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Just starting to look......


Tawny75

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13 minutes ago, magictime said:

If we're talking about a holiday boat for 2, personally I'd be looking at smaller vessels - say, sub-40ft. I can absolutely see why people appreciate extra storage and living space in a liveaboard boat, but when you're in holiday mode and spending most of your time on the deck steering, exploring on foot, or in the pub, I don't see any real benefit in having extra space inside beyond the basics of somewhere to cook, eat, sleep etc. All else being equal, a smaller boat is going to be cheaper to license, moor, insure, maintain and run, and for any given budget you'll get a nicer, newer boat if you shave 10 or 20 feet off the length. 

n years ago, where n >30 I would have agreed with you, our first hire boat was that our second and subsequent boats were 60' or in 1 case 70' (that latter was a bit awkward on some parts of the BCN......). Once you decide to have a decent length kitchen, storage space, nice bathroom and so on, then 55' is a compromise and 60' better. SO that's what I built.

It has to depend on what your expectations are and generalizations, impossible.  

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5 hours ago, zimzim said:

This may be an interesting thread for me to keep an eye on - you are a couple of years ahead of my own aspirations!

I think I am forming a mental list of Must-Haves (length, age, basic spec, etc), Must-Not-Haves (things like an engine room), and Would-Be-Nices (eg solar, travel-power, bow-thruster?), just in an attempt to reduce the options.

When I get serious, I'll probably write all this down, but I think it's good to get some of the big decisions made as early as possible in the process.

Best of luck!

Thank you!

I am torn between having an engine room or having under the deck boards.  The same as I was sure I wanted a trad or a semi trad, but the majority of the time, him and I are on the back together so maybe a cruiser is what we need.

We are hoping to go to Whilton Marina on Saturday and have a good mooch round.  

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33 minutes ago, Tawny75 said:

Thank you!

I am torn between having an engine room or having under the deck boards.  The same as I was sure I wanted a trad or a semi trad, but the majority of the time, him and I are on the back together so maybe a cruiser is what we need.

We are hoping to go to Whilton Marina on Saturday and have a good mooch round.  

My only requirement was a trad stern so that when boating in the cold or rain I can stand inside the doors to give some protection from the elements. We were fortunate that the boat we went for had an oversized hatch so we can both stand in the hatch whilst cruising. The OH would still prefer a semi trad so she has somewhere to sit down.

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45 minutes ago, Tawny75 said:

Thank you!

I am torn between having an engine room or having under the deck boards.  The same as I was sure I wanted a trad or a semi trad, but the majority of the time, him and I are on the back together so maybe a cruiser is what we need.

We are hoping to go to Whilton Marina on Saturday and have a good mooch round.  

With a trad back end, your engine (can be) in it's own comfy space, making it more pleasant to service an perhaps more sensibly, somewhere to dry wet (or if you got caught out ordinary -) weather gear. I keep some tools, life ring, unused wet gear, hats, buckets, electric switchgear, inverter, battery charger(s) and an huge battery bank - in that space... 

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18 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

My only requirement was a trad stern so that when boating in the cold or rain I can stand inside the doors to give some protection from the elements. We were fortunate that the boat we went for had an oversized hatch so we can both stand in the hatch whilst cruising. The OH would still prefer a semi trad so she has somewhere to sit down.

You could have a couple of high seats welded on either side of the tiller :) 

I saw a lovely pair on a boat at the weekend. Padded and with armrests they were.

Edited by Captain Pegg
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32 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

You could have a couple of high seats welded on either side of the tiller :) 

I saw a lovely pair on a boat at the weekend. Padded and with armrests they were.

I had the suicide seats cut off last year.;)

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14 hours ago, Tawny75 said:

There you go then... 40ft and all the space you need for holiday use! I like the idea of a side hatch over the sink.

Seems maybe a little bit pricey for a boat of that length and age, but then it all depends on condition, I guess. And a sub-£30k offer would be perfectly reasonable.

Oh, and without claiming any great knowledge of engines, I happened to be looking at a boat with that same Kingfisher engine myself recently and I got the impression that finding spares etc might be a bit more difficult than with other, better-known, still-current manufacturers. I'm sure somebody will correct me if I'm wrong about that.

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9 minutes ago, magictime said:

Oh, and without claiming any great knowledge of engines, I happened to be looking at a boat with that same Kingfisher engine myself recently and I got the impression that finding spares etc might be a bit more difficult than with other, better-known, still-current manufacturers.

http://www.kingfisherdieselengines.org/home.html

The opening paragraphs of the site's home page tend to support what you wrote above.

