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Advice needed (not a narrow boat)


Calranthe

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Just now, Jamboat said:

There is Festival Marina in Stoke itself, it's at the bottom of the hill at Festival Retail park next to the Toby Carvery. 

I rang them and he said they don't like plastic boats as in yes we could use the slipway to get it on the canal but no mooring

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I just had a look at that Dawncraft, certainly looks a bargain.

Anyway, if you do go for that, or another boat some distance away, and want to move it by water, please bear in mind that I like to crew for people on that sort of trip. As things stand I'm busy for the rest of May but June and early July are a big empty gap in my diary, and a 9-day trip from the Nene to Stoke sounds appealing. It could be done comfortably in 6 days at this time of year if you want to and are willing to get up early.

But the cost of moving by road is probably a lot less for a 27 foot plastic boat than it is for a longer narrow boat, so that may well be best for you.

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4 hours ago, Calranthe said:

Will let you all know how it is going later, does anyone know of a friendly Marina near stoke we could have the boat delivered to in or around the stoke area within say 30 mins car would be perfect.

There are grp cruisers here at Aston marina, just south of Stone, the only problem is lack of short pontoons but it's a well run friendly place.  

I'd resist the temptation to commit too early without looking at the full range of what's available, it's much more of a buyers market when it comes to small grp cruisers compared to steel narrowboats.  Ease of access can vary quite a bit for example. 

Also I would never buy a boat of this type without a "sea trial" some of them handle like a wounded camel though that tends to be the outboard/Z drive types.  Buckinghams were really out and out canal cruisers the forerunner of the popular Viking range so should be ok.     

 

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Lets face it £4500 does not give a lot of good options, I spent weeks looking at boats and apart from Kathleen I was going to have to settle for petrol outboards that needed a lot of work.

Dave's boat needs some tlc but most of it is just a good cleaning of the windows and outside, it could do with a lick of paint and we will have to make some modifications to make it compatible with my wife's needs but the main points are the boat is dry, the engine is clean and started first time and the bilge only has abit of dirt (no water stains), inside carpets/covers and foam very good condition.

Windows need a good cleaning degunking and at some point in time probably replacing, a couple of new fenders and the wooden (no idea what it is called the long pieces that are on the side of a boat like the fenders one of them looks to need replacing.

Boat looks like it is very economical

Transferring it to stoke will cost £400  probably mid june due to most movers being quite busy.

Will need a BSS in november but that gives me the whole summer to learn the boat.

Questions I need help with.

1)Anyone in the Midlands would be willing once we have it at a local marina come over and take a look at it sort of an unofficial survey see what needs doing and in what order if anything (a 4500 boat I expect some issues) I need to prioritise, I want to do that before bringing my wife on board,

2)OKpQMGm.jpg

 

My wife while not completely disabled how do we make it so she can get on and off the boat.

Now the first part is simple a ramp/board  from the dock to the boat ledge the problem part is the steep drop on the inside

My first thought was could we turn the side down to the ledge into a swing door (how would that effect boat structure) and collapsible steps on the inside.

Ideas welcome. it is the only part that is causing us to hesitate.

 

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Sadly I do not think this will work, yes if we could get Paola safely on the boat she would love it, I have no doubt of that, I spent all afternoon in the car on the way back trying to convince myself I could fix this, that boat is amazing for the price.

But Paola is unsteady on her feet and while a ramp is possible the drop on the other side means she could be really hurt or just freak out. we will look into the specialised holiday boats for disabled.

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This seems really sad but if Paola is likely to find getting onto the boat difficult, now is a really good time to realise this.

Is it this boat in particular or any small lightweight boat? This boat will be far more steady in the water than the other boat you were considering...

  • Greenie 1
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1 hour ago, Calranthe said:

Sadly I do not think this will work, yes if we could get Paola safely on the boat she would love it, I have no doubt of that, I spent all afternoon in the car on the way back trying to convince myself I could fix this, that boat is amazing for the price.

But Paola is unsteady on her feet and while a ramp is possible the drop on the other side means she could be really hurt or just freak out. we will look into the specialised holiday boats for disabled.

If you think that getting on board is going to present a serious problem, I would respectfully suggest that you should rethink the whole boating idea, because another serious consideration must be the need for some minimum mobility while on board, with particular emphasis on emergency situations - fire, collision/sinking, gas leaks etc- where a rapid exit from the boat maybe necessary. If it is just the two of you on board you will be torn between looking after the boat and taking care of Paola.

It is possible take holidays on boats where these considerations have been taken into account and where the crew are trained appropriately.

 

Howard

 

 

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You could as you said have the side cut down to the gunwale and make a door of it, and on the inside why not have a locker put in to step onto first, if you still think she will not manage to get in and out then as you say it will have to be a specially built boat that will cost an arm and a leg.

