Starcross is For Sale!

FOR SALE

STARCROSS

Built 1990 by Ken Field, Aldridge Boat Builders.   CRT Registration No. 50504

Length:  50ft 9in  /  15.42m

Stern: Traditional

 Engine:  Isuzu 35hp  Fitted  December 2007   1,680 hours  Regularly serviced by Norbury Wharf Ltd or River Canal Rescue (most recent November 2013)
 

PRM150 hydraulic gearbox (2007) and Python Drive Flexible Coupling (2013) 

Electrics:  12v with 240v through 1500watt inverter.  Batteries: 2 x 100amp domestic (new January 2013) and 1 x starter battery.

 Last Repaint: October 2008 at Canal Transport Services, Norton Canes. Signwriting by Dave Moore 

Hull: All welded steel plate construction 8mm/6mm/4mm. Repainted with two-pack epoxy July 2013 at Uplands Basin Anderton.   Hull survey done July 2013 (copy available) identified need for minor spot welding to hull sides - carried out at Uplands Basin prior to expoxy application.

Licensed until October 2014

Boat Safety Certificate:  July 2014

Description;

From front:  

Gas locker in bow; well deck with fixed seating and cratch cover with fresh water tank under deck.

Main Cabin: Storage cupboards, Villager "Heron" solid fuel stove with Ecofan, Loose furniture:- Settee convertible to double bed, armchair, two dining chairs. Folding dining table decorated in traditional "back-cabin" style (roses and castles). Additional small folding table

Sink/draining board (h&c running water); gas hob; separate gas oven and grill; roll top table with storage under. two large storage cupboards; large insulated cool-box. Separate portable 12v fridge.

Bathroom:  Thetford "Porta-Potti" cassette toilet (with spare cassette); shower; sit-in bath; washbasin and bathroom cabinet.  Hot water throughout by Morco water heater (installed 2009)

Bedroom:  Fixed double with storage under; fixed wardrobe and additional storage cupboard

Engine Room:  underfloor Isuzu 35hp fully enclosed. Storage cupboard and shelf. Storage area at side of engine box sufficient to take folding bike etc.

Fuel tank:  Under rear counter, 200 litre capacity.

PRICE:   £29,000 

Currently lying: Uplands Basin,  Anderton, Trent & Mersey Canal

STARCROSS  will be placed on brokerage at Norbury Wharf in the new year but is for sale direct from the owner at this time. For more information please use the contact form below the current post.

 

A Decision to be Made

One or two people have asked, now that I have decided to sell Starcross, whetheri will be buying a replacement boat.

When I first decided to sell it was with every intention of doing so. I know exactly what sort of boat i'd be looking for. Similar to Starcross but a bit longer and quite a bit newer. I also know what i'd like to add: side hatch, bigger well deck, boatman's cabin, and what I could do without.

But the more I think about it the less certain I become. I haven't lost any of my interest in the canals - that pre-dates my ownership of Starcross by several decades - but a boat is a big tie, needing a lot of looking after. They also cost lots  of money, both to buy and to own and to be honest, the idea of not owning a boat for a while is becoming ever more attractive. I can't do anything about it for a while. I need to sell Starcross first and that may take a long time.
Of course I'll still be up for doing a bit of boating if anyone's looking for crew!

A Decision Made

Saturday, 9th November
This morning, Hilary discovered that the domestic water pump had sprung a leak. In fact, it looked as if it had been leaking for some considerable time judging by the state of the floorboards in the cupboard behind which it sits! We were already considering whether to put the boat into "winter mode" by draining the water system so this decided the matter and we emptied the tank and pipes as we headed back to Anderton. It seemed odd to be preparing for the winter on such a warm and sunny day, but there you are.

But that wasn't the only decision reached. Back in the summer I started to think about how much longer I should keep Starcross. She's 23 years old (I've had her for nine), and although she's mechanically sound with a newish engine and prop and a favourable hull survey this year, the interior needs updating and improving. I've spent a fair bit of time and money on maintenance this year and I can see that the need for both these will only grow in the future. There are other factors, none of which is in themselves significant enough to bring about the decision but which taken together have swung the balance.

So, Starcross is to be sold!  I've spoken to Simon at Norbury Wharf, where I moored until last year and arranged to put her on brokerage in the Spring. I've chosen Norbury because they know the boat well and maintained it for several years including fitting the new engine in 2007). They also seem to attract a lot of older and cheaper boats so Starcross won't be  outshone by gleaming newer craft and overlooked by potential buyers with deep pockets.Llast but by no means least, having had several years dealings with Simon and his team I'm feel I can trust them to do a good job (Better the devil you know and all that. . .).

