Hi All

[Alan de Enfield]

6 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Not really marinas are commercial electric which often cost more than domestic, they also have a green levy to contend with if usage is to high 

5kws does all my needs from late January until early December 

 

But please explain to the newbie how he can get 5Kw of solar on his chosen 55 foot NARROWBOAT !

[dmr]

2 hours ago, PD1964 said:

Yes, there’s the official Residential Moorings and often you will get others taking the pi$$ living on their boats and this often causes confrontation with both parties. Official residential will have all the benefits, so no need to hide under the radar which makes claiming for benefits, doctors/dentists much easier. If it’s an official residential, registered with the local council, paying Council Tax, it will be like a house and your daughter will be able to claim as far as I’m aware. If it’s not it could get complicated and cause trouble for you and the Marina operator.

  My Marina has got people under the radar, but no-one is claiming benefits, the Marina operator makes it clear that no-one can claim or they will be out, everyone knows this and adhere’s to it. If you said you were claiming benefits you would not be offered a mooring.

 Where are you looking to moor?

  

 

There are people who have claimed various benefits living on a towpath non residential mooring, and many CCers claiming all sorts of benefits. I suspect these things are quite localised so it depends on where you are and how good you are at working with the system. For example, on the K&A Bath and North East Somerset are good at handling boaters claims because they have a lot and the council are supportive,. Elewhere it might be much more difficult.

You don't need an address to sign on with a doctor, but unfortuneately many surgeries will create huge obstacles to people with no fixed address.

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

16 minutes ago, mightyslay3r said:

mmm, true... but i shouldnt have to hook up to electric through the summer months (7 months) which should be a massive saving compared to mains electric in a house i would have thought...

 

Check out your propsed marina electric charges - marinas do not have the protection of capped charges and pay 'commercial rates'. Some moorers have been hit with charges of 60p+ per unit. I pay 28p per unit at home.

 

Please do not fall for the newspaper articles saying boating is a cheap way of living.

[mightyslay3r]

28 minutes ago, cheesegas said:

To expand on this - 1kw of solar and 200ah of lithium batteries will provide all the power you need from mid Feb until November. It'll also be enough to use an electric kettle and toaster for probably 5 of those 8 months; I've just dusted off mine.

 

(when I say all the power you need, that's living in off grid mode - no TV, Xbox, desktop PC, electric heaters etc. My usage in winter is around 1kwh a day.)

 

However, the solar yields in winter are low, even if your marina has no trees or building blocking sunlight. You'll need to plug into the marina power for the remaining 4 months as Alan said, like it or not. From 1kw of panels, you'll average 0.3-0.4kwh per day; compare this to summer, when it's nearer 10 times that.

yup, fully understand that.. but i think 1 laptop & 1 small 12v tv will be enough... everything else on gas.. besides mobile phone charging

16 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Check out your propsed marina electric charges - marinas do not have the protection of capped charges and pay 'commercial rates'. Some moorers have been hit with charges of 60p+ per unit. I pay 28p per unit at home.

 

Please do not fall for the newspaper articles saying boating is a cheap way of living.

even if it turns out to cost the same to live on a boat compared to bricks & mortar Alan... its the lifestyle change benefits we want...  

[LadyG]

23 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

There are people who have claimed various benefits living on a towpath non residential mooring, and many CCers claiming all sorts of benefits. I suspect these things are quite localised so it depends on where you are and how good you are at working with the system. For example, on the K&A Bath and North East Somerset are good at handling boaters claims because they have a lot and the council are supportive,. Elewhere it might be much more difficult.

You don't need an address to sign on with a doctor, but unfortuneately many surgeries will create huge obstacles to people with no fixed address.

 

 

Wrt Doctors, I have one from a time moored next to a marina with liveaboards, I gave my address as the marina, the Dr s were used to this, then next time I moved to another place I registered as a temp which is three months, so I still have my original GP. Best to keep records with the postcodes  . Best not to volunteer info.

Edited February 26, 2023 by LadyG

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, mightyslay3r said:

even if it turns out to cost the same to live on a boat compared to bricks & mortar Alan... its the lifestyle change benefits we want...  

