New Live Aboards Master Prep List

[DeanS]

As suggested by paulstoke1975, this thread is a master list of helpful tips to try and make a new liveaboards first month or three as successful and pleasant as possible.

 

I'll add my list soon.

 

 

eta. Here's a start.

 

- Starting off in a marina means you can use electric heaters through the winter

- A gas heater gives instant hot water, so you dont have to run your boat engine every day through winter

- Circulation under beds etc stops mould and condensation in winter

- get the right coal for your coal fire and learn quickly how to get it to keep through the night.

- introduce yourself to your boater neighbours in a marina...they become your friends very quickly and are normally a life line.

- Get a tv.

- Get a dab radio for some music.

- Get house lamps if you're on hookup. No need to sit in the dark with flat batteries if you're on shorepower.

Edited November 24, 2014 by DeanS

[matty40s]

Have all dipsticks clearly labelled and do not interchange.

Minimum requirement is one each probably for water tank, diesel tank, and maybe pump-out tank.

Edited November 24, 2014 by matty40s

[DeanS]

never run out of kindling and firelighters so you can quickly start a fire in the mornings if you haven't mastered keeping a fire through the night.

get a CO2 alarm and some smoke alarms

tie your boat up properly to stop rocking during high winds

in a marina you can have a washer/drier in the boat...no need to travel around to do laundry

get a trolley for carrying elsan casettes or groceries etc

plan a good garbage disposal routine

never be cold. - elec heaters, coal fires,

never be hungry - stock up on chocolates and liquids

never be alone - a marina community is friendly in most cases.

never be dirty - a good shower is important

never be injured - dont fall in

[Kwacker]

Develop a low sensitivity to irrelevant creaks, cracks and drips so that you can hear the serious creaks, cracks and drips.

[Phil Ambrose]

Master these phrases

Oh, it shouldn't be doing that

Oh, where's all that water coming from.

Oh, there's a hole in the bottom.

And hope you never have to use them

Phil

[cotswoldsman]

Convert boat to 12v and get some good solar panels

[Geordie.narrowboat]

Read others blogs, huge source of information. Type Narrowboat blog in Google, chrome, Firefox or IE

[DeanS]

EXPECT to wake up in the morning, to a possibly cold boat, and realise it isn't the boat's problem, it's because YOU haven't thought ahead and loaded enough coals in time.

 

dont ask me how I know this.

get a lava lamp.

Everything looks nice when you have a lava lamp.

sometimes I walk past boats and they have horrible white clinical lighting......

replace yours as quickly as you can with something nice and warm.

 

personal taste, but I'm sure sitting in a cold boat with clinical flourescent type lights, must cause some new liveaboards some serious mental issues.

[b0atman]

In the morning a few bits of kindling poked into the hot coals and about 6 pieces of coal or a log then open bottom door while you make a cuppa .
One match to light fire at start of winter fire lit until warm weather then my son or daughter you are a fire master.

[Lmcgrath87]

...lava lamp is now on my Christmas list.

[DeanS]

As someone mentioned, I'd like to second the virtues of burning wood. You get an instant "kick" of heat....whereas coal often will take a much longer time to build up enough heat for your liking. Coal of course then lasts much longer and produces less ash, so you need them both, but there is nothing quite as uplifting as throwing in a bunch of small, and mediam sticks/kindling in the morning, and watching the flames, and instant heat warm the cockles of your heart

ps...buy a chainsaw. I bought an electric one yesterday from Aldi for £50, although I realise I'm only a real boater when I own a petrol one. I'm in a marina, and have elec shorepower to run my new chainsaw, and from now on can see myself returning to the art of looking for every piece of old wood I can find, however big it might be. Load the roof. Look like a live aboard

make your boat as quiet as you can.

Early mornings, in a marina or on a towpath, are normally wonderfully quiet and soothing.

 

I had a fan on my invertor....a small computer fan....amazing how you can hear it when you're out in the sticks. Ah the bliss when I binned it for something quieter.

 

ENJOY the silence. Most people dont have the luxury. If you are stuck in a noisy area,.....move your boat

[Alan de Enfield]

 

ps...buy a chainsaw. I bought an electric one yesterday from Aldi for £50, although I realise I'm only a real boater when I own a petrol one. I'm in a marina, and have elec shorepower to run my new chainsaw, and from now on can see myself returning to the art of looking for every piece of old wood I can find, however big it might be. Load the roof. Look like a live aboard

 

 

Just plug it into the generator - bingo - petrol powered chain saw - and you instantly become a 'real boater'

[Bettie Boo]

Once you leave the comfort & security of your first marina and start living on the cut...

 

- Ensure someone living on the boat has a Very good understanding of how to manage and maintain a battery bank - this can be obtained from reading numerous threads and asking questions on this forum

 

- If you have a pump out, get to know how long it normally lasts between pump outs, that way you won't get caught short

 

- Never pass a water point without topping up, or at least have an idea of how long you normally get from one tank

 

- Always have a full spare bottle of gas on board, remember you won't know you need it till the other one runs out in the middle of baking a cake!

 

- Have 2 bread knives on board - one for bread and the other for the weed hatch

 

- Invest in rechargeable batteries and a charger - you go through a lot with flashlights/walkie talkies/head lamps

 

- Always have something in the freezer that is just a matter of heating up, for those "harder & colder than planned cruising days" and you just can't be asked to prepare a freshly cooked meal when every muscle is aching and your cold to the bone...IE lasagne, cottage pie, beef stew, chicken pot pie filling - all nice and hearty and brings comfort with little to no effort.

