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[cksantos85]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Hold up. Where did THAT come from!!

 

Why would any of us want to buy a freehold mooring? We are footloose and fancy free itinerants. One of the main attractions of boating is not to be tied down to a freehold property......

 

You buy it yourself!!

 

 

Interesting perspective that you share. The property was an extensive marina. That is way to ambitious for someone who lives in another country. As a club or group anything is possible. Imagine a network of properties system wide like a yacht club or golf country club. I see that may be the antithesis of canal culture at this time. But at one time the entire canal was built by dreamers. Fishing for like minded people. If i bought for myself exclusively i would lean towards a canal cottage with mooring. Having started a boat club in hawaii i know when you get passionate people together on big projects its always more fun.

 

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by cksantos85

[rusty69]

6 minutes ago, cksantos85 said:

But at one time the entire canal was built by dreamers

It may have been financed by dreamers. it was built by blood sweat and tears of the navvies. Oh and probably a load of Irish Whiskey. 

Edited October 8, 2019 by rusty69

[cksantos85]

2 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

It may have been financed by dreamers. it was built by blood sweat and tears of the navvies. Oh and probably a load of Irish Whiskey. 

Very true. Somber thought really. Lots died esp for tunnels. 

[MtB]

1 hour ago, rusty69 said:

It may have been financed by dreamers.

 

I don't think so. Most canal builds were financed by hard-nosed businessmen with the financial and political clout to get enabling acts of parliament passed in the teeth of opposition from the land owners whose land they carved up. Hardly dreamers!

 

 

[cksantos85]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I don't think so. Most canal builds were financed by hard-nosed businessmen with the financial and political clout to get enabling acts of parliament passed in the teeth of opposition from the land owners whose land they carved up. Hardly dreamers!

 

 

I guess im screwed then?

[MtB]

15 minutes ago, cksantos85 said:

I guess im screwed then?

Looks that way dunnit!! 
 

 

[naomij]

Hello, we don't own a boat but it is one of the options we are considering for a long planned change of lifestyle. We'd like to see more of nature, have less stuff and move away from many mainstream priorities, find a bit of community, but still be near Kent for family connections.

Boat life appeals to the traveller in me, and my husband loves boats generally. It could work really well if we could find a residential mooring in or around London whilst our youngest is still in education, and we are both working in schools. We could enjoy the city for work and school, but escape at weekends and holidays. I think we could afford this, even in London, but don't know enough about the reality of finding residential moorings. E.g. what are the options, how hard to come by are they, are there freehold/leasehold/rental options, is it easier to buy a boat with mooring, resale values, etc. I see rough prices and rental levels online, but don't know how indicative these are of reality.

So I've just joined up in order to hopefully learn a bit more about boat life, especially in the London area.

Cheers  

[Peter X]

London is a notoriously difficult place to find a residential mooring. Probably not impossible, but horribly expensive.

So naomij, you could look into being nearer to Kent, i.e. in it. I suggest you investigate what options there are on the Medway. It's only a short river and not directly connected to the rest of the canal system like London, so your travelling options would be limited unless you get a sea-going boat. But people do sometimes take even narrow boats around the Isle of Grain... on a calm day.

[HothouseFlower]

Hi,

This has been a bit of a dream of mine for a while now... but there's a lot to know..

It's quite daunting really..

And where to start.... 

So I'd be happy to hear from people who might be able to share a bit of advice to a complete novice...

Also (baring in mind) that some of us are struggling with mental health issues ..so if you don't

have any thing kind or positive to say.....please don't post...

Thank you :O)

 

Edited October 18, 2019 by HothouseFlower

[Dr Bob]

29 minutes ago, HothouseFlower said:

Hi,

This has been a bit of a dream of mine for a while now... but there's a lot to know..

It's quite daunting really..

And where to start.... 

So I'd be happy to hear from people who might be able to share a bit of advice to a complete novice...

Also (baring in mind) that some of us are struggling with mental health issues ..so if you don't

have any thing kind or positive to say.....please don't post...

Thank you :O)

 

Welcome to the forum.

One of the best ways for a complete novice to get some info to start you off, is to go back to page one of this thread and work your way through! That should give you enough info to ask some questions relevent to you situation. Ok 90% of the content will not be useful but there are many newcomers on here asking all sorts of different questions.

It is quite difficult to share advice if we dont know your individual situation....where are you looking to have a boat, what type of boat do you fancy, are you working...so fixed in one location, etc. Have a read and then come back and let us know what your dream is. A lot of dreams do get shot down but we moved on to the canals 3 years ago and never looked back.

Just a few words of caution. Put your sense of humour into full forward and if you post a question, make sure you are back in a few hours otherwise the thread will have drifted off into many and varied ways!

[restlessnomad]

18 hours ago, HothouseFlower said:

Hi,

This has been a bit of a dream of mine for a while now... but there's a lot to know..

It's quite daunting really..

And where to start.... 

So I'd be happy to hear from people who might be able to share a bit of advice to a complete novice...

Also (baring in mind) that some of us are struggling with mental health issues ..so if you don't

have any thing kind or positive to say.....please don't post...

Thank you :O)

 

welcome to the forum... a lot of posts here will be negative but you can use it to your advantage, because many of us don't think of all the negative scenarios.

[HothouseFlower]

restless nomad...thanks for being welcoming ?

Yes...there's heaps of info on here....mostly pretty good.... spending lots of time checking things out..lol 

[HothouseFlower]

20 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Welcome to the forum.

