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15 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I read Alan's contribution as alluding to the distinct possibility the boat was intended as a static home rather than a cruising boat. Unfortunately that is likely to have gone completely over the heads of the questioner but the question about serious cruising or not is very relevant to the answers given.

I am replying following Sams reply to this post (2222):-

 

"Hi we are Paula and Heath and very tempted do take the plunge and buy. We fancy a wide beam (baby) so interested to see what we can find out about all aspects before we take the plunge (and if we do)" and in particular their comment about All Aspects...

 

There is nothing that I can see that hints about a static home.

 

Howard

 
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5 minutes ago, howardang said:

and in particular their comment about All Aspects...

 

There is nothing that I can see that hints about a static home.

 

Howard

 

 

Since they have said nothing about how they intend to use the boat, and ask about "all aspects" it is entirely legitimate to advise about this particular aspect.

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12 minutes ago, David Mack said:

 

Since they have said nothing about how they intend to use the boat, and ask about "all aspects" it is entirely legitimate to advise about this particular aspect.

Thank you David. I was despairing that this specific part of the thread was going to go the way of many threads on this forum!:cheers:

 

Howard

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Hi all thanks for all your comments - its intended for leisure at the moment, but need some space so a narrow boat might be too restrictive for us and our needs. We are based in the North West I think there are quite a few waterways we can use up here.  We have seen a boat we like but it is too expensive and in a local Marina to us, where moorings are available.  You are all most helpful thanks for your comments and especially the web links - they are great.

Paula and Heath

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1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I read Alan's contribution as alluding to the distinct possibility the boat was intended as a static home rather than a cruising boat. Unfortunately that is likely to have gone completely over the heads of the questioner but the question about serious cruising or not is very relevant to the answers given.

Read it the same

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2 hours ago, Paulaandheath said:

We are based in the North West I think there are quite a few waterways we can use up here. 

 

Yup. And you can cross the Pennines via the Leeds & Liverpool or Rochdale canals to get to the Yorkshire Waterways, and from there up the Trent and as far south as Market Harborough.  Basically any of the red or blue bits across the northern half of the map below. What you won't be able to do is access the wide waterways of the south (unless you go by sea or by road).

CanalMap.gif

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2 hours ago, David Mack said:

 

Yup. And you can cross the Pennines via the Leeds & Liverpool or Rochdale canals to get to the Yorkshire Waterways, and from there up the Trent and as far south as Market Harborough.  Basically any of the red or blue bits across the northern half of the map below. What you won't be able to do is access the wide waterways of the south (unless you go by sea or by road).

CanalMap.gif

Thanks this is great and confirms what we were thinking - thanks to all of you for your posts and comments we will see how we get on and let you all know - happy boating! :)

 

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Hi all, I am a retiree looking for a boat to live on. I have spent several hire holidays on narrowboats so have a good idea what I'm getting into, but as I will be single-handed now, I'm concerned I wouldn't manage a long boat, especially in locks. Any suggestions on boat length?  Should I rather be looking at a grp (although they look rather cramped compared with a narrowboat)?

Many thanks

Margaret

 

Edited by meg999
duplication
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1 hour ago, meg999 said:

Hi all, I am a retiree looking for a boat to live on. I have spent several hire holidays on narrowboats so have a good idea what I'm getting into, but as I will be single-handed now, I'm concerned I wouldn't manage a long boat, especially in locks. Any suggestions on boat length?  Should I rather be looking at a grp (although they look rather cramped compared with a narrowboat)?

Many thanks

Margaret

 

 

Welcome Margaret.

 

I single-hand a 68ft narrowboat and it's not much different to handle in narrow locks than my other two boats which are 45ft and 57ft. Wide locks are a bit trickier but with some experience one gets to know the boat and how best to do it. The worst thing is sharing with another boat - puts one right off one's learned routine. Best in my experience to stop and say, make a cuppa and let the other boat go ahead if you find yourself paired with another boat/boater you aren't feeling comfortable with. This is perfectly acceptable etiquette. 

