December 22, 20232 yr Those of you who have followed our self build will know that almost 10 years ago now, we tried and failed to sell our old house at a time when the sales market here was dead. The solution we adopted was to take up an offer to rent the property, and we proceeded much slower with a build as you earn which got us to completion on the new house. I am delighted to report that as of this morning, the sale of our old house had finally completed, and so ends a long period of uncertainty for us. It will be a happy Christmas and new year in this house this year.
December 22, 20232 yr Congratulations. I've recently been looking at the possibilities of electric narrowboats, as a rabbithole diversion from my interest in why canal towpaths are still stuck in the 1970s and wheelchair users basically excluded therefrom, despite the managing body getting a couple of hundred million a year from the general taxpayer. And if you've sold a house you may just about be able to afford a fully fitted out one; they come in at about £250k.
December 22, 20232 yr My pal is currently having a canal boat built. He was/is considering an electric one but last time I was speaking with him he may have changed his mind about that as it’s not that practical in reality.
December 22, 20232 yr Author 1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said: New boat ???? We changed our sailing boat already this year. So won't be changing that again. But this is essentially our retirement pot, and one of the things high up the bucket list is to buy a narrowboat and use it to explore the entire inland waterway network at our leisure. So yes in due course some of it will be spent on a boat. First job is declare the sale and pay hmrc their dues.
December 22, 20232 yr Hey oop lad, you can moor up outside our place. Round to the Lune estuary via the sea . Your place > John o'Groats > Cape Wrath > Rathlin Island> IoM > Glasson Dock > Galgate Lock > turn right > our place. Piece of pie.
December 22, 20232 yr Author 3 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said: Hey oop lad, you can moor up outside our place. Round to the Lune estuary via the sea . Your place > John o'Groats > Cape Wrath > Rathlin Island> IoM > Glasson Dock > Galgate Lock > turn right > our place. Piece of pie. The boat required to go round the top would not be suitable for the canal, and vice versa. But the Ribble Link is most definitely on the plan to get to the Lancaster canal. I would not be happy doing that little trip in an electric powered boat.
December 22, 20232 yr We did the Llangollen canal one year and the weather was so bad the bank collapsed. We had to punt the boat backwards for 7 miles to the nearest winding point. However we managed to get a pass to go down the Montgomery canal which was stunning.
December 22, 20232 yr Author 8 minutes ago, Kelvin said: We did the Llangollen canal one year and the weather was so bad the bank collapsed. We had to punt the boat backwards for 7 miles to the nearest winding point. However we managed to get a pass to go down the Montgomery canal which was stunning. We did the Llangollen nearly 30 years ago, our first canal trip. The Montgomery was not open then, they had just restored the locks down from the Llangollen but it went nowhere navigable then. So that is definitely on our list. And when we do we will wave at @canalsiderenovation as we go past.
December 22, 20232 yr My sister sold one of her narrowboats this year. They are great, for loosing money. Electric boats used to pay a much lower licence free. Not sure if that is still the case. When I last looked, about a decade ago, the length of the boat was the main thing to affect the licence price. I worked out that you could make a small electric tug, then hitch up a raft/trailer. Could put a good size generator in the raft/trailer to charge the batteries in the tug. And mooring is easier as you only need the length of the unpowered trailer.
December 22, 20232 yr Author Definition of "Boat" A hole in the water into which you pour a lot of money. Buying a NB for our adventure is not something that will make us money, but buying one and selling it after a couple of years will cost a lot less than hiring something for that period.
December 22, 20232 yr 34 minutes ago, ProDave said: We did the Llangollen nearly 30 years ago, our first canal trip. The Montgomery was not open then, they had just restored the locks down from the Llangollen but it went nowhere navigable then. So that is definitely on our list. And when we do we will wave at @canalsiderenovation as we go past. Definitely worth it. It’s designated as a SSSI and it’s idyllic. We were the only boat on it. The dog and I fell asleep in front of the fire in a pub at the turning point and the land lady put a blanket over me 😂 The three locks at the top are fun too!
December 22, 20232 yr Author 19 minutes ago, Kelvin said: The three locks at the top are fun too! Most staircase locks have a lock keeper. I can imagine a lot of novices, particularly hirers getting confused by them.
December 22, 20232 yr 5 minutes ago, ProDave said: Most staircase locks have a lock keeper. I can imagine a lot of novices, particularly hirers getting confused by them. Yep although not the time we went down and up it. There’s a lock keeper’s shed at the top but the note on the door pointed me towards the instructions by the lock with a caution not to flood the house at the bottom. 😂 On the same holiday I stopped an old boy from emptying the canal. There were two locks almost back to back but not a staircase lock. He opened up the top paddles above the lock he was intending going into then opened up that lock too. I watched him do it from a way down the canal got the binos out and could see both locks were open so had to sprint back up the muddy tow path to close the paddles. Edited December 22, 20232 yr by Kelvin
December 22, 20232 yr Author Yes had something similar, opened the top gate from a lock to a short pound and almost immediately went aground. Had to go the the next lock up and let some water down. It does not take much to train a short pound like that.
