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Not got a boat, yet


LadyG

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On 2017-5-12 at 13:37, Tony Brooks said:

I suspect that initially your mobility may well improve because that is what I find after a summer on the boat BUT I am sure that eventually you will find not only moving the boat but also routine maintenance of the boat and its equipment will get beyond you. Then the boat will become more and more difficult to live on and have a decent quality of life. I am sure many of us on here have seen boats where for one reason or another the owner has lost the ability to care for it and in many cases themselves adequately. How many years that will take is of course unknowable but what I will say is that I will be selling the boat in the next few years because I recognise boating will become dangerous with an increasing lack of mobility and strength AND that suggest I will not longer be able to look after it. I am 73. Then there are the increasing appointments for doctors & hospitals etc.

Please give this lots of thought. At least with a flat you have a Local Authority who more or less are obliged to take some care of you. I bet if you are living on a boat in a way that means that you do not pay council tax it would be very difficult to access the small amount of help a Local Authority will give.

Still if you think that you will remain active and with good health and strength until almost the last  then go for it but please give it lost of thought.

Yes, I thought about it:  thing is that one problem with current flat is maintenance, it keeps draining my capital, and this is just keeping up to date, the new kitchen [essential] , cost about 4K, and I did quite a lot of  work myself,  the electrics have still to be upgraded, I think they will be another £500,and there is another £500 hundre to spend ,  this is all to bring the flat up to spec for selling.

It would be just too sad to contemplate living here just because I want to access LA care, that is just terribly depressing.

If I was obviously unable to cope, I could move in to a marina, pay Council Tax and then ask for help, it might be possible to rent a flat and claim benefit, this is something I have no experience of, I am just too independent to get involved in that.

 

Edited by ladygardener
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Liverpool Boats1989, has a stove but no separate bedroom, and engine needs a damn good service

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232331967735?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I lovethisone, its go anywhere, bow thruster and good engine for the river, no separate bedroom, but I suspect the area near the stern makes up in to a bed for summer use.

http://www.lakelandleisureboatsales.co.uk/boat/runcible

 

Edited by ladygardener
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The negatives :

2 batteries (one of which is probably for the engine) is far too small a set-up for liveaboard

Engine missfire

Engine cooling issues

Does not appear to have any 'mains' set up (apart from the inverter)

What size inverter ?

Gas water heater in bathroom - Not allowed on a liveaboard boat - will need re-plumbing / moving (BSS failure)

Put-Up bed - every night make up the bed, get bedding out of storage, every morning put bedding away, put bed slates away, re-make the setee. (It doesn't sound 'much' and for odd weekends it isn't, but, EVERY night ?

Almost 30 years old, and built by an 'economy' builder.

200 litre water tank is far too small (we currently have a 1000 litre tank) for a liveaboard.

Hull 'history'

 

Positives :

Cassette toilet

Squirrel stove

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I bought an electric blanket for the boat but used it twice in 12 months so it got removed, observing the rule that anything on the boat that doesn't get used with a reasonable frequency for what it is in a 12 month period is not earning its boatspace and gets the boot. 

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9 hours ago, Starcoaster said:

Just a few thoughts of my own to mention based on things I have not seen so far:

Given your price range (which I think is perfectly realistic for a good, solid reasonably cosmetically ok boat if you are savvy) I would be more concerned about the condition and maintenance than putting a date cut off in. Some builders from 25 and 30 years ago are now highly sought after and often fabulously maintained and will survey well, whilst some post-Y2K generic large-production craft may have been patchy to start with and poorly maintained since. I'd add another 10 years back to your preferred boat age search, personally.

