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Is my timing right?


WhiteSuit

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About ten years ago my wife and I upgraded from our first holiday boat (a bit like camping on water) to a boat we could truly live on board throughout the year. It was part of the grand plan to retire early and spend a lot of our time exploring this wonderful country from the waterways. At the time our surveyor valued our boat at five grand more than we paid for it and forecast a shortage of boats if we left our decision any later. That prediction has definitely come true.

We holidayed on the boat till we finished working. In our first four years of retirement we lived the dream, spending four to six months aboard. Not bad considering covid shortened our access to the boat. In that time we have extensively cruised the midlands, the south, and started on the north west. We moved our mooring up north to tackle the cross pennine routes etc which meant the boat is over four hours travelling time from home. As our family situation has changed with an unexpected grandchild and Judy's parents needing more help we only managed a three week holiday on the boat last year. I was given permission to solo cruise for long periods with Judy joining me when able but I didn't like the loneliness. We have now made the hard decision to sell the boat and look for new adventures. This was exascerbated by continual closure/stoppage notices from CRT and the changing attitudes of (some) other boaters. The decision was eased by the brokers valuation, so we embarked on our final cruise to the brokers to sell.

We were not looking forward to this final week's cruise, for one thing we were moving to a target which has not been our way since selling our share in a boat twenty years ago. I don't know if I was looking for reasons to justify our decision but moving back towards the midlands showed up a few. 

Due to long hours on the tiller we got through just before an emergency stoppage by CRT. Needless to say it was caused by them not repairing a paddle for two years because the other one was working!

We arrived at the bottom of Glascote at the back of a queue following a closure there. With nothing coming down, a woman came down from the top lock to say if no one helped her through the lock we would all be held up???????? We enjoy locks, Judy ended up working the top one while I worked the bottom one for about 8 boats till our turn to go through whilst others sat around and chatted. One guy carried his windlass up and chatted with me without doing any work, then said he would see me tomorrow at Atherstone where he was a volockie!!! Takes all sorts.

Coming back down the Coventry to see far more stationary dwellings. Also surprised to see expensive quality boats that had been sold recently, rapidly degenerating with peeling paint under a wood store. 

Don't get me wrong we met some lovely people on this trip, locking has always presented the opportunity to find new friends, it just seems attitudes change. There are a lot of good people in the world and some not so, you just never know which ones you are going to meet.

 

To conclude, the boat sold within a few hours of going onto brokerage leaving us with a return that more than covers ten years of maintainance but it's not all about the money. We have loved the boating life, the waterways, and our experiences over the last twenty five years. I am incredibly sad to have given it up before I am ready but I worry that the system is in decline. I do not look to the future of the waterways with the same rose tinted specs I had all those years ago.

 

On the other hand maybe that's just old age and cynicism.

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15 minutes ago, WhiteSuit said:

I am incredibly sad to have given it up before I am ready but I worry that the system is in decline. I do not look to the future of the waterways with the same rose tinted specs I had all those years ago.

 

On the other hand maybe that's just old age and cynicism.

 

You are not alone, many of us can see the writing on the wall for the Canals under C&RTs management, and have left C&RTs waters.

 

I'm sure will adjust and wish you the best for which ever way life takes you.

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An interesting post and I agree with much of your feelings about the canal system.

I had a mooring in the North,and was a purely leisure boater, with odd weeks or more away.

If you look back over some previous posts about the Northern waterways, you will see a disproportional number of stoppages.(Broken lock gear, low water levels and once for me,a three week stoppage on the HNC because of silted up lock gates.three weeks!!!)

At one point because of stoppages on the HNC and the Hudds Broad, I couldn't cruise anywhere but simply gave the boat a wash and made a cup of tea and watched a bit of telly.

It occured to me that I could do this in my garden shed, without the expence!

Presently boatless, but still hanker after one, but I will wait and see what happens with the boat market and the canal system before taking the plunge into boat ownership again.

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55 minutes ago, WhiteSuit said:

About ten years ago my wife and I upgraded from our first holiday boat (a bit like camping on water) to a boat we could truly live on board throughout the year. It was part of the grand plan to retire early and spend a lot of our time exploring this wonderful country from the waterways. At the time our surveyor valued our boat at five grand more than we paid for it and forecast a shortage of boats if we left our decision any later. That prediction has definitely come true.

