Advice needed for an important project

Calranthe, you said you are with you wife 24-7 so i'm guessing you are her full time carer? Is this right?
 
Yes but the paradox is 24/7 but she is very stubborn and so she has her own space, family looks after her if I have to go out, (it annoys Paola that I do not go out or have a hobby outside the house) as for me being away to work on the boat and get things ready Paola is the one who decided on that and Trevor is going to be around or she will spend time there (we have two houses but the fence between them is removed because we are family).
Last year I walked the penines with a friend after Paola convinced me I should go, this was before we moved so Paola came and stayed with mum, now we live next door to each other its less nerve racking for me.
Sorry for the slowness of reply we went on another walk (new picture about to be added).
 
okay back to boat type matters while walking today seems Paola has had some ideas about the boat, while I am focused on step 1 she has jumped to step 15 but thats fine will have to research how viable these ideas are
If it has a chemical or marine toilet she wants to remove it and the black water tank, replacing the toilet with a compost toilet (I thought it was a joke at first but I checked and a lot of narrow boats have them fitted) we have a compost toilet at home.
Replace the black water tank with a second diesel tank (i wondered where she was going with this because its a river boat we are not going extended cruises) then she hits me with the reason behind it, a reflex diesel heater, 4kw design almost silent.
To me it sounds like an interesting idea and my investigation of the reflex heaters is they work really well and could easily heat a 25-30ft boat.

Here is the kind of thing I am thinking of http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Refleks-S...727691?hash=item489255958b:g:YeQAAOSwGYVXB68q
Gravity fed could work really well.

And the compost toilet http://www.waterlesstoilets.co.uk/airhead

And that all does work into the budget of £5,000 for modifications
 
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I sympathize with your situation but how are you going to run a house and a yacht on benefits? If you do get someone to donate you the money, would that not be a taxable income that you would have to inform the IR and the Benefits agency? Would the benefits agency then reduce your benefits as you would have savings (it would show in your bank account at some point) over a certain allowable amount?? I doubt they would turn a blind eye to someone claiming disability and care allowance who have enough money to buy and maintain a yacht! If the worst was to happen, and you indicated it could at any time, you would loose all of your income as it is based on your wife's illness thus leaving you with a boat you cannot afford to keep but will still cost you regardless?

Food for thought.
 
calranthe said:
you have been just what I needed facts and advice, yes me disagree, yes I will succeed and go through with this, wife wants a boat she is going to get a boat some how:) and our situation is very unique some advice does not fit but please keep poking at my plan because it makes me keep looking and relooking, learning so that once the money is in I can go and make a pretty good decision.

yes I know some people think my idea is crazy but I don't mind, the advice of people like you allow me to turn that impractical crazy idea into a semi practical plan with a lot of mistakes made on paper before the act of actual going to the marina and for that I am grateful.
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calranthe said:
Okay so you have all had your laugh, my honor, my integrity, my ethics, the validity of my story, from your high castles you have lorded it over me with your absolute belief that I am scum and this "street wise" forum knows best, oh not all of you but I have apart from one outburst turned the other cheek.

When we moved house I thought we lost the old newspaper, feel free to call this another scam and throw more insults my way.

AXYV6WQ.jpg


I can give a 6mb raw file version but have no where to host it.

Oh and I found out how I got to this forum, I remember now.
http://www.boatbanter.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=998

Check the date a few days before I signed up here, the advice on the forum told me to come to this forum and talk to superheat6k
That is how I found this forum and my first act was to private message superheat, I knew I was getting in over my head so I saw this place had a motor boat forum and so I did the post.

My thinking was very simple, two weeks ago we came out of the latest appointment with Paola's haematology consultant, I think we were both on the verge of crying, I was being strong for her and she was being strong for me, Kidney counts were still dropping and getting close to the danger point eGFR 43 three months and it was still dropping (below 60 it is a sign of continuous kidney damage) and I made a decision in that hallway that I had to do something, had to give Paola something to look forward, she was breaking and I was helpless to stop it.

So on advice of a friend I setup the gofundme even though I had no idea what I was doing, I had this absolutely naive idea that people would see my campaign read those words and Paola's dream would become a reality.

