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Hello, I am looking to paint my boat matte black and I was hoping for some recommendations. I would also need rust treatment, anticorrosion primer, undercoat and topcoat that works well with the matte black...I have heard some paints don't work well together. Thank you kindly in advance Stefan

Hello friends, Does anyone know a good outdoor spot in London where I can paint my boat? Also, does anyone have a recommendation for poly tunnel rental in London? Thank you ever so much Stefan

Hi! Has anyone stayed at/live at Poplar Dock Marina? Please let me know your experience there if so :) x

Hi I have spent time aboard boats of various types during my life. I am a middle aged divorcee with two grown up children living away from home. I am keen to live a different life, away from estates and blocks of flats. I am resourceful, moved to Ireland last year to renovate a small farm on my own, had animals to care for as well as organise all the works, carrying out as much as possible myself. How difficult or otherwise is it to find a decent quality boat on a permanent mooring somewhere fairly close to London? I intend to carry on working part time as a community HCA as well as continuing to have my pets with me.

Hi. I know it has now, thankfully, finished, but can anyone pinpoint the location of the bit of waterway that is used in the exterior sequences of this programme? It has been bugging me for some time now - is it somewhere in east London?

Ccbm qualified,occupational and confident

Dear boaters and friends of our waterways, On 11 February, lots of us and members of the public reported large amounts of used engine oil on the River Lea in East London. The response by the Environment Agency and the Canal & River Trust has been appalling. Too slow, bad communication between them and with boaters and the public...just to name a few. More than 5 weeks later, there is still a lot of oil on the river, and it's spreading further because CRT prematurely opened a lock again. Together with the Swan Sanctuary, Thames21, London Waterkeeper and many others, a group of boaters wrote an open letter and started a petition. The aim is to scrutinise and improve (or establish?) the authorities' emergency response strategy for pollution incidents like this. This oil spill could have been contained much much earlier on. Let's make sure EA and CRT are better prepared in the future. Please sign and share widely: http://bit.ly/leadisaster

This is doing the rounds on Facebook There is a crime number at the top of the photo (if I have done it right)

Hey, Would anyone like a hand moving their boat in the next week or so? I'm in the London area. I'm getting a boat in a few weeks and I'd like to build up some experience dealing with locks etc. Thanks, Ian

planning to take my 56 ft narrowboat along the Regents Canal, join the Thames and then sail west thru London and then to Reading.. Are there any things I should be doing now such as pre booking mooring spots etc. Are there any streteches where I am going to struggle with mooring and all advice welcomed, new area for me.

Hi all, Help, please. I got my sailaway back to london last month and I'm desperate to get it all wired up. I had an electrician booked in but he let me down and now I'm struggling to find anyone. Any recommendations for someone trustworthy would be much appreciated, I'd like to get the work done asap so I can get everything else done before winter! Thank you Jess

OK, hello to everyone I am looking for some advice. I am beginning to think that I will not be happy living on the cut around the Southeast and in London on anything other than a narrowboat, due to congestion. Of course, I would secretly really prefer the extra width of a widebeam, but I have lived on a narrowboat (and a short one at that), and I loved it at the time, and promised myself I would live on the water again if I got the chance. I was narrower myself in those days, admittedly. But I don't want to feel like a nuisance and I don't want to be a bigger than necessary contribution to making things worse in the waterways where I hope to make my home... I know that living on the waterways is sharing space with others, so the way I see it, what's good for everyone else will be good for me, in the bigger picture. A little info about me - the questions I've see asked of noobs to the forum like me: - Why do I want to continuous cruise? And why in London and the Southeast? I love London, but... More and more I feel like I would move away from London entirely now, whether a life afloat or on land, were it not for my mum being 80 and my dad died a couple of years back and I see her regularly and want to be within reach. No, it's not because I don't want to be too far away so I can save the batteries on my boat by doing the laundry at hers. That would just be a fringe benefit. Sorry. Pretend I didn't say that. Tragic. Having promised myself that one day I would live on a boat again, I now feel like a life on the cut could be great for me - I would not want to stay in London the whole time, I would really love going out on trips further afield. And I certainly would not be hoping to stay in very central and popular areas the whole time. I crave being able to be somewhere quieter and get away from everything... but I do need to be able to get back to everything, too! For now, I want to feel, broadly speaking, like I'm based in London (maybe it's because I'm a londoner...). As to why continuous cruising - well, two reasons really. I have always been a person with itchy feet, and the are itching quite a lot right now, but I don't want to go off far away (see above). The idea of a nomadic life appeals right now. That plus the money. I must confess. Even if I could find a residential mooring in London, I'd struggle to pay for it. But the more I look into CC'ing, the more I think I would really like to do it properly, and to cover some ground, and enjoy the life, not just the savings on the overpriced london moorings. I love boats and water and always have... I hope it's obvious that I do not intend - or even particularly want - to be in central and/or the most popular places all the time. I'd end up going through them, of course, and would enjoy that... If I found a place centrally to moor for a couple of weeks once in a blue moon, that would be nice, but it's not a requirement on my part. I work from home and with flexible hours, and would hope that would lessen the issues and pressures around the moving and mooring aspects. So - should I really be ruling widebeams out? I am kind of expecting the answer "yes" and I am persuading myself I will feel it's the right thing in the end. But, having said that, if I took the word "London" out of this, I would definitely prefer to live on a widebeam, I cannot deny it. Even though I do agree that, often, they can look a bit..... funny. I feel like asking this question as a first post I should be running for cover, but I hope I've explained myself enough to fill in the picture, and I have absolutely no doubt that you good folk will tell anything I missed out or stupid things I said (for which apologies in advance!)