December 22, 20232 yr The old guy was a liability in the boat. He hadn’t tied it off properly got out and went for a walk. It drifted across to the other side of the canal so we motored up to it and retrieved the centre line and dragged it back over and tied it off properly to the pins. He came back and was non the wiser. Edited December 22, 20232 yr by Kelvin
December 23, 20232 yr We sold our narrowboat this year and made £6k on it, having owned it less than a couple of years. Take off £1k ish we paid for renovation and the licence fee, mooring and insurance we paid and we still made a fair bit and had a few trips. It's not cheap though. Everything is calculafed per ft, that is licencing and insurance. At 26ft our costs were minimal but even with end of garden mooring in our garden it was about £350 a year. Mooring is the difficulty if you're not a continuous cruiser and can be very very expensive and rare. Also CRT have hiked up fees massively this yr especially for those that are continuous cruising (those with no mooring). Electric boats do get a discount I think it may be 10% but can't be sure. My tip would be to go for the smallest boat possible to keep costs down. Maintenance can be expensive even doing it yourself with dry dock fees and again foe things like blacking etc you pay per ft. Once we have finished the landscaping and drive and are financially in a better position we will absolutely get another narrowboat. They are not cheap though and do need regular maintenance which all adds up. The staircase on the Llangollen just up from us at Grindley Brook is manned although it's a bit of a sensitive topic as CRT tried to do away with the paid lock keepers in place of volunteers which caused some awful issues last summer although now all resolved. When we went onto the Trent and Mersey in summer some of the staircases weren't manned. On another note I did see some electric points on the T&M and whilst electric boats are more common I don't think there is the infrastructure whereas you can always get diesel from the fuel boats and marinas. Llangollen canal is beautiful although we are biased😀 and we have walked down part of the Monty a few times but never got there on the boat but its on the list. One day..... Edited December 24, 20232 yr by canalsiderenovation
December 23, 20232 yr On 22/12/2023 at 17:15, ProDave said: Buying a NB for our adventure is not something that will make us money Get the right boat and you can make money especially if you don't mind a bit of work. As long as the hull is sound and get a decent boat builder/make you're OK. Ours was Piper and we sold it very easily as people were familiar with the name as a reputable builder (1999 year)
December 24, 20232 yr On 22/12/2023 at 12:54, ProDave said: hose of you who have followed our self build will know that almost 10 years ago now, Well done.. but no bailing out now.. you need to guide us BH folk on the do's and do nots for the next ten years!
December 24, 20232 yr 28 minutes ago, canalsiderenovation said: We sold our narrowboat this year and made £6k on it, having owned it less than a couple of years. Take off £1k ish we paid for renovation and the licence fee, mooring and insurance we paid and we still made a fair bit and had a few trips. It's not cheap though. Everything is calculafed per ft, that is licencing and insurance. At 26ft our costs were minimal but even with end of garden mooring in our garden it was about £350 a year. Mooring is the difficulty if you're not a continuous cruiser and can be very very expensive and rare. Also CRT have hiked up fees massively this yr especially for those that are continuous cruising (those with no mooring). Electric boats do get a discount I think it may be 10% but can't be sure. My tip would be to go for the smallest boat possible to keep costs down. Maintenance can be expensive even doing it yourself with dry dock fees and again foe things like blacking etc you pay per ft. Once we have finished the landscaping and drive and are financially in a better position we will absolutely get another narrowboat. They are not cheap though and do need regular maintenance which all adds up. The staircase on the Llangollen just up from us at Grindley Brook is manned although it's a bit of a sensitive topic as CRT tried to do away with the paid lock keepers in place of volunteers which caused some awful issues last summer although now all resolved. When we went onto the Trent and Mersey in summer some of the staircases weren't manned. On another note I did see some electric points on the T&M and whilst electric boats are more common I don't think there is the infrastructure whereas you can always get diesel from the fuel boats and marinas. Llangollen canal is beautiful although we are biased😀 and we have walked down part of the Monty a few times but never got there on the boat but its on the list. One day..... Edited 10 minutes ago by canalsiderenovation Been following your journey. What an achievement! I have admired your approach and the pragmatic style you have. I don't want to embellish.. sometimes less is more. You should write a book. Gus
December 24, 20232 yr Author On 22/12/2023 at 16:57, ProDave said: We did the Llangollen nearly 30 years ago, our first canal trip. The Montgomery was not open then, they had just restored the locks down from the Llangollen but it went nowhere navigable then. So that is definitely on our list. And when we do we will wave at @canalsiderenovation as we go past. Yes when we do embark on our narrowboat adventure it will almost certainly be as continuous cruisers, though we may need to pay for a short term mooring for trips back home. Our aim is for something about 50ft narrow beam. Much above 50ft and you can't travel all the canals, and much under 50ft might be cramped for long term living. It wants to be one fitted out as live aboard not "fit as many bunks as possible hire boat" We will probably be looking for something in good order and well fitted, because it will be a long way from home, doing work on it is more of a challenge. Having the boat at the bottom of your garden is ideal for that. We first thought of this idea some time ago and at one point had the crazy idea of getting a new NB shell made, delivered and craned into our garden for fit out at home and then craned, transported and launched when ready. There was also at that time a "too good to be true" offer from one of the hire companies. You pay for a new boat, fitted out for hire. They put it into their hire fleet for 5 years, the income from the hire would pay the price of the boat, and at the end of the 5 years it got a refit before being handed back to you. Basically a free 5 year old boat. That offer did not last long.
December 24, 20232 yr Author 9 hours ago, Gus Potter said: Been following your journey. What an achievement! I have admired your approach and the pragmatic style you have. I don't want to embellish.. sometimes less is more. You should write a book. Gus Thanks for all the kind words. I often think we had most of the ingredients for a dramatic mid project crisis on Grand Designs (only missing a new born baby or relationship break up) only they would dramatise it beyond belief and would expect us to be bawling our eyes out in front of the camera. It would be a pretty dull book. Most of it has been written here on BH.
December 24, 20232 yr We’ve hired 47’ to 58’ boats and 58’ is ideal. Big enough with plenty of space, easy to manoeuvre and can get pretty much everywhere. Our best boating holiday was spent on the Oxford Canal. It’s quintessentially perfect England. Hardly saw another boat and the weather was perfect.
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