How hard is it really?

[MtB]

1 minute ago, TheBiscuits said:

Yes, but see edit to previous post!

 

We found it deeply disappointing how they lost interest so fast given how much they enjoyed it when small. But there we are. Minds of their own, I'm beginning to suspect ?

[TheBiscuits]

1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Minds of their own, I'm beginning to suspect ?

You drag 'em up the best you can, and then the ungrateful so-and-so's end up being real people with their own opinions.

 

It wasn't like that back in my day! Grr ... mutter mutter ... Nurse!

[MtB]

1 minute ago, TheBiscuits said:

You drag 'em up the best you can, and then the ungrateful so-and-so's end up being real people with their own opinions.

 

It wasn't like that back in my day! Grr ... mutter mutter ... Nurse!

 

Yes, 'xactly.

 

And as Germaine Greer once observed, everyone considers themselves f*cked up by their parents. Parents just see this as being ungrateful. 

 

Was that a bit deep and serious for this time of night???

[TheBiscuits]

1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Was that a bit deep and serious for this time of night???

Nah.  Two bottles of Merlot help me sleep

 

I may be going out on a limb here, but I am guessing your kids don't get to take the boat out on their own with "friends" and your Whisky collection ...

 

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

Nah.  Two bottles of Merlot help me sleep

 

I may be going out on a limb here, but I am guessing your kids don't get to take the boat out on their own with "friends" and your Whisky collection ...

 

 

HOW did you know about the whisky collection.....?

 

I'd happily lend any of them a bote if one was interested enough to want one...

 

[TheBiscuits]

Just now, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

HOW did you know about the whisky collection.....?

Your kids told me last time they nicked the boat .... that's how I know about the bad parents thing! 

 

[MtB]

If they can start a Gleniffer or a Kelvin and go for a cruise without me noticing, thats totally fine with me!! ? 

[TheBiscuits]

1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

If they can start a Gleniffer or a Kelvin and go for a cruise without me noticing, thats totally fine with me!! ? 

When I said modern engine, I was thinking at least an Isuzu, maybe a Beta!

 

All this blowlamp nonsense is why the kids don't care - they want to be able to start it via an app on their phones!

[captain birdseye]

Having two children aged 14 and 12 who have been around boats all their lives, the best solution is as mentioned earlier, put your dreams on hold, but a narrowboat you can weekend on and go away during the holidays for extended cruising. You will all learn a lot and the children can have a stable education. When they get fed up of boating and start going away with school and friends they will leave you to boat on your own and when they do come with you they will enjoy it more. 

Our two stay with friends and go on school holidays for part of the holidays whilst we cruise all summer holidays, we arrange to get the train home and pick them up and drop them off, we also let each of them invite a friend along when their sibling is away, which the enjoy doing. 

They both lost a bit of enthusiasm for boating as they got older, but this way keeps them going and we can boat at weekends and during the summer. 

[StrawberryQueen]

Yep. Hubby and I have had a serious think and talk over the weekend and we’re going to carry on with oh original plan of moving inland, closer to civilisation and things to do, then buy a weekend and holiday boat to bore the kids with and then look into live aboard in 13 years. We currently live in north Devon with no canals or anything really to do here. Yes you all probably think Devon is amazing and why would we move from here but when you live here it’s not like being on holiday. 

 

I’m guessing boating is going to be vastly different in 13 years anyway. Depends how much the government screws us over in the next few weeks/months. 

[Alan de Enfield]

24 minutes ago, StrawberryQueen said:

 Yes you all probably think Devon is amazing and why would we move from here but when you live here it’s not like being on holiday. 

You will (probably) find it is similar with boating.

A couple of weeks or a even a month's "holiday" bears little resemblance to living all year round in a 6' 6" diameter sewer tube.

 

The two of us spend the Summer months cruising and the Winter months odd days/nights 'out', Its not living aboard but after 4 or 5 months (of 'good' weather) you can appreciate the potential problems of Winter cruising.

[howardang]

8 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

 

And as Germaine Greer once observed, everyone considers themselves f*cked up by their parents. Parents just see this as being ungrateful. 

 

As, of course, did Phillip Larkin!

 

Howard

[ditchcrawler]

2 hours ago, StrawberryQueen said:

 . Yes you all probably think Devon is amazing and why would we move from here but when you live here it’s not like being on holiday. 

 

Just like boats

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

You will (probably) find it is similar with boating.

A couple of weeks or a even a month's "holiday" bears little resemblance to living all year round in a 6' 6" diameter sewer tube.

 

 

Actually I disagree. My life is like on long holiday. I love fixing boilers and people push money at me for doing it, and although I have a spare house lying around I choose to live on my boat, which also adds to the holiday feeling. Winter included. Winter in particular actually. 

