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Guys advice please if you can spare a minute - Thinking of moving onto a boat.


Matt&Jo

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Hello out their to all you boaters,

me and my lovely wife Jo are looking to change our lives and the way we live them like so many others I'm sure have said the same. We are seriously considering selling our house buying a new build wide beam canal boat and then buying another property with the left over cash to rent out.

we then want the part time work ethos and life style along with a top up from our rented out other property. We have always loved the kennet and Avon specifically and it has for a while been a dream that could so easily be reality but are we being a bit wishful? 

Are moorings available under 600pcm (cairn hill) too much money if we want to work leisurely like we do (we're only 33 years old so no pension or retirement fund)

if moorings are not available why do they not make constant cruising simpler?

can we constant cruise and hold up a job?

can you be a constant cruiser and own a car.... IE parking.....

can you constant cruise and live self sufficiently with your power source and battery banks etc etc etc in reality?

so many questions and we have watched and read so many videos and articles etc it's all a big blurry mess.

 

so with this in mind I am asking the experts....

any time you could spare to help with any of my points I would truly appreciate it.

Edited by DHutch
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sorry to be unhelpful, but all of these questions have been discussed to the point of exhaustion and a search should provide all the information you want.

Probably at least 30% of the threads on CWDF address one or other of the issues you have raised.   There are no yes/no answers, the answer is always a compromise or an adaptation to conditions and situations, which is what living aboard is all about.

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As other have said, please use the search facility and/or just spend and hour or three browsing this site. There are DOZENS if not hundreds of threads here discussing in detail all the questions you are asking. 

People here get rather weary of being asked to start from scratch when its all there waiting to be read in the first place ;)

Welcome to the forum by the way!!

 

 

(Edit to moderate my comments!)

Edited by Mike the Boilerman
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9 hours ago, Matt&Jo said:

if moorings are not available why do they not make constant cruising simpler?

How much simpler can it be ?

You cruise, moor for 14 days, move (a 'reasonable distance') moor for 14 days, move .......................................

3 months later turn around and do it again.

There have been very strict guidelines and a 'monitored CCing requirement' on the K&A (a couple of years ago) resulting in many boats being put under enforcement, some forced to leave C&RT waters, others sold, etc etc.

 

This was a summary of the 1st Quarters monitoring :

Kennet & Avon Canal, west of Devizes

In August we produced the first quarterly report (covering May – July) on the Kennet & Avon Local Plan and presented it to the local Waterway Partnership for their information.  The report, which is published on our website, showed that a total of 6,954 boat sightings (1,291 individual boats) have been recorded in the K&A Local Plan area between Bath and Foxhangers.   
On visitor moorings, 99 boats were sighted as having exceeded the free mooring period on a first occasion and were contacted to remind them about the plan.  22 boats were sighted as coming to the end of their free mooring period on a second occasion.  Of these, four boats have exceeded the free mooring period on more than one occasion and been issued with extended stay charges. 
In terms of moving between neighbourhoods, during the period six 14-day sighting reports have been completed.  147 boats have not moved since the last 14 day sighting.  They have been contacted by text, email or phone to remind them to move, or if there is a reason that they cannot move to contact the Trust.  93 have been contacted once, 36 have been contacted twice, 12 have been contacted three times and 6 have been contacted on four or more occasions.  As a result of receiving multiple 14 day reminders, 18 boats have been sent a letter reminding them that if they do not follow the Local Plan they may attract the attention of enforcement officers.

 

The attached may be of interest - there is an ever increasing number of people who want to either 'get off the rat-race', or try to get 'cheap living' around a major city, this is leading to a lot of people who have no concept or actual desire to live on a boat but are becoming boaters by default.

They 'sign up' to the CC rules but then declare it 'unfair' when it is suggested that to comply it is unlikely that they either have children requiring schools, be able to work from a fixed location, medical requirements, ageing parents or 'whatever', the concept of 'continuous cruising' is just that - 'continuous cruising', stopping a few days here, a few days there and generally being 'of no fixed place'.

 

Many boaters seem to be able to comply, but many, many 'floating flat owners' seeking an 'alternative life' have problems complying and the reality of emptying toilets & filling water tanks every few days, carrying 25kg bags of coal & gas bottles soon becomes 'a bit of a bind'.

 

To answer your questions - yes you can do it and have a job and a car but you will need to make major changes to the accepted 'norms of life'.

 

 

CC-monitoring-review-march-2016.pdf

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As presumably you have little or no mortgage if you plan to buy a widebeam and a house with the 'left-over cash', then you will almost certainly find living on the cut more expensive.  So your idea of having an idyllic part-time lifestyle is fairly unlikely.

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The way you phrase your questions suggests that you already know all the answers to the questions and are in reality struggling to bring them all together and make a decision. 

If it were not the K & A then I would not make any recommendation, but it is, so I would say Don't.

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3 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

The way you phrase your questions suggests that you already know all the answers to the questions and are in reality struggling to bring them all together and unfortunately know that you cannot make the decision to CC.

A few words added to clarify.

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Lovely the western K&A may be, but there are lots of other beautiful canals, many of them cheaper to be on and much less crowded. So ask yourselves, do you really REALLY have to be there? Does your proposed part time work require it? Are most of your friends and family in that area?

Have you done a comparison with what the same plan would cost you if you had a wide beam on the northern waterways? I haven't checked, but would imagine mooring fees in marinas up there are much less, and that continuous cruising would be much easier; more places to moor, less rigorous enforcement.

