voltperoctave
Free Member
- Oct 11, 2013
- 1
- 4
- Funster No
- 28,523
- MH
- Narrowboat
- Exp
- 39 years on land and water
I'd like to introduce myself. It am Keith P and have since I was 17 either motorcar advanced or narrow boated over the last 39 years. I am in my late 50s and after a series of bumps, bangs, and accidents have decided to tie the boat up for good and get back on the road for the next twenty years or so. I have always been a bit of a DIY and have over the years fitted out a couple of motor caravans - always choosing interesting donor vehicles, and have fitted and refitted Narrowboats. In an ideal world I'd like to be on water but my health is no longer robust enough for towing boats through flights of locks if the engine missbehaves, nor carrying mountains of shopping along the towpath. When I was 20-30-40-50 none of the above were a problem but breaking back (twice), shoulder, ribs, and other assorted bits have left me needing a mode of transport/holiday that I can park outside my house and supermarket.
My first motorhome was a Commer with a coach built body and this spoiled me for anything small and bijou. Back in the days before touring coaches finished their lives finished their lives as racing car transporters and homes for 'travellers,' I made a nice six berth motorhome out of a Leyland coach. This I sold, bought the bare shell and fitted out a 40' four berth canal boat.
An American School Bus (bright yellow with a big bonnet) made a rather pretty four berth motorhome. When I sold it to a pal he lived in it for five years before it was converted back to a bus.
My final job - so I thought - was to buy an ex timeshare Narrowboat (a Q4 for those in the know). I put a brand new bottom and sides on it in 2012 and moved aboard in a delightful mooring in Cheshire, no more than three hours from my house in Dumfriesshire. Had it not been for my accidents, my plan was to be on the boat as much as possible, only going home if the weather turned Arctic. That was early 2012. I had a month out enjoying the northern 'Ring' taking in Cheshire, Shropshire, the West Midlands, Staffordshire, the Potteries and so on until I had a serious fall. Since then, I've pottered around the marina having an excellent time in good company but feeling more and more the need for a motorhome so that I can travel.So that's where I am. I have put my boat on the market. As soon as it goes, I'll buy a (readimade this time) motorhome and will be able to get the mobility thing as well as the camaraderie that both boating and caravanning have given me nearly forty years of. I don't want to do any hard work or DIY so as soon as the boat and I part company, I'll be able to holiday from day one. I am not frightened of size - I have a bus licence and a lorry licence and that seems to help from a purchaser's point of view. So, that's me in terms of caravan/boat. I am interested in music, play a little bit of piano, like computer science as a hobby, love food and when I have a motorhome, will plan a good bash around the Med. all the times I have been in boat or motorhome, I have never spent time alone - I am a sociable type and would rather take folk around than hog my good luck. So, if anyone knows of an interesting motorhome coming on the market through or after the winter, or someone that's had enough of the black tarmacky stuff and fancies the wet splashy stuff, point them in my direction. I hate to admit it but I cannot remember the names of the couple I met at Great. Haywood Junction last summer who extolled the virtues of this site's forums. If Barbara and Dave who had Sunday lunch with me on the Staffs & Worcs and told me about here are reading this,thanks for the heads up but I'm sorry I couldn't find the USB stick with your details on. Please get in touch again through here so we can do the Paris nighttime tour on land and water if we can get there at the same time. That's enough for now. I'd be delighted to make some new pals on the highways and byways.
Cheers for Now
Keith P
My first motorhome was a Commer with a coach built body and this spoiled me for anything small and bijou. Back in the days before touring coaches finished their lives finished their lives as racing car transporters and homes for 'travellers,' I made a nice six berth motorhome out of a Leyland coach. This I sold, bought the bare shell and fitted out a 40' four berth canal boat.
An American School Bus (bright yellow with a big bonnet) made a rather pretty four berth motorhome. When I sold it to a pal he lived in it for five years before it was converted back to a bus.
My final job - so I thought - was to buy an ex timeshare Narrowboat (a Q4 for those in the know). I put a brand new bottom and sides on it in 2012 and moved aboard in a delightful mooring in Cheshire, no more than three hours from my house in Dumfriesshire. Had it not been for my accidents, my plan was to be on the boat as much as possible, only going home if the weather turned Arctic. That was early 2012. I had a month out enjoying the northern 'Ring' taking in Cheshire, Shropshire, the West Midlands, Staffordshire, the Potteries and so on until I had a serious fall. Since then, I've pottered around the marina having an excellent time in good company but feeling more and more the need for a motorhome so that I can travel.So that's where I am. I have put my boat on the market. As soon as it goes, I'll buy a (readimade this time) motorhome and will be able to get the mobility thing as well as the camaraderie that both boating and caravanning have given me nearly forty years of. I don't want to do any hard work or DIY so as soon as the boat and I part company, I'll be able to holiday from day one. I am not frightened of size - I have a bus licence and a lorry licence and that seems to help from a purchaser's point of view. So, that's me in terms of caravan/boat. I am interested in music, play a little bit of piano, like computer science as a hobby, love food and when I have a motorhome, will plan a good bash around the Med. all the times I have been in boat or motorhome, I have never spent time alone - I am a sociable type and would rather take folk around than hog my good luck. So, if anyone knows of an interesting motorhome coming on the market through or after the winter, or someone that's had enough of the black tarmacky stuff and fancies the wet splashy stuff, point them in my direction. I hate to admit it but I cannot remember the names of the couple I met at Great. Haywood Junction last summer who extolled the virtues of this site's forums. If Barbara and Dave who had Sunday lunch with me on the Staffs & Worcs and told me about here are reading this,thanks for the heads up but I'm sorry I couldn't find the USB stick with your details on. Please get in touch again through here so we can do the Paris nighttime tour on land and water if we can get there at the same time. That's enough for now. I'd be delighted to make some new pals on the highways and byways.
Cheers for Now
Keith P