enigmatic

Space looks fine, but it also looks like an age where I'd be more concerned the boat bits work properly...

Making everyone move every couple of days unless they're on their home mooring sounds like a much more drastic approach to alleged issues with 'ghost moorings' than simply not considering a cheap home mooring on a farmer's field in Cheshire to be a legitimate reason to always be occupying the same two spots in London

Yeah, that might even be the correct answer to 'what is the best type of stern'!

Not sure how evenly the coating would come away which might be the bigger issue. The guy definitely wasn't touting for business when he said he reckoned it'd need grit blasting to get it all off I was happy to redo paintwork in principle (I say, having just put down a deposit on the boat with the best paint job I've seen in my price bracket ) but figured that this might be beyond my DIY skills or patience. That and knowing it was Moroccan and suspected there might be other interesting design choices made (I failed to find the threads about issues linked above but did find someone's rant about the firm that built it conning him) Still, I think if you only care that the metal's protected, the mess that's already there does the trick and the fitout looks fine from outside. Best pay asking price though: they'd already turned down two offers by last Thursday - Speaking of quite a bit of boat for the money, someone with a tolerance for square windows snapped this up from ABNB less than 24 hours after the listing went up http://pdfs.abnb.co.uk/3679abnb.pdf

Yep I actually went to look at this boat. The thick surface coat is peeling away, as you can just about see in the picture, and to his credit the broker said it'll need a bare metal repaint and so we knocked the cost of that off what we'd have sold it for otherwise when I asked how bad it was. On the plus side, it's filled in untidily with paint and so untidy rather than corroded Chatted with the guy in the yard who said there's no chance of a DIY job with an orbital sander, and if I really wanted him to do it I was looking at 12k and an April slot. Someone else was viewing, so I didn't bother hanging around to look inside.

Do you mean #5 (the speculative sale, not the director owned boat that sank)? That's just... weird. That broker actually seemed one of the more professional outfits when I visited them. Was going to suggest another Aqualine Madison on the basis when I visited I said "don't think I'll look at the Aqualine" and the broker said "noone else wants to look at it either" but that's now sold...

Lack of fixed double bed is the only obvious drawback...

True, but I thought brokers actually owning the boat was a rare thing? For every other boat presumably it's extra cash for the crane/slipway, and quite possibly some money for remedial work or blacking.

I'm surprised they're advising against surveys since the boatyard usually makes a bit of extra money on lifting the boat out...

I think this'd be more fun naming the brokers (I'll join in with my own slightly less crazy experiences once I've actually got a deposit down). Will second the bit about ABNB at Crick coming across as a professional outfit, just a bit too efficient at selling their less expensive boats. I imagine the owner of the boat you wanted to buy would be very interested in learning about Broker 5! I saw one boat on the market at 40k at the beginning of the summer and 45k at a different broker a little further south at the end. Did wonder whether it was the existing owner getting fed up with his broker or someone who figured they'd make a profit on a boating holiday!

In the brave new Covid world most brokers seem to be letting you have the keys and wander at will, provided you call in advance, including Whilton. Though Whilton seems to be running out of boats...

There's another one I saw at Braunston that went 'under offer' that's now on sale at Whilton for 2k less with 'recent survey'. Wonder what the original buyer's survey found...

I'd be very wary of a private seller asking for this. I remember the first time I considered canal boats and emailed a little old Scottish widow with a hazy knowledge of UK geography and a Nigerian email account suggested it But yeah, holding deposits are actually a thing with Great Haywood, and possibly other brokers.

It's under offer on their website, so someone did

How much is this on Apollo Duck for?

Funnily enough I saw one that definitely had been a lot longer than three years since blacking (no claim to have epoxied when they did it either) that looked pretty clean later in the day

Continuing the theme of sharing rusty hull photos, any opinions on this one? Asking mainly because I was surprised considering the paintwork and [trad] engine bay are in good condition. ~15year old boat, reputable builder, apparently blacked in 2017 Light rust on bumps and scrapes not too concerning, more questioning the waterline. And yes, I know the correct answer if I decide to get either boat is to get a survey

Thanks - I should have clarified that bit. In this case as far as I can see from Canalplan it was the only boat of any sort built by a builder of that name, and can't find any evidence online of a current or historic fitter or steel fabricator of that name either. Your situation sounds reassuring. Having seen a couple of boats go almost as soon as I'd spotted a brand new ad, as well as a boat I knew what was wrong with stay on the market for a month and then disappear precisely at the time I got round to deciding I preferred it to other boats regardless, I hope you'll understand why I'm not sharing it yet.

Considering one of these. Around 20 years old, post-RCD, conventional shape, size design and engine, internal woodwork is excellent and condition is fine apart from a slightly faded paint job and blacking being due. Engine runs fine and bay looks tidy. Spec fine apart from possibly benefiting from adding secondary heat source. On the market for a while at ~20% less than I've seen similarly specced boats at other brokers, so I'd fancy my chances with an offer further below that. (So sorry, no link) Just wondering if the reason it's has been on the market is that buyers are very wary about one-off builds, and not just half-arsed marketing. Obviously I'd need a survey, but is there anything else I'm likely to be able to figure out for myself beforehand? Any experiences, positive or negative, to share?

I'm no expert but have looked at this boat recently (not remotely interested: I'd wanted to see something else at that marina). Quite a lot of rust just above the waterline which might be superficial, but might not. Maybe people on here with better knowledge than me can infer more from my photo than the broker's. Superficial rust on the stern deck, but underneath looked better than I thought it would 7k recorded hours on the engine, so if it was retrofitted in 2010 it must have been fairly regularly used. Stove looked newish and the solar installation substantial, but most of the rest of the fit is original, or stripped out. The interior is basically the beginnings of a DIY project (that can actually be lived in and cook food etc) but I'm guessing that's what you like about it. Pricey for what it is though, even if a surveyor thinks the condition's great

I have a feeling this boat was 'off the market' when I went down to VC Marine a couple of weeks ago. The other boats I saw there were unglamorous but competitively priced.

I've literally just seen the other side of this. Really liked some relatively unusual things about first boat I looked at with a view to buying, but it was the first boat I looked at with a view to buying and obviously there were a few flaws visible even to me. Having seen a couple of dozen more boats and a lot more messy engine bays, signs of water ingress around the chimney etc I'd concluded that it probably hadn't been looked after worse than many other boats unless a survey turned up anything show stopping,, and was probably worth what they were asking for. And also that it appealed to me a damn sight more than the other boats. But I delayed a couple more days before making the offer, because it hadn't gone anywhere in a month, and it was a rainy end of August. Which was obviously when an offer was accepted If I'd known a bit more about what I was looking at when I first looked at it, I'd have put in an offer on the spot and would have been cruising it by now. Looking at other boats is a valuable learning experience if you haven't done it before, and so Alexis might want to look at a few he definitely doesn't expect to buy. Ideally ones that aren't massively appealing to him or would be way outside his price range so he doesn't feel he missed out when he's actually read to buy.

Like the original poster I'm interested in not having to do too much unscheduled maintenance, and will probably decide I bought the wrong boat after a year or two and not want to lose too much money selling it. Is there a sweet spot in a boat's lifecycle between the time it stops depreciating rapidly and the time it starts needing non-routine maintenance and replacement of stuff that's a lot less consumable than batteries? Presumably that would be older than 18 months anyway?