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Sam

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Hello everyone- I'm Helen, I'm a Londoner (by adoption only I hasten to add) and I'm new here!!

 

I too am considering the boating option where mortgages and expensive flats elude me. I am a complete novice so I am trying to gether as much info as possible and may ask many silly questions!

 

I'm going to start a new thread in the new boaters bit and see whether you guys can help me out! I'm going to need it!!!

 

Thanks :captain:

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Hi guys I'm Paul, I'm currently living and working in London and am beginning to tire of the frantic way of life that entails! I've started doing some fairly intensive research in to boating and it seems very appealing to me so I would be grateful for any advice that anybody might have for an absolute beginner.

 

The ultimate dream is to do the rat race long enough to pay for a modest boat and maybe even a (very small) bit of land and then get as close to nature and self-sufficiency as possible. I know it's an uncommon thing for people to just up-sticks and go back to basics so I'd be very interested to speak to people who share my goal!

 

I also know that buying land for moorings is notoriously troublesome but maybe someone out there knows a few things that might just help...

 

Thanks!

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Wife Doreen & I, both OAPs now, spent 2 brilliant weeks on the Oxford back in 1973 but nothing since, apart from reading about canals & checking out the various websites, so we're real beginners.

We've now got the dosh for a for a suitable narrowboat to live aboard for a few years while we're still able to and looking every day for a good one; currently trying to disencumber ourselves of our static holiday caravan in Kent but when that's done, away we go!

We've been browsing the various topics on Canalworld and have been amazed at the wealth of useful info to be found here. We've also been greatly reassured to read about the helpfulness and kindness of boaters towards each other, it's just what we were hoping for.

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Hello All!

 

We're Sean & Coral (plus three labradors), and we've just ordered our liveaboard sailaway widebeam to be delivered in March next year. We've also (mistakenly?) posted a hello in the admin area of this forum, but just this thread too! Hopefully you will all humour us through what will no doubt be countless 'stupid' questions and advise us accordingly - or just quietly take the michael when we're having a bad day! Anyway, looking forward to meeting new friends, sharing new experiences and becoming a part of the boating community. Thank you for reading........ :rolleyes:

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  • 2 weeks later...

We hired our first narrowboat in 1979 and loved it as most people seem to do. We've carried on hiring ever since until this year when some friends kindly let us borrow their pride and joy. After that we decided that we just had to have one, our very own pride and joy. We found Pyrus for sale in Surrey and had a fabulous journey along the Thames and up the GU to our new home in Blisworth. By the way, I'm Jude and my hubby is Chris and our occasional crew are our 3 sons plus girlfriends but no animals.......yet!

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Hi we are Dave and Wendy we have just bought our first boat Jemini and are moored at Yelvertoft Marina.

 

Having hired boats before and depsite being dragged in the canal by the dog outside the black country museum ( thank you to the gents who dragged me out and the lady who gave me the leaflet on wells disease !) spraining my ankle the next time jumping off the boat to help tie it up....am loving the canal life.

 

Look forward to seeing you around.

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Hi,

were looking to buy a liveaboard and become contiuous cruisers,ive done quite a lot of research as to the general cost and am sure we could live quite well on 10k a ,year inclusive of licence,insurance,blacking and bsc.and of course day to day living cost.Does this sound a little hopefull.

Brickie.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all,

 

I'm currently in the process of buying a boat to live aboard, I'm waiting for the results of the survey at the moment. This has been my plan for the past 7 or 8 years and after spending that time living cheaply and taking on extra work I finally have enough cash to make a go of it :).

 

So at the moment I'm pretty much just crossing my fingers and hoping the survey goes well...

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Good luck to all of you who are hoping to get afloat soon! It's a wonderful life and this place is great for answering all your questions. It was a life-saver to us in our first years of boating, and we are still learning!

