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Thinking of buying canal boat for living


nevin031

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2 minutes ago, pearley said:

Changed it. Fat fingers, small keyboard!

I thought I'd better point it out! It has just this moment changed to what I thought you probably meant in the first place.

Edited by Athy
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Why do you want to live on a boat, when it might be better to live in a house?

You can buy anything if you have enough money, purchase is just the start ........

Edited by LadyG
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2 hours ago, nevin031 said:

even if you paid foe the year you can not return to A after refilling. must be moored for the year without moving.

im currently working in africa justt trying to get as much information as possible i want to settle in warrington close to family and friends got a decent amount for a mortgage but dont really feel for the house style living. 

If I was in Africa I wouldn't want to leave a boat unattended on a towpath mooring

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58 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Why do you want to live on a boat, when it might be better to live in a house?

You can buy anything if you have enough money, purchase is just the start ........

Those were my first thoughts and always are when we get the many many posters asking these questions. I think some just do it as they think it will be cheap and dont realy want a boat at all, not saying that is the case here but it oft is.

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15 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Those were my first thoughts and always are when we get the many many posters asking these questions. I think some just do it as they think it will be cheap and dont realy want a boat at all, not saying that is the case here but it oft is.

A halfway house might be a van conversion, can be left withrelatives or in securestorage, small space living, and learn transferable skills. Less capital involved, and mobile.

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because iv seen you tube videos of people having a peaceful life. iv spent almost 20 years all my adult life in the worlds most horrible places. just want a few years of peace moored up for living costs so i can work then potter about on a weekends and on holidays.  

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9 minutes ago, nevin031 said:

because iv seen you tube videos of people having a peaceful life. iv spent almost 20 years all my adult life in the worlds most horrible places. just want a few years of peace moored up for living costs so i can work then potter about on a weekends and on holidays.  

With the best intentions I am sure.

 

But you don't understand the way to live 24/365 on a boat, it is not cheap or easy or convenient if you have to go to work.

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16 minutes ago, nevin031 said:

because iv seen you tube videos of people having a peaceful life. iv spent almost 20 years all my adult life in the worlds most horrible places. just want a few years of peace moored up for living costs so i can work then potter about on a weekends and on holidays.  

If you've never lived on a boat before, or got much boating experience, then the biggest challenge you are likely to face is electricity use. Without a mains connection (which some marina moorings can offer, but you won't get if you are towpath hopping), then all the electricity you use has to be generated on board by (usually) some combination of the boat's engine, solar power and a generator. Solar is good for 8-9 months of the year but will contribute nothing in winter, running an engine or generator just to charge your batteries is noisy, expensive and restricted to daytime hours. Under charging your batteries is common for newbies (and old hands) and will knacker your batteries in no time. You will need to plan your electricity use to fit with what you can generate, and that may well curtail some of the things you do without thinking in a house.

Plenty of other threads on here about it if you go looking.

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10 minutes ago, nevin031 said:

anything is a step up from a 20ft shipping container in the desert. i,m only open for options and the way the life looks. 

20 foot container ?   LUXURY!  We had a 6 foot shed with no roof in a bog.

TD'

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1 hour ago, nevin031 said:

 just want a few years of peace 

Whilst there is a lot more to living on a boat than lolling on the deck with a cold drink it is the peace that brings me back time and again - the early mornings when the heavens and earth have colluded to bring absolute tranquility, the coffee on and the door to the deck open.... There are a lot of good reasons to tread carefully and take off those rose tinted specs, but their rose tint is justified. 

 

10 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

20 foot container ?   LUXURY!  We had a 6 foot shed with no roof in a bog.

TD'

Shed? Shed? We have an 8 foot car top dinghy on top of an old Cortina... We'd sit in the boat, dad would drive up the canal edge and jam the brakes on... 

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4 hours ago, nevin031 said:

anything is a step up from a 20ft shipping container in the desert. i,m only open for options and the way the life looks. 

Well, You may feel there are similarities, lol.

I have lots of sailing experience, but  only a year living in a sewertube.

I would advise you to buy a smallish boat, modern, small but beautifull, forget any thoughts of a project if you are even thinking of working.

A car might be essential if you want to work regular shifts, so if you cc then you have to spend lots of valuable time on commuting.

Make sure you have a good stove and central heating if you want to live on it all year.

 

Edited by LadyG
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1 minute ago, LadyG said:

A car might be essential if you want to work regular shifts, so if you cc then you have to spend lots of valuable time on commuting

He won't be CCing on the Bridgewater - its not allowed.

You will not be granted a licence without a permanent 'home mooring'.

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4 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

 

 

Shed? Shed? We have an 8 foot car top dinghy on top of an old Cortina... We'd sit in the boat, dad would drive up the canal edge and jam the brakes on... 

You had a dinghy AND a canal.....we used to get up at 1 minute to midnight on the day before yesterday in an old cistern, paddle round the cess tank we lived in just to generate enough oxygen from the munched bugs beneath to breathe a bit. Then we went to school in the old gas risers.

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bridgewater has platinum license that allows you to moor anywhere for upto 28 days. Its for limited people only (and I read somewhere you need a home mooring to be eligible)

http://www.bridgewatercanal.co.uk/media/BoatingPDFs/Platinum_User_License_Conditions_2016.pdf

Edited by restlessnomad
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58 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

He won't be CCing on the Bridgewater - its not allowed.

You will not be granted a licence without a permanent 'home mooring'.

personally, I would think he needs three months to 'chill', so no need to take a mooring straight away, as that is only needed when he needs to work. holiday on CRT canals for a while, enjoy the peace and find out if he likes it.

Edited by LadyG
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1 minute ago, LadyG said:

personally, I would think he needs three months to 'chill', so no need to take a mooring straight away, as that is only needed when he needs to work. holiday on CRT canals for a while, enjoy the peace and find out if he likes it.

 

Which CRT canals do you recommend near his family in Warrington?

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37 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Which CRT canals do you recommend near his family in Warrington?

I am sugggesting he gives boat life a chance, it's not likely he can buy an ideal boat with a perfect mooring, so he can cruise CRT waters in summer and use trains/cars to visit Warrington.

I've been to Warrington, once.

Edited by LadyG
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You had a DAD ! Mercy, we had nuns who beat us every day, made us wear hair Knickers when we were made to jump into the muddy lake at 4 am in winter before having gruel for breakfast in a disused air raid shelter that was flooded.  With pirana fish swimming around.

 

 

 

 

 

And you tell the new boaters of today........................................

 

River weaver?  Winsford flash with a cruiser? Close to Warrington but which part of Warrington will be relevant.

TD'

Edited by Tracy D'arth
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