RichM

I would recommend it as there may be defects, even something like an off centre tiller can cost a fair bit to repair and you may not notice it unless you take it out. If you're new to boating it may be best to leave any tricky maneuvers to the seller though.

Thanks for all the advice guys, have taken it all onboard. I am leaning towards a twin tub now. I don't really fancy having to replace the inverter and I guess it could live in the shower. There seems to be a lot of different twin tubs available on the internet. Are they all pretty much the same or are there ones to avoid etc? Cheers

I had a similar issue and it was caked up inside. Eberspachers will go through a startup check before starting up and if it detects any problems, it will shut down automatically. Some people recommend running them to the max for no less than an hour at a time to prevent them caking up. There is a video on youtube which guides you on how to service it. While I decided against doing it myself, I gathered from the video that it is a little tricky to re-assemble and a new gasket will likely be required. In the end I paid £80 to have it done professionally though I could have done it myself with time, patience and a lot of care. Hope this helps though I'm sure you will get more helpful replies in due course.

There shouldn't be too much of a flow if the boards are green. That said, I did it on my 55ft narrowboat with a 30hp engine and it was certainly hard work going upstream. I would imagine the ex black prince boat is more suitably powered though.

We pay only for what we use. We purchase a pre-pay card and insert it into the service point located at the front of the pontoon (where the fresh water is also dispensed) and then we have X amount of credit to use. There is an emergency topup button too, I believe this will allow you to run into a negative balance should you run out of credit though it's not something I've used. As others have said, they can't profit from it so it seems to be good value.

It's all about how you approach it. You could say "Next Spring, I'm looking to moor a boat which I will be letting out. Are you likely to have any suitable moorings available and if so how do I go about securing one?" That way you're not really giving much away. You don't need to tell them that you don't have a boat yet or that your new to the whole idea. You may find a private mooring with parking to be more suitable than a marina or CRT mooring.

To reduce costs and the amount of hassle, some people rent them out as static accommodation on airbnb. Probably would want a private canal side mooring with a shoreline though.

I have heating via the diesel powered eberspacher and also via a multi fuel stove. It can be very warm and cosy, so much so that it's not unheard of to have the doors wide open even during freezing temperatures. That said it can be quite cold until you've got the heating going! For many, it's not quite like living in a house with central heating on a nice convienient timer.

You can usually stay aboard. As for whether or not you can live there, their website should say whether or not they provide leisure or residential moorings.

I'm looking for a washing machine for my narrowboat. I've considered a twin tub but despite being portable I don't really have anywhere to store it. So the plan is to lose some cupboard space to make room for a compact washing machine. Other threads recommend a compact candy or a compact Zanussi. Are these still generally regarded as being the most suitable for Narrowboats or are there newer/better alternatives nowadays? One important thing to note is that I have a 1800w Sterling inverter which is MSW. If there's any washing machines that would run on this (with the engine running ofc) that would be ideal though I appreciate I may be asking too much. Cheers Richard

I have heard a lot of good things about ex black prince boats. You can see they're designed to withstand more wear and tear compared to your typical boat. If I ever look to buy another boat, I'd certainly consider one.

To be honest if I was the seller and if someone came to me with such a request, I don't think I'd want to do any business with them.

I have heard that they can be hard to use, especially on the stern of a narrowboat. One person told me that the ladder wrapped around the swim of their boat when they tried to use it, making it hard for them to get out. - they leave it out whenever they're moored up. That said it would certainly be better than nothing and possibly quite feasible for those who are fit and able. If there's any weak or non able-bodied people on your boat it may be worth considering an alternative.

I have a 60 litre calorifier in my one and only small wardrobe. It's OK for one shower and washing up the dishes a couple of times but cannot expect much more than that without running the Eber/engine. Would it be feasible to add a second horizontal calorifier in the engine bay? There is sufficient space for another 60 litre calorifier. If so, how much would I be looking at for purchase and installation? Are there any other considerations I'd need to make? Cheers

What would one do with one of these? Contract work for the CRT?

Springers are arguably less well built than many boats with their thinner hulls and many need overplating, which is not cheap. As others have said, 10ft is a lot more space on a boat especially if you're going to CC. As for the port holes resulting in less light, this is easily fixed by adding a sky hatch or two on the roof. The other benefit of having port holes is that it provides much better security, again, a big advantage if you're continuously cruising. I wish my boat only had port holes.

I used to have a problem with flies on my boat back in the spring despite keeping my boat clean and minimalist. The solution was to accept co-inhabitants with spiders rather than sucking them up with the vacuum. Problem solved and they do all the work for me. Don't even have to lift a finger!

It may have been better to ask them if they will repair it before completion of the sale. They may be more obliging to do this than to reduce the sale price and it reassures them that you're keen to complete the sale.

Do you know what's wrong with the Webasto? It's worth noting that they are fairly prone to breaking down if they're not serviced often (yearly) as they get caked up inside. This happened to my 15 year old Eberspacher (similar deal) and cost me £80 to get serviced. This fixed the problem. - though I don't know what the issue is with your Webasto but it could just be something similar.

What version are you running Mike?