 

I'd suggest choosing a steel narrowboat 45-57ft long if you are solo. More space just isn't really needed for one person. Avoid GRP, flippin' hard to keep warm in winter!

Edited by Mike the Boilerman
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5 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Avoid GRP, flippin' hard to keep warm in winter!

Our GRP boat is insulated at least as well as a steel NB.

Don't get sucked into the old "my cat has 3 legs therefore all cats have 3 legs' situation.

 

Each individual boat is different depending on how it is built.

 

And - my 14 foot wide boat has oooodles more space than a 7 foot wide sewer tube.

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9 hours ago, meg999 said:

Hi all, I am a retiree looking for a boat to live on. I have spent several hire holidays on narrowboats so have a good idea what I'm getting into, but as I will be single-handed now, I'm concerned I wouldn't manage a long boat, especially in locks. Any suggestions on boat length?  Should I rather be looking at a grp (although they look rather cramped compared with a narrowboat)?

Many thanks

Margaret

 

Good Morning Meg and welcome to the forum - I see you met the night shift :giggles:

 

By pure coincidence I was reading through some of the older archive post on the forum last night and found a conversation very similar to what you're asking about, so I'll post a link. You have some really interesting questions there and it might be worth reposting them as a new thread in this new to boating section because that would give you room to have a more in-depth discussion with more people. 

 

 

This is an old thread so not worth replying to but still worth a read - just click the arrow in the top right hand corner. 

 

:boat: Good luck with you new adventure and happy boat hunting  

Tumsh.

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Our GRP boat is insulated at least as well as a steel NB.

Don't get sucked into the old "my cat has 3 legs therefore all cats have 3 legs' situation.

 

Each individual boat is different depending on how it is built.

 

And - my 14 foot wide boat has oooodles more space than a 7 foot wide sewer tube.

But will only get a little way up the North Oxford canal

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4 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Our GRP boat is insulated at least as well as a steel NB.

Don't get sucked into the old "my cat has 3 legs therefore all cats have 3 legs' situation.

 

Each individual boat is different depending on how it is built.

 

And - my 14 foot wide boat has oooodles more space than a 7 foot wide sewer tube.

 

Your boat is a statistical outlier and hardly a fair comparison. A 14ft wide sea-going catamaran built on a 'money no object' basis. 

 

I hold that most second hand 7ft wide GRP boats built for the canals will be inherently poorly insulated as they are designed for holiday use in the summer. Same probably applies to new ones too. 

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2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Your boat is a statistical outlier and hardly a fair comparison. A 14ft wide sea-going catamaran built on a 'money no object' basis. 

 

I hold that most second hand 7ft wide GRP boats built for the canals will be inherently poorly insulated as they are designed for holiday use in the summer. Same probably applies to new ones too. 

Suspect his cat is wider than that. 

 

ETA. I don't think it has 3 legs either. :):)

Edited by rusty69
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23 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Your boat is a statistical outlier and hardly a fair comparison. A 14ft wide sea-going catamaran built on a 'money no object' basis. 

 

I hold that most second hand 7ft wide GRP boats built for the canals will be inherently poorly insulated as they are designed for holiday use in the summer. Same probably applies to new ones too. 

The Cat is 23 foot beam (built for 'sunny climes' it has virtually no insulation)

The 14 foot beam one is my 'Cruiser' which is built in the UK for the UK and is well insulated.

14 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

I'm glad you are back. You are the only one that gets my crappy "jokes" 

I resemble that remark !!!

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5 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

The 14 foot beam one is my 'Cruiser' which is built in the UK for the UK and is well insulated.

 

So you still hold that most small GRP canal boats won't be cold for Meg999 in winter, should she elect to buy one?

 

I'm afraid I can't agree with this assertion. I think she needs to be very selective as most of the small GRP canal boats I've ever seen have little or no hull insulation and big, single-glazed heat-losing windows. And no solid fuel stove either, so reliant on nose-bleedingly expensive gas to heat, or a noisy diesel heater.

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