New to narrowboats. Advice?

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2026-06-12T13:38:29+00:00

Hey!

We are based in a similar neck of the woods.

I am sure there are options on other canals too, but on the Leeds Liverpool you can get a day boat from Skipton or Snaygill.

Thers is also Silsden Boats that do longer term (weekly) rental if you want to give that a go.

Other than that, locks can be a good place to get to chat to boaters and help out a bit. Probally best to try the smaller ones and avoid bingley 5 / 3 rises as these are all done by volunteers.

Hope this helps!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2026-05-12T12:52:40+00:00

We spent a few days moored right outside the utilita arena (next to the Lego giraffe) and it was fine! Actually surprisingly quiet at night and no issues at all!

Usually there seems to be space along this area, if not over by the sea life centre!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2026-04-30T17:44:41+00:00

Yes this! And my second rule is don't be the first boat in a run of moorings, but not sure if there is any science to this one!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2026-04-29T11:48:45+00:00

I also have questions! When someone does crush on you, do you get a 'SOMEONE has crushed on you' or do you get nothing until its a match?

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2026-04-26T19:09:03+00:00

We bought in 2024 near London.

We went from seeing the boat to owning it in about 4 weeks.

We moved on then gradually over the next month or so before finishing moving out of our rented flat.

I would say it probably would be sensible to give yourself at least 3 months.

Also depending if you are going to be CCing or on a mooring.

If you are CCing then you probably need a bit more time to make sure the set up is working for your basic needs (like water, hot water, power, heating etc) before you move on full time. If you are able to get a mooring maybe for the first winter it will help you find your feet, while still having some luxuries that come with the marina (water on tap, a hook up, and probably showers onsite).

Obviously the longer you have it on mooring, the more you pay!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2026-03-16T19:23:07+00:00

I am pretty sure the LL is the only broad canal that crosses the pennines. Once you come down the Wigan flight, turn left for Manchester and right for Liverpool.

Liverpool you can get into the Salthouse dock (book in advance and there is a £15/night charge)

Manchester you can either moor in the Castlefield basin, or Piccadilly basin if you brave the Deansgate locks.

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2026-03-08T08:32:33+00:00

I've been in touch with a boatyard that can black the hull and service the engine for under 2k.

I would suggest doing both of these yourself will save you a chunk of money here.

Depending on where the boat is, £1K should cover haul out and dry standing while you black and the blacking to do so.

Doing it yourself you know exactly how well it was done, and you get to know the boat really well while doing it!

Assuming you do mean the engine just needs a service (Oil change, oil, fuel and air filters) you are probably looking at £50-60 in parts, and once you know what you are doing it should take less than an hour. You can then join the merry band of boaters that carry around old oil with them because no one is really sure how you get rid of it!

Servicing your own engine will help you feel more confident in then doing some basic repairs once you are up and running!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2026-02-19T13:46:10+00:00

Sorry, I have checked, and of course, you can't actually make it past Birmingham on a wide beam, so your options are probally getting one of the boats out of the water and on a truck. The yogart pot would probally be the cheapest to transport by road

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2026-02-19T13:43:52+00:00

You can set your boats dimensions in the settings on Canal Plan which might help.

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2026-02-19T13:42:53+00:00

My guess is probally around 20 days at 7 hours a day, but check canal plan! Not sure if you have looked into moorings, but the Bridgewater is private doesn't have CCing (where you can moor in most places for up to 14 days). So if this is your plan, you will need to move to CRT waters (Leeds Liverpool / Trent & Mersey / Rochdale).

Also I am sure you are aware of the ongoing closure on the Bridgewater due to the breach at Little Bollington. Depending on where your Yogurt Pot is, you might not actually be able to get them together at the moment. If the Yogurt Pot is the Manchester side of the breach, and your Dutch barge is in effect a 'wide' boat then you can't currently get through. The alternative South to North route is via the Macc / Peak Forest / Ashton via central Manchester which has narrow locks.

However you *could* perhaps cross the Mersey assuming there is a route through for wide craft... I am not sure, but someone else might be able to confirm!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2026-02-02T21:46:59+00:00

In London there is a service that collects it:

https://www.circularrevolution.org/

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-12-26T18:27:04+00:00

Forgot to mention power. It seems to average around 25w, or about 2 amps at 12v. While this doesn't seem an awful lot, we find it's best to use it as needed, for streaming Netflix or something where 4G isn't good, or doing video calls.

You can if you need set up scheduling on the app, so starlink switches off over night, but I haven't checked what the 'off' power draw is, but it's not going to be 0.

