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Anything special you need to move on (for liveaboard NB)?


Blob Fish

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Hello, google and the search function here don't seem to turn up anything specific for this topic, so apologies if this has been asked! :)

 

Aside from typical household stuff (tableware, bedding etc), is there anything special that you would take with you when moving onto a NB? For example, a particular set of tools?

 

Many thanks!

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We're still in our first year, over which we have accumulated:

 

- Basic spanner/wrench set

- A ratchet wrench

- A large wench for gas cannisters

- Basic small screwdriver set for electrics

- An electric multi-meter

- First aid kit

- Wire stripper and crimper

- Tool box

- Spare coolant

- A pot of stern gland grease

- Portable washing machine

- Windlass, hammers, mooring pins, CaRT key, etc.

- Hose

 

Of those, probably the electric ones aren't so important unless you're planning on wiring something up. Some more experienced people might have more to add, but that's what we've needed to use in our first year.

Edited by Thomas C King
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1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Money, and plenty of it.

This is true - we couldn't believe how easy it was to spend £40k in our first year of continuous cruising - and that was 15 years ago when it was still possible to get a bottle of spirits for under £10 and 13Kg of Propane for £15 . . .

 

Apart from an endless supply of money, my personal recommendation is to have these essentials:

A spare fresh water pump and the tools (including a good head-torch) for fitting it;

A warm dressing gown and pair of gumboots for those times when you need to get out on to the towing path in the middle of the night;

A good portable generator - we eventually chose a Honda EU20i after others proved a waste of space and money;

A decent bicycle with spare inner tubes - we eventually chose a second-hand Brompton - great for getting back to the car from remote moorings.

 

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10 minutes ago, Thomas C King said:

We're still in our first year, over which we have accumulated:

 

- Basic spanner/wrench set

- A ratchet wrench

- A large wench for gas cannisters

- Basic small screwdriver set for electrics

- An electric multi-meter

- First aid kit

- Wire stripper and crimper

- Tool box

- Spare coolant

- A pot of stern gland grease

- Portable washing machine

- Windlass, hammers, mooring pins, CaRT key, etc.

- Hose

 

Of those, probably the electric ones aren't so important unless you're planning on wiring something up. Some more experienced people might have more to add, but that's what we've needed to use in our first year.

 

Brilliant, thanks so much! This is exactly what we are looking for! :)

 

We're looking forward to learning how to be handier, but for anything a bit complicated I think at first we'd hire some experts. So, we definitely are interested in knowing what's needed for basic maintenance.

 

Speaking of, off the top of your head, would you have any list of maintenance tasks that you've found to be necessary daily / weekly / monthly / seasonally / yearly, that sort of thing? One of us is dearly fond of lists and schedules :)

 

Thanks again! :)

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12 minutes ago, NB Alnwick said:

This is true - we couldn't believe how easy it was to spend £40k in our first year of continuous cruising - and that was 15 years ago when it was still possible to get a bottle of spirits for under £10 and 13Kg of Propane for £15 . . .

 

Apart from an endless supply of money, my personal recommendation is to have these essentials:

A spare fresh water pump and the tools (including a good head-torch) for fitting it;

A warm dressing gown and pair of gumboots for those times when you need to get out on to the towing path in the middle of the night;

A good portable generator - we eventually chose a Honda EU20i after others proved a waste of space and money;

A decent bicycle with spare inner tubes - we eventually chose a second-hand Brompton - great for getting back to the car from remote moorings.

 

Aarggghhhhhhh a petrol gennie!! Its actualy far better to have a boat with a lovely smoooooooooth quiet, japanese engine built in rather than some old knacker pulled out of a fishing boat. No need for petrol gennies then :D

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6 minutes ago, Blob Fish said:

Speaking of, off the top of your head, would you have any list of maintenance tasks that you've found to be necessary daily / weekly / monthly / seasonally / yearly, that sort of thing? One of us is dearly fond of lists and schedules :)

 

Thanks again! :)

 

Glad to have helped! Maintenance wise:

 

- I've had to replace the fuel filter once in under a year, because the previous one was leaking but I don't know how long it had been installed for.