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22 minutes ago, magictime said:

There you go then... 40ft and all the space you need for holiday use! I like the idea of a side hatch over the sink.

Seems maybe a little bit pricey for a boat of that length and age, but then it all depends on condition, I guess. And a sub-£30k offer would be perfectly reasonable.

Oh, and without claiming any great knowledge of engines, I happened to be looking at a boat with that same Kingfisher engine myself recently and I got the impression that finding spares etc might be a bit more difficult than with other, better-known, still-current manufacturers. I'm sure somebody will correct me if I'm wrong about that.

 

11 minutes ago, sans allumette said:

http://www.kingfisherdieselengines.org/home.html

The opening paragraphs of the site's home page tend to support what you wrote above.

Hmmm difficulty in finding spares does not sound good.  Still we will have a look, we are still at the early stages of sorting what we want and don't want at the moment.

I feel a spreadsheet coming on, my little accounty brain is singing :)

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Interesting layout - the only boat I've seen with a visible ventilation hole in the floor. Simple layout _ I suspect it's been refitted not so long ago.

The engine, sadly is a bit of a no-no as they were not of the best quality and not very reliable (I remember lots of threads on various forums  some tears ago - yes, I meant "years", but perhaps my fingers were  psychic.

To a lesser extent - I personally dislike 3 way fridges, on 240V on a landline, possibly OK, 12V, No too juicy, gas - well they do use a lot of gas, but for holiday use, well OK. My experience with allegedly well maintained units (hire boats), they are not very effective. 'One' likes some ice with G&T... This is a topic which is subject to many views..... 

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35 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

Interesting layout - the only boat I've seen with a visible ventilation hole in the floor. Simple layout _ I suspect it's been refitted not so long ago.

The engine, sadly is a bit of a no-no as they were not of the best quality and not very reliable (I remember lots of threads on various forums  some tears ago - yes, I meant "years", but perhaps my fingers were  psychic.

To a lesser extent - I personally dislike 3 way fridges, on 240V on a landline, possibly OK, 12V, No too juicy, gas - well they do use a lot of gas, but for holiday use, well OK. My experience with allegedly well maintained units (hire boats), they are not very effective. 'One' likes some ice with G&T... This is a topic which is subject to many views..... 

One always needs ice with a G&T!

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2 hours ago, OldGoat said:

Interesting layout - the only boat I've seen with a visible ventilation hole in the floor. Simple layout _ I suspect it's been refitted not so long ago.

The engine, sadly is a bit of a no-no as they were not of the best quality and not very reliable (I remember lots of threads on various forums  some tears ago - yes, I meant "years", but perhaps my fingers were  psychic.

To a lesser extent - I personally dislike 3 way fridges, on 240V on a landline, possibly OK, 12V, No too juicy, gas - well they do use a lot of gas, but for holiday use, well OK. My experience with allegedly well maintained units (hire boats), they are not very effective. 'One' likes some ice with G&T... This is a topic which is subject to many views..... 

My experience is completly different.

Our first shareboat had a Electrolux (now Dometic) 3 way fridge. Excellent cooling and very economical on gas. Best of all it was silent. Pity they are no longer recommended are suitable for installation in boats (the manufacturer can't tell the difference between a sea going yacht, which can heel over enough to move the flame away from the evaporator, and a canal boat which can't in normal circumstances).

The only issue we had in 10 years, was a reduction in effectiveness after about 7 years, caused by the refrigerant crystallising.  Much to my surprise the engineer at the boatyard where we were based, took the fridge out of the boat, inverted it and shook it about a bit. 

Once installed back in the boat it worked perfectly again,  and was still working when we sold our share.

  • Greenie 1
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22 hours ago, OldGoat said:

With a trad back end, your engine (can be) in it's own comfy space, making it more pleasant to service an perhaps more sensibly, somewhere to dry wet (or if you got caught out ordinary -) weather gear. I keep some tools, life ring, unused wet gear, hats, buckets, electric switchgear, inverter, battery charger(s) and an huge battery bank - in that space... 

Bit like me, and you can hang things up to dry as well.

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I am having a thick time of it today.

Please can someone explain to me what a walk through bathroom is?  Does this mean that I would have to watch him indoors doing his business if I was sat inside the boat, because frankly, I love him but not that much.

This boat has one, and to me it looks like the shower is just in the middle of the boat, as a lady of distinction (cough cough), I am pretty sure he does not want me abluting while he is eating his cornflakes! 

https://bwml.co.uk/brokerage/sm-9373-mikes-den/

Thanks muchly in advance :)

 

Edited by Tawny75
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Just means you have no corridor, so if someone is on the loo or in the shower and you need to get past the bathroom you have to walk though it and see them doing whatever they be doing!