Neil

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The Lyneal Trust hire boats for the disabled, cheaper than normal hire.

http://www.lyneal-trust.org.uk

They do a day boat and a 70 foot 6 berth, and are based on the Llangollen Canal near Ellesmere.

I have skippered for a disabled friend are filled the other bunks with able bodied friends to help out with wheelchair and bathing duties. Highly recommended. They also hire canalside cottages. 

I would start of with a day trip, then if your wife likes it,  press gang friends into helping and hire the 70 footer.

You could hire several times for £4000.

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18 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Why not use your money to buy a share in a boat?

Something similar to this single level boat might be more suitable for someone with limited mobility:

http://www.broadlandyachtbrokers.co.uk/boats/624

But if the OP wants it for short trips on local narrow canals then its not the answer unfortunately.  

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 I have mobility problems, and Paola's sound similar. I think the idea of sturdy steps with wide treads so that she can feel herself firmly planted before she makes her next move would be the way to go. The other thing that would be of great assistance is plenty of grab handles, so that she could have 3 points of contact at a time.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello all, we did a lot of exploring of our options, sadly holiday on a canal boat not possible simply put we can not plan ahead we could not book a holiday and be sure Paola was feeling well, where as if we own a boat if Paola is well one day we just go.

We went to sawley Marina and took a look at kathleen yesterday solid little boat we both fell in love with her.

https://bwml.co.uk/brokerage/sm-9359-kathleen/

It is one of the few that has a flat spacious stern which means creating a ramp/steps modification has promise, we came back home to discuss it this weekend and if in  agreement we will make an offer next week put 10% down and be taken out on it to see how it feels (10% is refundable if we do not like it) and then if all goes well we will buy her and try to move her up the trent and mersey towards stoke/stone Aston Marina would be perfect as it is 20 minutes from where we live.

Any advice or issues anyone can see please let us know.

 

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There is no mention of a BSSC in the sales details. I would make it a condition of purchase that it is sold (at sellers /brokers expense) a full BSSC. That way it is one less thing for yo to worry about (incur additional cost) for the next 4 years.

 

That looks like a portable LPG heater in the bathroom - that is an instant BSSC fail.

 

No 'leisure' wiring in place - no leisure battery so no phone charging, no lights, no water pump, no TV, no Radio if you are unable 'do'12v wiring then that will be a additional expense.

No method of heating - it can get quite cool 'on the water' in the evenings.

No hot water - you can wash with cold water, or boil a kettle.

Price - it is not 'cheap'.

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4 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

There is no mention of a BSSC in the sales details. I would make it a condition of purchase that it is sold (at sellers /brokers expense) a full BSSC. That way it is one less thing for yo to worry about (incur additional cost) for the next 4 years.

 

That looks like a portable LPG heater in the bathroom - that is an instant BSSC fail.

 

No 'leisure' wiring in place - no leisure battery so no phone charging, no lights, no water pump, no TV, no Radio if you are unable 'do'12v wiring then that will be a additional expense.

No method of heating - it can get quite cool 'on the water' in the evenings.

No hot water - you can wash with cold water, or boil a kettle.

Price - it is not 'cheap'.

BSC Expires: 24th April 2021

1 x Starter Battery / 1 x Leisure Battery (Disconnected)

Edited by Calranthe
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1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

In which case - WHY ?

What problems resulted in the battery needing to be disconnected

I will be asking that question on our next visit but the BSC is 2021 April, which means to my limited understanding the boat has had a proper safety check in April this year it my be as simple as disconnected because it hasn't sold for a while. not naive you bring up a very valid point, I will find out that.

Over the last 12 months I have explored solar power both portable and mains, all phones/tablets/rechargeable itms in the house have been for twelve months completely been powered by  a 24w ravpower folding solar panel charging a 26k mamp battery, last month I completed my games room project now my entire gaming room including gaming pc + oculus rift is powered by dual 250w flexible panels on the shed hooked into 2 100ah gel 12v (parallel) hooked into a 1000w pure sine inverter.

That is just to put into context what I am planning for the boat.

Electricity?

we will be taking 2 tablets 2 phones + huawi mifi 4g with three they will all charge via a Ravpower 24w hooked into 2 26kmiliamp battery + a couple of backup 15k solar+charger.

If the battery are dodgy then a new marine leisure or even one of our gel will take its place as long as the wiring is good, 150w slim flexible solar should help charge it when engine is off it will power a qnap media server (films/music) and a draytek router)  

 

As for heating short term blankets, long term look into a deisel refex heater.

All the solar stuff we already have so no expense

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