Having 50k plus to play with is a nice idea, but not realistic for everyone! You really do have to have the money in your hand to buy though-or even browse meaningfully with a view to buying if you see the right boat-so the selling of flat and finding of interim accom would be my priority. If you are absolutely out of friends and relatives that will tolerate you, I think I would sell the accom and spend a grand or so renting somewhere in the Midlands for a month or doing an off-season deal with a BandB or something (due to the proximity of so many brokerages) and shopping in earnest. Another thing to consider is that a reasonable number of marinas and moorings have a licence for a couple of touring caravans too-Braunston Marina for one-so perhaps buying a very cheap caravan to stay in while you search and then selling it on when you get the boat would be another option, and you might pretty much get your money back, minus the nightly charges to park up.

In winter I have found that I am comfortably warm on the boat regardless of the outside temperature for literally the first time in my life. I love my stove, but honestly the dust that accumulates in every nook and cranny within the course of a week pisses me off no end, and causes me endless existential crisis because I fecking hate my home being dirty, but not as much as a I fecking hate cleaning it.

I have found carpet on a boat to be a sodding terrible idea-a pair of good slippers is infinitely better and easier to keep clean!

Regarding winter provisions etc., I have had several different moorings since I got the boat from a selection of landlords (lest said about the last one the better... oops, too late!) and have found that when it comes to water taps in winter, if the moorers themselves don't make the effort to keep them maintained and un-frozen no one else is likely to-and they are of course as likely to freeze as any CRT tap. This has held true in my experience for everything from 200+ berth marinas to a two-boat private mooring, although I suspect some places take care of this for you...

Ps., Elsans can and do freeze too; this is also not fun at all.


 

 

I would agree with just about everything here: my only quibble is about the dust from a stove. In all the 15 or so years I lived aboard dust from the stove was never a problem, it was the muck coming in from my boots or the cat's feet. 

I did put down carpet in the front part of my first boat, and used to have to get down on my knees and vacuum endlessly to keep it clean. Second boat had lovely bare wooden floorboards and in the winter I wore those Afghan " hippy socks" , knitted multi-coloured with a leather sole. Knee-length and super warm.

A stove with a radiator or two is ample, and to be honest the rad next to the bed was never used, the rad in the bathroom at the rear of the boat was ample to keep the whole 55' trad warm.

 

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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

The negatives :

2 batteries (one of which is probably for the engine) is far too small a set-up for liveaboard

Engine missfire

Engine cooling issues

Does not appear to have any 'mains' set up (apart from the inverter)

What size inverter ?

Gas water heater in bathroom - Not allowed on a liveaboard boat - will need re-plumbing / moving (BSS failure)

Put-Up bed - every night make up the bed, get bedding out of storage, every morning put bedding away, put bed slates away, re-make the setee. (It doesn't sound 'much' and for odd weekends it isn't, but, EVERY night ?

Almost 30 years old, and built by an 'economy' builder.

200 litre water tank is far too small (we currently have a 1000 litre tank) for a liveaboard.

Hull 'history'

 

Positives :

Cassette toilet

Squirrel stove

Are you referring to the Liverpoolboat?, I just put this one up as astarting point, are you saying they build to a minimum hull spec??

It IS only £23K, but fairenouff, noBSS. Is there a different standard for a liveaboard BSS to nonliveaboard? .That can't be right?

Edited by ladygardener
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Runcible, defo a one man boat

http://www.lakelandleisureboatsales.co.uk/boat/runcible

and 

Blue Moon which is for sale by Steve at ashboats,

no date of launch, but the woodworker wasalso the hull builder ............. Dave Erwell

its at a marina near Tattenhall

I cannot get my cut and paste to work, sry

Edited by ladygardener
keyboard malfunction
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OMG, 

bloody idiots,

so, i try to view a boat, its called RUNCIBLE, and it looks as though it is for sale.

It is advertised as for sale thru/at Saul junction Marina, but they told me to talk to someone who does not have the boat on their books, So that wasted most of the am.

I then could not get the marina to answer the phone at Saul, so I asked the marina manager in the same group to deal  with it, aparently its nothing to do with him. It seems they don't answer the phone! Not that he got back to me.....