- The stern gland needs grease adding to the greaser every now and then, and the greaser needs to be used to grease the stern gland after each "cruise".

- I've also had to bleed the engine radiator a couple of times over the past year.

- The water pump needed replacing because the previous one was leaking, which seems common but not sure if you will have that issue.

- Every now and then I'll check the stern gland to make sure it's not dripping too much, if it is then I tighten it (only once so far).

 

I'd also concur on the generator that someone else suggested, which will also mean getting a jerry can or two.

 

That seems like a lot, but I don't know how some have managed to spend 40k in their first year.

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1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

Aarggghhhhhhh a petrol gennie!! Its actualy far better to have a boat with a lovely smoooooooooth quiet, japanese engine built in rather than some old knacker pulled out of a fishing boat. No need for petrol gennies then :D

 

You wouldn't expect me to agree! However, what I find remarkable is that our Honda generator is still performing well after fifteen years of regular use (often more than four hours a day) and I cannot remember hearing of many other engines lasting as well . . .

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5 minutes ago, NB Alnwick said:

This is true - we couldn't believe how easy it was to spend £40k in our first year of continuous cruising - and that was 15 years ago when it was still possible to get a bottle of spirits for under £10 and 13Kg of Propane for £15 . . .

 

Apart from an endless supply of money, my personal recommendation is to have these essentials:

A spare fresh water pump and the tools (including a good head-torch) for fitting it;

A warm dressing gown and pair of gumboots for those times when you need to get out on to the towing path in the middle of the night;

A good portable generator - we eventually chose a Honda EU20i after others proved a waste of space and money;

A decent bicycle with spare inner tubes - we eventually chose a second-hand Brompton - great for getting back to the car from remote moorings.

 

 

Well, we've got the warm dressing gown good to go ?

No but seriously, thanks for sharing which generator you use, and things like the spare fresh water pump - so good to know! When you search online for what you need, it mostly just says "just downsize as much as possible, then downsize again" .....well going to the UK from living abroad, we had to get everything into a few bags anyway, so what next?? ?

 

And £40k in a year! I imagine you must've done some serious upgrades to your boat? I do wish more people would remember to budget for big ticket repairs / upgrades (painting, replacing engine etc), but hopefully a good surveyor will make the buyer aware of what'll be needed in the near and medium future.

 

For us, aside from being closer to nature, we see living on a NB as a way to truly minimise our environmental impact, we've done as much as possible already but you just naturally have to be conscious of energy and water consumption on a boat! One of us too had a great great grandfather who was a bargeman waaaay back in the day (walked along the K&A), so we're quite looking forward to y'know experiencing in comfort what great great grandfather did for work ?

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2 minutes ago, NB Alnwick said:

 

You wouldn't expect me to agree! However, what I find remarkable is that our Honda generator is still performing well after fifteen years of regular use (often more than four hours a day) and I cannot remember hearing of many other engines lasting as well . . .

They are superb and like you say its daft buying anything else. A certain friend of mine who some people will know got miffed one night with a local boater that refused to turn their gennie off at 8 pm. This had gone on for some weeks on and off and my mate one evening about 9 just walked onto the back of offending boat and threw the eu20i in the cut whilst it was running. It was retrieved and after drying out next day started and ran perfectly!!

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1 minute ago, Blob Fish said:

we see living on a NB as a way to truly minimise our environmental impact,

 

Thats a nice aspiration but you need to accept that much of what you do will have a much bigger affect on the environment than living in a house.

 

Just generating electricity for example :

In a house you plug in and switch on, much of it generated by clean 'windy mills'.

In a boat you will need to run an engine (diesel or petrol) for 4 hours per day burning up loads of 'dinosaur-fuel' and emitting loads of nasties and it will cost you 10x what the same amount of leccy costs vis the 'mains'.

