Abandoning bricks altogether

[Roger Gunkel]

Your suggestion of a propulsion device has set my creative juices flowing!

 

A simple method of moving boats from one place to another,would be to lob baking soda over the stern occasionally?

 

I ,like many others,had a toy boat when i was a child,that was able to move due to the baking soda/surface tension effect.

 

Could the same scientific principles be applied to these narrow boat thingies?

 

When I was a child, my Dad made me a little tin boat, with a coil of copper tube in the middle. The ends of the tube were taken out of the stern one above the other and below the water line. With a piece of fire lighter burning in the middle of the coil, the heated water was pumped out of the upper tube by convection, with cold water being drawn in through the lower one. It used to get a fair speed up. Perhaps those with back boilers could simply take both ends of the piping out of the back of their boat and get propulsive power with just a few logs

 

Roger

[bizzard]

When I was a child, my Dad made me a little tin boat, with a coil of copper tube in the middle. The ends of the tube were taken out of the stern one above the other and below the water line. With a piece of fire lighter burning in the middle of the coil, the heated water was pumped out of the upper tube by convection, with cold water being drawn in through the lower one. It used to get a fair speed up. Perhaps those with back boilers could simply take both ends of the piping out of the back of their boat and get propulsive power with just a few logs

 

Roger

If you check back to my old ''Regret''topic in Living afloat Roger, a full size Phutt-Phutt boat is fully explained from build to thorough and devastating at times testing.

 

Your suggestion of a propulsion device has set my creative juices flowing!

 

A simple method of moving boats from one place to another,would be to lob baking soda over the stern occasionally?

 

I ,like many others,had a toy boat when i was a child,that was able to move due to the baking soda/surface tension effect.

 

Could the same scientific principles be applied to these narrow boat thingies?

 

Attempted to gain propulsion using soda ,just the other day,but the very place i wanted to pour it the water was cluttered up by a ruddery whatsit and ,nearby was a ruddy diesel engine doodah.

 

May just try a punt pole to get the boat to move?

 

 

Seriously,i think roger gunkel has a valid point regarding arthur brown's posts,they are a little pessimistic at times.

A lump of Camphor or a bag of Moth balls wedged on your rudder blade at the waterline will also drive your boat forward.

[Proper Job]

Good thread, but anyone know of 80 year old or more liveaboards?

 

cheers,

Pete.

My folks are fast approaching the 80 point and are still doing well.

 

Last year they talked about giving up when they were 85 and coming back to blighty (they currently live in mainland Europe).

 

This year they've changed their minds..........

 

They're thinking about buying a retirement apartment in the UK to rent out to some old people . When they're 85'ish, they'll then bring the boat back to blighty on to the Thames and spend their time pottering up and down the Thames.

 

I hope they continue to refuse to admit they might become old (although it apparently happen to other people)

[Roger Gunkel]

If you check back to my old ''Regret''topic in Living afloat Roger, a full size Phutt-Phutt boat is fully explained from build to thorough and devastating at times testing.

.

 

I completely missed that Bizz, and having read it in full now, it's very entertaining May I perhaps present a case for mine being more efficient though as there is a continuous flow from the lower inlet pipe to the upper outlet, therefore giving a quieter and smoother system. I will concede though that is would be far less exciting than your own proposal and offer less opportunity for improvement hrough physical excercise

 

Roger

[George94]

I have never understood the British obsession with having to own a property. Everybody seems to want to run headlong into getting their own house and a lifetime of debt and worry. I have owned a number of houses over the years, but never because I wanted to leave a property for my children, nor could I see the value of helping people to get onto the property ladder and perpetuate the debt and allow house prices to continue to rise. As long as we make it possible for young people to get on the property ladder at all costs, then prices will never become more affordable. Many see owning a property as security for old age, but in what way? As long as you own the property then the monetary value is irrelevant.

Roger

 

If two people at the age of twenty spend say £1,000 per month on property, one renting and the other buying. After thirty years one will own his property, and the other wont. Thanks to inflation (let's say 3%), a property that cost say £200k in year one will be worth £480k by year thirty. Monthly outgoings for the buyer will then be zero, whilst the monthly rent will have risen to £2,400.

