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continuous cruising and having a car


Clanky

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37 minutes ago, Jinna said:

How many cc own a car and chase it around the country with them? what are the positives and the negatives? 

Its a hard one and depends on what you are doing. We often sell our car and cruise without one but found this year that it was easier and more convenient to keep one. We bought a banger for 550 pounds without faults and so far have done 10k miles in it in six months. Passed mot recently with a requirement of one track rod end. So now worth more than we paid for it. Very comfy and large enough for dog to be comfy etc etc and dont give a crap where we leave it cos whats the worst that can happen for that money. We have taken it to wales, cornwall, scotland, the lake district and all points in between without fault. We hopped it along the k and a with ease then used cheap train tickets ( senior rail card ) to pick up at other times. There is ALWAYS somewhere easy to park for free in the nice parts of the country. Other years we have done without but its nice to have a car for big shops whilst cruising and days away from the cut. Yes car hire is possible and CAN be cheap but certainly not always and not always easy to get one even if enterprise say they will deliver. There is no one yes or no arguement to this question its a case of suck it and see what works for you.

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I have a car that was given me it is the perfik car worth nowt, no one would steal it or be seen dead in it! and always starts first turn of the key.

I do find it hard cruising with a car though as it keeps on sinking? Sorry I find it to much hassle going backwards and forwards to get it even with a bike

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I tried once following the boat around with the car but soon gave up on it. I found it so much less hassle without it and if I needed a car I found Enterprise ideal for collecting and dropping you off, with extremely good value on their weekend deals.

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We used to do the boat - bike - car shuffle, but very quickly got sick of the constant back and forth over the same stretch.  What we do now is pick somewhere with good transport links and dump the car until we next need it. 

 

A good example is Leeds city centre - it's £45 a night parking at Q-Park next to Leeds station, or a free carpark and a £3 ticket from New Pudsey.  As we usually stop at Rodley anyway it's a no-brainer.

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We have CC'd with a car for nearly 4 years, we have kept a log of moorings with safe parking close by and bus services between the moorings, we have a concession card for the buses so leave the car for a longish period sometimes then have a day on the bus. Also use the bike in certain cases. Its worked for us all over the system.

 Its great having the transport  in the case of emergency, for shopping, getting boat parts etc.

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When on holiday in Belgium a few years ago we noticed a number of commercial boats had a car on the deck and  a crane to lift it on/off. 

p2170310.jpg

Obviously that would be no good on most of the UK canals but perhaps a variation on the concept could be considered .?

 

 

 

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Car shuffling is a pain and significantly detracts from the pleasure of CCing.

 

We keep the car with us in winter so that my wife can fulfill her family duties. We cruise over a much reduced range and learn all the little boaty car parking spots. If there are no or few locks I single hand the boat whilst my wife is away and she returns to the new mooring, otherwise it train or long walks (dog likes this bit).

 

In the spring we find a long term parking spot, hopefully with somebody who will start the car once every month or so, and we often pay a bit for this. Leaving the car behind and setting off proper CCing gives a lovely sense of escape and freedom.

 

.............Dave

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1 hour ago, Jinna said:

it won't be abandoned anywhere for 3 months ?

 

But presumably you won't have a post code or a garage ?

 

Are you planning on moving the boat every day (XX miles ?) then walking cycling back to fetch the car.

That gets pretty 'wearing'.

Many CCers will park the car up for  a few weeks and just fetch the it when they need it for something 'special' (hospital appointments, family birthdays etc) Shopping etc can be arranged when near a suitable bridge - most supermarkets will deliver these days.

 

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i will have a postcode. the 'wearing' bit is why i asked the question tbh. i can imagine it being ok for a 'few months' but then i can see it getting tedious, especially in the cooler months and crappy weather. But i just wondered if anybody has actually done it,  if the + outweigh the -. We could just cc in the summer months without the car and then find a short term mooring for the winter and keep the car there.

 

The other half wants the car and i'm not so sure.

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5 minutes ago, Jinna said:

i will have a postcode

Not trying to be difficult but the insurance question is "what is the post code where the vehicle is NORMALLY kept". (I take that to mean the 'majority' of the time)

The insurance quote is based on the 'criminal rating' for that area post code. It avoids people saying a 'crime free small village' and then leaving the car in the middle of Liverpool (just an example)

 

Ask your other 'arf for what reasons do you need to keep the car ?

(I bet its a bit like 'we must buy a house with 4 bedrooms in case someone comes to stay')

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8 minutes ago, Jinna said:

i will have a postcode. the 'wearing' bit is why i asked the question tbh. i can imagine it being ok for a 'few months' but then i can see it getting tedious, especially in the cooler months and crappy weather. But i just wondered if anybody has actually done it,  if the + outweigh the -. We could just cc in the summer months without the car and then find a short term mooring for the winter and keep the car there.

 

The other half wants the car and i'm not so sure.

As in my previous posts there is not a one size fits all we all have vastly differing lifestyles to make anyone be able to give you a definitive answer. I have done all permutations over the years. Keeping the car during the summer just parked up is not a good idea, we usualy but not always have just sold and bought another for the winter. Cars cost peanuts and today even old ones are reliable. Its pointless having a car thats still in the depreciation stage leave that for others to waste their money on and just buy cheap and cheerfull as and when needed. Occasional rental can be cheap but usualy only weekends as weekdays are not often discounted. We will prob do 15/20 k miles this year and thats a hell of an expense rental wise. My present car purchase costs, years mot years insurance and years tax was a little over a grand so not much more than twenty quid a week, actualy nearer twenty five in all.

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We don't cc but on a few occasions we have moved the boat and then needed to collect the car. It is always a pain, we have done the boat for a few days and then use public transport to get back to the car, boat half a day and then walk back to the car, one of us move the car and one move the boat. If we were cc'ing I think I would try and avoid having a car and either use Enterprise car rental or trains. 

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39 minutes ago, Jinna said:

i will have a postcode. the 'wearing' bit is why i asked the question tbh. i can imagine it being ok for a 'few months' but then i can see it getting tedious, especially in the cooler months and crappy weather. But i just wondered if anybody has actually done it,  if the + outweigh the -. We could just cc in the summer months without the car and then find a short term mooring for the winter and keep the car there.

 

The other half wants the car and i'm not so sure.

Some of the first questions you are going to be asked for car insurance are "What is your home postcode?" and "Where is the car kept when not in use?"
If you are continuously cruising then I fail to see how you can give an accurate answer to those questions.

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3 hours ago, Graham Davis said:

Some of the first questions you are going to be asked for car insurance are "What is your home postcode?" and "Where is the car kept when not in use?"
If you are continuously cruising then I fail to see how you can give an accurate answer to those questions.

One of the options on the form is, “on the road”, which wouldn’t be a lie. You could always speak to a broker and ask them to sort out a bespoke policy - their raison d’être these days??

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4 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

One of the options on the form is, “on the road”, which wouldn’t be a lie. You could always speak to a broker and ask them to sort out a bespoke policy - their raison d’être these days??

Agreed, but when I told my company that they still wanted to know what the postcode was for where it was being kept.

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On 15/12/2018 at 18:56, MartynG said:

When on holiday in Belgium a few years ago we noticed a number of commercial boats had a car on the deck and  a crane to lift it on/off. 

p2170310.jpg

Obviously that would be no good on most of the UK canals but perhaps a variation on the concept could be considered .?

 

 

 

Yep I lived their and the skippers most often had their cars plonked on top of weird places on the back.

 

Sorry OP, I know people who have cars and CC and they chase their arses, some have done away with their cars and bought 250w electric bikes instead.

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