Hi All

[mrsmelly]

6 minutes ago, Wanted said:

I owned a house once, I sold it and bought a 40K soundsystem and travelled around Europe putting on raves and squat parties. Never lived in bricks and mortar since and have wicked stories to tell my kids! 
 

go for it, you’ll enjoy bits, you’ll hate bits, it will be easy and hard and you will overcome stuff you didn’t plan, what you won’t do is shuffle from this earth without adventure, and that, to my mind is worth all of it! 

Whilst the raves would have bored me shitless personaly, I agree completely with the just go for it bit. You only get one short innings and then its all too late.

[magnetman]

It is quite a lot of extra responsibility to take a woman and daughter (edited as don't know age) along. 

 

Adventure certainly but what happens if they can't deal with it? I'd say 100% go for it if its just a bloke by himself maybe with a detached woman and kids.

 

What is the outcome if the others actually can't handle the change of lifestyle? They might not like defecating in a suitcase. 

 

It can appear to be a wonderful life full of honey and roses and beers and skittles also voyages into beauteous duck riddled paradises. And hire boats. Gorgonzola, champagne, organic rat milk. 

 

Worth thinking of what the backup options are if it all gets too hair raising. You could get stuck in a metal tube with a crazy female.

 

This needs to be considered very carefully I think. 

 

Get on with it and get the house sold I say. 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by magnetman
edit for accuracy

[mrsmelly]

12 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Jealose I retired at 57, but been drawing my pension since 1996 

You another one, you still aint retired, you still go an help out at the garage 😀

Oh and I have been in receipt of a pension since 1989 

[MtB]

I've been self-unemployed for 45 years and never claimed a penny in benefits.

 

Still not sure if it's gonna work out....

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

It is quite a lot of extra responsibility to take a woman and daughter (edited as don't know age) along. 

 

 

I believe he said "in her 30s"

[enigmatic]

1 hour ago, Wanted said:

I owned a house once, I sold it and bought a 40K soundsystem and travelled around Europe putting on raves and squat parties. Never lived in bricks and mortar since and have wicked stories to tell my kids! 

 

Sell the house for 55k, buy a soundsystem and you'lll have £15k left over for a cruiser 

 

 

-

 

On a more serious note, selling the house for £20k+ less than it's worth just so you can move before June sounds like a bad move. £20k is the difference between an OK boat and a much better boat, a lot of work done on the boat a few year's licence fee, or a year's earlier retirement for your wife!

Edited March 2, 2023 by enigmatic

[Lily Rose]

18 hours ago, Lily Rose said:

 

 

4 minutes ago, enigmatic said:

 

On a more serious note, selling the house for £20k+ less than it's worth just so you can move before June sounds like a bad move. £20k is the difference between an OK boat and a much better boat, a lot of work done on the boat a few year's licence fee, or a year's earlier retirement for your wife!

 

I think the OP has now made it clear he will be putting the house on the market rather than selling at a knock-down price to some rip-off merchant.

[Ray T]

14 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Pram covers are not really any use for trad sterns as there is only a tiny bit you gain by covering.
 

 

 

Forget Pram covers and build yourself one of these for that truly authentic experience.

A Rain Shed, easy & cheap to construct. 

 

Even built one for one of my models.

😁

Edited March 2, 2023 by Ray T

[mightyslay3r]

4 hours ago, Wanted said:

I owned a house once, I sold it and bought a 40K soundsystem and travelled around Europe putting on raves and squat parties. Never lived in bricks and mortar since and have wicked stories to tell my kids! 
 

go for it, you’ll enjoy bits, you’ll hate bits, it will be easy and hard and you will overcome stuff you didn’t plan, what you won’t do is shuffle from this earth without adventure, and that, to my mind is worth all of it! 

hopefully, enjoying bits & hating bits is all part of the fun & learning... and yes, we will be boaters come hell or high waters....  

[magnetman]

2 hours ago, Ray T said:

Forget Pram covers and build yourself one of these for that truly authentic experience.

A Rain Shed, easy & cheap to construct. 

 

Even built one for one of my models.

😁

 

This is the sort of thing a well beehived boater would have. 

5 minutes ago, mightyslay3r said:

hopefully, enjoying bits & hating bits is all part of the fun & learning... and yes, we will be boaters come hell or high waters....  

Judging by the condition of the canals and the lack of rain I don't think high waters is going to be something to be too concerned about. 

 

When you get a narrow boat I think it would be wise to get one as long as possible and worth considering having two lavatories. 

 

70ft can't go everywhere but you do get a lot of space on it. 

 

Sell house and buy really nice 70ft narrow boat, go boating and drlnk beer then cross any other bridges when you come to them.

 

 

[mightyslay3r]

4 hours ago, magnetman said:

It is quite a lot of extra responsibility to take a woman and daughter (edited as don't know age) along. 

 

Adventure certainly but what happens if they can't deal with it? I'd say 100% go for it if its just a bloke by himself maybe with a detached woman and kids.

