the imposable dream

[wrigglefingers]

Keep going Peter and welcome, some of us are quite nice in our idiosyncratic way ...

 

Very few of us started with a gloriously wonderful boat from the get-go. My first watertight(ish) boat was a Mirror dinghy I built with my Dad in the garage when I was in my early teens. I have had a succession of boats since then, all slightly less crabby than the last and it has taken years and years to work my way up. I have as much fun on a raft as I do in a narrowboat - just being out on the water is enough for me.

 

Aspiring to live on the water is a fine thing but I would urge a note of caution. When I was looking for my last boat I met a couple of retired liveaboards. They were the most unhappy pair I think I have ever met. He'd bought the boat with his retirement bonus and immediately moved his wife onboard. She hadn't known that he'd bought it, given up the council house and had intended to move aboard. Needless to say, she'd hated it from the moment she stepped aboard and had become ill as a result of stress. They were splitting up after 46 years of otherwise happy marriage because he wouldn't give up the boat and she couldn't live on it. The boat, had to go nonetheless, because it was the only asset they possessed between them.

 

The advice about joining a community group is sound. If you volunteer for a local canal trust you'll get a thoroughly good grounding in boat skills, help your community and not stress your partner. With time she could come to love it too - sometimes it's fear and uncertainty that makes a mild disliking for being shut in far worse (says the woman who had to be extracted from a cave by the emergency team). You'll also get to know where there are perfectly serviceable but cheap boats about that you will be able to afford. Not all boats need to be ditchcrawlers ... in fact, most great boats aren't ...

[carlt]

Proper English? After teaching the language for 10 years I'm not sure what is that exactly?

 

 

Those that can, do....

 

Edited to add: We've discussed the Great Vowel Shift, on the forum, before.

 

It doesn't make spellcheckers trying to correct "English English" into "American English" any less annoying.

 

No doubt I would find the reverse just as annoying, if I was trying to write in "American English", whichever came first.

Edited October 6, 2011 by carlt

[tillergirl]

£500 in two months isn't bad at all.

 

That is £3,000 a year.

 

Very few people find themselves is a position to buy a boat within a few months of wanting to do so, so you shouldn't despair!

 

lol I make that £6000 a year so three/four years from now you could have a boat yes?

 

Welcome to the forum Peter. We all have our dreams..............some of us even go looking at ones we like only to be gutted when they sell Now that's a far worse mistake than bad spelling!

 

Dreams are what keep people sane and give us point in the future to focus on. Makes the drudge of every living bearable. And don;t forget partnerships are all about compromise - on both sides

 

 

 

[journeyperson]

lol I make that £6000 a year so three/four years from now you could have a boat yes?

 

 

 

 

 

Can I arrange to send you £500 every two months on the understanding that you return £6,000 at the end of one year? I don't mind if it doesn't earn interest.

[mayalld]

lol I make that £6000 a year so three/four years from now you could have a boat yes?

 

 

If it was £500 a month I would agree.

 

However, it was £500 in TWO months.

[Guest Quo Vadis]

Can I arrange to send you £500 every two months on the understanding that you return £6,000 at the end of one year? I don't mind if it doesn't earn interest.

Beat me to it

[Ally]

This forum has got to be, single handedly, the best method of stopping people from buying a boat.

 

I am struggling to think of a bigger on-line gathering of misery-guts sorts. No, cant think of one.

 

Some brilliant helpful people also but why the need (by a significant number) to constantly troll the board and be petty and demeaning? I think a few people need to get some exercise, or possibly a good shag, or possibly both.

 

Its nice to be nice you know. So glad I found this place after purchasing a boat otherwise I probably would have settled for a camper van..

greenie!!!!!

[tillergirl]

If it was £500 a month I would agree.

 

However, it was £500 in TWO months.

 

My mistake - I misread it but at least I have the courage to admit it

 

 

 

[Naughty Cal]

Hi Peter.

 

Welcome to the Forum and dont give up on your dream. If you can save £500 so quickly then there is no reason why you cant be afloat pretty quickly. Not all boats on the water are narrowboats and there are some sound river cruisers around at bargain prices at the moment. Getting afloat neednt be expensive and it neednt mean restricting yourself to a tin tube either. There are plenty of light and airy cruisers around that should be well within your reach.

 

Also worth bearing in mind that most fees are based around the length of your boat so the smaller the boat the smaller the running costs.