We holidayed on the boat till we finished working. In our first four years of retirement we lived the dream, spending four to six months aboard. Not bad considering covid shortened our access to the boat. In that time we have extensively cruised the midlands, the south, and started on the north west. We moved our mooring up north to tackle the cross pennine routes etc which meant the boat is over four hours travelling time from home. As our family situation has changed with an unexpected grandchild and Judy's parents needing more help we only managed a three week holiday on the boat last year. I was given permission to solo cruise for long periods with Judy joining me when able but I didn't like the loneliness. We have now made the hard decision to sell the boat and look for new adventures. This was exascerbated by continual closure/stoppage notices from CRT and the changing attitudes of (some) other boaters. The decision was eased by the brokers valuation, so we embarked on our final cruise to the brokers to sell.

We were not looking forward to this final week's cruise, for one thing we were moving to a target which has not been our way since selling our share in a boat twenty years ago. I don't know if I was looking for reasons to justify our decision but moving back towards the midlands showed up a few. 

Due to long hours on the tiller we got through just before an emergency stoppage by CRT. Needless to say it was caused by them not repairing a paddle for two years because the other one was working!

We arrived at the bottom of Glascote at the back of a queue following a closure there. With nothing coming down, a woman came down from the top lock to say if no one helped her through the lock we would all be held up???????? We enjoy locks, Judy ended up working the top one while I worked the bottom one for about 8 boats till our turn to go through whilst others sat around and chatted. One guy carried his windlass up and chatted with me without doing any work, then said he would see me tomorrow at Atherstone where he was a volockie!!! Takes all sorts.

Coming back down the Coventry to see far more stationary dwellings. Also surprised to see expensive quality boats that had been sold recently, rapidly degenerating with peeling paint under a wood store. 

Don't get me wrong we met some lovely people on this trip, locking has always presented the opportunity to find new friends, it just seems attitudes change. There are a lot of good people in the world and some not so, you just never know which ones you are going to meet.

 

To conclude, the boat sold within a few hours of going onto brokerage leaving us with a return that more than covers ten years of maintainance but it's not all about the money. We have loved the boating life, the waterways, and our experiences over the last twenty five years. I am incredibly sad to have given it up before I am ready but I worry that the system is in decline. I do not look to the future of the waterways with the same rose tinted specs I had all those years ago.

 

On the other hand maybe that's just old age and cynicism.

 

When we decided to sell our boat in 2015 we decided not to move our boat from the North to the brokers at Weedon but rather we paid to have it moved.

 

One reason was that I was concerned that I might enjoy the trip and would start to regret our decision to sell the thing having wrestled with the decision for so long. Once we decided to sell it I just wanted to wave it off with somebody else at the tiller.

 

We fell out of boat ownership and not boating itself so havent regretted selling. We returned to caravanning something which we did previously and have seen more of the UK (and Europe) than we ever saw as boaters.

 

I do occasionally have a dip into the brokers web sites to browse boats but it would take a lot to tempt me back as a licence paying owner given what you often read on here. Particularly about the Northern parts of the system.

 

Plus the first mate is developing some slight mobility issues due to a long standing back problem so that would influence any choice including what we do even regards hiring again.

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, WhiteSuit said:

 

We arrived at the bottom of Glascote at the back of a queue following a closure there. With nothing coming down, a woman came down from the top lock to say if no one helped her through the lock we would all be held up???????? We enjoy locks, Judy ended up working the top one while I worked the bottom one for about 8 boats till our turn to go through whilst others sat around and chatted. One guy carried his windlass up and chatted with me without doing any work, then said he would see me tomorrow at Atherstone where he was a volockie!!!

 

This is the least surprising thing in your post.

Edited by doratheexplorer
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The declining state of the waterways, lack of maintenance, complete lack of enforcement and the ever expanding population of those choosing to ignore the CC requirements were all a major part of the reasoning behind us selling NC last year. We had become tired of it.

 

In the 13 years we had the boat we made some great memories and made some fantastic friends. We are lucky in that we still have a great many boating friends so we can just drop in and have a "boaty" weekend should we want one and we will when we fancy (and when we have time) hire boats for holidays.

 

We sold our boat very quickly for over the asking price and with no survey, so we were pleased with the outcome. Although we got more than we wanted for the boat we did end up having to spend a bit more on the motorhome than we wanted too due to a complete lack of stock available for the model that we wanted to buy.

 

Although we do still spend a lot of time by the water with the van, we don't for one second regret selling the boat. The time had come to move on and do something different. We are seeing more of the country now then we ever could with the boat.

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13 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

One reason was that I was concerned that I might enjoy the trip and would start to regret our decision to sell the thing having wrestled with the decision for so long. Once we decided to sell it I just wanted to wave it off with somebody else at the tiller.

That was a definite feeling I had beforehand, in fact it reaffirmed the decision. We did think we might want to choose to hire at sometime in the future on a new to us canal. You can have a lot of hires for the annual cost of ownership.

