PD1964

Getting in at Keadby isn’t a problem The problem is the high tides/fresh water and the speed your moving, both up and downstream. You need to hold back with your speed, sometimes more difficult then you image especially with a Narrowboat when your often moving faster then you ever have before. You must watch your speed as if you arrive way too early you will be fighting the current as you did at Stockwith. Mentally fight the impulse to put the throttle on, better to arrive slightly late then way too early.

Maybe a bit more research and a few walks down the canal could of spotted the potential problem before buying a boat and moving on. I see similar in the Marina I’m in. They send an Email to the owner who promises them the world and answers all there questions, then when they arrive and aren’t on the prime moorings their face just drops and they look at you in bewilderment. Then you ask if they have ever visited the Marina and asked the boaters there what’s it like and they reply with “No” Top tip to all Newbie’s go and check where your going to moor before you buy a boat and please remember you chose to buy a boat, no-one forced you and you can always move. I don’t think the speeding day boats are going to stop, the only thing that’s going to change is the person speeding/steering them every day.

I have a 61.5ft and could easily swap for a 57ft there is little noticeable difference internally if the space is set out correctly, hire boats are often planned out to sleep 4-6, so often not a true reflection of what can be achieved for normal use. There is a massive difference in the availability of moorings for a 62ft compared to a 57ft boat especially in Marina’s I would go for a 57ft it saves a lot of hassle, especially with finding decent moorings.

Just told me the builder or surveyor, never mentioned broker, have just increased mine by £10K over purchase price. I will say they were very helpful and fair and would recommend them over my last insurer.

A broker may give you a market valuation but this will probably not be accepted by the insurer as true value. When I spoke to the insurance company about increasing my value they mentioned the original builder who is still building and one of their recognised surveyors that was it. The broker is just a broker who can give a market value but not a qualified surveyor who can give a true build value. A broker up North will more then likely value it less then a London broker where area availability/demand is different.

I have just changed my provider to GJW and asked the same about increasing value from what I paid back in 2009 due to the increase pricing of steel and replacing like for like. They would only increase the insured value by £10K from what I paid, I was asking to increase by £20K. If I wanted to increase by more then £10K I have to have a valuation done by the builder and he had to provide a written valuation which I would have to send to them. Same as above reply basically, which went on as I was typing?

Let us know the builder as this may not be the first time he has acted this way. He may be another Ben Harp incident waiting to happen to another customer. Or if you feel uneasy naming direct please just give specific location rather then East Midlands. You’ve lost your confidence with the builder and the faults will always niggle at you, get you money back and find a builder that you can work with and will be happy with the end result, also visit regular to check staged progress, good luck.

I would of just had port holes, but that’s bespoke and the owners choice. Have a good night.

Yes ok, you’ve obviously got a gripe with someone there, as with your first comment mentioning the lucky escape with minor repairs. I can’t recall anyone that has gone there and moored for free using the facilities waiting for minor repairs, when was that?

Just a normal sized window, no bigger then usual, I think it’s the distance from the port holes that throws it and having only one, I would of had all portholes and side hatches being 70ft,

Once again you show your inexperience, he is a shell builder not a repair yard. He is hands on every day working the steel as Peter says. You bought an old second hand boat with no shell warranty, maybe he thought you would be too much of a pain to deal with(like most of the tradesmen that have worked with you have seemed to found) and does he need to do minor repairs on old boats when he has enough on building new shells like the one just launched below?? Why not take it to Thorne boat services where you got work done before as they do repairs and don’t build shells.

Please confirm who and where your talking about, I have never seen boats moored at the builders yard waiting for minor work, as he has not got the canal side mooring space to do this, as they are filled with new builds.

I’m sure they built some using Tyler-Wilson shells.

Yes another £70 freebie, I have never seen these on boats and no one else I know has. Yet he says the company knows all about boats? and he knows several boaters that have them. Obviously Warpfive are giving these away quite freely then.