Well wtf, I suggested it all looked fishy ,  and he asked me to retract my statement, lol. I suggested he contact the MD of the company and tell them what has happened. I don't think he will, after all:  quote "its nothing to do with me" 

I am a bit old fashioned, me, if a customer is unhappy, it IS something to do with me! 

So , viewings requested 1

viewings accepted 0

impressions of lakeland leisure boat sales on a scale of 1 to 5, = 1, and that is only cos they actually have a telephone. Though they don't answer it very often.

EDIT impression on a scale 1 to 5, , zero.

They panic when they realise they have lost a sale, and the bait failed.

 

Edited by ladygardener
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11 hours ago, lulu fish said:

My friend recently had a similar experience when trying to view a boat there.

That does not surprise me, but I hope the owner of RUNCIBLE gets in touch with me and we can guillotine their commission. 

I won't be visiting Tattenhall if they can't even sort this glitch out at another marina in the group. ...

 

Proverbs 13.20

essentially ............"By your company, you will be judged"

 

OK, its now 16.30, someone phoned, a few minutes after I cancelled a viewing because I was not happy with them [they did not respond to any other contact]. Seems the boat I liked is sold,.... obviously the Q is, why is it on their For Sale list? ............ well damn me, maybe cos it is bait: little fish catch bigger fish ............

and its still out there, somewhere, bobbing in the water......................

Edited by ladygardener
phone call from sales!
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5 hours ago, system 4-50 said:

I bought an electric blanket for the boat but used it twice in 12 months so it got removed, observing the rule that anything on the boat that doesn't get used with a reasonable frequency for what it is in a 12 month period is not earning its boatspace and gets the boot. 

Absolutely agree - hot water bottles do the job for us. Free heating of kettle on stove, cold water then used for flushing toilet - no waste, no electricity used.

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From past experience, you need a partner  who is willing to warm up the bed for you without complaint, but solo sleepers need electricity, it will be cheaper, in the long run.

The electric overblanket is a different generation, its like sleeping in a warm cocoon. 

Edited by ladygardener
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5 minutes ago, ladygardener said:

From past experience, you need a partner  who is willing to warm up the bed for you without complaint, but solo sleepers need electricity, it will be cheaper, in the long run.

Ha ha they all complain!  Free hot water still cheaper than electric though ;)

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4 minutes ago, Meanderingviking said:

Ha ha they all complain!  Free hot water still cheaper than electric though ;)

Its not free though, you need to buy coal, and Newton passed various Laws, ensuring there was nothing free in the world ever again.

Electricity from batteries is available, why not use it? else why have batteries?

Edited by ladygardener
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16 minutes ago, ladygardener said:

Its not free though, you need to buy coal , and eectricity from batteries is available, else    why have batteries?

Free in that you will be running stove any way for heating boat. Batteries yes, but they need daily charging and if they fail no electricity available, unless you're on shoreline. The blanket will be 240v so inverter needed to provide you with 240 v from 12v batteries, so another cost. The hot water bottles are just a suggestion for a less energy intensive solution to warming up the bed, personally an electric blanket is not something I would choose to do, of course you will find what's right for you.

 

 

Edited by Guest
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34 minutes ago, Meanderingviking said:

Free in that you will be running stove any way for heating boat. Batteries yes, but they need daily charging and if they fail no electricity available, unless you're on shoreline. The blanket will be 240v so inverter needed to provide you with 240 v from 12v batteries, so another cost. The hot water bottles are just a suggestion for a less energy intensive solution to warming up the bed, personally an electric blanket is not something I would choose to do, of course you will find what's right for you.

 

 

But the leisure batteries should be capable of warming an electric blanket surely, even if there is some loss via the invertor, I don't get this argument at all,, to me the whole point of having batteries is to provide electricity, in a stored form. if you don't use it, why have it?

A small invertor is quite inexpensive. Maybe 2/3v bags of coal

Edited by ladygardener
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36 minutes ago, ladygardener said:

Electricity from batteries is available, why not use it? else why have batteries?

