Living Aboard - Mooring and a Land Hobby?

[LadyG]

Erm, not sure about this, a wide beam is sort of halfway to a narrowboat. Are you sure?

 

[Halkyon]

Or a narrowboat is half a widebeam? I don't know what you mean. 😁

[LadyG]

18 minutes ago, Halkyon said:

Or a narrowboat is half a widebeam? I don't know what you mean. 😁

I have a narrowboat on a wide canal. Yes it is narrow, but it's a boat rather than a floating flat. Why do you want to live on a boat,  its inconvenient? Just ask8ng?

[blackrose]

15 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I have a narrowboat on a wide canal. Yes it is narrow, but it's a boat rather than a floating flat. 

 

I have a widebeam on a river. It's also a boat which has cruised more canals, rivers and tideways than most narrowboats.

[Tacet]

5 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

I have a widebeam on a river. It's also a boat which has cruised more canals, rivers and tideways than most narrowboats.

In the last 10 years, has Blackrose travelled (by water) anywhere other than part of the Warwickshire Avon and part of the Nene?

[Ianws]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

I have a narrowboat on a wide canal. Yes it is narrow, but it's a boat rather than a floating flat. Why do you want to live on a boat,  its inconvenient? Just ask8ng?

You live on a boat. Is that inconvenient? Could add "just asking" if I wanted to be a pain. Not sure why you posted what you did. 

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

10 hours ago, Halkyon said:

Three more viewings to come over the next week, we're really looking for the boat at the right price that we have to remove the least from and refit to make it "ours". I hope to meet some of you on the Kennet & Avon or Thames this year. Was watching videos about how calorifiers work today...

 Most will be hoping not to meet you with another widebeam on the K&A, You sound like you’ll be just like the other widebeam owners with a car, just moving from bridge to bridge and not moving far. Living the Dream 🤔 

Edited March 26 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[Halkyon]

46 minutes ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

 Most will be hoping not to meet you with another widebeam on the K&A, You sound like you’ll be just like the other widebeam owners with a car, just moving from bridge to bridge and not moving far. Living the Dream 🤔 

 

Well - it won't be a new boat - we'll be replacing people already there!

 

I do hope we can get good at planning and don't need to hang around a particular area too much. I fancy cruising.

Edited March 26 by Halkyon

[LadyG]

9 hours ago, Ianws said:

You live on a boat. Is that inconvenient? Could add "just asking" if I wanted to be a pain. Not sure why you posted what you did. 

Well for people who have only ever lived in a house many things will be very different. Things like electricity generation, battery management, ongoing maintenance,  water, sewage, shopping (I get mine delivered) rubbish disposal,  limited storage.

You need things like mooring pins, chains, fenders,, handcuff keys, windlass, but these are usually left on board when you buy second hand.

I've been living on a boat for five years, cc for four, but even though I had lots of salty water experience, i found the boat very complex, mind you, I've learnt that this particular boat is complex.

11 hours ago, Halkyon said:

Or a narrowboat is half a widebeam? I don't know what you mean. 😁

Sorry, just a bit of a joke, not meant to be taken seriously. I see you intend to stay on the K&A, so a widebeam will be fine.

Edited March 26 by LadyG

[Lady M]

If you had cruised the K&A, perhaps your final sentence would be a bit different.

[Alan de Enfield]

31 minutes ago, Halkyon said:

Well - it won't be a new boat - we'll be replacing people already there!

 

If you are only intending to consider boats already on the K&A you are severley restricting your options - and - prices are generally considerably higher in the 'South' when compared to the Midlands and North.

 

Your perfect boat maybe available 'just around the corner' & at the price you want to pay, but, because you are only looking in a very localised area you'll miss it.

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

37 minutes ago, Halkyon said:

 

Well - it won't be a new boat - we'll be replacing people already there!

 

I do hope we can get good at planning and don't need to hang around a particular area too much. I fancy cruising.