 

No problem - we just want you to go into it thinking you can 'live off solar' and 'its cheaper than running a house'.

[mightyslay3r]

9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

No problem - we just want you to go into it thinking you can 'live off solar' and 'its cheaper than running a house'.

thank you all... i've learned so much so far & only been a member 2 days... amazing... 

[dmr]

13 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Wrt Doctors, I have one from a time moored next to a marina with liveaboards, I gave my address as the marina, the Dr s were used to this, then next time I moved to another place I registered as a temp which is three months, so I still have my original GP. Best to keep records with the postcodes  . Best not to volunteer info.

 

I have a lovely GP who provides a superb telephone service, trouble is they are in Wiltshire and I am more in Yorkshire these days. They are good for many reasons, but the ex chief doctor used to live on a boat which probable helped. I am struggling to sign on with a good local surgery. One of their issues is "how would we do a home visit if you were miles away on your boat"  😀

[peterboat]

46 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

But please explain to the newbie how he can get 5Kw of solar on his chosen 55 foot NARROWBOAT !

He can't I was showing him how much it required to do it, as well as pointing out how expensive commercial electric can be

[Tony Brooks]

9 hours ago, dmr said:

 

I have a lovely GP who provides a superb telephone service, trouble is they are in Wiltshire and I am more in Yorkshire these days. They are good for many reasons, but the ex chief doctor used to live on a boat which probable helped. I am struggling to sign on with a good local surgery. One of their issues is "how would we do a home visit if you were miles away on your boat"  😀

 

Since when did GPs do home visits - these days it sounds like an excuse to me. My housebound neighbour and my SiL who is similar can't even get a Covid or flue jab at home. Just saying what I see and experience.

[dmr]

29 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Since when did GPs do home visits - these days it sounds like an excuse to me. My housebound neighbour and my SiL who is similar can't even get a Covid or flue jab at home. Just saying what I see and experience.

Yes, it was a receptionist making thingd difficult. They also consulted a manager who said the same.   I pointed out that home visits don't happem and they said that they are theoretically possible in certain circumstances. I believe a boater friend signed a disclaimer waiving her rights to a home visit.

 

I think the technique is to get an emergency appointment to see a doctor, most doctors are much better informed than receptionists.

[PD1964]

11 hours ago, dmr said:

You don't need an address to sign on with a doctor, but unfortuneately many surgeries will create huge obstacles to people with no fixed address.

 

10 hours ago, dmr said:

 I am struggling to sign on with a good local surgery. One of their issues is "how would we do a home visit if you were miles away on your boat"  

Your highlighting why it’s easier having an official registered residential mooring, as it  doesn’t seam to be working for you without one. Are you in a Marina or CCing?

Edited February 27, 2023 by PD1964

[MtB]

11 hours ago, dmr said:

One of their issues is "how would we do a home visit if you were miles away on your boat"  😀

 

I guess one answer to this is to run with their assumptions and say "I don't have a home, only a boat. I'm technically homeless. Are homeless people allowed access to a GP? If yes, how does it work with no address?" 

 

And I guess you can turn it round too and ask "As I'm homeless, how would the home visit you are concerned about work for homeless patients?"

 

 

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by MtB
Fiddle with it...

[mightyslay3r]

or "111" maybe....

[cheesegas]

Just now, mightyslay3r said:

or "111" maybe....

111 is useless if you're in a boat in the countryside. They simply won't proceed without a postcode and won't take a What3Words/grid ref/co ordinates etc.

[mightyslay3r]

they usually look for the closest hospital or out of hours service for you to travel to with a specific time when you live in a house... so why not if you are on a boating holiday?

[Arthur Marshall]

13 hours ago, PD1964 said:

“That’s why I’ve only had one boat, but four wives and nine girlfriends in the last 20 years and I’m currently single with eleven Trombones” said Arthur😂👍🎺🎺

I've only got three trombones, it's a forty year timescale and the last wife's still here but otherwise you're not far off!

[dmr]

55 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

 

Your highlighting why it’s easier having an official registered residential mooring, as it  doesn’t seam to be working for you without one. Are you in a Marina or CCing?