Then I knew I had to find out more about boats and what I was getting into, and I had to be fast because in my own mind that gofundme was going to be funded in 2-3 day and things would rock!! I could give Paola something to smile about, a goal I knew she would start planning upholstry patterns, designs and paintwork for the boat, places she wanted to visit, it gave a distraction and I had to make that into a reality.

At this point the gofundme slowed down and I emailed a few people in different industries I knew so I was not to bothered but still I needed to get everything sorted in my head.

After my private message to superheat6k I started to think I need more advice and this forum seems to have a lot of very smart people, so I wrote my post without any kind of experience, all I had was the knowledge my wife was slowly dying and I was going to make sure she go to do what she always wanted to before getting too ill.

So yes I messed up, yes I was on a steep learning curve and I am still learning and damn grateful to all the advice that helped me change my idea to river and reduce my budget (as soon as I went from 100k to 20k, I changed my gofundme because I am honest because you people were right).

But some of you people should be ashamed of yourself, you may have money, some of you may be "rich" and I really hope none of you go through what we have the last 18 years you will realise just how little that money means.

So continue with the jokes and your gut feeling that I am some nigerian scam artist if it makes you feel all superior and righteous.

I am not going anywhere and I am going to keep asking questions because when I do get the money I can not make a silly mistake, I need as much knowledge on my side and this is the place to get it.
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Oh dear. You just lost it.
 
As I seem to have been the OPs opening contact may I say that I was not aware of the OPs request for funds when I first saw the thread around the time he contacted me by PM. From reading post 1 the impression is that the funds are already held, although I now read a mention of a funding plan, this is not how I read it initially. He expressed specific interest in the Corvette marque, my passion, so possibly I was distracted.

I offered a viewing if it was convenient, and then when I learnt of his situation I offered him and his wife a trial ride so he could see if the Corvette fitted the bill.

In view of the later disclosures and the fact that the OP is now looking at boats well below the Corvette budget and of different suitability I have informed the OP that the ride offer, whereas still open if he were seriously considering a Corvette, is not available simply as a ride down the river.

Is this all a scam or a non savvy Forum user. I took his initial comments in good faith when I made my offer, and I haven't rescinded it, but I have conditioned to reflect the spirit in which it was offered, i/e. as a trial of a boat he was perhaps likely to buy. I also think I was the first to suggest on open forum that the OPs lack of experience might not suit his ambitions.

For me I will now sign off from this thread, unless requested to return for further comment, and return to those threads about motor boating. Also I will assume for the benefit of the OP that his situation is genuine, and this being the case then I am sympathetic for his and his Wife's circumstances, but I would also say we all encounter difficulties in our lives of those we love and care for. I do hope he can find something that will help make his Wife's difficulties a little more enjoyable.

I do feel some on here have been a little hard on the man. I can assure in my case I didn't come down in the last shower, so if he was attempting to scam me it would not have gotten too far.
 
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superheat6k said:
As I seem to have been the OPs opening contact may I say that I was not aware of the OPs request for funds when I first saw the thread around the time he contacted me by PM. From reading post 1 the impression is that the funds are already held, although I now read a mention of a funding plan, this is not how I read it initially. He expressed specific interest in the Corvette marque, my passion, so possibly I was distracted.

I offered a viewing if it was convenient, and then when I learnt of his situation I offered him and his wife a trial ride so he could see if the Corvette fitted the bill.

In view of the later disclosures and the fact that the OP is now looking at boats well below the Corvette budget and of different suitability I have informed the OP that the ride offer, whereas still open if he were seriously considering a Corvette, is not available simply as a ride down the river.

Is this all a scam or a non savvy Forum user. I took his initial comments in good faith when I made my offer, and I haven't rescinded it, but I have conditioned to reflect the spirit in which it was offered, i/e. as a trial of a boat he was perhaps likely to buy. I also think I was the first to suggest on open forum that the OPs lack of experience might not suit his ambitions.

For me I will now sign off from this thread, unless requested to return for further comment, and return to those threads about motor boating. Also I will assume for the benefit of the OP that his situation is genuine, and this being the case then I am sympathetic for his and his Wife's circumstances, but I would also say we all encounter difficulties in our lives of those we love and care for. I do hope he can find something that will help make his Wife's difficulties a little more enjoyable.

