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It's been ten years since Challenger deservedly disappeared. A lot of their boats ended up with BCBM and other shared ownership groups, I'm part of the group that own Victorious. Since Valkyrie appeared on Facebook when a camera containing shots of her was rescued from the bottom of a lock I've been wondering if there's a definitive list somewhere of all the boats that were built for Challenger. I'm aware of three 'V' boats: Victorious, Valkyrie, Viceroy. One 'I' boats: Invincible. Three 'E' boats: Endeavour, Enterprise, Explorer. Two 'C' boats: Centurion, Champion. Three 'B' boats: Benbow, Black Watch, Broadsword. I just wonder if there's a full list hiding somewhere. I'm curious.

Hello, A small message to report you a narrowboat abandoned in France: it is the Bearly Afloat. A "trad" that seems abandoned to Saint Satur in the Cher. The town hall has filed a notice of abandonment on November 15, 2017. The boat will be sold or destroyed on May 15, 2018 if the owner does nothing. Registration is not visible. Only the name of the boat "Bearly Afloat" and the names of the owners, or former owners, Danny & Sue Blackmore " are still visible. If you know them, send the message. Photo and notice of abandonment on my blog. There is an option at the bottom right of the page to translate the text. Best regards from France Laurent

Hi there. I currently live on a 46ft narrow, built in 1989. I share this with my partner. I would like to get another boat, around 60ft long, for use as a home, and turn the 46ft into a shop. Theoretically I could have access to £28,000 in the coming year, and would then be able to spend money as the months go on, as I save from work (£500 here and there for various jobs). The boat would not have to be a live aboard straight away, this can be developed over time. I have been researching space-saving fit out ideas, mainly from community groups dedicated to fitting out vans, which seem to have some very good solutions, much more contemporary than boat fit outs. I'm happy to pay carpenters to make specific wooden furniture with functionality - e.g. tables which fold to the ceiling, seating areas with storage underneath. This would be what I envisage the "£500 here and there" to be for. My personal opinion is that second hand boats are often over priced, and that a new boat could have the potential to be fitted out as a blank canvas. But perhaps I am being naive about the amount of work involved. What do you think? Would you buy new, or second hand? New - best builders? What to avoid? What to look out for? Secondhand - price guideline? What to avoid? Where to look?

Hiya I'm new to live-aboard boating and have been researching and trying to buy a narrowboat for about 3 months now. My budget is on the lower end of the spectrum (£21k max) and i've found a 45footer just within my price range. It seems as though it's ready to live in, burner, calorifier, batteries (2 leisure 1 starter), solar panel, 12volt for cc'ing, 240v basic landline installation, last survey looks good (no overplating been done), (not had my own survey done yet), however, the engine was overheating when it was brought into brokers by previous owners. The marina advises that they will get this fixed before sale. I'm tempted to make an offer (pending survey) but not first without getting some advice about the engine situation. It's a Perkins 4108 diesel. My main concern is due to the long cruise back to where I live. (London to Bristol), part of which will include a piece of the tidal thames. I really don't want to be doing that with a dodgy engine. another concern is future costs, which i have left a small budget for, but if the engine problem turns out to be something major - i'm not sure i'll have the budget for it. Plus i plan to be a continuous cruiser so this would be an issue. A bit more info about the engine - from the previous survey in Late 2013 it seems the engine was smokey when cold and on high load, cranked pressure was present - both indicators of internal wear. Also fuel leaks were present at the fuel filter top and the aft injector (which was recommended to be fixed - and at this point i assume it was). It also appears that the engine was serviced in Feb 2017. So my questions are - 1) is it possible at this stage, with the information here, to get an idea of what the cause of the engine overheating can be? 2) Is it possible that the fault could appear to be fixed after a short test cruise and an hours running of the engine, and then 4 hours cruising later start to overheat again? 3) Are there some specific questions I should ask the brokers/owners? 3) Am i crazy to consider this boat as an option, since I have so far to travel back? I would be very grateful for advice and information to help me make my decision. Any other advice also welcome. Thanks Sadie

Only a handfull of narrowboats/small vessels seem to be doing the Ellesmere Port to Weaver Navigation on the MSC this year! Admittedly the owning company, Peel Ports, make it hard work on the admin front, but after 3 days waiting and phoning (check by phone that your emailed application has been received and read - essential!) then waiting some more, we finally emerged onto the canal. Then took us just 1 3/4 hrs to get to Weston Marsh Lock, with just 2 larger vessels coming the other way on the Manchester. Cost was £75 for seaworthiness cert, and £32 for transit on canal. CRT were the most helpful party, quickly arranging the lock opening for us. Cheshire council slow to organise the necessary swing bridge - last obstacle on the Shroppie at Ellesmere Port. ...All worth the effort though - the River Weaver is beautiful and quiet and lots of mooring spaces. Now for the Anderton.

My grandparents owned a narrowboat, and I have recently been thinking about buying one. I have become really interested in seeing if I can trace their ole boat! Even just to see where she ended up, sentimental reasons really. Here's the details: Grandparent names: Cyril and Alice Cousins Bought in 1984 from Cowroast Marina near Tring, she was called "Snoopy" at the time. Re-named her "Cyralice" Serial number is 79826 (there's a slim chance it's 79026 as the photo is fuzzy - attached) She was first moored in Willowbridge Marina and then Gayton Marina in Northampton, on the Grand Union canal. I checked on http://canalplan.org.uk/boats/ but she's not listed. It was sold in the late 90's I think through the brokerage at Gayton Marina (part of Alvechurch group I think) Thanks! Rainey

Hello Part of our Summer cruise this year is to venture out on the Trent, Nottingham to Cromwell lock and then out on the tidal bit to Torksey and into the Fossdyke, to head down to Lincoln & Boston. trying to work out when is the most favourable time to go? On May. we are at Sawley now and plan to spend a day or more in Nottingham before heading off. i have the Boating assn. charts (very good they are too) plus the tide times (Hull) and the opening times of Torksey lock, which looks like a guide of when to get there ! Just wondering if any boater is planning to do the same and wanted to from a mini convoy or had any more inside info other than that which I already have. We are on a 65 foot narrowboat and draw about 2.5' Planning to spend most of May there before returning to Nottingham for 1st June. Cheers Steve and Viv

Hi all. Today I have taken my narrowboat out for the first time in a year. I'm currently moored on the canal and am stranded. Today when on the water there was some loud clunks when shifting into gear. The boat then stuck in gear and I ended up crashing into a lock. Traumatic experience... I have just discovered I have no oil in the PRM 120D2 gearbox. Can anyone advise my next step to fixing this issue please? Is it as simple as adding more oil? Many thanks, Jason

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!)

Yesterday, in response to someones post about Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, I posted a video a short video of us crossing it last year. So, I thought you might also like to see a video of us passing through Chirk Tunnel and over Chirk Aqueduct a little while later the same day. We were lucky that a train was crossing Chirk viaduct at the same time!!

Hi All... Hope you are all well? Looking to buy my first narrowboat, it will be my partners 2nd. He had a Liverpool Boats, cruiser stern. We have been on a few holidays since he sold it in 2012, after a job offer in NZ, however that fell through. At the moment, after Covid-19 it is very much a sellers market at the moment, with very few good quality and cared for boats on the market. We have looked at the usual agency websites, such as Apollo Duck, and also contacted a number of Marina brokerages in the UK, as well as visited a few very nice craft in Leicestershire. Would anyone recommend any sites, or specific marinas with good craft at the moment? Specifically Semi Trad, or Trad. Thank you