 

Thats not entirely true. If you have an address you are tied to the local doctor who might not be much good, but if you CC you can find a really good surgery and register with them, and this can be a huge advantage, its just more difficult to register without an address.

 

I am a CC'er ate heart but have taken a year off to get involved in an interesting project that comes with a mooring, but will be off boating again soon. The local doctors is not very good so I tried to register with a better doctors a little way away.

44 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

I guess one answer to this is to run with their assumptions and say "I don't have a home, only a boat. I'm technically homeless. Are homeless people allowed access to a GP? If yes, how does it work with no address?" 

 

And I guess you can turn it round too and ask "As I'm homeless, how would the home visit you are concerned about work for homeless patients?"

 

 

 

 

If you don't have a fixed address (which is not the same as homeless) then the surgery is obliged to take you on unless they are full.  As a last resort you can use the address of the surgery, but this is not so good for getting letters. The NHS still likes to send out letters but is slowly getting to grips with email.

Another issue is that I do have an "address" but its my step daughter (in fact I think you have visited). The problem is that the surgery then struggles to understand why I want to register in Yorkshire when I "live" in Newbury.

A very specific promlem here is that there are a lot of boaters registered with the surgery but they all have a local address (interesting semi residential moorings) so the surgery struggles to understand that some boats don't have an address.

 

For signing on short term/emergency its common to give the address "The Wharf, LocalTown". In fact we did once get a letter sent to Mrs R, , Vox Stellarum, The Wharf, Hungerford".  We had long since gone but amazingly the letter still got to us via the "towpath telegraph" 😀.

[IanD]

31 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I've only got three trombones, it's a forty year timescale and the last wife's still here but otherwise you're not far off!

Only three trombones -- what kind of musician is that? I know a bloke who has seven tubas... 😉

Edited February 27, 2023 by IanD

[David Mack]

36 minutes ago, IanD said:

Only three trombones -- what kind of musician is that? I know a bloke who has seven tubas... 😉

This is my wife's collection.

[PD1964]

49 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Thats not entirely true. If you have an address you are tied to the local doctor who might not be much good, but if you CC you can find a really good surgery and register with them, and this can be a huge advantage, its just more difficult to register without an address.

 Well it is, as your not registered with a local surgery and they won’t take you on by the sounds of I?

 What you register with a good surgery every 14 days being a good CCer? or are you a good CMoorer?😂

  The OP is after a Marina mooring, an official registered one with the Council will be far better for him with regards to doctors/dentists, than living under the radar. 
 You say you have a good doctor 300 mikes away, that you do phone consultation’s with, not really ideal is it? I take it they’re not that good to do home visits?

  
  

[Laurie Booth]

3 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Since when did GPs do home visits - these days it sounds like an excuse to me. My housebound neighbour and my SiL who is similar can't even get a Covid or flue jab at home. Just saying what I see and experience.

Agree 100% !!!

 

[LadyG]

13 hours ago, dmr said:

 

I have a lovely GP who provides a superb telephone service, trouble is they are in Wiltshire and I am more in Yorkshire these days. They are good for many reasons, but the ex chief doctor used to live on a boat which probable helped. I am struggling to sign on with a good local surgery. One of their issues is "how would we do a home visit if you were miles away on your boat"  😀

You go to another GP practice and register as a temporary patient. You do not mention BOAT. You do ould moor at a marina for one night and register that day.

[mightyslay3r]

it all seems faffy.... if you dont already have ailments, and you are staying within 10 miles of your gp.. why bother changing? even if on the tow path...

you can still get to surgery appointments if needed... if you need the hospital its also close.

if you do need medical attention when out & about down the cut.. just pop in to the local hospital & tell them you are on a boating holiday....

seems legit to me anyway....

and has most have said.. most app's are via phone call now... or you can request a call rather than go to the surgery....

Edited February 27, 2023 by mightyslay3r

[Lily Rose]

Well if you already have a GP and plan on remaining close enough to visit them when required it doesn't seem to me that you need to do anything. If your phone number and email address remain the same you probably don't need to tell them anything. I think most stuff we get from the GP practice these days is text or email, not post. Not so with hospital letters so I guess you might need an address for them.

Edited February 27, 2023 by Lily Rose
Bluddy spoilchecker