 

In your house the water just 'arrives' at the taps and the waste just 'dissappears' when you flush.

In a boat you will need to start the engine every few days to go and fill up your water tank.

You will need to start up the engine very few days to go to a toilet empything (elsan) station

Using expensive dinosaur-fuel and emitting loads of 'nasties' from the exhaust.

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1 minute ago, Blob Fish said:

And £40k in a year! I imagine you must've done some serious upgrades to your boat? I do wish more people would remember to budget for big ticket repairs / upgrades (painting, replacing engine etc), but hopefully a good surveyor will make the buyer aware of what'll be needed in the near and medium future.

 

The biggest single expense was sourcing a new fuel injection pump after our original suffered a catastrophic failure on the Thames - it was supplied by British Polar Engines of Glasgow who bought out Kelvin Marine Engine spares - together with the transport and associated costs, it came to well over £2k

We wasted money on generators until we bought our Honda but it was amazing how easy it was to spend money in canal-side chandlers - ropes, fenders, brass-ware, stove parts, batteries etc. etc. it is all money . . .

 

Of course we also had to buy essentials like booze, food, licences etc . . .

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8 minutes ago, Thomas C King said:

 

Glad to have helped! Maintenance wise: ....

 

That doesn't sound too bad, actually! My experience with regular maintenance (I am a bit embarrassed to admit), aside from tech stuff, is with merely with bicycles...but y'know, when you have a 20+ mile (rainy) commute, you are forever having to check this, grease that, pump up tires etc. It feels good actually to have that routine, and do something with your hands. :) And since we'd like to CC, I imagine there will be a lot of regular maintenance to do and things to check on a boat!!

 

Thanks again!! If you don't mind me asking, was there anything that surprised you in your first year, wish you'd been aware of? 

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42 minutes ago, Thomas C King said:

We're still in our first year, over which we have accumulated:

 

- Basic spanner/wrench set

- A ratchet wrench

- A large wench for gas cannisters

- Basic small screwdriver set for electrics

- An electric multi-meter

- First aid kit

- Wire stripper and crimper

- Tool box

- Spare coolant

- A pot of stern gland grease

- Portable washing machine

- Windlass, hammers, mooring pins, CaRT key, etc.

- Hose

 

Of those, probably the electric ones aren't so important unless you're planning on wiring something up. Some more experienced people might have more to add, but that's what we've needed to use in our first year.

 

I would suggest the multi-meter and knowing how to use it is very high up the priority list. Especially one with a clamp type DC ammeter function.

 

Of all the things that go wrong its seems electrical things are top of the list, especially battery and charging problems. Without a meter to give us readings getting help with problems is likely to be close to zero.

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52 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Money, and plenty of ...

... honey, wrapped up in a five pound note.

 

Or at least that was enough for the Owl and the Pussycat when they moved aboard a beautiful pea-green boat.

 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43188/the-owl-and-the-pussy-cat

Edited by David Mack
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5 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I would suggest the multi-meter and knowing how to use it is very high up the priority list. Especially one with a clamp type DC ammeter function.

 

Of all the things that go wrong its seems electrical things are top of the list, especially battery and charging problems. Without a meter to give us readings getting help with problems is likely to be close to zero.

 

Listen to this, not me.

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2 minutes ago, Blob Fish said:

 

That doesn't sound too bad, actually! My experience with regular maintenance (I am a bit embarrassed to admit), aside from tech stuff, is with merely with bicycles...but y'know, when you have a 20+ mile (rainy) commute, you are forever having to check this, grease that, pump up tires etc. It feels good actually to have that routine, and do something with your hands. :) And since we'd like to CC, I imagine there will be a lot of regular maintenance to do and things to check on a boat!!

 

Thanks again!! If you don't mind me asking, was there anything that surprised you in your first year, wish you'd been aware of? 

 

Anyone capable of cycling 20+ miles on a daily commute should take to a boat like a duck to water . . .

 

One thing we found that we didn't need was a washing machine - mainly through considerations of space and power consumption.

