New and green

[Mert]

Hello all,

 

This is my first foray into the world of living afloat and I must admit it is exciting and somehow fraught with danger. For a start I have a Doberman that can’t swim (I have seen her flounder in a the bend of a stream!) I also positively need my desktop PC on board for work. A suitable laptop would cost too much.

 

I think I will buy a 40 foot boat to start me off. My initial investigations suggest 40 foot is enough for one and my visiting girlfriend.

 

Another problem is that I am called away with work occasionally and this means the hated time in hotels. To make matters worse I usually get about five days notice to fly. I have come to realise this means I will not be able to survive on a continuous cruiser licence.

 

All these problems!!!

 

My aunt and uncle had a boat for many years and I know it is the life for me. So that is why I am asking for any information anybody can pass on about living aboard that you cant find on Google. It is exciting looking at invertors and 12 volt monitors on the web, but its all adverts and I don’t have a clue.

 

I would also like to moor on the Leeds Liverpool near Wheelton, or the Rufford Canal from Tarleton past Burscough, if anybody can point me to contacts.

 

Exciting days though!

[JohnO]

Hi Mert

Welcome to CW,

I assume you must do some high end stuff on your computer. Laptops compared to narrowboats dont cost much

I thought a 40 ft would be big enough, suppose it depends on what work you do and how much work related stuff you have. If you are not away for more than 2 weeks you could find a "14 day" mooring. Hope thats been some kinda help

best of luck

[beeailseebob]

Hello all,

 

This is my first foray into the world of living afloat and I must admit it is exciting and somehow fraught with danger. For a start I have a Doberman that can’t swim (I have seen her flounder in a the bend of a stream!) I also positively need my desktop PC on board for work. A suitable laptop would cost too much.

 

I think I will buy a 40 foot boat to start me off. My initial investigations suggest 40 foot is enough for one and my visiting girlfriend.

 

 

Exciting days though!

 

Hello there,

 

Welcome to boat life!

 

I don't normally get involved when people are thinking about their choices when it comes to life afloat as there are invariably so many opinions when it comes to "ways of doing it" (living afloat that is.) and I certainly don't think there is a definitive Right or Wrong way to go.

 

However (I bet you knew that was coming!) I think with yourself, a dog and occasional visiting girlfriend you may (and that is not a should!) want to consider something more like 50 foot. It just means you're not living on top of each other and would give you a bit more PC space.

 

I looked at a 45 foot boat when I first got into boats and whilst there was a PC area, it was all a bit crammed in. Maybe you've been looking for a while and know you can live on this size boat, but I'm glad to have not bought that boat.

 

Ooh, its all such fun though!

 

Definately recommend a harness for the dog, makes it much easier to fish them out! ;-)

[nbtafelberg]

Hi there yes I would agree

 

Because I had a girlfriend and she became my wife! Luckly we have a 70 foot boat.

 

All the best with your adventure!

[hnb2907]

Firstly, as others have said, welcome to the waterways...

 

I'm envious - one day I might just do the same, that's one of the reasons why I've got my NB, as I forsee a time when it will double as a mobile house for work reasons, and have the fun of moving it there between jobs.

 

On a more lighthearted note, I definitely am envious - I do my fair share of travelling for work, usually at least once every 4 or 5 weeks, both in the UK and Europe. I usually get told at 3.30pm to get my flights/hotels booked for first light next morning from Manchester airport! Wish I got a weeks' notice!!!

 

 

We (parents and myself, so 3 of us) used to have a 37' cruiser NB, which I think would have been fine for me in your circumstances. The only problem would have been needing another 3 or so foot to fit in the PC. So 40 sounds like about the minumum, but it depends on the layout. Having also a few years on a 57' shared ownership boat, this would have been too big for our needs.

 

Inverters? I've got 2 - both pure sinewave, a 300w one for powering the telly (on the very rare occasions it gets used) and phone chargers and the slow cooker while were on the move. Also got a 1500w one for the very few occasions that I need to use something bigger, drill/vacuum. Don't forget to do your calcs for alternator size/battery capacity/daily usage, it adds up quicker than you think, especially if you're like us without 240vac at our moorings.

 

 

Other tips - I'm still only a beginner, but where to start!? That's the great thing, there's plenty of folks who are happy to help, and we've also picked up our own ideas and ways of doing stuff.

 

 

ttbfn,

ChrisC.

[hnb2907]

...forgot to say our current boat is 46' - head, loose, forgetting. That would give you a bit more flexibility and living/storage space too!

[Lady Muck]

Hi Mert, Sure you can run a p.c. on a nb (we have two and two monitors but we are 57 foot).