I do feel some on here have been a little hard on the man. I can assure in my case I didn't come down in the last shower, so if he was attempting to scam me it would not have gotten too far.
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Your offer is testament to this forums generosity and understanding and I applaud you. However, I believe the OP has lived so long on peoples generosity he may have pushed his luck this time trying to get people to buy him a yacht. Even on post #140, 3rd line from the bottom he is expecting freebies. I could pull this thread apart as to the severity of the situation with his own quotes.... " wheelchair bound" "Lack of ability" to "ok she doesn't need it all the time and will be fine on a boat"...etc. The story changes to how the thread is going hence the constant change in "needs". It's a sob story too far with this one. At least JellyEllie told you she just wanted your money for nothing to "Realize her dream". :rolleyes:
 
While I have enjoyed all the discussions even the frustrating ones, after this post any none motorboat related discussion will be answered in PM's so as to not derail the thread anymore than it is.
Corvette 320 was my dream boat when I first got here that is why I talked to superheat6k and also in PM I accepted his offer to go down (today it was going to be he can verify that) also he should be able to verify that I found out it would be about 4 hour train journey to him, 2 hour boat time and 4 hour journey back, even if I set out at 6am I would be away for most of the day from Paola and my Family had already made plans so no one to watch her.

Once I decided against sea going vessels and went on to river that offer was null and void no harm no foul his offer was amazingly generous and at least he gave me the benefit of the doubt.

I will not be posting any more proof to be "dissected" so please stay and help me with the real purpose of this thread which is me trying to get advice and help for my plan.

If anyone does want more information or how Paola is doing then PM me I just think those discussions should be in private now.
 
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After walking the dog to clear my head I realised I can not do this, I can not stay sane and fight against this level of suspicion, thought I could you are not all bad in fact I doubt any of you are, i've removed my pictures, unsubscribed to the threads and i've deleted the password for this place from my password manager.
The craziest part of all of this is I who has seen more sickness and death than most, who has delt with things that make no sense and are never fair, I still believe in good things, I have to.
My plan will happen, my wife will be on a boat and we will have fun.

I wish you all the best and I honestly hope none of you are ever put in the position I was 18 years ago, make sure those you love know it.
 
calranthe said:
After walking the dog to clear my head I realised I can not do this, I can not stay sane and fight against this level of suspicion, thought I could you are not all bad in fact I doubt any of you are, i've removed my pictures, unsubscribed to the threads and i've deleted the password for this place from my password manager.
The craziest part of all of this is I who has seen more sickness and death than most, who has delt with things that make no sense and are never fair, I still believe in good things, I have to.
My plan will happen, my wife will be on a boat and we will have fun.

I wish you all the best and I honestly hope none of you are ever put in the position I was 18 years ago, make sure those you love know it.
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Cya, don't slam the door the forum is sleeping! ;)
 
Hello all, I have returned with news that may actually get people to realize I did take advice here.
We have looked at a few boats including a really nice 27ft Norman but there was no way to make it valid for Paola to gain access, in fact after a lot of looking around we were getting quite dispondent without needing a lot more money that was available, even the price of dutch steel cruisers which some of them had excellent access.
So we kept looking and cottoning on to the advice here about rivers and canals after a lot of searching we found a tiny little thing
https://bwml.co.uk/brokerage/sm-9359-kathleen/
At sawley Marina we went to look at it yesterday took Paola with us they have excellent disabled access.
while yes the boat needs a little tlc she has just passed her safety certificate, and is solid and dry, we both love the size at only 20ft it can handle all the canals, we actually managed to talk on canal world to the person who owned her in the 90's she was called michelle back then.
We walked away to discuss it over the weekend and next week we will go back put a 10% deposite down refundable so we can be taken out on here to see how she is.
We decided on a £3600 boat to forgo the survey simply because that £500 could go on fixing anything needed.
If it all goes well then we will buy her and with sawley being so close to the trent and mersey canal (which goes past our house in stoke) we will move her up to a local Marina Aston being our first hope close enough that I can work on the boat 20 minutes from home.
The only issues we can see is once again Paola having access but the stern is quite flat a ramp plus steps on the inside that is why Paola came with us and she gave the okay on it and I would really like to get i out of the water.

