in most things, you get what you pay for - does anyone have any experience of Otherton? Severn Valley Cruisers would be our first alternative - any views?