aquapykes

Personally I would look for a boat that alreay has portholes if that's what you like. Unless you are buying a shell and doing it up yourself it is a lot of work. I am in the middle of converting my large windows to port holes and hatches as we speak and it is not easy! As said before you are always going to get some lines no matter how good the welding is. But then I also had the good idea of turning the back into a trad from a cruiser and filling in the front well space, so I don't do anything the easy way!! It would have been much easier and probably cheaper to buy another boat but no half as much fun!!!

We managed to bring our 55 foot harborough marine boat up the nene in flood last year powered by a sr2, although I must say it was not planned that way! The only time we had power problems was actually in reverse as the gear box was a bit interesting, still made locking great fun for anyone watching!!Not to be recommended for the faint hearted or those with heart problems.

Must agree we use walkie talkies all the time. Can be a bit embarassing though when O/H says something not very poilite about people we are sharing the lock with, as they usually can hear him and I am the one who gets glared at!

Thank god you were around and your neighbour was so helpful! The only time we had anyone 'find' one of our cats he was sat on the roof of our boat yowling(noisy bengal) cos he was starving and someone left me a really long answer phone message to tell me they had found my cat! I was in the shower, on the boat at the time and came out to find my not impressed cat being put up some guys jumper, who was intent on 'rescuing' him from the awful boat. I must have looked quite scary charging up the towpath, in dressing gown and wet hair! Needless to say cat came running back, man scuttled off,apologising. Just goes to show you will need to keep an really close eye on lola.

It seems to me that with some people it doesn't matter how much you explain things they either don't listen or seem to have forgotten it all by the time they drive of into the distance! At the moment I am helping a friend out by doing the 'handovers' on their day boat. I have lived aboard narrow boats and wide beams for over 6 years, have experience both driving breasting up narrow boats and towing on a long line/cross straps. I also drive the widebeam and have my helmsman certificate and am required to do basic engine checks daily. I talk my clients through all the aspects of the boat and pay partricular notice to the 'safety' aspects. I also give them examples of how we get to know if they misbehave and that their deposit is at stake. But this does not stop them and several times they have come passed our boat which is moored up and their faces are a picture when I stand on the front deck and ask if I am going shopping with their deposit, as they are sat on the roof/going too fast /sat on the front! They do sign to say they have understood and agree to the all of the terms and conditions, so apart from from following them all day, I'm not sure how to solve this!

Having this happen to us before, mainly because o/h kept refusing to fill up empty bottle, just took full ones of our other boat! But to avoid murder and /or divorce, I boiled a cup of water in the microwave, simples! (run through the invertor).

For 5 years my narrow boat was siver, pink,and purple, all in metalic paint, I loved it! The only thing is people do remember her and you have to behave yourself. At the moment she is just red oxide as my O/H thinks I have 'grown up' and want her a sensible colour, little does he know.......

As we have the 'pleasure' of owning both types of boats, we use them in a different way. The wide beam which my O/H built himself 9 years ago(clever chappy) is 10'1/2 wide & 54' long. He has set it up with a steering wheel and hydraulics so its really easy to manoeuvre,even by me! I had a 50 foot narrow boat when we met and although we are doing her up we will keep her for any cruising where we can't take the wide beam. We tend to live more on the w/b with the 3 dogs,cat and tools! So we are spoilt I'm afraid. Forgot to add we did receive a letter from BW to tell us off for causing trouble on the oxford canal with the W/B having been spotted 4 days later on the Lee & Stort! Luckily the local BW guy knew us and saw the funny side!

Whilst helping friend re float his boat up in cambridge all the usual flood jokes and tons of people telling us how they would raise it. So when a group of ladies asked what had happened I replied that He had left the tap on! 'Typical man 'they huffed whilst they walked off in disgust.