 

 

[Tumshie]

2 hours ago, StrawberryQueen said:

Yes you all probably think Devon is amazing and why would we move from here but when you live here it’s not like being on holiday. 

I understand fully. I live in the highlands and people think I'm mad because I want to escape. Yes it has lovely scenery and good outdoor sports but they aren't going anywhere if I go off to experience something else for a while. 

 

Even if you don't become a liveaboard just yet I hope you'll hang about with us in the meantime. 

 

Tumsh. 

 

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

Even if you don't become a liveaboard just yet I hope you'll hang about with us in the meantime. 

 

Tumsh. 

 

Seconded. 

 

Especially as I particularly like the OP's username!!

[dmr]

Strawberry Queen,

 

If you are seriously contemplating leaving Devon to be closer to the canals and do a bit of boating then there are better places than the K&A, its very crowded these days and the community is increasingly diluted by incomers.

You have maybe made enough posts to send a PM, so contact me if you would like my thoughts on this. ?

 

................Dave

[Athy]

1 hour ago, dmr said:

the community is increasingly diluted by incomers.

 

 

................Dave

Everyone was an incomer at first, surely?

Edited March 25, 2019 by Athy

[MtB]

14 minutes ago, Athy said:

Everyone was an incomer at first, surely?

 

I suspect Dave means diluted by peeps whose only reason for getting a boat is for cheap accommodation, rather than having an innate interest in canals, boats and boating.

 

 

[Sea Dog]

4 hours ago, StrawberryQueen said:

We currently live in north Devon with no canals or anything really to do here. Yes you all probably think Devon is amazing and why would we move from here but when you live here it’s not like being on holiday. 

I expect it'll begin to look a lot better once you've left it!

 

We live in South West Devon and the boat has been near Droitwich for the last 5 years (until we move her to pastures new tomorrow actually)!  That's just about 3 hours door to door for us.  When we first looked at bringing her West from Crick, it seemed anywhere on the the K&A was not really any closer than 2.45, and that left us on the far end of a cul-de-sac. Saul Junction was also closer, but only about half an hour and that involves the fickle Severn and a few days sail just to get to "the system". 

 

Frankly, we like having the boat in a part of the country that's not our own back yard. Plus, living in Devon, it gives us an overnight base to use as a springboard when we travel further afield and opens up lots of opportunities even when using the boat on her berth as a "holiday cottage". You'd not need a widebeam for those purposes and it might just open your horizons sufficiently that the challenges of North Devon life diminish. I think there are similarities there which might add to your deliberations: perhaps something to consider?

 

[Athy]

58 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

". 

 

Frankly, we like having the boat in a part of the country that's not our own back yard. 

 

If you bought a holiday cottage, you wouldn't buy it in the next town would you? We moved here so that we could moor a boat at the end of our garden, which we did (see avatar photo); but we rarely took her out, so we took a mooring near Cropredy. Now that it is 97 miles from home to boat, we use her much more than hitherto.

[dmr]

53 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I suspect Dave means diluted by peeps whose only reason for getting a boat is for cheap accommodation, rather than having an innate interest in canals, boats and boating.

 

 

mtb is spot on as always. The old bunch of hippes down the Western end, despite ridicule from this forum, were mostly good boaters, interested in the canal and talented. Sadly the photos that they "publish" of their floating markets are only on closed facebook groups but they make some good stuff and put on a good event for the local public, a few nice interesting boats too.

 

Like everywhere a lot (not all) of the incomers are either cheap housing folk or aloof super squareback widebeam people, plus a fair few special brew and drugs folk who exist by nicking stuff of other boaters.I have not been there for two years now but heading back this summer, I do like the K&A.

 

Also I don't think the first lot were incomers, I reckon they pre-date the canal ?

 

...............Dave

[ditchcrawler]

7 hours ago, dmr said:

Strawberry Queen,

 

If you are seriously contemplating leaving Devon to be closer to the canals and do a bit of boating then there are better places than the K&A, its very crowded these days and the community is increasingly diluted by incomers.

You have maybe made enough posts to send a PM, so contact me if you would like my thoughts on this. ?

 

................Dave

I know a lot of you dont do Facebook, but for those that do a look at the crime level on the K&A is something else.

[mark99]

On 25/03/2019 at 18:52, ditchcrawler said:

I know a lot of you dont do Facebook, but for those that do a look at the crime level on the K&A is something else.

Can you expand on that? Boat crime?

[ditchcrawler]

45 minutes ago, mark99 said:

Can you expand on that? Boat crime?

Reports of stuffed being nicked nearly every day, generators, batteries, bikes, trailers. Even cases of stopping people taking stuff.