The Anonymous Bard

Ok I did think about editing the word "knob" for handle but decided to let it run out of curiousity... and so it begins!!!

Just read a funny thread and thought this might raise a smile. While visiting the 2008 Crick festival on the Sunday we had made an advanced booking to view that years show winner at 10am sharp, having explained over the phone prior to booking of our aspirations to "live the life" so to speak. Arriving around 9.30 we queued in the (usual) howling Crick rain until sodden before getting in on the hour and hurridly making our way to their mooring where we fully expected to be first on. We're still unsure how but to cut a long story short we arrived on the boat to be welcomed aboard before being shown along but there must have been twenty people already on that boat in different areas of a walk through layout so we repeatedly found ourselves in a closed off, confined space that seemed to be bobbing around like a cork in a whirlpool with no possible way of anticipating the movement and being made worse as we felt the listing along with everyone along it moving around in a totally off the cuff fashion trying to steady things up a little but making things very definitely worse! After eventually getting to the stern of the boat I had no option other than to open the stern doors to get some air whilst going a very definite shade of green and explaining to the poor chap (poor chap... there is more to come on that one) that we were perspective liveaboards keen to live a life on the water! Even some time later back on dry land and stood doing my business in the gents (I know t-m-i but don't try to visualise it!) I appeared to have the "ten pint sway" as my forehead repeatedley bounced off the wall in front of me much to the amusement of the bloke next to me who I expected to ask at any moment what draught was going down so well over in the beer tent? On the poor chap that showed us around front, well I think it was just one of those days! First he got us, then as he showed us through the boat proudly telling us about the build quality he attempted to open the bathroom door only for the knob to come off in his hand! To be fair it was a lovely boat and the door knob damage had been inflicted the previous day by an over-zealous visitor so we gave it our vote for that year and have even managed many visits and stay overs on narrowboats since without incident (well, not of that nature anyway but the others are a story for another day). All's well that ends well!

Asked to the original poster himself after very kindly offering to show me around his Northwhich... Do you drink, i'll put a few cans in the boot for you before setting off? Asking a boater if they drink... come on! Cheers Andy (Edited to re-spell Northwhich, sorry must be the stack of empties beside the laptop... hick... hick...)

No doubt that this may change at some point but... This is the way I think we're going with this at this stage: Solid fuel stove providing main heat source = pretty much fail safe, adequate for the vast majority of time and reasonabley cost effective... and we like them. Heritage (or other) range cooker providing central heating when required and hot water in a reliable system designed to run 24/7 but operating well within it's capacity and not being hammered = programmable to come on for anticipated use for a couple of hours early morning to heat the boat and water before going to work, say 4-6am then bank up the solid fuel for the day and return after range has been programmed to kick in again to heat boat and water just before getting home at night, say 4-6pm and then banking up the solid fuel again for the evening. We also like the idea of just running the range heating for a couple of hours in Summer if it drops a bit chilly but doesn't really warrant lighting the solid fuel... other plusses (we think?) are relatively silent running, reasonabley low fuel consumption given the times we anticipate using the heating and the cooking capability as well... also like the idea of self suffiencey if we're away from the boat for any longer periods of time as it will just kick in and out on the programmed timer and prevent any damp building up. What we don't like? High initial cost... but deducting the cost of other central heating system. less frequent servicing, glow plug replacement etc and all the things I won't be throwing down the boat in frustration and breaking when it's not breaking down then maybe it will also pay us back in the long run. And... if all else fails there's always the local Indian and a good Ceylon, works for me everytime!

since installing our solid fuel stove 3 years ago, we have had no heating problems whatsoever and our costs have dropped dramatically. Our stove is normally lit sometime in October and stays alight until April. If of course you don't require this constant level of heat or are away from the boat for most of the day, then a diesel or gas heating system may suit you, but step warily if you need continuous heat. Roger Thanks for such a considered and in depth reply Roger, as always the informastion is very helpful and the comments you make about the suitability (or not) of units for 24/7 use are what is pushing us back towards the Heritage range. The other thought of course is running the heating off of a back boiler on the solid fuel stove as this appears to be a fairly simple and reliable system, the only concern being the capacity and how many radiators could be effectively rum off of this?

Great info... thanks and please keep us posted on the Heritage as ours will also be a 70' boat with five radiators planned in. We discussed it again last night and I can't draw myself away from the Heritage (that's how bad this decision has got me!), especially after reading other diesel heating threads and the thought that for a liveaboard situation where it might get hammered occasionally it seems to be the only option that is actually designed to run 24/7 as far as i'm aware and not so sensitive to the fuel it burns, voltage drop etc. We are looking at the Compact model and will still be running a solid fuel stove as we like them so much. By chance we stumbled on the William Piper, Crick show winner this year being fitted out just below Stoke Bruerne in April and he very kindly downed tools to show us around and he had put an Uno in there which looked great... do you also have the "heat dump" vented out somewhere? In this case it was ducted out into the engine room. Thanks again.

We also are considering a corner stove, only worry is do they have enough depth/capacity to really bank up and keep burning if you're away from the boat for a while or overnight? We do have friends with a Bubble who are very happy with theirs if it's any help but we haven't seen them in a while to ask the specific question about capacity. Also went on a boat at the weekend who said they too were very pleased... looked lovely aswell.

