Bowssening

Well - 1st of all, we didn't see the boat itself as an investment - we were well aware it's a falling-value asset. However, it was an investment in a better lifestyle and we also found living aboard cheaper than paying currently extortionate mortgage, council tax and standing utility charges of bricks and mortar. In actual fact, we managed to save enough for a deposit on a house over the 5 years we were living on the canals AND had the benefit of loving the experience. So yes - a successful investment I'd do again in future. As for why we don't just get rid of the first 'project' boat - we can't quite let go of the desire to refurbish her. The idea now is to sell our current liveaboard and use the money to finally do up the one that pulls on our heartstrings.... 100% agree. That's still investment - not everything is purely monetary.

In case anyone is interested in wooden boats and don't already know - there is a wooden canal boat society up near us. http://wcbs.org.uk 'No although my heart said yes my head and a lot of research and advice said no.......... so alas not for me, perhaps if I were more experienced etc...... I have however put a deposit on a trad stern boat which I hope will do us fine....time will tell ' Numpty - has time told as yet? Did you buy the one you put a deposit on and are you on it now?

After reading through this thread, I've a feeling you may have to take on a few more people too - just to cope with all the additional work you're attracting, Kinver Canopies! Good for you. Do spend some on the office too - it's heartbreaking to see hardworking businesses doing really good work go down just 'cos they don't keep up with the paperwork.

Suppose NE of Manchester is too far for you? We've a boat moored in Todmorden - there's also Hebden Bridge - both pretty safe and with direct train lines to Manchester.

Hi Kim - felt I needed to post on this due to my own experience. When starting our search for a live aboard, I was extremely unrealistic about costings and size required. We had a lucky escape when we nearly bought one of the first boats we saw - a 30ft narrow. Having lived aboard a 57ft for 5 years now, we often laugh about even considering 2 of us & 2 cats on a 30ft! However, we did get caught with a little Springer that we really fell in love with. It needed work but we couldn't see past the character and homeliness of it and forked out £25k. Further investigation revealed, despite having had a survey done, it needed far more work than expected and more than we could afford. It had been tarted up just to sell and we had the wool pulled over our eyes with the lick of fresh paint and new floor put over the top of a very damp & rotten one. We couldn't bear to admit our mistake and kept it in the vain hope that one day we'd save enough to do it up. Sadly, many years later, she's still lying empty and untouched - having deteriorated past the point we could probably ever refurbish her & we can't sell her without losing almost all the capital invested. I still get my heartstrings pulled every time I go to check on her but in reality it was a very expensive mistake (she's been like a millstone ever since) and one I would not like anyone else to go through. Ridiculously we ended up buying a 2nd boat, bit more expensive, bigger, but needing no work except usual maintenance and we lived happily on this one for 5 years. I really wish we'd gone for this one in the 1st place! On the more positive side, I agree with others comments about Springers - they've been give a bad rap over the years which they don't deserve and generally are pretty hardy despite their often slimmer hull thickness. Not sure if that helps you at all - let us know what you decide to do though!