 

That is why people buy rather than rent.

 

George

[Proper Job]

If two people at the age of twenty spend say £1,000 per month on property, one renting and the other buying. After thirty years one will own his property, and the other wont. Thanks to inflation (let's say 3%), a property that cost say £200k in year one will be worth £480k by year thirty. Monthly outgoings for the buyer will then be zero, whilst the monthly rent will have risen to £2,400.

 

That is why people buy rather than rent.

 

George

A very simple analogy and obviously assumes that the property owner never moves

 

I recently had a discussion with my daughter about renting or buying. A lot of young people have a very different view on buying now and don't want to get 'trapped' in to the same situation as their parents.

 

Her view is that these days you have to be flexible about your employment. There are no longer 'jobs for life' and people don't do the same jobs for 30 years. If you want to get on, then you have to be able to move; and move quickly and easily. Buying doesn't give you that freedom. It takes time to sell/buy property. It also takes a sh1t load of money too.

 

Her view is that renting means you have flexability to move as and when you want to/need to. If you don't like it where you are, go somewhere else.

[cotswoldsman]

A very simple analogy and obviously assumes that the property owner never moves

 

I recently had a discussion with my daughter about renting or buying. A lot of young people have a very different view on buying now and don't want to get 'trapped' in to the same situation as their parents.

 

Her view is that these days you have to be flexible about your employment. There are no longer 'jobs for life' and people don't do the same jobs for 30 years. If you want to get on, then you have to be able to move; and move quickly and easily. Buying doesn't give you that freedom. It takes time to sell/buy property. It also takes a sh1t load of money too.

 

Her view is that renting means you have flexability to move as and when you want to/need to. If you don't like it where you are, go somewhere else.

 

My son would certainly agree with this in the last year he has lived in Edinburgh (8 months) Blackburn (3 months) and has now moved to London. He is in the process of buying a flat as an investment so he can accommodate the growing numbers that only want to rent. A property investment is a good investment as part of a investment portfolio.

[sueb]

If two people at the age of twenty spend say £1,000 per month on property, one renting and the other buying. After thirty years one will own his property, and the other wont. Thanks to inflation (let's say 3%), a property that cost say £200k in year one will be worth £480k by year thirty. Monthly outgoings for the buyer will then be zero, whilst the monthly rent will have risen to £2,400.

 

That is why people buy rather than rent.

 

George

This doesn't take into account the amount spent on maintenance & insurance.

[mrsmelly]

If two people at the age of twenty spend say £1,000 per month on property, one renting and the other buying. After thirty years one will own his property, and the other wont. Thanks to inflation (let's say 3%), a property that cost say £200k in year one will be worth £480k by year thirty. Monthly outgoings for the buyer will then be zero, whilst the monthly rent will have risen to £2,400.

 

That is why people buy rather than rent.

 

George

 

Hi George

 

Luckily some of us dont run our lives only ever taking into account " Investments " I am pleased to say that my varied life has at times only been possible due to getting rid of anchors such as property. We have five sproggs two are buying, two are renting and one gets free accomodation with the job. I am pleased to say ALL are HAPPY which is hugely more important to us or them as to who will have the biggest wedge of money when they die. As far as i am concerned life is far too short to spend bogged down in one place, doing one job for half a lifetime. Variety is very much the spice of life. Oh and by the way for your sums one of my two kids that are buying has now been paying for her mortgage over five years and the property is worth now less than she paid for it and is therefore tied to her job and location wether or not she wants to be, thus one of the greatest things we have in life ( freedom of choice ) is now and for the last five years and the forseeable future something she has not got.

 

Tim

[BruceinSanity]

 

I know it's off topic but I see this sort of remark quite often. I am a single handed 70 yr old female. I prefer to go through locks on my own when I can take my time and be careful. If I insist on doing my share when I go through with another boat then they have to wait whilst I go up or down the ladder etc - this is embarrassing and can make me take risks. It therefore seems to be the politer and more sensible option to concur when they tell me to stay on my boat, but I can assure you there is no "expect" about it.

 

 

Let's be clear, I have no problem at all with single handers per se, just those who share broad locks with you and just sit on the boat watching you do all the work, making no attempt to come and help.

