ben_rogers93

I am a very hands on and piratical guy, if I don't know how to fix something I will soon look it up and work it out. Engines are the only thing I don't know much about yet but I'm soon learning. Every boater I've spoken to says if you survive my first winter then you'll be fine I travel to london 4-5 days a week so I will cycle the towpath to try and make my mind up. Do you think it would be better if I have a curved front? Would this give me any advantage over a skiff front?

Thank you everyone for your replies. I'm in talk with a couple of boat builders. One suggested to have a square trad stern (engine is inside the boat same as a trad narrowboat.) I guess similar to http://www.sherwoodboats.co.uk/gallery.php?prjid=prjm015 With a skiff front http://www.sherwoodboats.co.uk/gallery.php?prjid=prjm004 So if I had a trad stern with a skiff front I could have a boat that is 35ft long with a cabin of approx 27ft. Would this upset many people aesthetically? Also would this be difficult to steer? Are the waterways completely packed in london then? I spoke to one guy and he lived in london on the canal for 8 years and he said he never had a problem and he didn't find it crowded, but thats just his opinion. Ideally I would want to be in zone 2 or 3 so not completely central. Then sometimes travel up the grand union canal between watford and tring to visit friends, family and also clients.

I'm very new to the boat would, I know very little. Any information would be helpful I'm an architect student and a design consultant. I had a friend of mine who has just brought a 12ft widebeam and it's between 50-60ft long, he asked me to design the interior for him. I was shocked at the space inside and after talking about how much the shell cost him and how much it costs to live on the water, I fell in love with the idea. I love small spaces, but i dislike narrow spaces, so a widebeam is perfect for me, but I don't see the point in having an overly long boat. I wanted to be informed or advised is there anything wrong or disadvantage of having a widebeam only 30ft long? My friend tells me that will be a maximum of 24ft living space. I have put this in a CAD programs and come up with a few designs. I believe I could easily live comfortable and happily within this space. I'm worried about electric and water consumption. I like to shower every day. I also pretty much spend all day working on my pc and laptop, I'm worried the tv/monitor will consume to much power. Any advice or any information will help. I don't plan of paying for mooring, I like the idea of traveling up and down a lock each week or two