Hello people - may I join you?

[Bazza]

Hi I'm a complete newcomer to this forum and I joined because I like the style - nice and friendly and helpful without bad language and table thumping and I need your advice

Let me tell you about me - I'm in my early 50s and retire in about 4 years (emergency services you see - they have a policy of casting our abused and broken bodies out to pasture 10 years before everybody else).  I'm planning to sell up, pay off the mortgage and live on my own boat.

My reasons;
1)    I'm a rebel, a non conformist and I find the idea of sitting in my house waiting to die appalling
2)    I'm a traveler - always have been - joined the merchant navy when I was 17 although I gave it up when I got married
3)    I love anything to do with water - sailing, fishing, the wildlife, just being on it or by it
4)    I want the rest of my life to be an adventure
5)    I find the idea of not giving a large part of my last few years salary to the mortgage people very attractive
6)    I WANT TO BE FREEEEEEEEE

 My ultimate ambition is to have a Cat B dutch barge so I can cruise the British waterways, nip out of one estuary, round the coast to the next river system and then across the Channel and on up the northern European coast - Holland Belgium etc and up into the Baltic, maybe go through the French canals to the Med and up into the Aegean and the Adriatic - how about into the Black Sea.  That's going to take time and money though, which won't be available right now plus I also need time to take the relevant qualifications I think I need (RYA Coastal Skipper perhaps).

So for now I'm looking at having a wide beam narrow boat built which I'm pretty certain I can afford with the equity from the house. My plan is to have the best that is available so that when I am in a position to trade up I'll get maximum value from what I have.  Plus of course I might decide that staying with a widebeam suits me.  I've visited several boatyards so far so I'm beginning to get an idea of what I want (and what I don't want) but I've only got the beginnings of a picture in my head as yet.  My boat won't be traditional - it'll be laid out exactly as I want it - galley at the back with big doors leading to a great big cruiser style stern so that the stern becomes an integral part of the living space.  My 05 Triumph Bonneville will be carried on the stern as well and there'll be a small sailable boat or Canadian type canoe carried on davits or on the roof.  The foredeck will be big so I can step out of my bed and sit outside with my breakfast on a comfortable chair at my table - it's going to be like a breakfast patio.  Both the bow and stern areas will have covers so that in the winter I can live in the full length of the boat as I choose but most of all I want light and space. And curves - I don't want a bath with a rabbit hutch perched on top!

I'm still researching as well as dreaming so I need to ask a few questions which I'm hoping that you can help me with.  I want to know what the disadvantages and problems are (got to take the rose tinted specs off).  For instance what do you do about post (I'm not particularly interested in permanent moorings)?.  Would I be effectively homeless with no fixed abode so what about voting in elections and stuff like that? What about links to the internet which I use regularly? What do you do when you feel poorly and need a doctor or a dentist?  What are the hidden costs? How do you go about naming a registering a boat? - are their any conventions which are traditionally followed when naming a boat? Are there any other questions I should be asking?

If there aren't any conventions I plan to call the boat AYLA - which is a name some people may recognise (she is a heroine of mine) - I hope to have this happen before Christmas 07 so look out for the boat with the Bonnie on it.

Cheers people - I'm looking forward to some long and fruitful discussions

Bazza

[Admin (Chris)]

Hello Bazza,

Welcome to the forum 

If you go to the right builder, like Paul Barber of Long Eaton you'll be supprised at what you can get for your money in a new barge if you are willing to/capable of undertake some of the fitting out yourself.

Well that's about it for now, if you've any more questions in the future get typin' 

[Bazza]

Thanks Chris - some interesting stuff there

I was thinking about having the davits at the stern so the boat will hang off the back - large cruiser style

Hmm PO Boxes - I think I'll go with your 2nd option which has the benefits of flexibility and you don't have to pay for it - I'm thinking about living on a pension here not being a curmudgeonly old bachelor - honest!!

How have other people solved the problems of no fixed address? I only communicate with my bank by internet or personal visit so can you tell me where the problem is please? I guess my driving license has my address on it so will they not allow you to use a "representative address" or a c/o one? The passport problem is a poser but I'm wondering if the representative address would work for this as well

I've already found out that my car insurance firm won't insure me without a post code and I suspect that if I fibbed they would be within their rights to refuse any claim I might make

Oh boy what's a PCIMCIA card and will it work in my non-laptop computer? is this mobile phone aerial on the roof available from your local phone supplier or is it a specialist supplier? What about the router I have now does it become redundant? What's a UMTS connection? And what does 3Gb of data transfer per month mean in reality - I don't download much from the internet but I do use it a fair amount to read stuff and I also intend to communicate a lot by e-mail if I can so would 3 GB be enough for me?

It'd be really interesting to read how people have solved these problems - be discreet if you have to - I won't tell if you don't

Cheers people

Bazza

[Admin (Chris)]

If you already have a bank account it won't be a problem unless they have to correspond via letter with forms etc. You will just have a problem if you wish to open a new account at any time. You could move off the boat and stay with a friend for a month when your passport needs renewing, I guess a representative address would work for your driving license as they would just need have contact with someone who will know where to find you if you are a bad boy  <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" />

A PCMCIA card looks like this and fits nearly all laptops except the most recent.

T-Mobile provide it free if you sign up for 18 months.  Or if you have one of the latest laptops with no PCMCIA slot they do a USB device.

Your old router will be redundant.

The best aerial is probably this one.

The Web site is here http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/ViewProductB.php?ID=2
It's the one I use, I had it shipped from the USA for $60, which was cheaper than I could find it in the UK.

For Web browsing and emails you'd need to be on the Web for several hours a day all month to use 3Gb of data transfer, It would only become a problem if you regularly downloaded music, video or large programs.  I run my Web sites do all my email, and loads more and I've never gone over 3Gb.

UMTS is: (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) a broadband, packet-based transmission of text, digitized voice, video, and multimedia at data rates up to and possibly higher than 2 megabits per second.

I think you will find that the post code for your insurance is only applicable to where the vehicle kept. So if you were to keep it at a friends house then using that post code would be OK as it would spend most of its unused time there, and where you drive in the UK is none of there business. You should be able to give the boat as the place your MC is kept as it's damn near impossible to steal one off a boat.

[Bazza]

Thanks Chris

loads of useful info you are a star

That aerial looks ultra-cool I reckon - I might get one just for show and mount it alongside my automatic satellite seeking locking Sky TV antenna

Cheers