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Buying Narrowboat

WheresmeticketWheresmeticket
in Not Sports Related
I'm looking to buy a narrowboat to live on as all the contracts for my training business have completely dried up here in Cornwall and I'm now living on my savings - if I can get a boat I can live places where there is work - as I have a dog I can't rent the places I could afford. Does anyone have any experience buying narrowboats? Does anyone know anyone with one for sale? I'm signed up to the apollo duck website. Any advice, experience and knowledge welcome. Oh and feel free to take the piss. I know you will, anyway.
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Comments

  • BadgerBadger
    Think i'll give this a wide berth.
  • mistrollinginmistrollingin
    Badger said:

    Think i'll give this a wide berth.

    You're so narrow minded.

  • Cardinal SinCardinal Sin
    Wheresmeticket - if you inbox me, I have a mate who has been living on one for the last three or four years and will put you in touch.
  • brogibbrogib
    Always something I wanted to do that, good luck with it pal. I got an NVQ and a IBTC College diploma with credit in Basic Boatbuilding, so if you need any work done gie me a holla. ; )
  • Brendan_O_ConnellBrendan_O_Connell
    This thread will be sunk soon.
  • brogibbrogib
    ....the college I went to in Oulton Broad do short courses for boat owners that covers general maintenance etc if you interested an all.
  • Robbo on the wingRobbo on the wing
    If I never had my family, I would love that way of life.
    Closest I have ever got is a sun holiday on the broads.
    Good luck.
  • Oggy RedOggy Red
    Following this thread with interest.


    Years ago, used to hire a narrowboat every year for holidays on the canals.
    Loved it.

    Always wanted my own narrowboat - but my ex-wife wanted children instead.

  • smiffyboysmiffyboy
    Oggy you say ex go follow your dreams
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  • 3blokes3blokes
    Robbo on the wing said:

    If I never had my family, I would love that way of life.
    Closest I have ever got is a sun holiday on the broads.
    Good luck.

    That's how I feel, it must be great in the summer, autumn and spring.
    Might be a shade harder in the winter, but still nice to wake up to a river view every morning.
    Good luck with it, wheresmeticket.


  • man_at_millettsman_at_milletts
    Brendan_O_Connell said:

    This thread will be sunk soon.

    You've obviously never been taken up the canal.
  • ShootersHillGuruShootersHillGuru
    Oggy Red said:

    Following this thread with interest.


    Years ago, used to hire a narrowboat every year for holidays on the canals.
    Loved it.

    Always wanted my own narrowboat - but my ex-wife wanted children instead.

    Couldn't she compromise Oggy ? Narrow children !

  • Exiled_AddickExiled_Addick
    People who live on narrow boats are just middle class Gypsies. ;-)
  • WheresmeticketWheresmeticket
    Exiled_Addick said:

    People who live on narrow boats are just middle class Gypsies. ;-)

    That pretty much describes me. Well not very middle class...
  • WheresmeticketWheresmeticket
    brogib said:

    ....the college I went to in Oulton Broad do short courses for boat owners that covers general maintenance etc if you interested an all.

    I'll check that out, ta.
  • brogibbrogib
    http://www.ibtc.co.uk/
  • Exiled_AddickExiled_Addick
    Wheresmeticket? said:

    Exiled_Addick said:

    People who live on narrow boats are just middle class Gypsies. ;-)

    That pretty much describes me. Well not very middle class...
    If my old man had his way he'd never be off a canal boat, unless he's at the football, so I used to get dragged onto a canal boat at every possible opportunity when I was a kid. My Uncle owns one (just for recreational purposes) which we use for holidays once in a while. Great way to spend some time and get some R&R. Personally would struggle to live on one full time because at 6'4" and 18 st they get a bit cramped for me after a while. Maybe if they were a bit wider, or I was a bit narrower!

