Peter G

cool, the boat is now in henley upon thames, the next leg will be up to banbury 1-4 sep.....2 of us onboard at the moment.

epic, I will be passing that way in a few weeks time, travelling from Oxford up towards Preston, I will give you a shout when I have some firmer dates

the boat is less than 7 foot beam so will fit anywhere. I am going via the thames simply because that is where i want to cruise. Sure I can choose much quicker routes,,,,,then what, cruise up and down the lancaster like a yoyo? Cruising (for me) is for pleasure. Therefore, the longer the cruise, the more pleasure can be had. And oh yes, I know there may be many problems on route but that is for me, part of the experience. The best way to get to know a boat well is surely to cruise them? wouldn't get used to the boat if travelling up and down the motorways on the back of a trailer.

Hi everybody. I am 55 years old this year and not terribly mobile. But I have acquired my first boat for 30 years and would appreciate some help on her first epic journey. Looking to set off next week, around 4th or 5th august and expect this to take 6 weeks or longer. So, looking for volunteers who would like to share some or all of this epic voyage with me as I do not have the confidence to do it single handed. I am looking for boaters who can hold an intelligent conversation and are experienced in boating. This would be on a shared cost basis. Please pm me if you are interested in sharing some or all of this trip with me.

having slept on it, I think that maybe, reluctantly I will walk away from the wooden boat, possibly in favour of this one http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/107669835/dawn-craft-27-motor-cruiser.html The owner has been back on and told me he would accept 3000 for this, so for an extra 1200, I get a perkins inboard...better? a slightly larger boat (2 foot), a home berth till next year and a grp hull, but lose out on the crt licence. does this sound better? then there is still that buckingham negotiable from 3250. keep posting guys, I study each post I get and really appreciate your help here. Frankly, I would not have a clue without the help of this forum.

Mike/Neil thanks very much for your views. Most appreciated, but I am at a loss as to what to do now. But I will certainly try speak to the guys you mentioned. If the wooden boat lasts me 5 years, I will be well pleased, crikey, you can pay hire fees for 2 weeks and it would cost more than this boat. Even if it were scrapped in a couple of weeks, I would still have value from the boat insofar as I would have had 2 weeks use from it and could salvage the inboard, cabin furniture/cooker/toilet etc as well as 9 months worth of crt licence. And after all it is on the water now and shows no sign of sinking, why should it when i move it away? If I were spending 10k on the boat then of course I would be much more cautious then I am now. However, if the engine stopped half way down the trent I would not have a clue what to do and fully accept that i would be at the mercy of the nearest boatyard.....but is that part of the adventure? the fun of having a boat, I mean if nothing ever went wrong would we all not be ever so slightly bored? Sitting down and thinking about it, should I get an expert opinion who told me that the boat will only last another year, I would probably still buy it, what value does one put on a year's boating? Anyone else care to give me an opinion?

mate, excuse my ignorance...but what is wrong with wood?

Neil thanks for that, why would you not touch a wooden hull? it is wood btw, with a fibreglass cabin. Seems like the choice is between the buckingham at moonsbridge and this wooden thing in doncaster. The wooden boat is considerably less, has a longer licence and is a bigger boat, its getting kind of hard to reject. If I did take this I would navigate it to the river douglas/ribble area via .....the thames flood barrier, a trip that I would reckon will take around 40 days....if it survived that then sunk it would still have been worthwhile when compared to a hire boat for that length of time. It is an old boat, I know but it has not sunk in the last 40 years so why should it now? I did like the people at moonsbridge, but not so keen on the fact that i would have to pay a transfer fee of £150 to retain the already paid for mooring in that marina...i guess that is pretty standard though. I am very naive when it comes to buying boats, so I bow to your superior knowledge, but i feel i need a good reason not to buy the wooden boat.