I know that I am taking a gamble on this but it looks good on the outside and behind the panels I could get too will have a better inspection when we next go.
Any advice and what to look for would be helpful as would be if you think this is a really bad idea but please give reasoning behind it.
We used to live in a medical assistance bungalow which was about the size of this 20 footer so we know the size isn't an issue but please if any of you have time to look at the listing and any red flags come up.
 
tico said:
With the greatest respect you started with a budget of £100,000 and are now at £3,600.
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Price was never the main focus I came here for advice and a lot of people told me I was shooting above my paygrade the paradox is even though I really didn't want to listen and wanted to get Paola on a coastal cruiser you people were right so now I am just asking for some advice and help with this boat (we did look at boats up to around 20k but saw none with a flat stern that would be as easily modifiable as this one a simple ramp and internal grab rail should do it.

o be fair one bit of advice I never answered properly, holiday on boats even disabled boats not possible see we can not plan anything with Paola we can not book a holiday because some days she is well others she is not, having our own boat means if she is well when she gets up we go if not we stay home no financial loss or issue.
 
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We are in Shelton near the University, Okay we took the plunge Made an offer and it was accepted conditional on a short trip on Thusday and checking of engine/electrics one final time.
looking to have the boat moved (should not be hard it is only a 20ft) up to Aston Marina which has a berth waiting for us :) and it is only 20 minutes from where we live, have a few different ideas on how to make it easier for Paola to board including a simple three points of contact steps on the outside/inside plus safety bars so she has two hands on solid structure.

I agree there is some good profession companies supporting disabled people on the waterways but and yes people will think i'm crazy or ignoring advice owning a boat ourselves even if it is just a small one means something its part of us, its some thing we can build on, learn from and if like I believe we both love it as much as we think then we get to see what comes next but we start with a solid boat, basic electrics, diesel engine all the basics.
 
henryf said:
I've held off posting on here because I tend to be rather unemotional. I see a problem & solve it rather than wasting energy with all that sympathetic stuff. Others are far better at providing a shoulder to cry on whilst I get the tools out and fix the problem :)

So, to your problem. The issue isn't with your ability to learn how to go to sea or even how long it will take although even after lots of years on the water, a commercially endorsed Yachtmaster ticket and 5 years operating a charter company with a 50 foot modern well built flybridge motor yacht I would still have reservations. For me your problem is one of budget.

Old boats are notoriously unreliable and require someone who can instantly put their finger on a problem. Add in a high dependent bit of living cargo and things go tits up very quickly. Having to deal with water flooding into the boat whilst at sea is a bummer. Having someone who can't swim, is screaming out loud, strapped to the floor, unable to move quickly and requiring regular medication exceeds the mental capacity of even a man with an IQ of 175.

Then there is the question of how big does the boat need to be to accommodate your needs. Much bigger than you think is the answer.

Forget heading out to sea. It's not going to happen.

What could happen is buying an old narrow boat and cruising the canals. I lived on a narrow boat for a few years and in fact built a 70' narrow boat. You won't need anything quite that's long!

Lack of big engines means they are cheap. They are safe because the scope for damage at 4 miles per hour is minimal. Your water road is clearly marked so no navigational problems, if you sink it's a couple of feet to the bottom of your "ocean", very easy to reconfigure inside, very easy to devise a means of getting on and off with limited mobility / a wheelchair.

The most gorgeous scenery, no problem with weather, I once saw 6 inch waves on the canal & slept through the October storm of 1987. Get the weather wrong out at sea and you're f8cked.

Lots of places on the canals where you can connect with civilisation and lots of places to tie up to for a few days. You can live on a very modest budget.

So the hurdle you are worried about. Locks. You can do them yourself if need be but an alternative is to tag along with someone else going the same way and share one. The other alternative is to have your wife sat in her chair on the back of the boat operating it whilst you do all the hard work :) What a sense of achievement for her, for a brief moment she needn't feel helpless.

Your offshore cruising dream will never happen at so many levels. Your canal cruising dream is a very real possibility.

Buy a copy of Waterways World & Canal Boat.

Henry :)

Oh, and as for the fund me page no boater will donate to you offshore project because they know it can't be done for the budget and isn't safe. Your narrow boat project is far more practical and so people can see light at the end of the tunnel.
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I'm with Henry and just to add, I know lots of canal boaters and when they have "done" an area they get the boat craned out, trucked to the next interesting waterway and dropped back in. There's a lifetime of fun there all over uk and of course Holland and France
 
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