 

I've single handed enough myself to be very ready to give a hand to them, especially when they are working up narrow locks and it's actually quicker to work them up than wait while they climb on and off the boat.

 

But this getting a bit

[jelunga]

When I was a child, my Dad made me a little tin boat, with a coil of copper tube in the middle. The ends of the tube were taken out of the stern one above the other and below the water line. With a piece of fire lighter burning in the middle of the coil, the heated water was pumped out of the upper tube by convection, with cold water being drawn in through the lower one. It used to get a fair speed up. Perhaps those with back boilers could simply take both ends of the piping out of the back of their boat and get propulsive power with just a few logs

 

Roger

Didnt the Jerries have a similar system on their V1s?

[bizzard]

Didnt the Jerries have a similar system on their V1s?

The V1 Doodle bog was like a big petrol blowlamp.

[Grace and Favour]

The V1 Doodle bog was like a big petrol blowlamp.

 

Aaah! - - - - Is that how it took the paint off Stan Boardman's Grand-dads fish & chip shop?

[DeanS]

Could always moor up outside a hospital or within a very short distance making being on a boat even better than a house!!! Moorings at Lancaster being one example that springs to mind.

 

 

The marina we are currently moored in, has a pharmacy/medi centre bordering it. Ambulances come and go often. In fact when my wife took our child in to see a doc, he said.."Oh yes...we know you....you're from that boat just outside our window!

Edited April 17, 2012 by DeanS

[Jim Batty]

If two people at the age of twenty spend say £1,000 per month on property, one renting and the other buying. After thirty years one will own his property, and the other wont. Thanks to inflation (let's say 3%), a property that cost say £200k in year one will be worth £480k by year thirty. Monthly outgoings for the buyer will then be zero, whilst the monthly rent will have risen to £2,400.

 

That is why people buy rather than rent.

 

George

 

Yes, I've heard a version of this for many years, and it possibly makes sense if you are a 'sensible' and 'financially canny' person.

 

I simply could never imagine owing 25 years worth of labour in exchange for a small flat or house. Instead I spent my late teens, 20's and most of my 30's satisfying my curiosity about the world by travelling around it and bumping into other people, myself and different situations and ways of living. I did this on funds made and saved at a variety of work, but mostly graphic design, and often through temporary agencies. In my 40s I studied in the evenings, while working part-time: at the marvellous Birkbeck College at the University of London, getting first a BA and then an MPhil in philosophy. (Focus all that travel thinking and reflection!).

 

Neither my partner nor I have ever owned a property (we are now in our mid-50s). We rented all our lives - in nice places we could never afford to buy - until we moved aboard our narrowboat three years ago. Now, here's the weird thing. Whenever I have noticed 'property' over the last couple of years I haven't seen a single place I would prefer to live in than in our boat that costs under about £1.5 million. Seriously. The mad British fixation on property ownership continues to ensure that even a very small, comfortable home with a modicum of character in a quiet wooded or riverside setting will cost a bomb. I would probably never have had access to this kind of money even if I had yoked up to the common 9-to-5 path in my 20s and continued in that to the present.

 

I would say to the OP that if you really want to live on a boat, then live on a boat. I wouldn't worry about 'what if this or that happens' or 'what if I don't like it', or 'what if I can't afford the same place that I own now', or ...

 

Nobody can tell you what your future holds, and you are only going to get one shot at it.

[jelunga]

The V1 Doodle bog was like a big petrol blowlamp.

I used to love starting up my fathers primus blow lamp and melting down pieces of lead. Maybe I am brain danaged after inhaling all the fumes?

How did they pulse the V1 engine the ?

[Tonie]

I've been wondering for some time where the young people who rent privately are going to live when they retire? Continuing to rent privately will surely make a large dent in their pension. Unless they are all planning to live on a boat!

[Roger Gunkel]

If two people at the age of twenty spend say £1,000 per month on property, one renting and the other buying. After thirty years one will own his property, and the other wont. Thanks to inflation (let's say 3%), a property that cost say £200k in year one will be worth £480k by year thirty. Monthly outgoings for the buyer will then be zero, whilst the monthly rent will have risen to £2,400.