Thought I would update you all on these boats. First to be seen was the callumcraft. http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/inland-cruisers/callumcraft-MYM291 This boat was a huge disappointment and left me thinking how much i will need to spend to get something worthwhile. It had been out of the water for at least 2 years, yet the cabin smelled very must and the fittings were old and tired. dismissed out of hand, and they had nothing else to show me in that price range. Then I drove down to Moons bridge marina http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/108230506/lovely-freeman-26-cruiser-canal-river-lake-sea-boat.html Didn't realise how much wider an 8 foot 6 beam is. They would not take less than 5k for this boat, even though they could not get the engine to start......walked away. Then a long drive to doncaster where I met http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/108389929/cabin-cruiser.html Now this boat was interesting. Told it has a 1500 inboard engine, that started first time and we had a little test drive down the river don. The cabin was a little shabby but included a sea toilet (not much good on the canals) cooker, fridge, fresh water etc. The owner does not know who built the boat and cannot show me any receipts for work done as it has been done by himself and friends. However, on the plus side the guy showing me the boat was well known and seemed to be a local character. All in all boat seemed like a bargain at a price of £1800, and this included crt license till nest april. So think this is the boat I will be buying.....now I know it is standard advice to have a survey but as the boat is as cheap as chips, I ask myself what could go wrong? The boat is clearly afloat, with a working engine and a licence, what else could one expect for the money? As for security.....I have yet to meet the owner, but will do before parting with any money. I have his address and will see him in his home. He is in the services and I will ask to see his service id card and the funds will be transferred into his bank account on receipt of a bill of sale........ Any more advice regarding this would be really appreciated

this is pinned, but the info it contains is way out of date. Do you think we can either keep it up to date or unpin it?

Troy, thanks for that. Tomorrow I am looking at 4 boats. freeman 26 in ormskirk 1978 cabin cruiser (unspecified) in Doncaster Callumcraft in Garstang plus one other to be arranged anyone in these areas who could spare an hour for an expert opinion would be very welcome and appreciated. Thanks for that. Looking tomorrow at 4 boats (possibly more) if anyone is close by to these and/or can give an expert opinion i would be most grateful. http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/108389929/cabin-cruiser.html http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/108230506/lovely-freeman-26-cruiser-canal-river-lake-sea-boat.html http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/inland-cruisers/callumcraft-MYM291 http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/107669835/dawn-craft-27-motor-cruiser.html

Oh I have a powerful enough car and towed before, I have a pcv licence and driven long buses around central london. The towing is not a problem, my choice not to tow is purely based on the fun I would have on the inland waterways to preston. I have been specifically looking for a boat without a trailer so I do not have storage problems for it. There certainly is a viable inland option, via the middle navigation system onto the river nene then south west to meet the GU then working north onto the trent before entering the airedale navigation and finally heading west on the l&l. The wash option looks like would save me a week's cruising. would they really do that for a stranger. wow, that would be very helpful! and I would be eternally grateful

thanks for that link, clearly the boat is ok on the sea, my main concern is will a 9hp outboard be sufficient against the tide? Don't need to go fast, but engine needs to be powerful enough to negate any tidal influences. As for using a trailer, don't wanna do that, buying the boat to put on the water not a set of wheels, so if it takes me a month to get it to preston, so what? I have the time! am sure i would thoroughly enjoy the navigating

Hi, Just looking at getting back on the canals after a 30 year lay off. I have seen a boat that I would like to buy, but it is over 200 miles away so too far to really go view without serious intentions of buying it on the spot. The boat is only a shetland 570 with a 9hp engine. No trailer. The seller tells me that it has a bsc and crt license, it is currently on the Ouse in Ely. The asking price of the boat is only £2000. I have read other advice and everyone seems to advise on surveys, but on such a cheap boat that is currently in the water (and not sinking) is that really necessary? I am tempted to buy it and say what is the worst that can happen, surely the engine would be worth half that amount anyway? Obviously, I will ask for copies of the paperwork before making the trip, but the decision to buy will pretty much be made unseen although no money will change hands before I am satisfied with the boat. Then there is getting it closer to me. I want to moor the boat on the L&L in Preston. Seems to me I have 2 options. Pay for a transporter or navigate the boat through the canal network. As I am buying it to use, I quite fancy navigating it alll the way to preston, I know it will take some time but I could save a lot of time by going to Kings Lynn and through the wash to Boston. I know many people do this, but I have no experience of boating on the open sea. If I hog the coastline would I be OK or should I just use the middle navigation and the GU? Would really appreciate some info thanks for reading Peter