Neil Coker

Well the daughter of the owner kindly sent me some more paperwork last night and it seems the owner had FIN (then called Fantasy Island Narrowboat) moored at Saltford Marine, Somerset in December 2005 (at that time she was painted in Brown and Yellow). By September 2011 she had been moved to Braunston Marina and then onto Diglis. Also have receipts for, amongst other things, rewiring the Alde boiler so that the unit runs all the time.

appreciate it

I haven't been able to find a picture of what a Hapton made boat looks like so nothing to compare with. I was told a couple of people who had looked at her thought she was a Springer but that seems to have been disproved. To be honest I'm not that bothered what make she is, so far she appears to be structurally sound, needs a fair bit of work but i knew that to start with so just need to get on with it. Sabcat, my problem is I work away most of the year and get back for a couple of weeks at a time. Not really sufficient time to get stuck in although I agree I would prefer to do it myself.

I also have the BSS cert from 2010 with the reg number which then corresponds to the earlier name. The daughter of the lady who owned it (who I'm buying it from as the old lady passed away) has a pile of other paperwork including the receipts for the engine rebuild 2 years ago (hasn't been used much since either). I have one quote from Oxon for the repaint sounded pretty comprehensive but the price made my eyes water a tad!

think she needs a tad more than a bit of T-cut but I'm in the process of getting quotes for the paintwork and blacking as i don't have the time to do that but the interior will be done by myself.

My understanding is that the old lady who owned FIN previously had a dog and had the extended rear added to give the dog somewhere for its ablutions!

Went into dry-dock over the weekend and doesn't seem too bad but needs re-blacking asap

Will sort a bow picture asap

She's supposed to be being lifter this weekend so once I have some pictures of the hull we will have a better idea. A couple of people who taken a look have suggested she's a Springer but all the paperwork says Hapton.

Avoid eye contact, avoid eye contact...........he won't notice me!

Well I like old Land Rovers and old motorbikes so fits in nicely with my preferences!

And yes, before anyone points out the blindingly obvious, she is ugly but I'm no oil painting and think we suit each other!

Blimey, followed Malc's idiots guide on how to post pictures and actually got it right! Chuffed!

Athy, many thanks for that info it's very useful

Does anyone know anything about a 53' Hapton called FIN or Fantasy Island? Her number is 502796 and she was in Devizes in 2010 and then Diglis to the present day. I've seen paperwork dating back 13th August 2010 (BSS cert) I'm trying to find out when she was built as have two conflicting date of 1989 and 1997 (1989 seems more likely given the condition). She's fitted with a BMC 1.5 engine and has heavy duty steel shutters over each window. Also at some stage in the recent past she has had a pretty substantial (read ugly) enclosed counter built on! Any assistance gratefully received.

I'm a builder so have a lot of first hand experience of over-runs on time and money so am not gong to stress over it. It will take as long as it needs to and it will cost what it costs. Priority is to be happy with the result and have some fun on the journey

Yeah, I'm not so concerned with that, I've a pretty realistic estimate on the costs to sort her out and the necessary time. I'm not doing it with a view to selling her and getting my money back but rather to give myself the nicest boat I can pull together to meet my tastes......hard bed, drinks cabinet, flat screen TV, wifi, all the essentials LOL!

Fin is the one I'm considering buying. Needs a fair bit of work but have spoken with Pinders and they seem good for sorting it out for me. All depends on what she looks like in the dry dock. The inside needs gutting completely but I will refit it myself.

Hello All Newbie online. My name is Neil, fat, fifty in construction, enjoy old Land Rovers, Motorbikes, single malts and am now taking the leap onto the water with my first NB (survey permitting!), I have been involved in sailing for many years so used to existing in small spaces but have decided to get a boat I can call my own. Am currently running through the purchase process but am trying to find out some information regarding the people who built the boat I'm considering buying. They were called Hapton Boat Builders and were in Lancashire I believe. If anyone has any information I'd be interested to learn some more about them.