Ahoy! If you have bought a Broads Boat to London, or bought it in London, there is a new Facebook group for you. Please join, share and use. Broads Boats of London https://www.facebook.com/groups/167153280475901/

Hi everyone, We've just come off the Thames after a few months and spent a loooong day making the journey onto the canal system. Driving our extremely clumsy outboard powered widebeam (3.56m width I think) was a breeze on the Thames but I'm really not confident on the canal. We've stopped off at Greenford and would really like to venture up the Lea (we have jobs in London but they're quite flexible and we have no issues with a long commute when necessary) but I'm not sure I want to tackle central London quite yet. Is there anywhere else we can stop on the way before it gets really busy? I've read a lot of old posts about Alperton/Perivale etc but I'm not sure if this would constitute 'genuine navigation'? I'd like a couple more weeks of practice before we attempt central. Many thanks!

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone is looking for a boatsitter in London? Perhaps over a holiday or similar? I am interested in moving into a houseboat, but wanted a bit more experience first. I'm conscientious and friendly, and would take good care of your boat! Best, Shez

Hi everyone, I have been lurking around the forum for a while now and I hope you all don't mind but we are in need of a bit of advice! Me and my partner are looking for our first boat and we plan to live aboard in London. I've read around about how difficult it is to find a residential mooring in London and that generally if you want one you buy a boat on the mooring already (we would prefer a residential mooring as I don't think we could CC and work in our jobs without quite a bit of stress). The dilemma we're having is that we've found a boat we like the look of in London but the family is concerned that it isn't good value for money as its a bit older etc (which really they're right but I assume thats the deal with getting a boat on a mooring in London). Would you say that this boat is worth it to buy or would it be worth hunting around London for a mooring and buying a boat without one? http://london.apolloduck.co.uk/feature.phtml?id=473888 We would like to be living on a boat in the next year (although sooner if possible!), so my concern is that waiting for a mooring in London could take several years! By London we mean anywhere as far out as Hampton Court ish area - beyond that the train gets so expensive to travel in plus the long journey just makes it not worth it for us. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you don't mind me asking! I hope to be joining you all on the water very soon

Hallo, We are renovating currently and in dire need of replacing the gas pipework. The current stuff has been removed but it was soldered together (!!). We have all the new pipework but just need someone qualified to fit it together, hook up our boiler and possibly convert our range to LPG (currently natural gas), although we could do this ourselves and can live without the oven for now if necessary. I'm aware there are a few threads on this topic but they're quite out of date. Cheers!

Hello everyone, my name is Patrick Dowse, I am starting a Documentary photo story on the canal boat culture in London over the next two months. I am looking to meet people and get to know them and find out why they choose to live on the boats. I find this lifestyle fascinating. I am based in London and can meet up with people at anytime. My website can be found at : patricklewisdowse.tumblr.com My contact email address is as follows : patricklewisdowse@live.co.uk Thank you Kindly, Patrick Lewis Dowse

Did anyone witness this flood on The Grand Union and why did it flood and not go over gates or down bywashes? http://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/news/environment/grand_union_canal_floods_on_to_streets_in_stonebridge_and_harlesden_1_4117813

Angry Boater Live - Penultimate London show this Tuesday night (May 12th). 11 tickets remain atm. The final show will be a fundraiser in conjunction with C&RT for their 'Stratford 2 Stratford' project on Thurs, May 28th. Full details at http://www.angryboater.com I'll be taking the show up the GU & into the nether from June.....

Hi, So I'm considering buying a cheap grp cruiser to liveaboard. I have a lot of questions and a lot of research to do but I will start with just one: I have a preference for a narrowbeam cruiser so that I'm free to travel across the country in my boat, I especially like the idea of going up to Birmingham for curry. I don't drive so it would be a big asset to me to have a boat that is also one of my main modes of transport. Anyway, as I peruse ebay all misty-eyed, it's becoming apparent to me that the boats that look feasable as a liveaboard (they have showers) are also wide beams. Should I give up on this idea of getting a narrow beam cruiser if I want to practically live on it? Or should I get used to washing in a sink? Or are there in fact plenty of examples of narrow beam cruisers with showers? ___________ Context: I am a poor boy with fairly humble needs for living, so I'm looking for a boat I can get for <£10, 000 under 30'. I intend to (genuinely) continuously cruise around the London loop.

Morning Boaters, I landed up in bit of a situation, CART halved my license, even though I've been moving quite a bit. I wasn't really overstaying (I overstayed couple of days, few times but nothing major). So I was thinking about "selling" the boat to my mum to get the enforcement of my back. My question is will CART hold the past records of the boat movement against the new owner? Thanks Mig

Before I first came to London by boat, I heard all kinds of stories from boaters about why they would never come here. I remember one experienced boater warning me, "London is full of desperate people. Half the boaters there will cut your ropes to take your mooring." Ridiculous! It's at least 70 percent. What horror stories about boating in London have you heard?

Hi there, Does anyone have any knowledge about CaRT's illusive neighbourhoods? I can't find any specifics online. Ideally a map, but I am aware that CaRT are still only discussing a map being produced. So if you definitely know of even just one or two, that knowledge would be greatly appreciated. Just so I am clear on their specifications when it comes to moving. I also am aware that moving places is defined by CaRT by neighbourhoods as opposed to miles/km. Thanks in advance! I think I have accidentally posted this twice... sorry!