Not sure if this has been done... I did use the search facility but couldn't narrow it down enough. As mentioned in previous posts we were planning on an oil powered range cooker to provide central heating and are now backing off from the idea a little. One of our main reasons for originally choosing this were the very inconsistent comments from people running diesel powered systems (not range, conventional eg. Mikuni, Eberspacher etc.) and it's very interesting to read the comments on the various threads but for a snapshot view would it be worth doing a poll to find out people's experiences, particularly in liveaboard situations with details of the make, very reliable, wouldn't go near it again, etc? This is probabley the one area where we're really reluctant to commit ourselves (especially me as i'm a bit prone to "nesh" even if I will sit all day on a freezing river bank with a fishing rod in my hands... ooops, confession!). Not sure if it's just me but you hear ten stories of good experiences and maybe one bad but it's the bad that sticks in your mind, hence the overview?

Hi, One of the many things that we are pondering is the location of the solid fuel stove. As we are having a "side on" layout our initial thoughts were to locate it against the forward cabin bulkhead as you walk in the doors where many are sited with the Eco Fan whirring away on top and pushing the heat straight through the saloon and down the "corridoor" area to the cabin in the evenings, a distance I reckon will be about thirty feet before it reaches the cabin. Alternatively, I have also been wondering about locating the stove between the saloon/galley low bulkhead because I think I prefer the balanced look of corner cabinets either side of the forward cabin doors and wondered if the heat would circulate just as well... my own thinking that the heat would simply hit the forward end of the cabin before re-circulating back up the boat as we would like it to do. I have seen a few stoves in the more inner position and wondered if anyone had their own experiences of this? Thanks in anticipation... Ps if anyone relates this to the post about having a range cooker powering central heating, we are still planning on this and know that a solid fuel stove may not be necessary but we've talked ourselves into insisting on both as we just like the atmosphere of a solid fuel burning stove, as well as a useful back-up of course.

I think the people putting up those signs have a perfectly, reasonabley grounded point. The same point that sits on their head in between their eyes and is commonly referred to as a d%ck Wonder how they would react to a written request to purchase a small plot of land at the end of the garden for a winding hole?

We too are planning on a range for both cooking and to power the heating, in particular the Heritage Compact and would be very interested to hear from anyone that has one with their experiences regarding heating effectiveness, reliability etc.

Something is more than a bit fishy at Big Fish! Only last week I answered the telephone at home and it was a lady from Big Fish giving me a follow up call from details we left after viewing their Tug style boat at Crick this year that was occupying "Mel Davis" corner. I thought maybe they had gone into administration instead but the notice on the link clearly says they will be voluntarily wound up... ?

Thanks on the Christopher Marlowe thing Jill, I have to "fess" that I was completely ignorant of that fact. Unfortunately for me (and incredibly humbling... I still have six sessions of counselling to go) my name is nothing more than a tag I gained way back at school after being caught red-handed scrawling my usual, daily journal of rythmic literature about certain teachers on the toilet walls and the ever stern voice and delight of my captor sighing "Arrrh... The Anonymous Bard" quickly followed by a very unpleasent stinging sensation on the palms of my hands! For the record I am a reformed character... aherm!

Thanks for the comments and the helpful advice on our post within the thread... me and the Mrs were discussing it Saturday night on the way to The Swan at Fradley and I mentioned that I was still keeping an open mind even though we have already decided on a Hudson and then we came across Newson moored just on the approach and the open mind suddenly closed again once I had insisted on driving around to the visitor centre side to get a better view and some grainy pics of her in the fading light. I saw this on brokerage recently and I umme'd and arrrr'd and seeing her in the steel so to speak I wish I had gone for it, looked a lovely boat and a bargain from what I can remember.

Hey thanks... Not sure who Christopher Marlowe is but suffice to say not a pleasant experience? We've seen a couple of "pre-curvey" Hudsons boats and really liked them too, probabley more so than the current ones and also stumbled across NB. Destiny II on their way back from the 2008 IWA and was interested to learn that Paul Barber was the guy originally responsible for the Hudson shape along with this boat. We did look at Mel Davis' boats very closely (smashing bloke!) and are still open minded to a point but really wanted a builder who could build from start to completion including fit-out in a house style that we liked without pushing them too far away from what they are used to and good at but we'll never say never to suggestion until the build slot has been deposited.

Erm... maybe a bit of a contentious topic to post a first (ok second) posting on but I have been intrigued reading this thread and... HELLO TO EVERYONE... & thanks for having us here! We have been planning to live aboard for over three years now and have been visiting shows, builders and reading everything we can lay our hands on, not to mention the miles of walking and talking to boat owners along the cut to try and gain an informed decision on what to finally settle on and... Yes we have planned around an SM Hudson. The only dismay I have about that decision is the image that SM Hudson boats seem to hold in some people's eyes, not to say that those people are wrong but for the record we are stuck here for the time being in a two up/two down and struggling like many others under the current circumstances to keep our heads above water (pardon the pun!), all of which has no relevance except for the fact that when we do finally get afloat it will be on the basis that we worked our butts off to get there and will most likely have sunk every last penny into it to get what we want and not because we have fat wallets or some sort of superiority complex or fixation about a certain type of bow. We just like their style of boats, we feel their build quality will look after us well for the next thirty years and we found the guy himself to be the most personable and helpful guy we could wish to meet, even if he does call a spade a spade and there's nothing wrong with that. Currently we spend time with my sister and her partner on a 45ft Liverpool Boats boat and in all honesty there is nothing that could make it more enjoyable... no big shiny new boat, no replica rivets or double swept josher bows. We find the surroundings and the people are what make it, we just like SM Hudson boats and would hate to be type cast as some of the afore mentioned. Ok, now that I've taken the new member popularity ratings to new heights I've decided not to name the boat-to-be in case you tell all the fishermen to throw groundbait at us...