Southern Star

We didn't have any problems when we did the Warwickshire Ring earlier this year, and that was during daytime in the Easter school holiday. We did see the usual lads hanging out by the canal, who gave us the usual "give us a ride Mister" thing but so long as you are friendly and polite to them, they soon move on.

Plus the food scraps feed the fish, ducks etc.

I have been told that the reason it is, or was, traditionally considered to be bad luck to change a boat's name, is because when boats were built of an all-wood construction, the old name would have to be cut out and this weakened the wood. I know not if this is true.

A chap on my mooring has one and he's pleased with it although he recently saw it out of the water for the first time for painting and he had the prop replaced as he said it was of woeful quality.

Probably the easiest first step would be to post links to a couple of boats you like here, and solicit general opinions about them. There are people who will come and have a look at boats with you, but nobody can tell how sound the hull is while it is in the water. Be aware that CRT seem to be taking an ever increasingly dim view of continuous cruisers.

I'm thinking you already had your mind set on this boat when you posted, you posted earlier about boats with outboard engines. It's not suitable as a liveboard boat unless you intend to stay in a marina and have permanent mains power.

Good. Our children need places to live.

I think what he meant was he's up to speed with every system on the boat and is ready to go out on it on his own. He is only 17 so that's not too bad an achievement. We've all got to start somewhere!

If you hired a boat on the North Oxford Canal (Rose Narrowboats for example) Then you could go to Hillmorton in one direction and to the end of the Ashby Canal in the other only passing through one stop lock, which isn't like an actual lock in that the water only rises and falls by 9 inches or so. However, I would agree with others are that the locks are an essential part of a canal experience.

A "Women-only arts centre"? I wonder what would happen if I tried to convert my boat into a "men only pub".

Seems a bit of a daft idea to advertise it on RightMove, the estate agent clearly does not have a clue about boats. Length, width, draft, what engine does it have, size of fuel tank, size of water tank, battery arrangement etc etc etc, not a mention.

I feel sorry for her in that she faces losing her home, but at the same time owning a boat is similar to driving a car, in that it is not a freedom but something which is done under licence, and the simple fact is that there are terms and conditions which go with the licence which simply are not optional. That may sound harsh, but it's a fact.