 

What is the outcome if the others actually can't handle the change of lifestyle? They might not like defecating in a suitcase. 

 

It can appear to be a wonderful life full of honey and roses and beers and skittles also voyages into beauteous duck riddled paradises. And hire boats. Gorgonzola, champagne, organic rat milk. 

 

Worth thinking of what the backup options are if it all gets too hair raising. You could get stuck in a metal tube with a crazy female.

 

This needs to be considered very carefully I think. 

 

Get on with it and get the house sold I say. 

 

 

my wife is 52.. our daughter is 33.. they are both more than up for it... for many years my wife was shit scared of going on bridges over water in a car... she now walks over them on her own without a worry... we went to the marina the other day, just to see what was what.. the awesome lady "Maz" told us everything we need to know about pricing, what we need to do before getting a boat (in a round a bout way) and what the difference between marina & tow path mooring would be like... she had been on narrowboats for 28 years before she took the job at the marina....she then took us around the marina, which i am glad of because my daughter then saw it was protected by a wire fence & keyed gates. but the most important bit was walking on the pontoon... both girls "just did it" without thinking... so i know they are going to love boat life.. mucking in with mooring, locks etc... they are both hard workers & we all love each other very much.

if we succeed... its together... if we fail ... its together... but im 90% positive it wont be the later  

2 hours ago, Lily Rose said:

 

 

I think the OP has now made it clear he will be putting the house on the market rather than selling at a knock-down price to some rip-off merchant.

correct Lily Rose

[mrsmelly]

5 minutes ago, mightyslay3r said:

my wife is 52.. our daughter is 33.. they are both more than up for it... for many years my wife was shit scared of going on bridges over water in a car... she now walks over them on her own without a worry... we went to the marina the other day, just to see what was what.. the awesome lady "Maz" told us everything we need to know about pricing, what we need to do before getting a boat (in a round a bout way) and what the difference between marina & tow path mooring would be like... she had been on narrowboats for 28 years before she took the job at the marina....she then took us around the marina, which i am glad of because my daughter then saw it was protected by a wire fence & keyed gates. but the most important bit was walking on the pontoon... both girls "just did it" without thinking... so i know they are going to love boat life.. mucking in with mooring, locks etc... they are both hard workers & we all love each other very much.

if we succeed... its together... if we fail ... its together... but im 90% positive it wont be the later  

correct Lily Rose

Ahhhh, you have been to Lemonroyd marina like I suggested earlier if you have spoken with Maz me thinks?

[mightyslay3r]

Ray T... those are all good & well, if its viable... but it would need to be removable for very low tunnels....

to be fair, i could knock something up like that... maybe not so big.. (im only 5' 4 1/2" tall) but wouldnt be a static part of the boat me thinks...

nice idea though even if it was/wasnt a joke.... got my mind working

11 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

This is the sort of thing a well beehived boater would have. 

Judging by the condition of the canals and the lack of rain I don't think high waters is going to be something to be too concerned about. 

 

When you get a narrow boat I think it would be wise to get one as long as possible and worth considering having two lavatories. 

 

70ft can't go everywhere but you do get a lot of space on it. 

 

Sell house and buy really nice 70ft narrow boat, go boating and drlnk beer then cross any other bridges when you come to them.

 

 

that... my friend.. is exactly what we want to do... 

to be honest... the extra 10' would probably benefit us.. but depends how much cash we will have after the house sale (whenever that happens) 

so looking at 60 footers at the mo... a tad smaller, probably more cozy... but agree with you  

and i would sooner glide under bridges than cross them  

6 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Ahhhh, you have been to Lemonroyd marina like I suggested earlier if you have spoken with Maz me thinks?

we have mrsmelly... what a wonderful woman she is....  she had a chest infection though.. so we was more concerned about her than boats to be fair lol....

 

[mrsmelly]

8 minutes ago, mightyslay3r said:

Ray T... those are all good & well, if its viable... but it would need to be removable for very low tunnels....

to be fair, i could knock something up like that... maybe not so big.. (im only 5' 4 1/2" tall) but wouldnt be a static part of the boat me thinks...

nice idea though even if it was/wasnt a joke.... got my mind working

that... my friend.. is exactly what we want to do... 

to be honest... the extra 10' would probably benefit us.. but depends how much cash we will have after the house sale (whenever that happens) 

so looking at 60 footers at the mo... a tad smaller, probably more cozy... but agree with you  

and i would sooner glide under bridges than cross them  

I lived on my 70 foot n/b at Lemonroyd for a while.

[PD1964]

4 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Ahhhh, you have been to Lemonroyd marina like I suggested earlier if you have spoken with Maz me thinks?

From what I gathered he’s been talking about Methley Bridge on the River?????

 

11 minutes ago, mightyslay3r said:

.she then took us around the marina, which i am glad of because my daughter then saw it was protected by a wire fence & keyed gates. 