I can't get to Norbury straight away due to stoppages on the Shroppie and in any case the chances of a sale before the Spring are very slight but some time after Christmnas we'll be heading off to Norbury Wharf on what I hope will be our final run.

Unless of course someone wants to make me an offer first!  Just in case, I'll be posting some details and a spec shortly.

Grappenhall and the Ship Canal

Friday, 9th November

Hil fancied a look round the exhibition at the Anderton Lift (or "Anderton Lift Experience" as it's now known) this morning, but they don't open until 11 in winter and with the short days we couldn't spare the time. We got the timing right for Saltersford and Preston Brook Tunnels. Boats can only enter for 20 minutes in each hour at Saltersford and a mere ten minutes at Preston Brook, although I must admit that we cheated a little there. Northbound passage is from the hour until 10 past and southbound from half-past to twenty-to the hour. Unlike Saltersford you can see through the tunnel at Preston Brook so when at 1255 there was no sign of an oncoming boat and it was then too late for one to enter we "jumped the lights" so to speak.

We passed the rather sinister looking government complex at Daresbury (definitely NO MOORING!) and stopped at the handy canalside shop at Moore for some supplies. However, it was by now obvious that our original target for the night, Lymm, was a tad ambitious so we opted for Grappenhall, stopping in time to take a walk in the late afternoon sun.

Grappenhall is very much a village of two parts. North of the canal it is part of the amorphous sprawl of Warrington suburbia, but to the south the old part of the village remains, with the church and two pubs standing on the old cobbled main street.

Grappenhall church and one of the village's two pubs

Fancying a longer walk, we carried on along the canal for a mile or two then cut across the fields to the village of Thelwall and down to the "penny ferry" that takes pedestrians across the Manchester Ship Canal. I was vaguely aware that such ferries still existed but was still surprised to see a modern landing stage and equally modern open boat standing waiting.

The "Penny Ferry" at Thelwall

An old wetherbeaten sign informed that "From 17th October 1882" the ferry would operate between the hours of 7am and 9am; 12 and 2pm; and 4 to 7pm.  A more modern notice in the ferryman's hut window confirmed that these times still operate today (albeit in 24-hour clock!). The ferryman was there and would have been willing to take us across, but it was nearly dark and there's nowhere much to go on the other side so we'd have wanted to come straight back again. It didn't seem fair to put him to the trouble, especially as the fare is nominal. (It's not called the "penny ferry" for nothing.)

Instead we re=traced our steps tp Thelwall village and called in for an early pint at the pub.

Pickering Arms, Thelwall

Despite Thelwall being in a rather upmarket part of Cheshire the Pickering Arms turned out to rather more down-to-earth than we had feared. Unfortunately the only local beer they had on was a "blonde ale", which to my mind is just lager without the fizz, so I had to settle for a pint of Doom Bar - more or less a national brand nowadays.

We did think about venturing out again to try one of Grappenhall's two pubs after tea but the rain was so heavy and it was so warm and cosy on the boat that we couldn't be bothered!

November Trip: Day 1

River Canal Rescue weren't due until 12.00  so I had plenty of time this morning to remove the boarding around the engine so that it would be easy for the engineer to work on it.  They turned up bang on time, although I was a little surprised to see them arrive in an "Emergency Response Vehicle" Range-Rover! (Those subs have been getting a bit higher lately!).

The service was straightforward with no particular issues so after he'd gone I moved Starcross out of the marina and on to the water point outside to fill the tank. Then, as I don't like being on the boat in the marina I tied up on the towpath, got the stove going again and waited for Hilary to arrive, which she did at half-past five.

By now it was dark of course so we went no further and total distance travelled on "Day One" was therefore 150 metres (25 of them in reverse!).

November Trip: Day 0

For reasons that I won't go into here, October turned out to be a rather unpleasant month,  hence the lack of posts and, indeed, a lack of boating also.
So I was glad to see the back of it and, unusually, to welcome in November!
I had booked an engine service with River Canal Rescue for last Thursday, after which Hilary and I had planned a weekend on the boat with the possible intention of going as far as Lymm on the Bridgewater Canal from our base at Anderton.
In order to make sure Starcross would be ready when RCR called I travelled down the day before, getting a bus to Preston then a train to Bolton (only 25 minutes as opposed to an hour and forty on the bus!) followed by buses to Leigh (where I stopped at the indoor market to pick up provisions), Newton-le-Willows and Warrington (total cost £5.95).
Since moving back to Lancashire I have been surprised to see just how much the towns have declined economically since I was last here in the1980s, but some have done better than others and Leigh seemed to be thriving, relatively speaking, which as it is a former mining town rather surprised me.
On arrival at Anderton I baled out yet more water from the bilges (I was later to discover where it was coming from!) and then got the stove going and settled down to a cosy evening on board.