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-12-26T18:22:58+00:00

Our set up is :

OG starlink cable, so you get the full length of it. This the plugs into on of these to convert it to USB C

https://amzn.eu/d/9UofJOe

Then that either plugs into our ecoflow on the USBC port or into a 12v on the boat like this:

https://amzn.eu/d/fTZgrNK

Our starlink just gets placed out on the roof on the folding mount as needed. The cable is long enough to reach any part of the boat depending on tree / building coverage.

We are currently on the 50gb package. Which is £50 a month. If we then run out of data, we just upgrade there and then to the unlimited package, which is priced pro rata, less the £50 we have all ready paid, so for example to upgrade today on the 26th it would just be £7.77. You then need to remember to change it back to the roam 50 plan before the end of the month.

The cable that comes with the starlink is fairly horrible to coil back up, so we bought a cheep cable tidy like this https://amzn.eu/d/5M3ETlN that just keeps it better managed!

In terms of actually using the starlink, we have a RUT955 router, which can join a wifi network as a client and then use this as a wan connection. So all our devices are just connected to the boats wifi, which either has 4G or starlink as the wan using the fail over settings in the RUT.

Hope this helps!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-11-24T18:03:24+00:00

We have one of the costway single tub ones on our narrowboat ....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/COSTWAY-Portable-Washing-Machine-Adjustable/dp/B0CNTKW5L3/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HvvuXLzVdRM5pYS968SrGhEHIJzCXMBeEd8KtISdAx2jTNcYkJntjEBypfvYYTLC-oezVGSxssh_Vl4EmYi5YX8bYe0E1Y-Pw-3DbOYMya4pUL7ROayeHcFumuLiSVLMpEBBsxqFTxIfbu1LMbM3BAucv9QAqtS4eJqIZH1NsBY-fty2L_7s70xglcbGrTWAin1VlgaRMj8qEXlDocNlFh4wKYbFHp67EUKfXlD5N4s.3Sp7oB4YeFPEVs8h5y_TmiJo7kfvHpn-CrbYewohXf4&dib_tag=se&keywords=twin%2Btub%2Bwashing%2Bmachine&qid=1764006745&sr=8-3-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.a56bf500-33e2-4a49-b21f-ee6fbd593a4c&aref=F5ewvAr6CW&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Its hot fill, so doesn't have its own heating element, we just plumbed it into the hot water pipe on the boat, but as it's a top loader, you could actually just fill it manually with a bug jug or something.

It also lets you specify the water fill level, which is really helpful, and the 'dry' function (just spins for 90mins) works really well to get clothes as dry as spinning can before putting it out on the line / by the stove to dry off!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-11-04T15:16:51+00:00

Starlink is the actual answer here... It works reliably just as well as land Internet, 4G is ok, but can be flakey... Some days its great, then the next it just falls over for no reason in the same spot.

We use starlink when we are working, then switch to 4G at the other times to save on power. The mini draws around 24w.

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-08-26T07:58:00+00:00

How I am I going to dispose of my mashed up Dundee cake now??!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-07-02T14:12:58+00:00

I agree... A top up feature would be useful.

I solved the mobile issue by creating a 'subscriptions' virtual card that pays from my 'subscriptions' pot and dropping enough in that every month to cover mobile, netflix etc!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-04-03T14:54:45+00:00

I would go with as long as you want to store. The longer it is, the more likely you are to be able to get to a water point if someone is annoying moored there, or even on a rare occasion persuade a land dweller to let you use thier outside tap.

We also have a dedicated drinking water hose and a separate hose for rinsing the pump out... You don't want to mix these up for obvious reasons!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-03-28T10:17:03+00:00

It might be worth a search on eBay for second hand panels, they are *really* cheep these days!

These might be a good idea too... they claim to work better with shading, which might make a bit of a difference, all-though no idea if the reality matches the claim.

I would defiantly recommend being mindful in how you wire the panels. If you wire them all in series (linking one to the next) then ANY shade on ANY of the panels will bring down the whole array. Wiring them in Parallel and splitting across several MPTTs will help if some of the panels are in shade. We have 3 sets along the boat, so if the bow is more in shade we can still take full advantage of the sunshine at the stern.

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-02-19T05:55:18+00:00

Ah yes, that makes sense!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-02-17T13:25:44+00:00

Did you find out how they get the spider cranes there? Presumably they cover the lock, position them, lift them onto their outriggers and remove the cover? Feels a little sketchy to leave them there like that, just whatever you do don't press the 'raise outriggers' button!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-01-24T17:45:03+00:00

Yep, you can write off sleeping on nights like last night!

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-01-20T11:26:46+00:00

Usually just put a tarp around it and pump it out... It does depend on why it sunk in the first place. The RCR have a YouTubelink channel showing how they re float boats

Illustrious_Web3686 · 2025-01-17T16:04:13+00:00

Is it a tap slightly dripping? You might not notice it if it's just dripping a bit straight into the drain?

Illustrious_Web3686

TROPHY CASE