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[Guest]

Hi Folks,

My name is Phil and I'm a freelance computer consultant and don't mind chipping in with advice if needed.

 

I'm planning on retiring in just under 5 years time and in the early planning stages of fitting out a 60 foot sailaway. My experience of small craft is limited having only spent a two week holiday on the Thames a few years back - here's another one I hear you say but I did spend close to a decade in the Merchant Navy and a number of year scuba diving and sailing some pretty big off-shore rigs, so not only is there a fair amount of alcohol in the blood stream there's a good deal of salt water.

 

I'm hoping to be able to pick some of your brains but my biggest fear at the moment is the day I turn up at the boatyard and stand in the middle of my empty shell for the first time and ask myself "what the hell do I do now"

 

Phil

[John Orentas]

Hi Phil.

 

Welcome to the forum. Yes that can be a bit of a red letter day, they can look very big and intimidating when they are in that condition, especially out of the water. The secret as you already know is planning and knowing exactly what are going to do.

[Paul Evans]

.....so not only is there a fair amount of alcohol in the blood stream there's a good deal of salt water

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Pickled then?

 

Welcome - keep asking!

[rayman]

Hi phil, what exactly is a computer consultant? sorry for being a bit thick!

[Guest]

Hi phil, what exactly is a computer consultant? sorry for being a bit thick!

34167[/snapback]

 

Hi Rayman,

What a very good question and no one has asked it before but I guess I get paid to advise those who don't know much about computers what I think they want to know about computers or put another way I'm supposed to know more about the workings of the little beasties than the average Jane or John who uses one.

Phil

[Guest]

Hi Guys,

Many thanks for the warm welcome - hopefully a transfusion of freshwater will sort the blood stream out - can't wait to get to some of those cosy waterside pubs though .

 

Phil

[Lesd]

Hi Folks,

Yet another newbie here....currently going through divorce, have also recently left the rat race world on teleecoms that i was stuck in for the past 20 years. Looking at possibility of buying a narrow boat next year and finding this site and all its characters incredably useful and rewarding ! Have lived in Kings Langley for 40 years and know the GU from watford to Tring very well, looking forward to exploring further afield !

[DHutch]

Welcome Aboard Lesd!

 

Hope you enjoy the forum and the world of the canals!

 

 

 

Daniel

[Crazy Scheme]

Hi there - we are Toby and Jess and are planning to liveaboard from next autumn.

 

We are doing this because we love boats, we love being outdoors (we own a camper van) and because we fancy an adventure!

 

We are not rushing into this hence we've given ourselves a whole year to plan this (and a whole year to flog /give away /dump our junk )

 

We run our own business - all we need is a couple of laptops and it doesn't matter where we are located, so we plan to continuously cruise as neither of us fancy being stuck in a marina all year........

 

I'm a newbie to this - we both volunteer for a community boat scheme in London and I'm used to being on boats, but my experience is about this much >< compared to Toby, who is driving boats often and owned a tiny electric narrowboat called Silver Sail when he was in his early twenties (inherited from his grandfather).

 

We plan to buy a second hand boat and spend more money to ensure we have the right amount of batteries, generator etc and to refit a little to add a small study area. Our number one worry is power and working on the move - in short, boat electrics, generators, solar panels etc...... and we welcome any advice regarding this.

[DHutch]

Welcome aboard Toby and Jess.

 

Good luck with your future plans, and i hope you can ask your many quiestions here.

 

Its certainly quite feasable to design an electrical system that will run your boat (lights, water pump, and maybe a fridge) and a pair of laptops.

 

Have a look at some of the recent threads about solarpannels, wind turbines/generators, and inverters and generators/gensets.

- Us the search facility, and dont be afriad to dig up old threads and ask a further question.

 

 

Daniel

[endeva]

Hi everyone, I am new here so Please be gentle with me , my name is Robin and I just love the idea of living on a narrowboat instead of in a house, as my wife and I both love Caravanning and the freedom it gives us I have started looking into narrowboats and came across this site which certainly looks great

 

I would love nothing more than to sell our bricks and mortar and buy a used narrowboat to live on using the small profit obtained from selling our house to cruise the canals for a year or so till the money ran out then working as and when necessary to cover living expenses, wow what a thought! only working as you need to, anyway thats enough about me as even the wife doesnt know of my plans (Yet)

[DHutch]

Hi everyone, I am new here so Please be gentle with me

Hi, Welcome aboard!

