A Delightful Little Boat.

[Tinkicker]

I am rather smitten..

 

 

[Simon Davey]

It really is something special. 

Maybe you could make a little/a-lot-of room in that conservatory Mr. Tinkicker? 

[rennie]

We really wanted to buy this recently!

Even went back and had another look at it! 

[Tinkicker]

3 hours ago, Simon Davey said:

It really is something special. 

Maybe you could make a little/a-lot-of room in that conservatory Mr. Tinkicker? 

 

 

My days of boat ownership in this country are over unfortunately. 

My modest 22ft sports cruiser, heartbreakingly sold in 2015,  taking into account berthing fees, maintenance, insurance, lift outs ect when divided by the number of nights spent aboard in a year cost about £300 per night.  We just do not get the good weather.

Add in a Chevvy V6 ,4.3 litre petrol engine barely above idle at river speeds, sipping fuel at 3 -4 mpg and it got way too expensive for an ordinary bloke on ordinary wages.

 

Bought it when in management on very good money, realised that the stress was going to kill me and went back to my core trade.  A fitters wage just did not make keeping a boat, even a very modest, 20 year old one a realistic proposition.

 

Shrek at the helm.  Boat was a de stress tool.  I am no longer stressed and owning the boat became my main source of financial stress.  Pic taken about 12 months before I made the decision to sell.  It sold within a week and I was heartbroken... Still,  my head was glad it was gone.

 

Trundling up the river ouse towards Linton Lock from Naburn.  That little trip probably cost over £60 in fuel even with throttle set to around 1250 rpm looking at the tach, barely above tick over.

 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2024 by Tinkicker

[Simon Davey]

@Tinkicker Man, that's heart-breaking just to read it.

 

@rennie So, why didn't you take the plunge? I imagine if it's anything like owning a static caravan (we no longer do) it works out so expensive just to berth it year round.

Then just like Tinkicker, the annual costs of maintenance are make ownership difficult.

 

[rennie]

Yeah! pretty much! big costs involved and we don't really know much about it,

 

We just really liked it 

 

What we actually might do at some point soon is get a newer/slightly bigger campervan 

[Simon Davey]

1 hour ago, Tinkicker said:

 

 

 

 

Great picture, by the way.

 

 

[KiwiBob]

You could always knock up one of these in your garage! .. Running costs are very low!  

[Nick the wanderer]

BOAT= bring out another thousand.

[Davidtav]

Boats and bikes. A good combo

Edited August 4, 2024 by Davidtav

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

6 hours ago, KiwiBob said:

You could always knock up one of these in your garage! .. Running costs are very low!  

One of my sailing mates has just built something very similar. He has a workshop in a disused chicken shed where he turns out beautiful hand built and self designed wooden boats. 

 

I've restored a couple of wooden boats. They are lovely,  but the maintenance is huge. 

[curlylegend]

10 hours ago, Simon Davey said:

Man, that's heart-breaking just to read it.

I didn't think so.  The man made two sensible decisions to get rid of stress in his life. First the job, then the financial burden of the boat. 

Stress is a killer !

[KiwiBob]

49 minutes ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

One of my sailing mates has just built something very similar. He has a workshop in a disused chicken shed where he turns out beautiful hand built and self designed wooden boats. 

 

I've restored a couple of wooden boats. They are lovely,  but the maintenance is huge. 

I know nothing about sailing .. I built it because I was bored .. sailed it half a dozen times the flogged it!

I built this too!

Edited August 4, 2024 by KiwiBob

[Tinkicker]

4 hours ago, Nick the wanderer said:

BOAT= bring out another thousand.

 

 

Boat.  Makes a boat shaped hole in the water that you attempt to fill in with money....

[Bender]

10 hours ago, rennie said:

Yeah! pretty much! big costs involved and we don't really know much about it,

 

We just really liked it 

 

What we actually might do at some point soon is get a newer/slightly bigger campervan 

Much more sensible  

[RideWithStyles]

Brother and partner took the plunge on a narrow boat. Both love it, it’s been a very financial cost (whole ownership even to this day), time consuming, motional, painful  that certainly not boring journey for stories to tell and one that they seem to justify for personal or mental reasons.