People that fancy cruising don’t have a widebeam or a car. People that have a widebeam and a car still want the “house” life but on the water.

Edited March 26 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[Halkyon]

2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

If you are only intending to consider boats already on the K&A you are severley restricting your options - and - prices are generally considerably higher in the 'South' when compared to the Midlands and North.

 

Your perfect boat maybe available 'just around the corner' & at the price you want to pay, but, because you are only looking in a very localised area you'll miss it.

 

We have gone to view some further up north relative to us (midlands) and they were £20-30k more which wasn't really what we expected. We'll be off to London in a couple of days to view one that is cheaper than some on the K&A. Not sure what is going on with the market in some areas right now!

[Alan de Enfield]

23 minutes ago, Halkyon said:

 

We have gone to view some further up north relative to us (midlands) and they were £20-30k more which wasn't really what we expected. We'll be off to London in a couple of days to view one that is cheaper than some on the K&A. Not sure what is going on with the market in some areas right now!

 

 

You do need to balance the price and when comparing boats consider :

Age

Size

Condition

 

Just as an example a 15 year old boat will not require an 'insurance survey' a 20 year old may, and pretty definitely a 25 year old boat will.

As boats age the insurers will insist on a condition survey before issuing cover. It will then become subject to a new survey every X years (X varies by insurer.

 

A boat with 10,000 hours MAY be getting near end of life and require an expensive rebuild, or, engine replacement.

 

Condition - are there any service records, has it been serviced regularly ? Is there any damp ? etc

 

In some respects the original manufacturer is not a determiner of price - it is the care and attention it has received in the intervening years. You can buy a good 1980 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow for ~£6000, or you can buy a good 1995 Ford Escort for £5995.

Which has the better build quality ?

[Halkyon]

13 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

You do need to balance the price and when comparing boats consider :

Age

Size

Condition

 

Just as an example a 15 year old boat will not require an 'insurance survey' a 20 year old may, and pretty definitely a 25 year old boat will.

As boats age the insurers will insist on a condition survey before issuing cover. It will then become subject to a new survey every X years (X varies by insurer.

 

A boat with 10,000 hours MAY be getting near end of life and require an expensive rebuild, or, engine replacement.

 

Condition - are there any service records, has it been serviced regularly ? Is there any damp ? etc

 

In some respects the original manufacturer is not a determiner of price - it is the care and attention it has received in the intervening years. You can buy a good 1980 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow for ~£6000, or you can buy a good 1995 Ford Escort for £5995.

Which has the better build quality ?

 

Thanks, I understand all of this. One thing I didn't expect going in was how significant the age is on price regardless of condition. The depreciation curve is pretty brutal! I suppose that can be read as "an increasing probability of something going wrong", although to continue to car analogy I'd rather have the exceptionally well cared for 100,000 mile one than the 10,000 mile one that has never had an oil change.

 

And for the record I wouldn't take the Rolls or the Ford but perhaps a Rover P6. 😁

  

53 minutes ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

People that fancy cruising don’t have a widebeam or a car. People that have a widebeam and a car still want the “house” life but on the water.

 

It will be useful to know this prejudice exists when dealing with other boaters, thanks. Given the need to engage with wider society to some extent and the appalling state of public transport, I don't see a way around having a car.

Edited March 26 by Halkyon

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

10 minutes ago, Halkyon said:

 

It will be useful to know this prejudice exists when dealing with other boaters, thanks. Given the need to engage with wider society to some extent and the appalling state of public transport, I don't see a way around having a car.

Not prejudice but facts, looks like you may be in for a bit of a wake up call once the “Rose Tinted” glasses are off.

 You don’t need a car to live life on the Canals, you move your boat to towns and you walk/bus/train if you need to, , but as I said you sound like you’ll be like of the majority of new widebeam owners with a car, move little and not very far as you need to move the car back next to your boat so you can drive to Tesco’s for your shopping and please no unimpressed Emojis as I’m talking reality not your “Rosy & Jim” Youtube Vloggers dream reality you’ve been watching for the last 2 years.