 

If you're looking for am affordable 48ft liveaboard that's well-kept and easy to handle, our boat, Lucky Duck is coming up for sale in the new year. If you're interested, let me know :)

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Hi, we live in Poland where there are some waterways too :-)

We are sure that we can learn much about European canals and rivers here. On the other hand if you would like to know something about Polish waters, please ask. Vistula river with it's sandy shallows and wild nature is really great. We started our canal cruising only two years ago but beeing professional photographers we couldn't resist and introduced a Boating Photo blog where we write about our voyages. You are warmly welcome to read it.The link should appear in our signature.

Thank you for running such interesting platform.

Best regards

Agnieszka and Włodek

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello my names jeff... I bought my 38ft nb last april.... After it had sunk.... Needless to say total refurb job... I am a bit of a rescuer! Me and the resue GSD,plan to live on this coming april for a much less rat race based lifestyle and closer to nature.... Always loved canals for,cycling walking and looking forward to living on them and relaxing more!

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Howdy all,

 

I'm Clifford, nice to be here. Currently in discussion with a narrowboat owner and hopefully will be living onboard sooner than later!! Been reading up on all the things I need to know, a lot more than anticipated!! Hopefully will get my head around it all before spring!!!

 

Any tips/pointers appreciated :-)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all

 

My name is Ashley, I have just brought a narrowboat been living on her for a week I must say I love the slow life everyone is nice just like a big family

I have already found this website very helpful so a big hello to all the people here hope to see some of you along the canal

 

Regards

 

Ashley t

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Hello everyone from a newbie. Haventa...as in not a clue. I'm not a boat owner as yet but I came close to buying a share in a relative's small offshore fishing boat until he sold it on the spur of the moment! Wasn't happy. Enjoyed catching mostly mackerel. However hope springs eternal as they say and I'll have to stick with my static caravan at the moment. Which is how I came across this site when looking for a solution to a problem with a Morco D51B water heater. It has developed a serious water leak at the union between the outlet from the heat exchanger and where it joins onto the temperature control knob. It looks as if it has been weeping for a while but my question is....do you think this can be fixed by fitting a new washer [like changing a tap washer] or is it liable to be the law according to Sod and be something expensive?

If this rain keeps falling I can see me having a houseboat or an ark before much longer. Season's greetings and best wishes to all.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, we are Popsie (my Jack Russell Terrier girl and me) and we are recovering yachtspeople.

 

There, I have said it.

 

After many years of madness, confusion, disorientation, mal-de-mer, living at a 30 deg angle and constant wet feet we have decided to venture ashore. Not too far ashore as we could not possibly live in one of those horrible brick thingies.

 

At present we have two raggie boats - one on the Algarve in Portugal for the Winters and one in Essex for those long, lazy, hedonistic UK summers.

 

The 'plan' is to spend the next year or two trying to sell aforementioned boats and look out for a 57ft narrowboat upon which to live. Popsie girl is keen to CC (see, she has already picked up the jargon) for a couple of years (she spotted a couple of eligible terriers at Cropredy last year) before we move to our resident mooring in Cambridge. We are currently 172 on the Cambridge list so only 171 more need to meet their maker before we are invited to drop the hook.

 

Why Cambridge? Well, my son will be studying engineering there and I thought that it would be handy for him to crash in from time to time. He does not know about any of this yet as he is only eight. When I asked him what he is going to do with his life he said 'Erm, I want to drive a bus........no, I want to be a boatbuilder (like me), no - I want to be a FOOTBALLER!!!' At this point I had to wash his mouth out with soap.

 

I have also not mentioned any of this to his mother (my ex).

 

Great forum and I look forward to learning a lot.

 

Happy New Year everybody

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Are you a newbie to boating?

 

Well introduce your selves right here!!

 

And everyone will get to now you!!!

 

Hello everybody,

 

My name is Mark Walker and I a boating novice (similar to what you'd say in an AA meeting).

I'm a 50 year old single man who fell off the property ladder during a divorce and am now unable to get back on it.

I've got nearly sufficient money to have a boat built so that's what I'm doing, but I'll be doing all the fitting work myself - something I'm very capable of doing.