 

- We'll try our best!! [right everyone, best behavour, dont put him off the place on his first day!]

 

 

 

Daniel

[endeva]

thanks for the welcome Daniel, right come on you lot talk me into living on a narrowboat then , tell me why its so good and generally talk me into the idea, I am all ears

 

by the way I forgot to mention I can't swim

[DHutch]

Well i'd love to, but as of yet i havnt!!

- Five weeks is the longest ive been on the boat in one session.

 

I'd love to 'live on' but it not really practical right now, what with uni and everything. (although, there is a canal though loughborough..)

 

I love spending time on the boat, i think the only thing i would strugle with is the lack of storage space for all my hobbies/junk etc!

 

 

Daniel

[endeva]

why not just live on your boat then?, do I remember correctly that part of Loughborough uni is on Harry Moss Road? , I used to visit it I am sure in the dim and distant past

[DHutch]

Why not just live on your boat then?

- Do I remember correctly that part of Loughborough uni is on Harry Moss Road?

Not heard of HarryMoss raod (and multimap doesnt know it) but quite possably...

 

As the boat, certainly for the first year, i wanted to be on capus, in the sudent village, right in the middle of it all. and assuming all goes well, and we get our act in gear asap, im spending the 2nd year in house with people from my course.

- But i always has been on the back of my mind, yes.

- Also, the boat doenst stay still, for instace, my grandads moving it down to beale park in summer, while im still at uni! (could become a long trek!!)

 

 

Daniel

[endeva]

sure I used to go to Loughborough uni as a customer of my companys, ( I was a photocopier Field Service Engineer for 10 Years and fixed yours for you lol), (not personaly though you understand), if I gave up the house/money grabbing lifestyle do you think it is still possibe to make a living by doing work for canal people then?, I am a competant solderer and know my electrics too, but all in all I am a practical bloke who is not affraid of a bit of hard work

[DHutch]

...do you think it is still possibe to make a living by doing work for canal people then?, I am a competant solderer and know my electrics too, but all in all I am a practical bloke who is not affraid of a bit of hard work

Cant see why not,

- Espcially if you can get your head round inverter/chargers/solor/windturbines/battery monitering equip/gensets/landlines/etc

 

 

Daniel

[ayit]

Are you a newbie to boating?

 

Well introduce your selves right here!!

 

And everyone will get to now you!!!

 

Hi we are hugh and jan and in the process of doing the house up to sell this spring(cant wait)

and moving to a boat. Just found the website and tons of info to wade through but one question the other half keeps asking is how do they dry the washing?Hope ive done this right

[Clarissa]

Ah but you might be from west country Suffolk.

 

LOL, where's that Yaxley? Oh all right no waterway, how about Whittlesey?

[Keeping Up]

Hi we are hugh and jan and in the process of doing the house up to sell this spring(cant wait)

and moving to a boat. Just found the website and tons of info to wade through but one question the other half keeps asking is how do they dry the washing?Hope ive done this right

Hi and welcome!

 

Different people have different ways:

 

1. You can use a launderette, it's expensive, but sometimes essential especially for big things. BW have a few now which are a lot cheaper than the commercial ones.

2. You can use a rotary line on the towpath. It's all right as long as the people walking along the towpath don't get tangled up in it.

3. We use a spin dryer, it doesn't use too much power or take up too much space, but gets most things dry enough to put in the airing cupboard.

4. You can just rig up a line anywhere - over the front welldeck, or over the bath, etc

5. You visit a land-based friend and just happen to take it with you

and

6. You don't wash things very often.

 

Allan

[izzabubble]

Hi...ive just registered on the site tho i've been reading the forums for a while now ...so i thought id jump on in now and say hello. we're hoping to move onto a narrowboat sometime soon, our girls have grown up and left home, more or less..(we still seem to have an excess of clothing and stuff!!!). we have some work to do on the house and sell up . weve been pottering around boats for some years, holidays and with friends on thier boats, i have a friend who lives on a narrowboat in nottingham and hopefully thats where we'll be cos we still will be working, ....

so hello to you all and see you online

[DHutch]

Izzabubble. Welcome, hello, and hi!

 

 

Daniel

[SethT]

Hi,

 

I'm Seth and have been boating for only 6 months now - I have a 60ft semi-trad and live on the K&A.

[Carrie]

Hi and welcome!