Bear in mind (many don't) that the electricity used daily doesn't actually come from the batteries, it comes from your generation, be that engine/alternator, generator, solar, wind, or shore/charger.  

The more you use on Monday the more you have to generate on Tuesday. Not generating as much as you use is very common and leads to rapid killing of the batteries. 

5 minutes ago, ladygardener said:

the whole point of having batteries is to provide electricity, in a stored form

Yes, they store what you generate :)

Use less and you have to generate less.  

Edited by WotEver
Clarity.
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3 minutes ago, ladygardener said:

But the leisure batteries should be capable of warming an eletric blanket surely, even if there i some loss via the invertor, I don't get this argument at all,, to me the whole point of having batteries is to provide electricity, in a stored form. if you don't use it, why have it?

Are you on a :

d-man-wind-up-key-back-illustration-person-turning-workclock-another-work-rendering-concept-mechanical-busy-34278945.jpg

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On 14/05/2017 at 14:43, ladygardener said:

OMG, 

bloody idiots,

so, i try to view a boat, its called RUNCIBLE, and it looks as though it is for sale.

It is advertised as for sale thru/at Saul junction Marina, but they told me to talk to someone who does not have the boat on their books, So that wasted most of the am.

I then could not get the marina to answer the phone at Saul, so I asked the marina manager in the same group to deal  with it, aparently its nothing to do with him. It seems they don't answer the phone! Not that he got back to me.....

Well wtf, I suggested it all looked fishy ,  and he asked me to retract my statement, lol. I suggested he contact the MD of the company and tell them what has happened. I don't think he will, after all:  quote "its nothing to do with me" 

I am a bit old fashioned, me, if a customer is unhappy, it IS something to do with me! 

So , viewings requested 1

viewings accepted 0

impressions of lakeland leisure boat sales on a scale of 1 to 5, = 1, and that is only cos they actually have a telephone. Though they don't answer it very often.

EDIT impression on a scale 1 to 5, , zero.

They panic when they realise they have lost a sale, and the bait failed.

 

 

You have a lot to learn about canal ways, Grasshopper.

This 'customer is king' bollux promoted by them as lives on the bank is not generally accepted here on the cut.

I find it quite refreshing actually the way the supplier knows he has something YOU want (i.e. the product or service) as well as you having something the supplier wants (i.e. money). So the relationship is actually 50/50 and when the punter wants what the supplier has then it is a two way street. 

 

Posts like yours above are not going to endear you to a broker who happens to have a boat you want to buy.

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14 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

You have a lot to learn about canal ways, Grasshopper.

This 'customer is king' bollux promoted by them as lives on the bank is not generally accepted here on the cut.

I find it quite refreshing actually the way the supplier knows he has something YOU want (i.e. the product or service) as well as you having something the supplier wants (i.e. money). So the relationship is actually 50/50 and when the punter wants what the supplier has then it is a two way street. 

 

Posts like yours above are not going to endear you to a broker who happens to have a boat you want to buy.

It's strange isn't it that people say they want to take to the canals to escape the rat race, or for the slower pace of life, and then start ranting about the lack of ruthless efficiency..     

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5 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Quote
Quote

"You have a lot to learn about canal ways, Grasshopper.

This 'customer is king' bollux promoted by them as lives on the bank is not generally accepted here on the cut.

I find it quite refreshing actually the way the supplier knows he has something YOU want (i.e. the product or service) as well as you having something the supplier wants (i.e. money). So the relationship is actually 50/50 and when the punter wants what the supplier has then it is a two way street. 

 

Posts like yours above are not going to endear you to a broker who happens to have a boat you want to buy. [UNQUOTE]"

But they don't have the boat I want to buy, in spite of advertising it, how can I deal with people who do that  sort of thing?

I really don't want to spend £30K on a photograph of a boat, and one which has no mooring, with a "vendor" who has no paperwork. The folks who are selling boats are not on the cut, they are living in bricks and mortar.

 

Edited by ladygardener
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