 

This aint bad for the money and with a good clean up would make a great starter boat

 

http://norfolkboatsales.co.uk/boats/boat_detail.asp?unique_name=Manate

[peter nelson]

Where are you based Peter? Maybe a forum member could see if it is possible for you to join them for an afternoon or two (especially if there is a few locks about!)

With the spelling thing, I wouldn't worry too much, I find, as a fellow lixdestic that constantly checking and correcting my spelling often puts me off writing in the first place. I would say that its more important to write it down and voice yourself than to be put off by someone's misunderstanding of dislexia. Keep it up!

 

that would be great if anyone wants to voulentier to take me and posably the wife out.

we are based in runcorn, walking distance from prestonbrook marina.

i am a fit healthy slim 41 year old male so woking locks wont be a problem and i promice to do all the hard work and anything captain asks.

It would just be nice to get onboard a boat as i have only seen the insides of narrowboats in pictures.

 

update on my boat situation.

I actualy thought i had the ideal answer to how to convince the wife and get a boat straight away.

My daughter has just started in leeds univercity for her first year she is staying on campus but her next three years we have to sort alternative accomadation for her.

so my idea i pitched to the wife was we take the money for her three years accomadation and buy a boat in leeds close to the uni,

she lives there but comes home for summer so we all use the boat for summer, ideal.

then i told the wife after the three years we can sell the boat again and she has free acomadation for her stay at uni, while hoping over the three years i convince her to keep it and eventualy move aboard.

but she dissmissed the idea and wont even consider it, so it looks like she is against boats full stop.

 

pete

[Supertramp]

Good try tho Pete, - at least she knows you are serious about continuing with your dream.

You may find that she will want to make you happy, and if that means letting you have your dream, - then so be it!

Dont push her, let her come round to it in her own time....

 

Good luck mate, we all started with the same dream, and many of us could never see a way to get there, - hang in there!

[tillergirl]

Pete have you holidayed on a boat? If not might be a good place to start.......................maybe your wife might go for that idea first?

[Athy]

This forum has got to be, single handedly, the best method of stopping people from buying a boat.

 

Sam, surely you are joking? People on here have vast and varied experience and most of them are happy to share it.

 

I am struggling to think of a bigger on-line gathering of misery-guts sorts. No, cant think of one.

 

Some brilliant helpful people also but why the need (by a significant number) to constantly troll the board and be petty and demeaning? I think a few people need to get some exercise, or possibly a good shag, or possibly both.

 

Synonymous , no? well, perhaps a few years ago! Bur is there any need to be so crude?

 

Its nice to be nice you know. So glad I found this place after purchasing a boat otherwise I probably would have settled for a camper van..

 

Perhaps, given your curmudgeonly comments, you should have done, so that you could belittle motor home owners instead of boaters.

Please consider being less negative.

Mike

Edited October 6, 2011 by Athy

[sam pig]

Are my "curmudgeonly comments" worse than picking someone up on spelling and grammar which frankly is pathetic.

 

I am a pretty much a constantly positive person. That is the reason I occasionally browse on here as it tends to be "buzz kill central"..

 

Come on, are you seriously trying to convince me that this board is not made up of a significant amount of pedant, misery guts sorts who love ripping into other posters for trivial reasons?

 

The gent made an honest heartfelt early post and several of the responders were out of order. Do you agree or think it fine to have a go?

 

Edit: To be fair, it was only one poster who took the moral high ground with a dyslexic in this case.

Edited October 7, 2011 by sam pig

[Chertsey]

This forum has got to be, single handedly, the best method of stopping people from buying a boat.

 

I am struggling to think of a bigger on-line gathering of misery-guts sorts. No, cant think of one.

 

Some brilliant helpful people also but why the need (by a significant number) to constantly troll the board and be petty and demeaning? I think a few people need to get some exercise, or possibly a good shag, or possibly both.

 

Its nice to be nice you know. So glad I found this place after purchasing a boat otherwise I probably would have settled for a camper van..

The number of people over the years who have bought a boat and achieved their dream with the help and support of this forum (Starcoaster being the most recent I think, DeanS and MJG being others who come to mind) gives the lie to your claim.

 

The fact responses are realistic about what is entailed, and enquirers are encouraged to do their research, and deliberately provocative or wilfully lazy posters get short shrift sometimes, is all helpful in the long term to people who are genuinely interested and serious about boating.

