Sailaway . . . .

[Ray]

Having been associated with canals in one way or another for around 30 years and having now reached the semi retired stage of life, our thoughts turned to buying a narrowboat.

 

We went looking at secondhand boats, but didn't find any that took our fancy in the short time we were looking and we briefly contemplated a new build but the cash register broke when we saw the price.

 

Whilst looking at the secondhand boats we saw a lined sailaway and this set us thinking or, to be more precise, it set me thinking. I don't regard myself as a skilled woodworker and I certainly make a complete hash of a lot of things I build but, as I now had more time to spare, if I took my time (patience and me are strange bedfellows), I thought I could improve on the quality that I saw before me.

 

All this took place just over twelve months ago - Summer 2006 - and, knowing that the winter stoppages might scupper plans to move a boat, we quickly started looking for a builder who could deliver a shell (including engine, foam spray, battens and floor) before the end of October 2006, the time of year when the stoppages usually start. We were determined to move the boat to its moorings by water, rather than by lorry.

 

We found a builder reasonably locally who we liked and felt we could do business with and he could meet our deadline and who we could visit quite easily whilst he was building our boat. We rushed the planning stage and could have made life a lot easier for ourselves (or for me, as I'm doing most of the work) if we'd had the experience and known what we were doing (or going to be faced with). For example, simply moving a window by 15cms would have made lining out a lot easier. Setting a datum point near the centre of the boat, from which everything else could be measured and checked for vertical, would have saved us hours.

 

Its been great fun so far and bl**dy frustrating at times but we're still a long way off being finished, or even being finished to a state when we can actually spend some time on it (other than for work). I've been fortunate that I've was able to spend about 5 days a week on the boat for the first few months and, during the summer, the same number of days, but for far shorter periods.

 

I've had friends and colleagues who have been able to do the bits that I can't - e.g. welding and gas installation. We decided that we wanted a decent paint job, so paid for that to be done, and I've had the assistance of a friend as labourer for much of the time. Nonetheless, life has effectively centred around the boat since last October and will probably continue to do so until early 2008 at the present rate of progress.

 

There are (boaty) things I feel I ought to spend time on at home - where some of the bigger boy's toys are - but I don't want to miss spending time on the boat itself. The engine room and bedroom are 80% there - the rest of these areas can be fill in jobs later. The bathroom is the current project and the rest of the boat has hardly been touched, apart from the lining, wiring, plumbing and central heating.

 

We've had a couple of part day trips and a somewhat frantic dash to the Midlands and back to purchase white goods whilst we had time amongst work commitments, thinking that we'd be far further advanced than we currently are, and would have been in a position to install them by now.

 

Probably, if we'd been able to get away from work, we'd have taken some longer trips as we have the basics to sustain us but, no doubt like a lot of other people, these opportunities haven't arisen and we've simply plodded on with the fit out at our seemingly incredibly slow rate - in some weeks we seem to get almost nowhere.

 

I've seen all sorts of time estimates for (self) fitting out of boats. True, some more skilled woodworkers will do better than we have and numbers two, three and later should always be quicket than the first one. But, for those who haven't got the same amount of time as I've been able to devote to our first boat, don't be surprised if it tends to drag on and on. We will get there, hopefully by Spring next year, when we aim to take the boat north to the L&L to show the family what we've been going on about for the last 10 months - it'll be 18 months by then. It almost certainly won't be finished, but it should be a lot further advanced than it is now.

 

Don't under estimate the committment that you will need (and don't under estimate the money either!). resist the temptation to work all day and every day and plan to take your developing craft out as often as you can, even if this means tidying up for the visitors that you'll no doubt want to take with you. Make sure your partner/family is/are on board right at the start for they are likely to suffer as much as you. If they're more unskilled than you, they're unlikely to be able to contribute much in the practical sense but you'll need their support and understanding throughout, especially when you want to spend your year's holiday and every weekend working on the boat rather than sunning yourself somewhere nice.

 

I have a 35 minute journey to and from the boat each day, which can eat into the working day. I have the benefit of shore based electricity and somewhere I can store things off the boat, a God send as work has progressed along the boat and reduced the area in which to work. There's good and bad about having tea on tap locally. You can get away from the boat for a while but you do tend to take longer over the tea breaks, even if you only have a couple a day!

 

Don't rush into a sailaway purchase without a lot of planning. Read the warts and all style blogs from people who are fitting out their first boat - the second time round they take for granted all the problems they encountered the first time, which is why Graham Booth's book, good as it is, isn't the bible that it could be - Graham was on boat No. 3 (I think) when he wrote the latest version of his book and has skipped over a number of things that can make all the difference to your first attempt.

 

Good Luck. Hopefully, you will get there eventually, it will just take a lot longer and cost a fair bit more than you originally thought.

 

We called our boat On Schedule ! because I've spent most of my working life associated with timetables, not because the boat does what it says on the tin!

 

Ray

 

On Schedule's Blog

[system 4-50]

On Schedule's Blog

 

I've just discovered this blog and have no hesitation in bumping it so that other sailaway beginners like myself can find it more easily. It is tremendous. It makes Graham Booth's glossy effort look so inadequate.

 

Ray, have you considered putting it on lulu? It is costing me a fortune in printing ink to print it. (Thinks: It might almost be worth getting a laptop just for this...)

[ChrisPy]

what a pity it's written on a silly blue speckled background making it hard to read .......................

Edited February 24, 2010 by ChrisPy

[blackrose]

what a pity it's written on a silly blue speckled background making it hard to read .......................

 

Mottled even. Perhaps it was meant to be watery.