 I understand the charm and all that, also the reason they went for it, do I get it?  yes and I respect that.  

would it ever be for me or my partner? I can’t see it ever happening even if we had the vast disposable financial backing to see it through.

[Nick the wanderer]

'That boat gave me some very happy days' is another one l heard.

The day l bought it.. And the day l sold it!

[Davidtav]

Definition of sailing - standing in a cold shower fully clothed tearing up £50 notes

[S-Westerly]

We had a 10 metre sailing boat which we covered a lot of ground in. Really enjoyed it but it wasn't cheap to run. Insurance, marina fees and maintenance adds up to a tidy sum and this goes regardless of how much you use it. Once the grandchildren arrived we just didn't get the use so we sold it. I still regret it to this day 9 years on.

[keith1200rs]

2 hours ago, S-Westerly said:

We had a 10 metre sailing boat which we covered a lot of ground in.

Shouldn't it have been in the water?

[Davidtav]

I actually lived on my boat full time for over three years. Sailed around the UK. Boat is in Scotland now. And a hobby again. Here’s a pic of the boat on a mooring at Ramsholt. I “borrowed “ that mooring for about three months lol

[bonio]

Ramsholt marshes! Went down there on the DRZ one evening a couple of years back to look at spoonbills. Loads of them there.

[Fender1515]

Rennie, be warry of the sirens lure of the Canal (Muddy Ditch) you really do need eyes open on this, I owned a 60ft Narrow Boat from 2015 to 2022. I lived on the boat for a few months when I moved up Norf in 2016, I had moorings in a Marina,  in my 7 years of chugging about, I have cruised most of the Canal network, for the first 5 years, I absolutely loved it,  most of the time! Traveling through England's Industrial heritage, amazing countryside, all at 3ish MPH, parking-up and exploring new Cities, with Friends and Family.  Spannering on a canal boat can be challenging, working on an engine, tucked into an iron box, with limited access to the sides and  under the diesel lump, you really become fanatical about not dropping stuff, but in those days I could bend, a bit!

It's the 12v/24v leccy stuff, that blows your mind and fuses, when your out cruising, and not attached to a electrical charging point in a Marina,  every time you switch on a light, turn on the TV, Radio, shower, you take charge from the batteries, which needs to be put back. If your moor up for a few days to explore stuff, the engine is not putting charge back in the batteries, this is NOT a good ting. I had solar panels, but still a challenge with TMrs, two daughters on board, that MUST use a hair dryer and curlers, and phones and etc....It is very easy to discharge the battery bank super quick, then, you have nout!, 

For 5 years it was my sanctuary, escaping from Corporate world, you meet some proper characters on the CUT, bit like biking, all part of the amazing experience. 

A Canal boat is a proper money pit, regardless of the individual DIY skills, the boat needs blacking every 2/3 years, replacing batteries, 5 of them on mine, every 4/5 years, water pumps, invertors/chargers, and so it goes on.

Canal and River Boat Trust are responsible for running and maintaining the canal network, they are part funded by the Gov through DEFRA, their grant is being progressively reduced, they simply don't have the cash or the resources to effectively maintain the network. 

In my last two years of ownership, cruising became a real stressy challenge, lock gates busted, water shortages, canals not being dredged, you get stuck!,  I/we complain, quite rightly IMO,  about the condition of our highways,  but we can normally find an alternative route, avoid oles in road, when your on a canal, and the lock gate is busted, or you don't have enough water to float your boat (yes I know), life become challenge, Karama can turn to a big red ting. 

Having done the down side, do I regret it, not one bit, would I do it again now, nope, happy with my "T" shirt, more time and money for two wheels stuff and travel.

 As always just my experience and opinion, others are fully entitled to theirs.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I built my father-in-law (93) a wooden rc motor launch. He's obviously be using it in hooligan mode as after a few trips out he's destroyed the motor.

 

 

[JRH]

On 07/08/2024 at 22:18, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

I built my father-in-law (93) a wooden rc motor launch. He's obviously be using it in hooligan mode as after a few trips out he's destroyed the motor.

 

 

Obviously motor is under powered. Fit a good 2600kv water cooled brushless with a 4s lithium battery and a 2 blade X45 prop.

 

Joking aside never seen a brushed motor go like that. Mine have usually thrown a carbon brush if it t gets too hot.