Thanks everyone much apreciated.I've spent a lot of time on the cannals fishing cycling and dog walking around the Wolverhampton and Dudley areas But as I do a lot of camping/caravanning around the Llangollen area I thought about keeping it there as a hoiliday home at first. The use of the forum is really generally about boat ownership/use rather than living aboard but I'm sure I'll have questions about that as well at some point. Questions at this point being about insurance ,were can I stop ,how do I know about mooring points and what they can be used for where to get fuel,water coal, washing clothes ?
There seems to be quite a few forums but rather than sign up for them all then try to cancel them I'd rather just sign to the best ones.
Cheers all
Any decent boat builder will spend a couple of days teaching you how to handle the boat and the ways of the canal, where to stop etc. Fueling and water stops are a few miles apart on the canals. Coal men go up and down the canals to deliver coal and wood if you have a burner.
Some things you have to consider are:
Size of boat. Most go for between a 57 foot and 62 foot boat. You have to consider which canals you will use and the size of the locks. Some locks will only take a 60ft for example (and even then, diagonally!). If you go longer you may also find that you have to travel further to turn your boat round (and, for this reason, bow thrusters are a good idea). Your boat builder will advise.
Waterways licence. Goes on length of boat but is around £800 a year last time I checked.
Mooring. Most mooring costs are around £2500 a year. You may be able to moor for less, say at the bottom of someone's land but then you have to travel to get your water and empty your poo tank. Gated mooring communities are best as they have hook up electricity and utilities on site such as showers and laundrette, and are very secure. (You can get a washing machine in your narrow boat so don't worry too much about washing your undies, but having on site facilities saves on water in your tank) You don't have to have moorings if you want to just permanently cruise but there is a rule about how much time you can spend in one place before you have to move on. You don't have to move far, 1 or 2 miles. You do have to moor on the tow path side tho which is a little less secure in some areas.
Fuel & food costs are your other outgoings and possibly council tax depending on your area.
Type of loo. Choice is pump out or cassette. Some choose cassette in case the canal gets frozen over! The difference is that you have to empty the cassette more often (every 48 hours) and in all honesty, if you have a pump out and the canal is frozen over, its likely you'll run out of fresh water at the same time you run out of poo capacity, so you'll probably find you'll have to book into a B&B anyway if the weather is THAT bad. Filling and emptying the tanks is about £8 and that is about once a week I understand.
Blacking your boat. Essential maintenance that MUST be done every 18ish months. Costs about £800. They lift the boat out the water and it takes about a week to black the bottom and replace the anodes. This stops your boat rusting. You can live aboard while they do this. Properly maintained boats can last way longer than 70 years.
Layout. The traditional layout is STERN> bedroom> bathroom> kitchen> dinette> saloon> BOW
The reverse layout is the opposite (obviously) and there are variations if you have a bespoke build. The traditional layout is nice because the bow doors can be opened while relaxing in the saloon. However, this means that your social end is at the bow which is a pain if your steering the boat at the stern on a day out coz all your guests are at the other end of the boat, 60 ft away. So if you want your boat to be a social hub, it's best to have the reverse layout, so all your guests are at the stern when you're on a day trip. There are also some other advantages to a reverse layout... Mainly, you can have the bathroom full width walk through type as guests will not need to keep walking thro when going from seeing you at the stern, back to the other guests at the bow. Also you can have your double bed across the width instead of length ways (you can do this anyway but you have to fold the end up to walk past when getting on and off the boat and you don't need to do this so often if the bedroom is bow end). This means you can have more wardrobe space and a full width double bed (normally beds are 4ft wide on a narrow boat). Also the way some bedrooms are designed means the steps in from the stern are curved. This can be a pain in the arse if you're tall or have loads of shopping as you need to duck when you come in. You get straight steps if the saloon is stern end.
Style of dinette. Pullman, L shaped or breakfast bar. Personally I like L shaped because they open the space out which is nice if you have guests. Put the table away and it becomes an L shaped sofa as part of the saloon (MGMs are particularly nice). If you have a dinette style consider having a removable/reversible back on the seat that is saloon side, to give you some guest seating. Both L shaped and dinette style converts to double bed which is handy, something you don't get with a breakfast bar although that is space saving. However I've seen the traditional layout but with the dinette put in the bow and it was gorgeous PLUS this gives an extra six foot inside the boat to play with so you could have a bike room!! (I've only seen this dinette design with MGM boats )
Type of stern. This is where you get on or off the boat. It's your front door. Traditional sterns are very enclosed, not much standing space but full cover with sliding hatch, so a lot of storage space for ropes etc. Cruiser sterns are very open,a lot of people can stand there with a beer in hand or put a couple of garden chairs on it and enjoy the weather. But drunk people (and not so drunk people) can easily fall off as there is nowhere to hold on. A semi trad is the middle ground. More room to stand and where the hatch slides back there is some convenient seating for drunk people, or not so drunk people that are a bit accident prone or lack balance.
I'm personally going for semi trad reverse layout.
You also need to consider space saving ideas which is why you need to look at as many boats as possible. Any steps can be storage and I've seen towel shelves tucked behind shower units. Most important... Where you're gonna store your wine? Best I've seen is a hatch in the floor!
Be careful of the big production companies. I've seen some of their boats after 5 years and they look knackered. I'd rather have a 2nd hand well kept hull and pay for a refit by a reputable bespoke builder than a brand new one from one of bigger commercial companies. The workmanship between the two is quite noticeably different. You do pay more for an independent builder but, get the right one, and its well worth the extra money. Even the hull they use can be shipped from China and you want a good reputable English company to build your foundation.