 

A mooring and a shoreline is must for us. I'm in a similar position to you, just found out I have to go to Spain to work tommorow, I don't think I'd feel happy leaving the boat just tied up somewhere.

 

Laptops are better on boats they take up less space and you can run them off 12v adaptors (from Maplins) but theres no reason you can't use a desktop p.c., but you should be really careful of condensation in the winter, we have left a lot of space around the cases to ensure it has no chance to form.

[Mert]

Thanks to all for your warm welcome and appreciated input.

 

I’ve firmly realised that I need a residential mooring with a phone line and neighbours. Otherwise I would spend my days abroad chewing my fingernails with worry about the boat and the rest of the time collecting e-mails from anywhere I could get them.

 

The nomad life is obviously not for me.

 

But the decision has been made and I will be afloat in the next three months. There is an outside possibility that I can get a mooring on the Rufford canal. It’s an outside chance though. If that doesn’t work out then I will cruise till I find a mooring.

 

I know about notebooks but my PC cost £3000 and notebooks to match cost silly money.

[blackrose]

I lived on a 45' Springer for 3 years. I know some couples live on boats this size but the lack of space drove me mad in the end. Cabin fever init.

[Supermalc]

I lived on a 45' Springer for 3 years.

 

With your 20 year old, glamour model footballers wife sister

 

Don't usually justify my edit tag......we all seem to mistype, or miss a sentence, but must be 'boatlag' today ....... had to have 2 attempts to get the strikethough tags to work. Rather spoils the post too

Edited April 5, 2007 by Supermalc

[Supermalc]

Living on your own, with space at a premium, I'd have thought a boat without a 'bedroom' would be the best. A must have would be the best folding bed settee you can get, even automated, as you have to do it everyday. Give this a lot of thought, to make it as easy as possible. Then your 40 odd foot boat can have a decent sized kitchen and bathroom. So you still get 2 rooms....one for each when you have a visitor. There is just short corridor past the bathroom in the middle.

[Mert]

Well my search for a suitable boat began today, and within the first two boats I have realised that 40 foot is probably too small. The first was described by the owner has his mobile garden shed where he escapes from the wife. Unfortunately it looked like a garden shed too. And the second was owned by a young lady who assured me that 40 foot is plenty of space for living aboard, before she retreated to her new wide beam boat.

 

So it looks like I am going up a size or two, probably 50 feet or a cheaper 60 foot boat.

 

Another thing which maybe some readers of this post may get upset at, but at this point I am just covering all the bases and asking allsorts of people for advice, is that I met a gentleman who lives permanently on a 60 foot boat on a BW wharf today and he says that all he does his send his cheque to Watford? Every year stating where he is moored and the “Monolithic Dinosaur” has he described them bank his cheque and ask no questions.

 

Don’t get me wrong I have to work abroad so that means a violation of the rules sticker is not an option for me, plus going grey is enough of a problem without being a law breaker. But this chicken and egg business between buying a boat and getting a residential mooring really is a pain in the A*$£.

 

So if I can quietly park up for a month or so while I find a mooring without a black Mercedes Narrowboat sailing by full of trench coat clad BW operatives, that would be very nice indeed.

 

So I am looking for a boat I can live on that won’t sink, blow up or drain my wallet. That can accommodate a dog. A lovely lady and visiting friends and I have forty grand cash. It must be within two weeks sailing of the Wheelton or Tarleton area and you can mail me through this site.

 

I am still excited, just a little wiser too.

[Mert]

Well my search for a suitable boat began today, and within the first two boats I have realised that 40 foot is probably too small. The first was described by the owner has his mobile garden shed where he escapes from the wife. Unfortunately it looked like a garden shed too. And the second was owned by a young lady who assured me that 40 foot is plenty of space for living aboard, before she retreated to her new wide beam boat.

 

So it looks like I am going up a size or two, probably 50 feet or a cheaper 60 foot boat.

 

Another thing which maybe some readers of this post may get upset at, but at this point I am just covering all the bases and asking allsorts of people for advice, is that I met a gentleman who lives permanently on a 60 foot boat on a BW wharf today and he says that all he does his send his cheque to Watford? Every year stating where he is moored and the “Monolithic Dinosaur” has he described them bank his cheque and ask no questions.

 

Don’t get me wrong I have to work abroad so that means a violation of the rules sticker is not an option for me, plus going grey is enough of a problem without being a law breaker. But this chicken and egg business between buying a boat and getting a residential mooring really is a pain in the A*$£.

 

So if I can quietly park up for a month or so while I find a mooring without a black Mercedes Narrowboat sailing by full of trench coat clad BW operatives, that would be very nice indeed.

 

So I am looking for a boat I can live on that won’t sink, blow up or drain my wallet. That can accommodate a dog. A lovely lady and visiting friends and I have forty grand cash. It must be within two weeks sailing of the Wheelton or Tarleton area and you can mail me through this site.

