Paul Smith said
Hi Wendy. Welcome to the forum.

Yes, you will be able to cruise and tackle locks on your own. It’s all a matter of confidence and a little knowledge. The first thing you should do it download the Boaters’ Handbook from the Trust web site. Although there’s isn’t any information in there about handling the boat on your own, there’s plenty of practical information about how locks work and how to avoid accidents.

Your age, and th fact that you are a woman, shouldn’t be an issue. It’s all about technique rather than brute strength and ignorance. When you first cruise with your boat, I would suggest travelling when there are other boats at the locks so don’t cruise too early in the morning or late in the evening. Maybe you can cruise with another boat when you’re close to locks or, if you reach a lock on your own, wait for another boat to turn up so that they can help you with the lock.

Always remember, it’s not your age that’s the barrier. It’s your mind!

Thank you for that information, another tick on my list.  

Paul Smith said
You are very welcome! Have you worked out how much your new lifestyle is going to cost you yet? The new application on the site is a great tool to guide you through all the costs of buying and maintaining a narrowboat. You can read about it here. The Standard edition is your to use completely free of charge as a site subscriber. If you want even more bells and whistles and to be able to save your financial projections for future reference, you can upgrade to Narrowbudget Gold.

Hello Paul, my son bought me your guide for Christmas, I have rounded the figure to about £6000 a year to keep the boat going, on top of that I will need diesel for travelling, up keep of car, if I keep it….I want to drop out of this rat race, have spent the last few years camping, just me and my dog, this is the next big step……my intention is to cut down on my workload, maybe go parttime and most weekends sail away into the sunset…..ha ha depending on my direction……If there is anyone out there that can give me any advice it will be gladly accepted, maybe this time next year I will be living the dream…….

Paul Smith said
I would still advise you to take Narrowbudget for a spin. It will guide you through every cost you need to consider, including costs that you need to consider which aren’t directly connected to maintaining a narrowboat. Even if you just do it once with the aid of the free version, you’ll find it a worthwhile exercise.

Ill definately give it a go….thanks once again….