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2 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

The declining state of the waterways, lack of maintenance, complete lack of enforcement and the ever expanding population of those choosing to ignore the CC requirements were all a major part of the reasoning behind us selling NC last year. We had become tired of it.

 

In the 13 years we had the boat we made some great memories and made some fantastic friends. We are lucky in that we still have a great many boating friends so we can just drop in and have a "boaty" weekend should we want one and we will when we fancy (and when we have time) hire boats for holidays.

 

We sold our boat very quickly for over the asking price and with no survey, so we were pleased with the outcome. Although we got more than we wanted for the boat we did end up having to spend a bit more on the motorhome than we wanted too due to a complete lack of stock available for the model that we wanted to buy.

 

Although we do still spend a lot of time by the water with the van, we don't for one second regret selling the boat. The time had come to move on and do something different. We are seeing more of the country now then we ever could with the boat.

We are doing very similar to yourselves having just bought a motorhome. It is a very different lifestyle that requires more planning and less spontaneity than boating. AND I hate paying to park up😱

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I met someone last week who said she'd found one of the Glascote locks impossible to work on her own. I can't say I found them particularly difficult, but sometimes being over six foot gives a bloke more leverage than shorter folk have.

As for the rest of it, yes, a few apparently static boats but again no worse than usual and a few arrogant selfish buggers - the one on a rather fine wooden cruiser (last seen at Gt Haywood) playing dreadful music at a colossal volume and making a mile or two of rather nice piling uninhabitable stands out, but generally about the same as ever.

I have noticed fewer people walk up a line of boats to help with locking - maybe a hangover from Covid? I don't mind; if they want to watch me taking my time, I just indulge them by slowing down a bit.

I don't find singlehanding lonely - both me and my wife enjoy the time apart as much as the time together. Maybe that's just us though.

It's not as much fun as it was thirty years ago, but, to be honest, not much is. Not sure whether that's the canal system, current British culture, the fact I've read so many books I'm running out of authors to try, or I'm just getting old.

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6 minutes ago, WhiteSuit said:

We are doing very similar to yourselves having just bought a motorhome. It is a very different lifestyle that requires more planning and less spontaneity than boating. AND I hate paying to park up😱

You are clearly doing it very differently to us :lol:

 

The vast majority of our park ups are free and we just jump in the van on a whim and head out.

 

We are finding it far less restrictive than the boat. With the boat we could of course only go where the river would take us. With the van we have almost limitless places we can head out the for the weekend within an hour or so of home and have far more choice of places to go for longer holidays.

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26 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I met someone last week who said she'd found one of the Glascote locks impossible to work on her own.

She wasn't on her own!

 

26 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I don't find singlehanding lonely - both me and my wife enjoy the time apart as much as the time together. Maybe that's just us though.

I don't find it lonely whilst cruising or doing stuff (as there always lots of stuff to do on a boat) but after weeks in the downtimes. My problem as I don't read much, in fact normally only on the boat

Unlike yourself I don't play an instrument either, attempted guitar but for the sake of everyone with ears I parked that thought.

 

 

ps recognise your description of the cruiser but never moored near

 

 

8 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Loved these free park ups:

 

Balintore Harbour

20211005_125916.jpg.e8473c77ef4616186007fdfd5341d2a3.jpg

 

Fosdyke Bridge, River Welland

 

20220601_202758.jpg.d53893b9f1fa40bf669c624a24739078.jpg

Nice

 

defo need more practice

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4 minutes ago, WhiteSuit said:

defo need more practice

We decided from the outset that we would be spending most of our time in the van "off grid"

 

We do use sites if and when we have to but on the whole we find it more enjoyable and quieter off sites. 

 

We are heading to the Isle of Wight in a couple of weeks and of the 9 nights we are out, 3 will be on sites. The first night we get onto the island, one mid week to empty and refill the relevant tanks and one when we get back to the mainland again, but that's only because we want to visit Diddly Squat on the way home so need to be somewhere nearby otherwise we wouldn't have bothered with that one.

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2 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

We decided from the outset that we would be spending most of our time in the van "off grid"

 

We do use sites if and when we have to but on the whole we find it more enjoyable and quieter off sites. 

 

We are heading to the Isle of Wight in a couple of weeks and of the 9 nights we are out, 3 will be on sites. The first night we get onto the island, one mid week to empty and refill the relevant tanks and one when we get back to the mainland again, but that's only because we want to visit Diddly Squat on the way home so need to be somewhere nearby otherwise we wouldn't have bothered with that one.

Interested to know how you research places, we tend to use 5 van cl type sites where possible but seem to find lots of no overnight parking/sleeping signage. Scotland is different and we will wild camp when we head up there with a similar usage system to you.

