WhiteSuit Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 We are about to retire and start a new era. We can at last spend the time on the boat that our investment in it demands. Thus far we have not managed more than three weeks away at a time. We are going to be out till September or October which gives us whole new waterways to discover. Current plan is to head towards Llangollen as that was one of our favourite hire holidays when we started out twenty years ago, we haven't been back since. We are leaving our current mooring in the east Midlands and will be heading back to our new mooring in the middle levels for the winter. Hence return time is not fixed because of Nene flow. It IS exciting times. The start of a new adventure. Having planned for so long I am hoping I have covered all the most important things but am sure I will kick myself for something which becomes obvious after a few days. Can I ask your advice from the below list what have I forgotten? House security, garden & insurance Solar set up and attempt to learn how to manage batteries Boat servicing, tools and spare parts Data mifi and telephone set up Maps Ways to get back home for family events etc Clarinet Books Music Access to dog food supplies Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Marshall Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Plenty of reeds for the clarinet - there are hardly any music shops anywhere near a canal, as I know to my sorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor Vectis Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 48 minutes ago, WhiteSuit said: We are about to retire and start a new era. We can at last spend the time on the boat that our investment in it demands. Thus far we have not managed more than three weeks away at a time. We are going to be out till September or October which gives us whole new waterways to discover. Current plan is to head towards Llangollen as that was one of our favourite hire holidays when we started out twenty years ago, we haven't been back since. We are leaving our current mooring in the east Midlands and will be heading back to our new mooring in the middle levels for the winter. Hence return time is not fixed because of Nene flow. It IS exciting times. The start of a new adventure. Having planned for so long I am hoping I have covered all the most important things but am sure I will kick myself for something which becomes obvious after a few days. Can I ask your advice from the below list what have I forgotten? House security, garden & insurance Solar set up and attempt to learn how to manage batteries Boat servicing, tools and spare parts Data mifi and telephone set up Maps Ways to get back home for family events etc Clarinet Books Music Access to dog food supplies Mark Don't think of it as retirement, that's what old people do. Treat it as an escape from wage slavery. WRT 'Ways to get back home for family events etc' I can recommend the Over 60s Railcard. Use the National Rail Enquiries website to hunt out cheap fares, book in advance to get the best deals. Living on the Isle of Wight the expensive bit is getting across to that there North Island. But, as a for instance, once over there £3.30 fares are available up to Victoria and then £3.65 on to Brum. You are limited to a specific train but if you are not working you can be flexible. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsmelly Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Beer, Wine, and opening devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty69 Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 10 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said: Plenty of reeds for the clarinet - there are hardly any music shops anywhere near a canal, as I know to my sorrow! There's plenty of reeds down the reed hatch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmr Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Rent the house out and live on the boat full time. Yes, managing batteries in the winter is hard, lots of engine running or some sort of generator. Learn how to Equalise. Lots of Tools and spare parts, and learn how to use them, otherwise it gets very very expensive. Three has by far the best coverage on the cut, anybody who says otherwise is not telling the truth or is not CCing Canalplan is good but its nice to have a full set of Nicholsons The Railway is good, otherwise rent a car, Enterprise are very good with boaters Dunno, expect you can get things on the www Books take up a lot of space, nice to have a few real ones, but the internet is the way to go for CCers Spotify and a big hard disk, Wav still sounds better than MP3 A few companies will deliver dog food to the boat. Superb pet shop in Banbury Any more questions???? ......Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 1 hour ago, WhiteSuit said: House security, garden & insurance Very carefully read your house insurance T&Cs - I have found that every one I looked at will not insure your house if it is left empty for more than 30/60 days (I ended up with Tesco who offer cover if the house is empty for up to 60 days). The last thing you need to worry about is not being insured - things happen !!. Rent the house out for 6 months, or, get a family member to come in and house sit, or even find a house sitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grebe Posted March 1, 2018 Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 7 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said: Very carefully read your house insurance T&Cs - I have found that every one I looked at will not insure your house if it is left empty for more than 30/60 days (I ended up with Tesco who offer cover if the house is empty for up to 60 days). The last thing you need to worry about is not being insured - things happen !!. Rent the house out for 6 months, or, get a family member to come in and house sit, or even find a house sitter. We found the same situation with insurance when we had three properties on the go, main home, holiday home plus an inherited properrty awaiting sale. Other stuff Our liveaboard friends adopted a policy on weather - if you're boating and it starts to rain cover up and carry on - if it rains when you're moored up stay moored up. Pubs are nice at lunch time but you waste good boating time especially in autumn and winter, go in the evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Movin' on Posted March 1, 2018 Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said: Very carefully read your house insurance T&Cs - I have found that every one I looked at will not insure your house if it is left empty for more than 30/60 days (I ended up with Tesco who offer cover if the house is empty for up to 60 days). The last thing you need to worry about is not being insured - things happen !!. Rent the house out for 6 months, or, get a family member to come in and house sit, or even find a house sitter. House Insurance and buying/storing dog food were our challenges when we started our great adventure under the same circumstances 3 years ago. Dog food - try to wean "fido" off anything special but if you cant, and we couldn't, you do need to plan - we get it delivered to friends on our route and always have