Sadly the owner of this boat “Hak Tin Ngaw” passed away from Covid-19 last year, RIP. Geoff.

Nice photo and nice to see the people that have a genuine passion for the canals. Would rather see photo’s like this then watch any of the Vlogs of the New generation boaters.

Anyone know how this Plonker got on? since it’s well over a month since the Vlog was put out and the Vlogger hasn’t done a follow up. Anyone on here passed the boat?

The Ad suggests they may want to get rid of this quickly with the mention of upholstery of the linings. So don’t be embarrassed about putting in low offers, you can always increase them. Please research the market for these as circumstances could change especially in the current scheme of things, so if you decide to sell earlier then anticipated you wouldn’t be out of pocket too much if any. As said above a better option to cover a more varied selection of waterways then just canals.

Most people would use Plywood and line sheets out length ways so you have less joining edges to cover(trim) every 8ft. If that makes sense, you don’t see many boats that go vertical so you would have trim every 4ft. Would look too bitty.

Have a look at this Vlog, one of the better canal Vloggers out there. Vlog number 235 talks about Trailer Wilderness boats and 236 talks about GRP’s on the canals. https://youtube.com/c/CruisingTheCutUK

You say trailer, are you going to be keeping the boat on land and moving it when you want to use it, or mooring in a Marina? If you go the trailer route you would save on mooring fee’s and be able to pick the area you want to explore far better then the hassle of planning the canal journey to get there, with fuel, secure moorings, stoppages etc. You could also do the Lakes and Lochs up North. A far better option to explore and have holidays. I would use most of my budget of 12K on getting a decent boat and not just spending £5K on a doer-upper. You don’t want to relive your past experiences. Also look for a more suited GRP/Trailer boat forum as you will find more info relevant to your boat on there then here. As the majority on here are Narrowboat owners who know canals but not so much on the GRP running side especially if you go down the trailable route. Good luck.

Just to put you right, the second surveyor wasn’t the Marina’s tame surveyor but a far more experienced and respected surveyor then the first and highly regarded in the area. I’ve never known a Marina to recommend a specific surveyor, but to offer a list of Surveyors that work the Region that both buyers and sellers have been happy with, with the person looking for the surveyor having the final say. It seams you know Surveyors that “Big Up” issues to give their employer(buyer) a reason to get a reduction on the price or minor work done and also tame Surveyors that are recommended/work for Marina’s in order to sweeten the sale and get the purchase through. Fortunately I don’t know any Surveyors like this and certainly wouldn’t associate or recommend them. Maybe you have identified the problem why there is an inconsistency between surveyors.

Yes, but when a surveyor condemns a hull then informs the buyer that he is selling a similar boat, it suggests a conflict of interest. Especially when another Survey recommends only a few re-plates. So you can see why Mariners are reluctant to recommend.

I have never said I didn’t want a surveyor to highlight problems. I want a surveyor to tell it as it is. When you said “Big Up” in your comment. You implied a Surveyor who is working for you would exaggerate a problem or bring up a trivial one in order for you to get a reduction in the price or get the owner to rectify the “Big Up” issue. A surveyor that tells it as it is and highlights problems would be recommended by a Marina as long as he is sensible about the issues and not “Bigging Up” things. Maybe you should of used “Bring Up” and not “Big Up” as to most people “Big Up” means to exaggerate and over egg the issue.

A surveyor that “Big Up’s” things is not a Surveyor I would recommend. Yes the surveyor is working for the buyer but you want an honest true to fact survey, not one that “Big’s Up” things just to give the buyer a reason to get a price reduction and also it could put concerns in the mind of the buyer causing them to walk away from the sale. I have seen a surveyor that did “Big Up” a survey and all the seller and buyer did was to get another surveyor in that had a more sensible approach to put the buyers mind at rest. It later developed that the Surveyor was selling a similar boat that he mentioned to the buyer after they received the “Big Up” survey. He is now not recommended by a few Marina’s.