I haven't yet started this project but I do have most of the ducks lined up and I will be pressing the go button sometime in February.

I've started a blog, which I've linked to this site (building a live-aboard using alternative technologies), which should show that I am OK with the technical stuff. I do however have a list of things I don't know, and hence fear, and I hoping that these unknowns/fears will be removed/solved by me reading the material on this forum.

 

For your entertainment, here are my unknowns/fears:-

 

1) I'm worried I'll spend too much money in these beautiful water-side pubs.

2) ..and then come home to my boat late at night in the dark drunk, fall trying to get into my boat, knocking myself unconscious, falling in the water and.... well.

3) I haven't yet worked out what to do about mouring. I have limited income and I need to keep mouring costs as close to £5 per night as possible.

4) If I am forced to keep moving, I don't know what to do about post and having a local GP?

5) I quite like the idea of living on Thames near Wallingford to Benson, though my visit to Wallingford last weekend put extra fear into me - the floods had made it impossible to work out where the river banks were. The position of the moured boats didn't help much either. The car park that should have been next to the river was so flooded, there was only 2 feet between the water level and the 'max head room' bar. I fear waking up one morning to find my boat stuck in a muddy field somewhere.

6) If I'm on the Thames, I fear waking up one morning finding my boat parked on wear down stream due to me not tying the ropes properly.

7) I also fear someone untying the ropes as a prank, and I fear theft and vandalism generally.

8) Mouring on the Thames could break the bank. I've got quotes of £10,000 per year for a permanent mouring. What I want is a cheap place at the end of a farmers field where I can get my car close by, albeit even if I have to drive through a few muddy fields to get there. Do these places exist?

9) I fear becoming separated from my car and it being stolen or vandalized because it is left unattended for long periods. I will attempt to move the car with me as I travel the water ways (using bicycle or dingy to get between the two).

10) I fear losing the village community of friends and neighbours that I have now.

11) ....and I've never driven a boat, so that's a bit scary too, especially when your driving everything you own.

 

Is it normal to have these concerns?

 

Mark

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Howdy Mark.

I don't have answers to all of your questions (and if you do find the secret of keeping your arse out of canalside pubs, feel free to let me know) but I'll have a bash at some of them.

 

 

1) I'm worried I'll spend too much money in these beautiful water-side pubs.

This is a legitimate fear.

 

2) ..and then come home to my boat late at night in the dark drunk, fall trying to get into my boat, knocking myself unconscious, falling in the water and.... well.

Well yes, you do have to be very aware of this. A guy died at Braunston marina towards the end of 2012 doing just this.

 

3) I haven't yet worked out what to do about mouring. I have limited income and I need to keep mouring costs as close to £5 per night as possible.

Are you planning on taking a permanent mooring base? The other option is to CC (cruise continuously) whereby you don't have to pay for a mooring, and can moor anywhere permitted on the canal banks for up to two weeks at a time, as long as you are engaged in an onward journey. Some mooring spots at busy sites are restricted to much less- a week, 48 hours, 24 hours, but two weeks is the norm. The fine details of what constitutes an 'onward journey' and how fast or slowly you should progress or how long it is reasonable to leave it before returning to a previously visited spot is open to a lot of debate- but it is generally considered in breach of the rules and open to much yelling and pointing to keep moving over a small area, ie, within a few miles back and forth, even if you don't stay in any one spot for more than two weeks.

Mooring fees vary greatly depending on where you base yourself geographically, and the length of your boat. At your budget, you may be pushed. Many moorings charge the same fee for a narrow or wide beam (assuming they have room for a widebeam) but some will charge a premium for the added width.

£5 per night tallies up to just over £1,800 per annum, which is feasible in some areas and others, not so much. This does depend on the boat length too. As well as marina moorings, where you can usually find out the price your boat would be to moor there on their websites, check out this site:

https://www.crtmoorings.com/auctions/search.php?type=all

For a list of CRT moorings that come up to moor permanently bankside on the canal. Searching there can give you an idea of the current and historical rates that bankside moorings go for across the country. CRT moorings won't cover moorings on other navigation authority's waters though, and I am not totally sure where to look for them.