 

That is why people buy rather than rent.

 

George

 

Forty years ago I may well have agreed with you, however in todays financial climate and that of recent years, I would have to say that your analysis is somewhat naieve and simplistic in my opinion. I have owned several properties over the years and am fully aware of the theory of your analysis, however you are failing to mention or maybe understand a number of other important factorrs.

 

Many years ago, you could get a 100% or 95% mortgage,on a house that would cost perhaps 3 times your annual income. Now the 20 year old that you talk about needs to find something like £30-40000 deposit on a house that will cost perhaps 8 times the average 20 year old's wage. Where is someone that age going to get that sort of deposit, unless they borrow it from somewhere incurring even greater debt. They can however walk straight into a rented property without committing themselves to a huge or impossible deposit. In addition, financial hardship through job loss or other reasons, means that it may become extremely difficult to pay a mortgage, incurring penalties and more debt, with the possibility of reposession and the house being sold at less than the outstanding mortgage. This could saddle them with a debt for years to come. The renter on the other hand has the option of leaving the rental property and looking for something else at a price they can afford, or even moving in for a while with friends or family.

 

Negative equity has been a problem in recent years, making it impossible to sell, and low start mortgages have encouraged people to take on properties that they cannot afford once the low start has finished. In the present economic and housing climate, I wouldn't encourage anyone to risk all for the sake of getting on the propert ladder, when alternatives may well give time for income and reserves to increase and prices to stabilise. Meanwhille they may well find that the alternatives enable them to make better use of their money and lives.

 

Roger

Edited April 18, 2012 by Roger Gunkel

[Roger Gunkel]

I've been wondering for some time where the young people who rent privately are going to live when they retire? Continuing to rent privately will surely make a large dent in their pension. Unless they are all planning to live on a boat!

They will probably continue to rent using the money they haven't had to spend on buying and maintaining their house. Then when they are no longer able to look after themselves, they will live in some state funded accommodation, probably alongside the people who have sacrificed their lives to buy their home and then had it taken off of them by the state to pay for their care

 

We are of course assuming that those who bought their properties haven't died before reaching retirement through overwork, stress and worrying about their future, and that those who chose to spend their money on enjoying life, haven't also died before retirement through skiing accidents, drowning while scuba diving in the Maldives or parachute failure while base jumping from South American Plateaus

 

I would also suggest that anybody in their twenties who seriously thinks that they can plan for what is going to happen in 50 years time, should have a good look back at the world over the last 50 years.

 

Roger

Edited April 18, 2012 by Roger Gunkel

[system 4-50]

...

I would also suggest that anybody in their twenties who seriously thinks that they can plan for what is going to happen in 50 years time, should have a good look back at the world over the last 50 years.

...

Roger

yes indeed

[sueb]

The longer I live the more I wonder about the merits of saving. It could well be a better idea to spend every penny and get the state to provide when all else fails.

[Laurie Booth]

The longer I live the more I wonder about the merits of saving. It could well be a better idea to spend every penny and get the state to provide when all else fails.

Good in theory but the "State" might not exist in years to come.

 

Didnt the Jerries have a similar system on their V1s?

Yes they did. They quickly changed to V2's as chucking logs into the burner got a bit of a problem.

(The V2's also had pump out loos)

[rgreg]

The longer I live the more I wonder about the merits of saving. It could well be a better idea to spend every penny and get the state to provide when all else fails.

You may have a point there. A relative of mine recently went in to a care home costing her £500 per week because she has savings. If she had nothing she would be funded by the state. The challenge is knowing when you won't need the savings any more!

[spannerman]

The longer I live the more I wonder about the merits of saving. It could well be a better idea to spend every penny and get the state to provide when all else fails.

I rather suspect you are not the only one thinking like that

[system 4-50]

Not all care homes are equal and the differences may get greater in the future.

The first home my Mum was sent to was dominated by one person screaming for help at the top of her voice, day and night. She didn't need help, it was just what she did. Fortunately my Mum was able to get a transfer.

 

If you fund yourself then you may, repeat may, have greater choice. Until the money runs out.

 

Alternatively get in touch with me. I'm thinking of forming a company to offer extreme sports for the over 80s...