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It may seem idyllic from the outside looking in and more so because that 'looking in' is a snapshot.

  • As can be seen on other threads, folks want to bring their land based lifestyle with them. They forget / are ignorant of:-
  • You do your own rubbish / waste disposal
  • You have to create your own energy resources
  • Nowhere to park a car
  • difficult to arrange medical service
  • Have to move to get fuel and water

and on and on.....

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16 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

It may seem idyllic from the outside looking in and more so because that 'looking in' is a snapshot.

  • As can be seen on other threads, folks want to bring their land based lifestyle with them. They forget / are ignorant of:-
  • You do your own rubbish / waste disposal
  • You have to create your own energy resources
  • Nowhere to park a car
  • difficult to arrange medical service
  • Have to move to get fuel and water

and on and on.....

Yes it's a paradox that most folk who take to the canals do it "to get out of the rat race" but can't do without all the mod cons they have on dry land.  It's people wanting to have their cake and eat it that is gradually destroying the ambiance of canal life.

 

The K&A might have been an idyllic place to set up as a liveaboard in the early days, but not now.  And definitely not on a widebeam. 

 

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Wow..........well thank you to all those who have replied.

Im sorry for repeating questions you have all been asked a million times over but its peoples thoughts i wanted rather than a page of information on subjects.

It is clear some folk are not fans of those looking to change their lives in the way you all have.......... perhaps due to the overcrowding or idiots on the waterways. Im a boat owner at current a sea fishing boat with an outboard so im not totaly naive to controling boats on water and have spent alot of time on a friends narrow boat who has also made the move to the cut K&A from the land locked life and he sais its the best thing he has done but thats not necceserily meaning i also will love it.

Perhaps you guys are correct and i and my wife should not make the move, you have all given me food for thought for sure.

Ive been advised to work hard and save up to live on the canals in the future perhaps but are you all millionaires?? If so well done on making it.

 

Thanks again for all your info and thoughts

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It is interesting how regularly these types of questions  crop up and I would agree that the forum should encourage enquirers to the search facility where similar questions have been answered in many threads. Would it be possible to pin something to the top of the forum which would direct questioners to some relevant threads?

 

Howard

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6 minutes ago, Matt&Jo said:

Ive been advised to work hard and save up to live on the canals in the future perhaps but are you all millionaires??

No, but a couple with two pensions have a reasonable, steady income.  I guess this is how many boaters fund their lifestyle.  There are so many outgoings to cover.  A lot of people living in London must be paper millionaires with current house prices!  I'm sorry if I seem negative.

Edited by mross
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3 minutes ago, howardang said:

It is interesting how regularly these types of questions  crop up and I would agree that the forum should encourage enquirers to the search facility where similar questions have been answered in many threads. Would it be possible to pin something to the top of the forum which would direct questioners to some relevant threads?

 

Howard

In this case there is a current thread running about finding a mooring on the K&A for a 60 foot boat. it doesn't even need a search its still live and kicking.

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1 hour ago, Peter X said:

Lovely the western K&A may be, but there are lots of other beautiful canals, many of them cheaper to be on and much less crowded. So ask yourselves, do you really REALLY have to be there? Does your proposed part time work require it? Are most of your friends and family in that area?

Have you done a comparison with what the same plan would cost you if you had a wide beam on the northern waterways? I haven't checked, but would imagine mooring fees in marinas up there are much less, and that continuous cruising would be much easier; more places to moor, less rigorous enforcement.

Exactly this moorings are cheap up here, the canals are designed for big boats and you could cruise for a year without covering the same ground twice [10 x 57 foot widebeam] any bigger will cause issues and restrict you

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Do you have the kind of jobs where you could work from 'home' such as design, consultancy or writing?  If yes and you are successful, your dream becomes much more realistic.  Have you sat down and drawn up a budget to see what you need to earn and spend so as not to struggle?  Also, renting your house has quite a few extra expenses to consider such as management fees, landlord insurance, maybe taxes?  A boat is a defined as a hole in the water into which you pour money!  But I wish you well and please keep asking questions.

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3 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Exactly this moorings are cheap up here, the canals are designed for big boats and you could cruise for a year without covering the same ground twice [10 x 57 foot widebeam] any bigger will cause issues and restrict you

I must admit the thought of seeing new surroundings does appeal to me. Food for thought perhaps

1 minute ago, mross said:

Do you have the kind of jobs where you could work from 'home' such as design, consultancy or writing?  If yes and you are successful, your dream becomes much more realistic.  Have you sat down and drawn up a budget to see what you need to earn and spend so as not to struggle?  Also, renting your house has quite a few extra expenses to consider such as management fees, landlord insurance, maybe taxes?  A boat is a defined as a hole in the water into which you pour money!  But I wish you well and please keep asking questions.

Thank you mross you have been very kind in your advice and a little forgiving of someon starting out as have some others. All the best to you all

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4 minutes ago, Matt&Jo said:

I must admit the thought of seeing new surroundings does appeal to me. Food for thought perhaps

Thank you mross you have been very kind in your advice and a little forgiving of someon starting out as have some others. All the best to you all

No problems we all have to start somewhere I used to ask the most stupid questions ever when I first decided boating is for me. Now its a way of life that I dont think I could leave

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The longest journey begins with a single step...................................... :) 

Just now, peterboat said:

No problems we all have to start somewhere I used to ask the most stupid questions ever when I first decided boating is for me. Now its a way of life

Actually, some of your questions are quite good now! :) 

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