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, Lady M said:

If you had cruised the K&A, perhaps your final sentence would be a bit different.

Is that for me.?

As OP has said the boat is already there, so no difference to existing problems,

Of course it wont make any difference to me. ' cos im not on that waterway , and if i was i assume my narrowboat would be less problematic. 

It's a NiMBY approach.

Edited March 26 by LadyG

[MtB]

9 minutes ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

Not prejudice but facts, looks like you may be in for a bit of a wake up call once the “Rose Tinted” glasses are off.

 You don’t need a car to live life on the Canals, you move your boat to towns and you walk/bus/train if you need to, , but as I said you sound like you’ll be like of the majority of new widebeam owners with a car, move little and not very far as you need to move the car back next to your boat so you can drive to Tesco’s for your shopping and please no unimpressed Emojis as I’m talking reality not your “Rosy & Jim” Youtube Vloggers dream reality you’ve been watching for the last 2 years.

 

Spoken like a true retired or jobless boater! 

 

There is no way I could hold down my job without a vehicle.

 

 

[David Schweizer]

1 hour ago, Lady M said:

If you had cruised the K&A, perhaps your final sentence would be a bit different.

 

Agreeed, I live only a couple of miles from the K&A, and moored on it for several winters, cruising out to the Thames and beyond over the summer. During that time, I came to the conclusion that the K&A is not a wide canal, but a narrow canal with wide locks.

Edited March 26 by David Schweizer

[LadyG]

Welcome to the forum,  OP has already proved capable of  holdng their own ( some newbies might be deterred by the naysayers), lol.

I expect OP has found the post for newbies on here, and will manage to live on a widebeam while still interacting with normal folks in the wider world.

Edited March 26 by LadyG

[Halkyon]

28 minutes ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

Not prejudice but facts, looks like you may be in for a bit of a wake up call once the “Rose Tinted” glasses are off.

 You don’t need a car to live life on the Canals, you move your boat to towns and you walk/bus/train if you need to, , but as I said you sound like you’ll be like of the majority of new widebeam owners with a car, move little and not very far as you need to move the car back next to your boat so you can drive to Tesco’s for your shopping and please no unimpressed Emojis as I’m talking reality not your “Rosy & Jim” Youtube Vloggers dream reality you’ve been watching for the last 2 years.

 

You make a lot of assumptions.

 

Good to know that it's possible to live without it though. Unfortunately my work is only 99% remote and we have family and friends attached to their brick and mortar.

Edited March 26 by Halkyon

[LadyG]

1 minute ago, Halkyon said:

 

You make a lot of assumptions.

You've nailed that! 😃😃😃😃😃

Edited March 26 by LadyG

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

Spoken like a true retired or jobless boater! 

 

There is no way I could hold down my job without a vehicle.

 

 

Retired and found that I didn’t need a car after I got the boat sorted when I bought it, so it was sold and I just walk everywhere and only buy what I can carry. Not having a car hasn’t been a massive problem to my life afloat, but many have never tried it without one. Yes if you need one for and to work that is different.

1 hour ago, Halkyon said:

 

You make a lot of assumptions.

 

Good to know that it's possible to live without it though. Unfortunately my work is only 99% remote and we have family and friends attached to their brick and mortar.

And you sound with what you have written that you’ll fall into the widebeam boater category that I’ve talked about, not assumptions but just picking up on your posts.

Edited March 26 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[ditchcrawler]

4 hours ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

 Most will be hoping not to meet you with another widebeam on the K&A, You sound like you’ll be just like the other widebeam owners with a car, just moving from bridge to bridge and not moving far. Living the Dream 🤔 

O look another new member, lets make him feel welcome 

[LadyG]

55 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

O look another new member, lets make him feel welcome 

Edited March 26 by LadyG
Stuck in a loop, but anyway, welcome to the forum