a supply at relatives who we typically see once a month House Insurance we have found an insurer who will do 90 days (app £50 additional premium and slightly higher excess) BUT remember you don't just have to visit you (not a friend) have to stay over at least one night and be able to prove it. Make sure you depart as worry free as possible Last tip JOIN RCR and IMHO silver membership is best value. Edited March 1, 2018 by Halsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotEver Posted March 1, 2018 Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 (edited) When we had a house that sat empty for well over a year (inheritance which sold eventually after some work) we found that Landlord Insurance was very affordable and easy to organise. It was simple to obtain and they were happy to refund the unused portion of the second year’s policy when the house sold. Edited March 1, 2018 by WotEver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted March 1, 2018 Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 I'm not sure whether the OP meant that they intend to live aboard all year, including on their winter mooring? If so, the way to go is to find a really good tenant for the house who wants somewhere they can rent long term with little fear of having to leave at only two months notice. My late mother's house is rented out to a nice young couple who have two children in the local primary school and are desperate to stay in its catchment area without all the bother of moving regularly, having twice in the last few years been told to leave by their landlord. We (my sister, two brothers and I) are happy because we have no intention of selling the house or wanting to occupy it ourselves, also because a change of tenant costs money, and they love knowing that so long as they act reasonably they can stay on for many years. We're hoping they can't quite save up enough to buy a place of their own, which gives us six years before their younger child reaches 11, and even then they may well want to stay on. Landlord's insurance is not expensive, but do expect the premium to go up when the house has been empty a while. On the house in SE20 that is not much of a worry, anywhere near London there are always people eager to pay serious money to rent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSuit Posted March 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 Thanks for all the replies, I threw the topic in and went to bed as still working at the moment. The better half will not tolerate all winter on the boat, I have tried DMR! I'm thinking more of a grey haired gap year(s) than retirement. The object is to junk the slaving to work which has ruled me since the age of 13. We are fortunate to be able to "retire" early, not eligible for the railcard yet. If money runs out to soon we have the fall back of renting out the house and being fulltme liveaboard. Most house insurance allows 60 days away but not a second period that long. Age UK was the only one I found online that allowed multiple periods as long as you STAY. How you prove that is more difficult. I used to rent a flat so am going back to the broker who sorted the insurance on that. For t'internet we were going with payg data SIM from 3 in a Huwai thingymyjig. Suits use as we can hammer it or ignore it as we wish. Easier to find reeds than fit a piano on the boat! A good point We have got used to cruising when we want to rather than rushing around in our years of ownership. Music, books, pub, wine ........who cares if it's raining? Dog will Hoover anything up ... he certainly won't go hungry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted March 1, 2018 Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 20 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said: Very carefully read your house insurance T&Cs - I have found that every one I looked at will not insure your house if it is left empty for more than 30/60 days (I ended up with Tesco who offer cover if the house is empty for up to 60 days). The last thing you need to worry about is not being insured - things happen !!. Rent the house out for 6 months, or, get a family member to come in and house sit, or even find a house sitter. When we had mums house up for sale which took the best part or a year we had to visit the property on a regular basis to keep the insurance company happy, I cant remember how many days but 14 comes to mined. It didn't have to be me but I recorded every visit just in case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nbfiresprite Posted March 1, 2018 Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, WhiteSuit said: Thanks for all the replies, I threw the topic in and went to bed as still working at the moment. The better half will not tolerate all winter on the boat, I have tried DMR! I'm thinking more of a grey haired gap year(s) than retirement. The object is to junk the slaving to work which has ruled me since the age of 13. We are fortunate to be able to "retire" early, not eligible for the railcard yet. As long as you both travel together, there is the 'Twotogether' Railcard which will get you a 1/3 off Standard and First Class Anytime, Off-Peak and Advanced fares. Only £30 year. https://www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk Edited March 1, 2018 by nbfiresprite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuthound Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 On 01/03/2018 at 10:29, Peter X said: I'm not sure whether the OP meant that they intend to live aboard all year, including on their winter mooring? If so, the way to go is to find a really good tenant for the house who wants somewhere they can rent long term with little fear of having to leave at only two months notice. My late mother's house is rented out to a nice young couple who have two children in the local primary school and are desperate to stay in its catchment area without all the bother of moving regularly, having twice in the last few years been told to leave by their landlord. We (my sister, two brothers and I) are happy because we have no intention of selling the house or wanting to occupy it ourselves, also because a change of tenant costs money, and they love knowing that so long as they act reasonably they can stay on for many years. We're hoping they can't quite save up enough to buy a place of their own, which gives us six years before their younger child reaches 11, and even then they may well want to stay on. Landlord's insurance is not expensive, but do expect the premium to go up when the house has been empty a while. On the house in SE20 that is not much of a worry, anywhere near London there are always people eager to pay serious money to rent. Easy, just keep putting their rent up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshian Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 I've found that, once you reach your 'golden years', a bus pass is your friend. It's not too tricky to moor within striking distance of a rural bus route, which gets you to the station, car hire depot, etc. Long taxi rides from 'the stix' to the station work-out expensive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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