The Towpath isn’t fenced off with keyed gates and any service points that are, are free access to all with a BW key.

[magnetman]

Something that does occur to me is if the daughter has potential issues around security is she alright with small spaces? 

 

I know it is easy to be repetititive on this but living on a narrow boat is "interesting". It is great if you do a lot of boating on narrow canals but if it ends up being a static living space it can become problematic. 

 

If you are up on the northern canals I think a wide craft would probably be a wiser choice. 

[mightyslay3r]

9 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

From what I gathered he’s been talking about Methley Bridge on the River?????

 

The Towpath isn’t fenced off with keyed gates and any service points that are, are free access to all with a BW key.

sorry PD, it was lemonroyd marina or the tow path outside of it... not going to moor on a river has thats unpredictable with this weather we have been getting....

the tow path idea is only if we cant get on to the marina, if it has to be tow path it will be open to all & sundry but thats a bridge to cross i guess...

4 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Something that does occur to me is if the daughter has potential issues around security is she alright with small spaces? 

 

I know it is easy to be repetititive on this but living on a narrow boat is "interesting". It is great if you do a lot of boating on narrow canals but if it ends up being a static living space it can become problematic. 

 

If you are up on the northern canals I think a wide craft would probably be a wiser choice. 

thats the point magnet... she spends most of her time in the house... being a smaller space will help us get her out & about more... not forcibly but under her own steam to want to go for walks.... i even talked about getting a very small dog.. more of a companion for her ... but this is all further down the line... 

need to sell the house first lol

[mrsmelly]

8 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Something that does occur to me is if the daughter has potential issues around security is she alright with small spaces? 

 

I know it is easy to be repetititive on this but living on a narrow boat is "interesting". It is great if you do a lot of boating on narrow canals but if it ends up being a static living space it can become problematic. 

 

If you are up on the northern canals I think a wide craft would probably be a wiser choice. 

Funnily enough, I sold my 70 foot n/b whilst in Lemonroyd. I sold it to buy a widebeam to live on as I wanted to stay on the bigger rivers and canals at the time for a while. So I bought a widebeam and lived on it on the Trent for 3 or so years. I then wanted to go back on the south Oxford so I sold the wide beam and bought another n/b and went back south. Boats always sell easily so a move to a more suitable craft is always doable. Widebeams are soooooooo much nicer, but of course, they are over 7 feet wide.

Edited March 2, 2023 by mrsmelly

[mightyslay3r]

15 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Funnily enough, I sold my 70 foot n/b whilst in Lemonroyd. I sold it to buy a widebeam to live on as I wanted to stay on the bigger rivers and canals at the time for a while. So I bought a widebeam and lived on it on the Trent for 3 or so years. I then wanted to go back on the south Oxford so I sold the wide beam and bought another n/b and went back south. Boats always sell easily so a move to a more suitable craft is always doable. Widebeams are soooooooo much nicer, but of course, they are over 7 feet wide.

the idea of using the phrase "not enough room to swing a cat" appeals to us lol

[Wanted]

3 hours ago, enigmatic said:

 

Sell the house for 55k, buy a soundsystem and you'lll have £15k left over for a cruiser 

 

 

-

 

On a more serious note, selling the house for £20k+ less than it's worth just so you can move before June sounds like a bad move. £20k is the difference between an OK boat and a much better boat, a lot of work done on the boat a few year's licence fee, or a year's earlier retirement for your wife!

40k wasn’t the cost, that was the kilowatts! I spent every penny I made on it and a truck full of diesel, had to sell it to pay off a fine in France! They didn’t like acid techno apparently…  

Edited March 2, 2023 by Wanted

[Ray T]

49 minutes ago, mightyslay3r said:

Ray T... those are all good & well, if its viable... but it would need to be removable for very low tunnels....

to be fair, i could knock something up like that... maybe not so big.. (im only 5' 4 1/2" tall) but wouldnt be a static part of the boat me thinks...

nice idea though even if it was/wasnt a joke.... got my mind working

 

 

Yes, it was tongue in cheek. 

Often the rain sheds were made from tea chests or top cloth material on a frame work.

"Pram Hoods" can be the subject of interesting conversations. Bit of a "Marmite" addition.

I've never managed to find out where the boater's stored them when not in use.

Another, Jim and Sarah Ann Peasland on Barlow's MALTA and GRACE.
Nowt wrong with being 5' 4.5", similar height to me.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Ray T

[Alan de Enfield]

24 minutes ago, Ray T said:

I've never managed to find out where the boater's stored them when not in use.

 

It just folds down flat and sits on the rail.

 

[mightyslay3r]

looks like part of the boat rather than an addition  

[Ray T]

2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

It just folds down flat and sits on the rail.

 

 

I meant rain sheds not the pram hood.

[mightyslay3r]

6 minutes ago, Ray T said:

I meant rain sheds not the pram hood.

already got my brain on the boil how to construct one that can lay flat