 

- If your boat is trad layout and you only have one coal/wood stove in the front, purchase the heaviest tog duvet you can afford for the winter months, if like ours the entire boat is warm and toasty, the main bedroom is still quite cool, but once under the duvet all is well within seconds

 

- Carry a bag of disposable diapers and a bag of cat litter with you. Diapers for soaking up any thing in the bildge your wet/dry vac can't get at and cat litter to spread on top of lock gates if icy before you try and cross to the other side.

 

- cut a lemon in half, place one 1/2 on the end of an old fork (not to be used again in the kitchen) and use to clean the inside of the loo. Works brilliantly and saves using chemicals which will then make their way into your holding tank. Lemon juice also works with a brush, but fresh lemons are cheaper

 

- don't look at polishing brass as a task, but rather a soothing and rewarding pass time (well that's what I keep telling myself anyway)

 

- for your first winter, make sure you have a good supply of warm and comfy socks and warm slippers if you have hardwood floors

 

- when something breaks down, just look around your surroundings and remind yourself how lucky you are to be able to have this lifestyle - then figure out the best way to fix it

[David Mack]

ps...buy a chainsaw. I bought an electric one yesterday from Aldi for £50,

 

I hope you bought all the safety kit as well. In a contact between a chainsaw and human flesh, the human flesh always comes off worse.

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

Get to know, & Offer to help your Neighbors, it's bound to pay off, and it's just a nice thing to do.

Always Post or ask questions on CWDF, no matter how trivial or silly you might think they are.

Bartering is good !.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Paul's Nulife4-2

[Pykebird]

Have a sense of humour, boy you will need it!

[Geordie.narrowboat]

You will get oil somewhere!

[zenataomm]

Look up Keb, then get one and learn the art of kebbing.

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To keep your fire in all night, save your large lumps of coal for bedtime. Rake out the fire and place the lump of coal on top of the embers with the grain horizontal (this is called a sleeper). Shovel a coating of ash over the top of it and close the draught down. Next morning open the draught up wide and rake the ashes through.

 

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Coat your door keys in Vaseline then use them. The Vaseline will transfer to the lock tumblers and stop them from freezing.

 

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Mooring in or near a marina you may notice others storing their fridge type items like milk, butter etc.in their well decks or up on their rooves. Now you'll only get away with this tip once. Wait until they start storing beer/wine outside and if it coincides with a big freeze then walk your dog late at night. Your looking for their boats to be held firmly in the ice .... no movement when you step on the side you see?

Then when you tap on their cabin side and tell them you've just saved their booze from being lifted they'll give you some as a reward.

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To properly enjoy living on your boat and being carefree. Stoke up your stoves, draw back your curtains and dance naked to your 70s Disco CD at full volume.

Everybody around you will draw their curtains and spend hours reading newspapers furiously. You'll not be interrupted or bothered by anyone (I never have been) what's more the next time you pop round to borrow a teabag they'll load you with a week's worth of groceries and invite you to help yourself to anything you need from their front locker. At least I think that's what they're saying through their mushroom vents.

 

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[DeanS]

get a wireless doorbell. Sometimes when you're at the tiller, all by yourself, and want to order a coffee, or need help with the boat, pressing a doorbell remote is nicer than trying to steer the boat while screaming 57ft through the boat, to SheWhoIsRelaxingInsideWithABook.

 

Make sure your boat has enough long ropes.....and even 2 centre lines....it helps a lot so you dont end up trying to pull in a 57ft boat with one short rope in a hurricane

[jollymoggy]

Heres what I recommend so far:

 

* Buy Small trolley for toilet cassette

* Buy Pearson canal guides

* Check you have windlass, lock key, yale key, mooring pins and hammer

* Make sure horn and headlight works for tunnels

* Buy plenty of hot water bottles for in bed

* Buy a set of waterproof overalls

[Lady Muck]

Invest in proper waterproofs and waterproof boots - if your boots aren't waterproof Sealskinz do great waterproof socks. The right gear makes boating in wet weather much more bearable. When we boat in the wet we put down old towels and cardboard boxes on the floor so you don't take a load of mud into the boat when you go to make tea.

 

I've never lost a phone when boating, it's because I always keep it inside when we are on the move. there is a shelf I put it on near the back hatch.

 

Make sure you've got spares of everything. Don't let the fuel or gas or coal run down to almost nothing, that's when you get caught out.

 

Watch the weather forecast closely at this time of year - IME it needs to be a still night and minus 4 or 5 overnight for the canal to freeze and zero or minus something to stay frozen. Three nights like this and it won't be navigable. So if the forecast looks like this, get your water tank full and your loo emptied as soon as you can.

 

Before you go to bed make sure you have coal and kindling inside the boat, because there is nothing more grim or frustrating than trying to make a fire with cold, damp fuel on a cold morning.

Get up early enough so you don't have to rush in the a.m. I love mornings, I spent an hour clearing the ash out, getting the fire going again and drinking lots of tea, before I even think about opening the curtains or getting dressed.

[Phil Ambrose]

Get the fire going again? mine never goes out.

Phil

[Lady Muck]

If I keep it in too strongly at this time of year it's 80 in the bed cabin and it's too hot to sleep. I only need 6 lumps of coal. It's hard to get a fire that small to stay in.

[DeanS]

dont clutter.

When you first move aboard, adapting to living in a smaller space is made a lot more difficult if your stuff is lying everywhere and you cant find anything. After you've lived in a boat for a while though, you'll be less messy because you would have gotten used to putting things in certain places, but in the beginning it's a lot to try and manage.

[Alan de Enfield]

If I keep it in too strongly at this time of year it's 80 in the bed cabin and it's too hot to sleep. I only need 6 lumps of coal. It's hard to get a fire that small to stay in.

 

I'm told its "anoraky" to count the lumps of coal !!!