 

 

4) If I am forced to keep moving, I don't know what to do about post and having a local GP?

Post can be a problem. There are various mail forwarding schemes you can sign up for as a boater, some of which will scan and email you the contents of your post, and will also forward mail on to an address you give, for instance if you find a friendly pub or chandlery that will let you get your mail.

Also the Post Office's 'post restante' service can help.

GP's can be a pain. You can register as a temp patient in any area for up to three months as a traveller, but if you need referrals, or a complex care package, this may not suit as they will generally not register you as a full patient without ID showing a local address.

 

5) I quite like the idea of living on Thames near Wallingford to Benson, though my visit to Wallingford last weekend put extra fear into me - the floods had made it impossible to work out where the river banks were. The position of the moured boats didn't help much either. The car park that should have been next to the river was so flooded, there was only 2 feet between the water level and the 'max head room' bar. I fear waking up one morning to find my boat stuck in a muddy field somewhere.

If you moor on a river, you have to take a lot more care than you do on the canal. The water can rise suddenly, and you will at some point probably have to spend some nights awake when things get as bad as they have recently watching your mooring lines and setting up poles and things to keep your boat from going over the bank. The weather and its effect on tidal rivers has been particularly bad this last year though, so you are probably seeing it at its worst for several years.

 

6) If I'm on the Thames, I fear waking up one morning finding my boat parked on wear down stream due to me not tying the ropes properly.

This can also happen on the canal. Get someone to show you how to moor up properly; good knots to use, how tight your lines should be, when to use springs etc. It's not too hard.

 

7) I also fear someone untying the ropes as a prank, and I fear theft and vandalism generally.

It happens; you have to be aware of the area you moor in and take advice from other boaters. But its rarely an issue apart from in a couple of trouble spots that are normally well publicised on the forum.

 

8) Mouring on the Thames could break the bank. I've got quotes of £10,000 per year for a permanent mouring. What I want is a cheap place at the end of a farmers field where I can get my car close by, albeit even if I have to drive through a few muddy fields to get there. Do these places exist?

It's not impossible to get, but good private moorings with parking and facilities that are well located can be like hen's teeth to find, and when people get them, they normally don't give them up in a hurry. You would be very lucky to pay a lot less than the going rates in a given area though.

 

9) I fear becoming separated from my car and it being stolen or vandalized because it is left unattended for long periods. I will attempt to move the car with me as I travel the water ways (using bicycle or dingy to get between the two).

Car-shuffling can be pain if you cruise a lot. You have to plan it fairly carefully in terms of where you leave the car, how you will get back to it, and where you can get the car and boat close enough together to work. But people do do it, it's not impossible.

 

10) I fear losing the village community of friends and neighbours that I have now.

You'll swap one village for another; the boating community is like nothing else on earth. And you'd be amazed at how many land lovers are well keen to come and visit you and go boating with you, too.

 

11) ....and I've never driven a boat, so that's a bit scary too, especially when your driving everything you own.

Yeah, tell me about it. When I bought my boat I'd never driven one either, and having all of my possessions and my pets on board put me off massively. It took me several months before I'd have a go at all, and several more before I'd take it out on my own. It gets easier!

 

Is it normal to have these concerns?

You mean you don't have more? :D

 

...Now someone else will come along and answer every question in total contradiction of what I have said. :D This is normal; you will get as many different opinions as there are posters here. I have not boated or moored the Thames, nor had a widebeam, so people who have will be able to fill you in much better on a lot of things than I can.

Edited by Starcoaster
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Hi we are Graeme & Sue from Portsmouth......More new boaters....will there be any room left on the canals! jusy imagine if all these moorings in the marinas suddenly deceided to take a trip on the same day, grid lock!!!

 

Been hiring for a few years now, been looking at options, i have a thread in holidays 'hire boat blues' its time i think to bite the bullet and look for a share option

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