boatymcnarrowboat

Sounds promising. All positive stuff then! I've since picked up some leads over potential boats for sale so we'll see how they pan out..

Thanks so much. I just need to find one for sale now!

Brilliant. Many thanks for the detailed reply. Sounds like you're really enjoying it. As you say, there's none on the second hand market. I do intend to haggle a bit though with the price especially because it's out of season. I've found a mooring for £55 a month, insurance at £18, licence is £56, so £130 PM excluding the cost of blacking / maintenance, which shouldn't be too bad given the size and age of the boat. Can I ask a couple of 'thick' questions? Is it possible to connect the boat to a power point at a marina or do you have to run purely off the battery/gas? When the batteries are fully charged, would they cope with an How long do you have to keep the engine running for to get the batteries fully charged? Assuming you hadn't been running the engine all night, how long would it take for there to be warm water for a shower in the morning? From what I've read the only way the water is heated is through running the engine - is this right? Can you run the heater all night without the engine running or will it just take the diesel from the tank? Apologies for so many questions!

Thanks. I'm only an hour away from there. Maybe I'll take a look. Let me know if you spot it for sale online...

Hi, I've done a few narrowboat holidays and have hankered after one for a good while now. Ideally I'm looking for something no larger than 30ft but ideally less. I saw the Aintree Beetle at the boat show last year. The 25ft 2 berth seems to be just what we're after. It's priced at £35K. With the intention of just spending a night or two at a time it'll more than do. Plus I'm figuring on comparatively low running costs due to it being brand new and pretty tiny - blacking paid for by foot, painting, lack of flash kit in general and a basic fit out, and it should take no time to heat given its size, should point to it being fairly economical to run. Mooring for £1300 a year has been found, another benefit of its size. I'd factored a further £1000 a year running costs excluding mooring based on using it once a month or so for a weekend. I'd looked at older boats up to 30ft but even ones that are 20+ years old are £20K+ and clearly come with associated running costs of an older boat, and it'll be far more dated in terms of fit out. Given this it follows that I might be able to sell it on in 5 years for at least £25K. It seems a no-brainer to buy new. I'd be keen on hearing any feedback on the above comments and whether I'm off the mark with my assumptions. I'd also be keen on any recommendations other than the Aintree Beetle and if anyone knows roughly what the lead time is on a new Aintree Beetle too. Thanks