Going upstream on the Nene in flood(I know but tell him that), friend could not get his narrow boat through the bridge hole so we threw him all of our ropes(can you see where this is going yet?), for him to grab and attach to the bow of his boat so we could pull him through. Except he calmly drives straight over the ropes and gets them stuck in his prop. So we have to cut the rope before he drags us back and drive on. We find a space to stop and in the time it takes us to moor up using two of our dogs leads(thank god they are strong ones), and walk back to check he is ok, the level drops and the boat is now leaning at a very interesting angle! We jump onboard and then the engine wont start as there is now rubbish in the filter. At this point the boat is now being dragged sidewards towards the bridge hole and we cant start the engine. Now I know why I like tha canals ! Probably the only time I have seen normally unshaken O/H abit concerned, so much so that he jumped in with rope and dragged the boat to the other side where we managed to get going again. In fact the whole of this trip was a bit like that, I was ready to step off at the pontton at Peterborough lock when I saw it sail past us FAST! Are you not stopping I asked rather naively, I am in reverse came the reply OPPPs. To his credit though we got in the lock and did not touch a thing, even the several people watching said how easy it looked. A stiff drink was the order of the day I can tell you. Never a dull moment, boating!

Glad we are not the only ones getting silly comments. As we are usually towing at least one other boat we get the are you saving diesel? One of the funniest was following my o/h him on a widebeam with another widebeam on a VERY long line. Old boy on the towpath remarked that there seemed to be a boat following my husband and did he realize this? As I was feeling quite wicked and it had been a long day I replied that It was a loose boat I had been trying to capture all day!His reply, then I suggest you get a bloody move on girl or it will overtake him, bless. Also the ever funny how do you sleep on a boat with 3 big dogs? Very warm and very safe. How do the dogs get on with bikes? They are usless, they just fall off! Could go on for ages!

Having just got back from walking our 3 dogs off lead on the tow path leads, I must say I hope I never have the misfortune of meeting some of you lot ! The original post was purely a warning to people to be aware of a potential problem but has managed to turn into a witch hunt! I agree all dogs should be under control ours being Northern Inuits are large and look like wolves, which may worry some people. As 2 of ours are rescues they are never allowed to run up and greet other dogs on mass. If the other dog and owner are ok with the situation I let the other 2 meet and greet. It is important to be able to understand dogs body language and to avoid problems before they arise, but dogs are still animals. When we were moored in Harlow last year a lady who walked her collie in a large field had no control; over it at all. Despite me pleading with her to get it away from our dominant bitch who I had on a lead, she kept insisting 'let her off, it will be ok'. After dragging ourselves in the hedge every day for a week(she was evemn following us), I admit I lost it. I warned her her dog would be in trouble if it ran up barking in my dogs face, but to no avail. Result .I let her off, she grabbed it by the neck, threw it on the floor and held it there! Women screamed obscenities at me, I called my bitch, she trotted along next to me pleased with herself. Am told dog no longer runs up barking at people. On the other side of the coin have also had a mature mas problem was I had 3 wolves out of control shout abuse at me because our 3 are fast asleep on the towpath, having cycled past them. His complaint was that had 3 wolves out of control(they were snooring) and if a child was to walk past they could be eaten alive. And before anyone says anything I have pooh bags in every pocket and am usually seen with a shovel in hand! Sorry for the rant.

It really is a matter of personal choice. We have a gaz cooker on our wide beam, but we have a diesel cooker to go in our narrowboat when we get around to fitting it out. This was because we were offered a diesel cooker at a hard to refuse price and so want to see how it fares. From talking to the manufacturers, we know the batteries have to be kept up before the cooker fires up so are aware of any problems before we set the boat up. We will still have an electric 12v kettle that runs off the invertor and a microwave and in winter can cook on the solid fuel stove. Hopefully that way everything is covered! As to running engines of an evening, someone enquired if ours was broken today as they had not heard it run for over a week! Thank god for solars!

sorry picture of engine not clear so could not see it was a gardener! my o/h would be so jealous, he has always wanted a 'real' engine! Because we have the two different types of panels, we still get enough amps going in to run everything.(they also work in moonlight I am told). Yes they are not cheap, but as We usuallyget together with other people and as we are only poor boaters, we get them cheaper.!The set up we have has cost us £2000 but has a 50 year guarantee!

sorry we swear by solar panels and a decent set of batteries. We have 13 panels (normal and low lights)and most of the time the batteries sit between 14.60 and 15.20 In good sunny conditions we have had to dump power as the invertor refuses to turn on if they go above 15.50!As well as the usual electrical stuff we run household computer and freezer. As you have an engine already I would suggest you get it serviced and check belts, alternators etc to get the best from it. You say its an old engine that's noisy maybe some sound proofing or are the engine mounts loose does she vibrate? These are all things that might help you, but remember there is life after a marina!!