 

I am still excited, just a little wiser too.

 

 

Oops i wanted to say to Supermalc that i have just been reading your site and its great. Pressed the wrong key though so sorry all for the double post.

[blackrose]

With your 20 year old, glamour model footballers wife sister

 

No she was only around for a couple of months - I had to end it - the cramped space wasn't the only thing that did my head in!

[bramley]

hi,

i have done what you are doing, very exiting isnt it, i bought a 40foot boat, and althow it was sutable (just) it was still cramped and that was with a laptop and no dog. so yes your right 50/60 foot is a definate..

 

have you searched the net for boat,

 

www.whiltonmarina.co.uk

appoloduck etc etc

 

Best of luck, must say im jealous again... i have now bought and sold 2 narrowboats, and am back on dry land but had to move out for work purposes... regret it isnt the word lol especialy with the recent lovely days..

 

Ross

[Mad Mac]

hi Mert

you say the Rufford will be your home ground well have you tried the two boatyards on the Rufford,

One is "James Mayor, Hesketh Bank".

 

HAve fun.

Don

[Mad Mac]

hi Mert

you say the Rufford will be your home ground well have you tried the two boatyards on the Rufford,

One is "James Mayor, Hesketh Bank".

 

HAve fun.

Don

[DHutch]

We have stayed a number of months are Mayors Boatyard at tarleton.

- It has recently (2 years ago?) been taken over by a pair of fellows who have been busy doing up ever since, and its now really fairly very nice, and still quite affordable i beleave, certainly, it wasnt too dear when we where there.

 

 

Daniel

[Mad Mac]

I thinks I might actualy try them myself as at the moment I am at Preston and prices are going up like fireworks, becoming far too expensive.

[Mert]

I used to live round the corner from the new marinas at Rufford. If I remember rightly the one on the left has you come over the bridge is owned by a guy called Alan who owns the residential home across the road. I used to pretend I was eighteen and have a pint there when it was a pub.

 

As for the Tarleton yard my mum and dad had a boat there for a short while and they know a lovely guy in a big offshore looking thing that I can only describe as a ship. His name is Geoff I think.

 

When my parents moored there it was the old owner but they have promised to go and see the new owners about me mooring there. That promise is unfulfilled at the moment because my dad works in the gulf and they are rightly too busy enjoying his time off at the moment. But we are definitely going to see about a mooring next week.

 

Tarleton would be perfect for me because I have friends and family in Chorley which is a 25 minute drive or two day cruise, and I love the Lancaster Canal.

 

 

 

 

Hey Mac we might be neighbours!

[pagan witch]

I know I'm not alone here but on the PC front :-

 

I run (for a variety of reasons) 2 laptops and 2 PCs, all connected via a hub and sharing common 3g (at least it would be if Voda can ever manage it) modem, scanner and an A3 photo printer.

 

I'm normally on mains hook up but as this can be a bit tetchy and prone to dropping out when folk at the marina overload it I run the PCs through a UPS that gives me appx 15 minutes 'finish what I'm doing and shut down' time. The laptops of course don't care what I feed them. A decent twin processor laptop handles everything I do (cost just over £500) including video editing at DV standard. Bigger are of course available but at £1,000 you'd get e real top end flying machine without the hassle of power supplies to worry about.

 

Whilst out cruising I run a 2 kw inverter that handles everything except the washing machine but the UPS sees the 220 volts as being too low so permanently tripping in and out (no loss of power to PC but annoying to hear the relay all the time) so I have devised a simple 'one plug swap over' that runs them directly off of the inverter supply - as the PCs are all using switch mode power supplies they are happy with anything betwween 110 and 240 V.

 

The best deal I have found on data cards so far is T Mobile who offer 6 Gig a month for £29 +VAT inc a USB modem. Even the 'customer advisor in the Orange shop said she was a T Mobile customer for data as they couldn't compete.

[Mert]

Thanks a lot for your info Pagan Witch.

 

The reason I don’t want to buy a laptop is that I have spent thousands on this comp and it is the hub of my home on shore. It does everything from writing on here to playing the latest games, playing my music and feeding me Hi Def movies. To sell it cheap on E Bay to buy a notebook that doesn’t work as well just seems stupid. I also rely on it for E-Miether from work.

 

I’m interested in T-Mobile at £29 a month using a USB modem but I heard that its 3 GB not 6.

 

The boat I am looking at doesn’t have mains wiring, it’s all 12 volt. I am looking at a Honda True sine wave generator for cruising. Also to fit two more leisure batteries and an inverter and UPS I think.

 

Do you have any idea on cost?