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41 minutes ago, WhiteSuit said:

Interested to know how you research places, we tend to use 5 van cl type sites where possible but seem to find lots of no overnight parking/sleeping signage. Scotland is different and we will wild camp when we head up there with a similar usage system to you.

There are loads of apps available for finding park ups. We mainly use Search for Sites and Park 4 Night but we also have some places that we know about from previous visits by boat or car.

 

Speaking to other van owners you also get to know their favourite park ups and secret park ups that are not on the apps.

 

We have quite a few to try out this year.

 

Unfortunately there are more no overnight parking signs and height barriers being installed but there are still loads of places that you can park.

 

Scotland was amazing. We had 16 nights up there last year and only needed to be on a site for 1. There are loads of places to deal with the tanks along the way and it is far better set up for motorhoming that England is.

 

That said more places do seem to be opening in England, councils do seem to be cottoning onto the motorhome tourism idea. 

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OP, only you can really decide if the timing is right.

 

We are fortunate to have a caravan as well as a narrow boat. We use the caravan in summer and the boat the rest of the year.

Soon we are off to Delamere Forest with the van for a few days. The van has the advantage of enabling visits to "The Port" and the "Canal Bookshop" at Audlem without taking a week or two to get there.

Having an avid historical interest in "our" canals helps me maintain my enthusiasm.

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1 hour ago, WhiteSuit said:

She wasn't on her own!

 

I don't find it lonely whilst cruising or doing stuff (as there always lots of stuff to do on a boat) but after weeks in the downtimes. My problem as I don't read much, in fact normally only on the boat

Unlike yourself I don't play an instrument either, attempted guitar but for the sake of everyone with ears I parked that thought.

 

 

ps recognise your description of the cruiser but never moored nearn

It's certainly changed over the years. Three years ago I too was at the point of giving up, mostly due to it getting harder and harder to find quiet spots to stay.

This last trip I've hardly played an instrument, it being nigh on impossible to do so without the risk of spoiling someone else's peace and quiet (trombones and trumpets aren't the quietest of things) although knackering mine never seems to bother most other people. I do read a lot, I average a book a day.

An early morning run through the countryside still makes me smile though, but I'm taking it a year at a time now, and won't miss it much when it goes. There was a time I thought I'd never tire of playing music professionally, but I don't miss that either. There's lots of good stuff to do while we're on the planet.

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1 hour ago, Naughty Cal said:

We decided from the outset that we would be spending most of our time in the van "off grid"

 

We do use sites if and when we have to but on the whole we find it more enjoyable and quieter off sites. 

 

We are heading to the Isle of Wight in a couple of weeks and of the 9 nights we are out, 3 will be on sites. The first night we get onto the island, one mid week to empty and refill the relevant tanks and one when we get back to the mainland again, but that's only because we want to visit Diddly Squat on the way home so need to be somewhere nearby otherwise we wouldn't have bothered with that one.

 

As an Isle of Wight resident I'd be interested on where plan to go 'off grid'.

 

(Not a complaint, just curious)

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1 hour ago, Victor Vectis said:

 

As an Isle of Wight resident I'd be interested on where plan to go 'off grid'.

 

(Not a complaint, just curious)

A small car park in Ryde, A small car park at Bembridge Harbour, Black Gang, Compton, and Fort Victoria.

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11 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

A small car park in Ryde, A small car park at Bembridge Harbour, Black Gang, Compton, and Fort Victoria.

 

Thanks for that.

I think I know the Bembridge car park but I can't picture anywhere in Ryde that isn't pay parking, hasn't got 'No overnight parking' signs or a height barrier.

The reason I asked is when travelling about I sometimes think 'If we had a motorhome instead of the boat could we park it here overnight?'

And as for outside our house........sorry, double yellow lines.

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4 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

 

Thanks for that.

I think I know the Bembridge car park but I can't picture anywhere in Ryde that isn't pay parking, hasn't got 'No overnight parking' signs or a height barrier.

The reason I asked is when travelling about I sometimes think 'If we had a motorhome instead of the boat could we park it here overnight?'

And as for outside our house........sorry, double yellow lines.

I will send you a picture when we get parked up in Ryde.

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5 hours ago, WhiteSuit said:

That was a definite feeling I had beforehand, in fact it reaffirmed the decision. We did think we might want to choose to hire at sometime in the future on a new to us canal. You can have a lot of hires for the annual cost of ownership.

 

Things may have changed but I worked out a few years ago that for me ownership worked out at about the same cost as five weeks hiring through the year. Of course as an owner you get the fun of troubleshooting and fixing problems, and doing your own maintenance, so there's that.

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