One of the best ways for a complete novice to get some info to start you off, is to go back to page one of this thread and work your way through! That should give you enough info to ask some questions relevent to you situation. Ok 90% of the content will not be useful but there are many newcomers on here asking all sorts of different questions.

It is quite difficult to share advice if we dont know your individual situation....where are you looking to have a boat, what type of boat do you fancy, are you working...so fixed in one location, etc. Have a read and then come back and let us know what your dream is. A lot of dreams do get shot down but we moved on to the canals 3 years ago and never looked back.

Just a few words of caution. Put your sense of humour into full forward and if you post a question, make sure you are back in a few hours otherwise the thread will have drifted off into many and varied ways!

Thanks Dr.Bob.

Thank you.

Sounds like very good advice. Not sure if this is the situation that other people have found themselves in...but I returned from living for a decade in New Zealand. Guilty because my Mum was diagnosed with dementia and my sisters (and brother) either cannot or are not happy to look after her. I already have a small flat (Scotland) and an address (pay Council Tax). My mum and both sisters live near (ish) Chester and so I want to be near them all (as Mum could potentially live in a care home.) To boot....I am only quite small (5'3) and weight about 55 kg so have horrors about trying to find my way round a large craft let alone navigate one! lol. So, I've looked at some of the Wilderness Boats (Beaver) and think Id been able to manage to 'liveaboard' as I'm comfortable in tiny spaces. I also need to be in one place to work (full time)  keeping things 'ticking over' but I've researched the area and residential moorings appear to be as common 'hens' teeth.... so... I'm just feeling my way and muddling through ATM... 

[restlessnomad]

1 minute ago, HothouseFlower said:

Thanks Dr.Bob.

Thank you.

Sounds like very good advice. Not sure if this is the situation that other people have found themselves in...but I returned from living for a decade in New Zealand. Guilty because my Mum was diagnosed with dementia and my sisters (and brother) either cannot or are not happy to look after her. I already have a small flat (Scotland) and an address (pay Council Tax). My mum and both sisters live near (ish) Chester and so I want to be near them all (as Mum could potentially live in a care home.) To boot....I am only quite small (5'3) and weight about 55 kg so have horrors about trying to find my way round a large craft let alone navigate one! lol. So, I've looked at some of the Wilderness Boats (Beaver) and think Id been able to manage to 'liveaboard' as I'm comfortable in tiny spaces. I also need to be in one place to work (full time)  keeping things 'ticking over' but I've researched the area and residential moorings appear to be as common 'hens' teeth.... so... I'm just feeling my way and muddling through ATM... 

just googled wilderness boats, my god, so ugly. But then my brain has been conditioned to see 'normal' narrowboats and grp cruisers, as normal.

your first negative comment...

[rusty69]

33 minutes ago, HothouseFlower said:

So, I've looked at some of the Wilderness Boats (Beaver) and think Id been able to manage to 'liveaboard' as I'm comfortable in tiny spaces.

Welcome to the forum. Other likkle boats are Sea otter, and Aintree beetle, and of course, you can get some quite short narrowboats and GRP cruisers.

 

ETA. Ellen MacArthur is only 5'2".Technique is more important than brute strength.

Edited October 19, 2019 by rusty69

[Peter X]

Hothouseflower, if you're small enough to muddle through an ATM you might have quite a lot of cash by the time you emerge on the other side. There you go, you now have your first silly comment!

Seriously, at 6'0" tall I find I have to duck in some narrow boats, doorway heights vary, so being somewhat shorter is an advantage.

Also, probably someone on here who knows the area can suggest possible moorings in or near Chester.

[rusty69]

33 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

 

ETA. Ellen MacArthur is only 5'2".Technique is more important than brute strength.

“Give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the world. ”

― Archimedes

 

"Give me a place to sleep and a pillow soft enough, and I will move in"

―rusty69

[Dr Bob]

53 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

 

 

"Give me a place to sleep, a pillow soft enough, an ecofan and I will move in"

―rusty69

There. Fixed it for you.

[MtB]

1 hour ago, rusty69 said:

“Give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the world. ”

― Archimedes

 

 

Pretty sure that Archie bloke said "Give me a fulcrum....."

[rusty69]

24 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Pretty sure that Archie bloke said "Give me a fulcrum....."

Oh.I didn't know. Who was it that wanted to swap his condom for a horse then?

[Tumshie]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Pretty sure that Archie bloke said "Give me a fulcrum....."

Pretty sure that even with a fulcrum he would still need a place to stand. 

 

50 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Oh.I didn't know. Who was it that wanted to swap his condom for a horse then?

Some bloke called Shakespeares 

 

[rusty69]

3 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

Pretty sure that even with a fulcrum he would still need a place to stand. 

To move the Earth, or even the world, he would need two other planets no? One to stand on and one to use as a fulcrum.

4 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

Some bloke called Shakespeares 

 

Oh, I thought it was Shakes Pears.

[Tumshie]

1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

To move the Earth, or even the world, he would need two other planets no? One to stand on and one to use as a fulcrum.

Oh, I thought it was Shakes Pears.

Quite 

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Pretty sure that Archie bloke said "Give me a fulcrum....."

 

I thought he said he didn't give a fulcrum... ??

[Alan de Enfield]

8 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

 

Oh, I thought it was Shakes Pears.

 

I think you are getting confused with Pineapples :-