  • stilladdictedstilladdicted
    We were having one built to our own spec. but happenstance forced us to change plans. There are so many pitfalls, that it's impossible to know where to start. Getting the hull soundness checked is a must but we were told that hire companies have their boats made with thicker hulls so buying up one of them and doing it up was recommended. If you know someone in the business that you can trust, take their advice but there is a wealth of info on the Internet. Good luck .
  • AbsurdistanAbsurdistan
    Sorry to hear about your cashflow wows WMT.
    Would have thought deciding on places you would want to stay should be your 1st priority.
    Then look for a boat. Maybe try to rent one to begin with so you can see whether you have sea legs.
    Dated a bird with a waterbed in my youth...............rather you than me. I like a firm base.
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  • WheresmeticketWheresmeticket
    Lived on a boat at Camden lock/ Kings Cross stretch of the Grand Union in 1990 when I was working on Phatom ot Opera. Unfortunately I was very drunk at the time so dont remember much about it..
  • The Prince-e-PaulThe Prince-e-Paul
    edited January 2015
    Mum has a Dutch barge, she used to have a narrowboat aswell until the autumn, but sold it. She had both for around 15 years. She owns a house too, and flits between the two each week. They are great in summer, not so great in winter. Bloody cold at times and hard to heat, which is why most have log burners. Bonus of a narrow is you can use all of the waterways, whereas the broadbeam boats can only use certain sections. They aren't cheap to have in the water though and moorings are hard to come by, so best get on a waiting list in advance, or you could find you own a boat with nowhere to moor it! You can pay anything from £200 per month upwards just to have it in the water (mooring fee and British Waterways licence), much, much more in desirable marina's. The narrow she just sold was £25,000 and was 15 years old and in great condition in and out. The Dutch barges are £100,000+ for a decent one.

    As for the way of life, it is so relaxing. Worth a try and like a car, the boat can always be sold on again.
  • WheresmeticketWheresmeticket
    edited January 2015
    Thanks PeP. I would love a dutch barge - but way out of my league and wouldn't be suitable for what I need. As I will be doing agency work I will need to be able to move between areas easily, and would be nice to be able to take the occasional month off and cruise to some of the more remote stretches, which tend to be too narrow for widebeam. A decent woodburner with back boiler to rads should make it tolerably warm, tho cold in the mornings. I would be continuous cruising initially - moving on every two weeks (in London there's a big enough network that you can do this year round), so avoiding ruinously expensive mooring fees (I got a quote of £9,000 pa from Limehouse basin - the rapacious b*****s!, and even CaRT moorings in London are around £4 - £6k). CaRT licence comes in at around the same as council tax.
  • cafcfancafcfan
    Wheresmeticket? said:

    take the piss.

    That's pretty much essential isn't it? You can't just chuck it over the side can you?
  • WheresmeticketWheresmeticket
    edited January 2015
    cafcfan said:

    Wheresmeticket? said:

    take the piss.

    That's pretty much essential isn't it? You can't just chuck it over the side can you?
    One of my enduring memories of the time I lived on a boat is of paddling my overflowing portapotti up the canal to the elsan disposal on a raft made of pallets and polystyrene at 6am after a night of hijinx - a neighbouring boater looked out of his porthole just as I went by. The smell was nearly overpowering. I really wasn't very organised.
  • SolidgoneSolidgone
    Good for away matches; Fulham and Brentford. Not bad for home matches either.
  • The Prince-e-PaulThe Prince-e-Paul
    Wheresmeticket? said:

    Thanks PeP. I would love a dutch barge - but way out of my league and wouldn't be suitable for what I need. As I will be doing agency work I will need to be able to move between areas easily, and would be nice to be able to take the occasional month off and cruise to some of the more remote stretches, which tend to be too narrow for widebeam. A decent woodburner with back boiler to rads should make it tolerably warm, tho cold in the mornings. I would be continuous cruising initially - moving on every two weeks (in London there's a big enough network that you can do this year round), so avoiding ruinously expensive mooring fees (I got a quote of £9,000 pa from Limehouse basin - the rapacious b*****s!, and even CaRT moorings in London are around £4 - £6k). CaRT licence comes in at around the same as council tax.

    Yes there are a few oop north that keep on the move to save money. But it's not ideal if you find somewhere you want to be. One thing you need to have to be a boater is a set of skills (not the Liam Neeson kind) that involve fixing stuff. As sure as the sun comes up, boats have stuff that goes wrong, from leaks to faulty water pumps, changing gas bottle, hand pumping in diesel, servicing engines, electric fusing out, you name it boats are constantly going wrong. If you have the skills or someone nearby that has you're sorted. If not, you're kind of stuffed and ther'se no AA / RAC on the waterways. One bonus is that boaters are generally a friendly helpful bunch. Good luck with finding your new home. (Mum sold her's through this bloke by the way - http://www.nationwidenarrowboatsales.com/)
  • WheresmeticketWheresmeticket
    edited January 2015
    Solidgone said:

    Good for away matches; Fulham and Brentford. Not bad for home matches either.

    I think taking a narrowboat on the Thames anywhere east of Isle of Dogs is only for the suicidally inclined! ;0)
  • Oggy RedOggy Red
    Wheresmeticket? said:

    Solidgone said:

    Good for away matches; Fulham and Brentford. Not bad for home matches either.

    I think taking a narrowboat on the Thames anywhere east of Isle of Dogs is only for the suicidally inclined! ;0)
    Quite. I wouldn't be tempted to take a narrowboat too far on tidal waters!

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