Edited October 7, 2011 by Chertsey

[sam pig]

All good points Chertsey. You are right, the knowledge base is immense and it seems incredible that whatever problem people have, someone will have the solution.

 

My initial comment was glib and no doubt, aspiring boat owners get some great info.

 

I will be honest though, Speaking truthfully, it can also be a very negative and depressing place - arguments are depressing. I don't come on here that often (post counts tells a tale) and one of the main reasons is the argumentative type threads which pop up all the time, sometimes over the most ridiculous reasons.

 

I understand the irony of posting this (and probably feeding an argument). It is easy to be critical and harsh with people from a keyboard but it is also cowardly.

Edited October 7, 2011 by sam pig

[Ally]

oh keep going with that idea...try talking to your daughter about it and see what she thinks...if she likes the idea, it will give you a bit more 'umph' in the decision. I think it's a great idea, and there are some decent moorings in Leeds basin if you can secure one....how brill for a student! Don't give up....softly softly.......

 

When we first thought about living on a boat, all our family, except my niece, thought we were absolutely bonkers! They had visions of us being cold, damp, no water or facilities, bent double because boats are soooooo tiny (????!!!) and generally, well, gypsy life styles. My neice thought it would be 'cool' though.

Once we got afloat, my sister now dreams of having one, and the rest of the family proudly tell their friends about their family member on the water.....how things change when reality is in front of people....

[Guest]

Edit as I see SP has acknowledged his mistake,,,

Edited October 7, 2011 by MJG

[Guest wanted]

All good points Chertsey. You are right, the knowledge base is immense and it seems incredible that whatever problem people have, someone will have the solution.

 

My initial comment was glib and no doubt, aspiring boat owners get some great info.

 

I will be honest though, Speaking truthfully, it can also be a very negative and depressing place - arguments are depressing. I don't come on here that often (post counts tells a tale) and one of the main reasons is the argumentative type threads which pop up all the time, sometimes over the most ridiculous reasons.

 

I understand the irony of posting this (and probably feeding an argument). It is easy to be critical and harsh with people from a keyboard but it is also cowardly.

To be fair though Sam, I suspect that most of the people who post on the forum are only doing what the forum dictates, ie discussion. I know that I have wound a few people up on here in the past and probably will in the future but I also think that if we'd meet in the flesh then it would be at least a pleasent exchange and more than likely be a laugh. I say allow the arguments, it's where the good ideas come from!

 

Thinking isn't agreeing or disagreeing. That's voting - Robert Frost.

[Athy]

Good points, both Sam and Wanted. Whilst it's true that there have been occasional quite serious and personal spats on here, they have been no more frequent or serious than would occur between groups of friends or acquaintances meeting face to face. Let the person who has never had a row with their best friend cast the first stone. The majority of apparently trenchant viewpoints are posted to provoke discussion, which, as Wanted points out, is the raison d'etre of a discussion forum.

[Guest wanted]

Good points, both Sam and Wanted. Whilst it's true that there have been occasional quite serious and personal spats on here, they have been no more frequent or serious than would occur between groups of friends or acquaintances meeting face to face. Let the person who has never had a row with their best friend cast the first stone. The majority of apparently trenchant viewpoints are posted to provoke discussion, which, as Wanted points out, is the raison d'etre of a discussion forum.

No it's not!

[carlt]

I also think that if we'd meet in the flesh then it would be at least a pleasent exchange and more than likely be a laugh.

Or, in Bizzard's case "meet in the creeping flesh".

 

It is easy to be critical and harsh with people from a keyboard but it is also cowardly.

Then you should stop, immediately, especially as you understand the irony.

[Guest wanted]

Or, in Bizzard's case "meet in the creeping flesh"

 

In my mind bizz lives in a steam powerd air ship having been cast from the modern people! (I hope so)

Edited October 7, 2011 by wanted

[Just Heaven]

money i have saved every penny i could get my hands on for two months now while reading these forums every night and in total i have scrapped together £500 in a boat fund at that rate it will take over ten years to get the cash to get my boat.

and my partner is clausterfobic she hates small spaces more than i hate open ones so cant see her ever wanting to move out of a house and onto a boat

pete

 

Keep saving, it took us almost 12 years to save up for our boat, but we got there in the end.

 

My wife is also claustrophobic but we found a boat with large windows and she's OK as long as she can see out. The only time it's a problem is if someone asks to breast up. We have to decline as she needs to see out of both sides.

 

Steve