You have, or should have doors either side of the bathroom to close.

Tidy little boat that, not sure i would want to live on it though as a couple, seems to be lacking room and storage.

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3 minutes ago, Dave Payne said:

Just means you have no corridor, so if someone is on the loo or in the shower and you need to get past the bathroom you have to walk though it and see them doing whatever they be doing!

You have, or should have doors either side of the bathroom to close.

OIC!  We had that in the March hire boat, not in the bathroom but to close off the two bedrooms.  I am very glad about this, I know narrowboats are cosy, but my imagination was running wild!

 

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31 minutes ago, Tawny75 said:

I am having a thick time of it today.

Please can someone explain to me what a walk through bathroom is?  Does this mean that I would have to watch him indoors doing his business if I was sat inside the boat, because frankly, I love him but not that much.

This boat has one, and to me it looks like the shower is just in the middle of the boat, as a lady of distinction (cough cough), I am pretty sure he does not want me abluting while he is eating his cornflakes! 

https://bwml.co.uk/brokerage/sm-9373-mikes-den/

Thanks muchly in advance :)

 

That's a very different boat from the first one you linked to. Are you considering this one?

Never heard of D Atkinson and although I am no expert I am guessing that is either the internal fitter or a steel fabricator that doesn't usually build boats.

15mm baseplate and 10mm sides! The person who paid for the build had some very expensive ballast. It's also a very basic hull.

Much more character in the first boat. I am going to hazard a guess that you want a bit of character. Am I right?

JP

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It does look a bit ungainly from the outside (odd-shaped cratch, no tumblehome) but then you don't live on the outside.

On one of the photos, if you look carefully you can see that the bathroom extends the full width of the boat. You can always walk round the outside of the boat if you need to change ends while someone is bogbound.

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1 hour ago, Captain Pegg said:

That's a very different boat from the first one you linked to. Are you considering this one?

Never heard of D Atkinson and although I am no expert I am guessing that is either the internal fitter or a steel fabricator that doesn't usually build boats.

15mm baseplate and 10mm sides! The person who paid for the build had some very expensive ballast. It's also a very basic hull.

Much more character in the first boat. I am going to hazard a guess that you want a bit of character. Am I right?

JP

I am just looking at all adverts I can at the moment until we go to a marina on Saturday.  I am looking and finding out what all different things mean and I hadn't come across this one before.  A bit of character would be nice but to be honest, we can add character to anything :)

 

1 hour ago, Athy said:

It does look a bit ungainly from the outside (odd-shaped cratch, no tumblehome) but then you don't live on the outside.

On one of the photos, if you look carefully you can see that the bathroom extends the full width of the boat. You can always walk round the outside of the boat if you need to change ends while someone is bogbound.

What is a tumblehome please?

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10 minutes ago, Tawny75 said:

I am just looking at all adverts I can at the moment until we go to a marina on Saturday.  I am looking and finding out what all different things mean and I hadn't come across this one before.  A bit of character would be nice but to be honest, we can add character to anything :)

 

What is a tumblehome please?

Tumblehome is the angle of the cabin sides.

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Tumblehome is the inward slope of the cabin sides - important if you care about aesthetics and/or walking down the gunwale.

Anyone fancy a wager that it's originally a Hancock & Lane hull with a 2009 cabin and fit out? The only way it's a 10/15mm is if it's been overplated. Many H&L hulls were 3/16" (4.8mm) hullsides, so if overplated up to the top strake (which would explain the missing guard iron on the bow) with 5mm, that would add up to 10mm hullsides, ditto for an 8mm baseplate and about 0 for accuracy in the broker's description :)

Edited by Rose Narrowboats
Added missing word
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3 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Tumblehome is the angle of the cabin sides.

 

3 minutes ago, Rose Narrowboats said:

Tumblehome is the inward slope of the cabin sides - important if you care about aesthetics and/or walking down the gunwale.

Anyone fancy a wager that it's originally a Hancock & Lane hull with a 2009 cabin and fit out? The only way it's a 10/15mm is if it's been overplated. Many H&L hulls were 3/16" (4.8mm) hullsides, so if overplated up to the top strake (which would explain the missing guard iron on the bow) with 5mm, that would add up to 10mm hullsides, ditto for an 8mm baseplate and about 0 for accuracy in the broker's description :)

Thank you both.

 

@Rose Narrowboats - Is all of that which you have said good or bad?

 

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