Regular visits to the nearest launderette in a variety of different towns became a welcome social diversion. Laundry facilities vary immensely some small ones are to be found in canal-side pubs whilst those in towns are often close to the main shops.

 

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1 minute ago, NB Alnwick said:

Laundry facilities vary immensely some small ones are to be found in canal-side pubs whilst those in towns are often close to the main shops.

 

There's one in the pub at Fenny, isn't there? Not sure that I have seen another.

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7 minutes ago, Blob Fish said:

Thanks again!! If you don't mind me asking, was there anything that surprised you in your first year, wish you'd been aware of? 

 

Wish I'd known not to offer the asking price. But in general just boat bumping. Holiday makers have bumped us quite a few times over the summer, I think it helps to just be friendly and ask if they're okay. Then we bumped some boats initially, with responses ranging from friendly to unfriendly. Turns out that when a sign says 'go slowly', don't go so slowly that the wind is going to push you into a moored boat.

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4 minutes ago, Athy said:

There's one in the pub at Fenny, isn't there? Not sure that I have seen another.

Yes - the Wharf Inn at Fenny Compton is brilliant - there was one at the Brasenose in Cropredy but we do not know if the new operators will provide the same facility. Some marinas also advertise laundry facilities.

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A postcode for deliveries of everything you find you need asap

Torches

Good boots that won't slip on mud or ice. 

Two goat chains and a good lump hammer.

Five bags of coal for boats, three nets of logs, plus three packs of firelighters and three packs of kindling plus three boxes of matches.

Clean the fuel tank, ie remove diesel, debris and water, if any found, add some diesel, repeat. Change fuel filter. More diesel. Diesel additive with upper cylinder lubricant, this will also clean the Webasto pump. 

Change engine oil,  oil filter, gearbox fluid, all very specific to your engine. 

Engine de-greaser, some sacrificial brushes, including tooth, plenty of paper towels. 

Sacrificial jeans, T shirt, and some sort of gloves. Black bags. 

A good pocket knife two BW  ie CRT keys (see leapfrogging) and two Cork float balls. 

Soap.

You might well need new batteries if cc and boat has been in a marina for the last ten years, just make sure your starter battery is isolated from domestic, or your engine won't start one rather cold and miserable morning when you are on a muddy towpath five miles from anywhere.

Stanley knife and junior hacksaw, hammer and chisel to remove sleeping bag welded to your propshaft. 

A bottle of malt for the guy who actually came to your rescue when stranded with said sleeping bag. 

Folks won't take cash for helping you out, so you need a few presents, Stella Artois x4 or  Guinness Original  x4, Laphroaig Select x1, Red wine x1, White wine x1. A £5 note for the guy who came to service the engine, and knew what he was doing. 

You're first day cruising will be so exciting you will leave your BW key in the lock, but you are going so slowly anyone can catch you up on foot. Put phone number on float. 

My daily check is engine oil, engine coolant, I believe the greaser should be turned while engine is running. check belt tension. 

Monthly check, all hoses, and look in the prop area, I suppose I should check gearbox oil. 

Annual check change everything previously mentioned, but not belt if I good condition. Plus grease nipples (rudder). 

 

Immediately before setting out on a river make sure you have diesel, and nothing wrapped round the prop (weed hatch).

Anchor should be attached to boat. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by LadyG
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1 hour ago, Thomas C King said:

We're still in our first year, over which we have accumulated:

 

- Basic spanner/wrench set

- A ratchet wrench

- A large wench for gas cannisters

- Basic small screwdriver set for electrics

- An electric multi-meter

- First aid kit

- Wire stripper and crimper

- Tool box

- Spare coolant

- A pot of stern gland grease

- Portable washing machine

- Windlass, hammers, mooring pins, CaRT key, etc.

- Hose

 

Of those, probably the electric ones aren't so important unless you're planning on wiring something up. Some more experienced people might have more to add, but that's what we've needed to use in our first year.

Is your partner aware of this?? :)

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