gpspadi

Brilliant, thankyou for all your reply's. It looks like the North is winning so far. As for staying in a marina, I can suspend trading as required. I would only be in a marina during times when I went off abroad or ill health type emergency's. I am not GP Spadi, I am an old PADI instructor who used to get lost an awful lot of the time due to drugs and alcohol and ended up with the name GPS:) Cheer's all:)

I run an online business which can be run from any location. I need a widebeam of any size between 10'X57' and 60'x12' to accommodate my levels of sales stock. I cant leave stock in a van or use a central storage location. The stock has to travel with me. I will be cruising rather than marina based, but would likely be in a marina for a couple of month's each year at most. Which ever area I decide to use, I will also hope to use the local river system. As I can run my business from any location on the network, North or South I am interested in peoples opinions of which half of the North South divide is the best cruising ground for widebeams in terms of scenery, ease of use, overcrowding, amenities etc I did use the search button, but most results are about moving between north and south, with no opinions of which is best, although I am aware the the north is slightly larger. Thankyou in advance, this really is a gold mine of information and sometimes banter:)

The length question. I know I've fallen into the newbie trap here at 60'. Only because I know its a go anywhere length. Obviously longer the better for living on full time. But to tie down that answer I need to find out what areas are restricted to what lengths. So if anyone has a definitive list or knows where I should look, i'd appreciate the pointer. The question has been bugging me for awhile now. Seen the Nick Thorpe site. As stated though fitting out a sailaway while on the move really is not feasible for my own circumstances. Any work I would be doing to a boats electrics, plumbing, exterior painting etc I would do out of the water at blacking time, renting hard standing for a month or two at most.

The Journey with Jono vids are what turned me on and then off the idea of a sail away DIY fit out on the move. So a 60' at £40k looking primarily for a good hull and engine with reasonable electrics and plumbing. What should I be looking at? newer owner fit outs, ex hire boats, or older yard fit outs. I guess all of the above is the answer. Amazing how just writing this all down is consolidating my thoughts. I wont be buying untill around September this year, but could do with some reassurance I'm thinking about the right sort of boat. This for example. https://www.apolloduck.com/boat.phtml?id=614141

Thanks for all the replys. £25k-£30k boat are old shells with outdated interiors, old plumbing and old wiring. If replacing all that, then you might as well do it on a new sailaway. I dare say it would be cheaper and easier/quicker than stripping and refurbishing the old shell. So that means a new sailaway at £35k + which is towards the top end of budget and a non starter time wise. But an old shell sailaway would have to be £15k-£20k to be financially viable and still a compromised boat. I think writing this out, I've just convinced myself to buy an old boat at the top of my budget around £40k with £5k+ refit and repair budget as suggested. This caught my eye, but sold rather quickly. https://www.apolloduck.com/boat.phtml?id=630256

Hi all, My first post after doing a bit of reading. Not had too much success with the search thingy. Not lived on a narrow boat, but have lived on small and large yachts abroad, every thing from supery achts to Thai trawlers. Not a mechanic or carpenter but reasonably skilled at DIY (Well maybe - I took 3 years to make an egg stand at school:) My provisional budget is £40k plus another £5k war chest. Then money spent as and when earned. Self employed can run business from the boat, part time. Due to the nature of my business, location is not important. I will be CC. I want a 57-60' live aboard The ideal solution for my needs would be a 60' lined sail away with first fix plumbing and electrics, but is a little out or my price range and time frame. I want to be on the water for around september 2020. If I buy a ready built spray foamed sailaway, everything I've seen so far has the windows. bulkheads etc in the wrong places which means a compromised boat. I can handle the camping aspect, but don't really want to do a full fit out from the towpath especially since my DIY skills are not brilliant, although I am up for the challenge and confident I could do it given the time and resources. It's really the depreciation and added cost of a brand new fit out, and time, that bothers me. So now I'm thinking buy a used boat for around £25k - £30k that I can move onto straight away with a solid hull, engine and gearbox, liveable but requiring a light refit along the way and maybe spending £5k-£10k retrofitting upgrades from the pro's some 6 month's in, when I know what I really want Vs what I think I want. Red wines taking hold now, as I'm rambling and have lost the point of my post Hopefully over the next couple of weeks, you chaps can help me work through my plans My first lesson is don't open the wine before posting:)