BoatjackHorseboat

Cheers for advice. I'll wait and see. I've left the door slightly ajar, as it were.

I tore myself away. Galling doesn't cover it. but new lockdown felt like the cherry on the cake of potential problems. Who knows, they might turn round and tell me the queue of people behind me was imaginary, and drop the asking price, but I doubt it. Here's to a drier boat and better times in the not too distant future.

Ey up again, Following survey gotta make a decision tomorrow afternoon... Back halves of rubbing strakes need replacing (quoted at a mean £1500 from broker's yard) Crack in the prow (they'll glass it when they do strakes) Boat's not been used in 2 years. Is damp/wet inside: Probable leaks from the roof rail fixing points (rails are wooden + rotten, fixing screws rusty) Probable leaks from the windows (moss growing and seals look worse for wear) Definite leaks from side porthole ventilation things Definite leaks around solid fuel stove flue / chimney (literally see daylight, drips occasionally) Some curtains are damp. Some are like squeegees. It just snowed and it was pressure washed all over a few days ago - which may or may not be worth taking into account. Hull is v sound - surprisingly blister-free Got a 20hp 4 stroke 2011 Honda outboard on It's a Highbridge Crusader 32. Quite sought after. Price right now is £5750 (negotiated from original £7000) I have time, but not huge money after strakes repairs. I have DIY skills but little boat knowledge. I need to make it dry inside. Worth taking on or run away?

I take all that onboard I've actually gone with Mike Boulton for survey who could do it sooner and for a bit less. Saw him recommended in some old threads.

Know it's not the most thrilling topic, but anyone got ideas of a surveyor who might fit the bill? Want to get it sorted today! Or... guy I'm thinking of going with for *slightly over the odds* is John Crompton of https://www.smallboatsurveys.com/ - anyone used him before? (pls pm me if you'd rather not say here)

Indeed - my hopes were for 32 x 8 = £256 You're right, though, not too excessive. I've just got a spreadsheet staring back at me and am trying to make the number at the bottom go a bit smaller, hahah I'm actually allergic to peanuts, so this maxim has extra oomph

100%. Just that *right now* the boat and other initial costs are burning quite a hole in my pocket, so looking to save a lil bit

Hullo, Got me an offer down on a 32ft fibreglass Dawncraft (w/ outboard) that's out the water near York. Boat is £6.5k. Quote from surveyor I had in mind = £380. A bit higher than I expected - considering the end of the market we're talking about - I'm on a budget. Quote from surveyor arrangeable by yard = £200. Concerns me that it's quite low, esp as I didn't choose the guy ('Gallion Marine' - if anyone has any experience?) Or can anyone recommend us a goldilocks surveyor who might charge a happy medium?

Hi everyone, well we've had a tricky old time sorting this out. I can now see why brokerage has its place to be honest. Friends + thousands of pounds = a series of challenging conversations. Ta for your comments and experiences. Been rereading them just. Super useful. From the mix of opinions (and other people's too) we understood that this was a pretty 50/50 call on our budget. Can totally see the merits of getting a boat that needs overplating, even purely for the reason that it'd put a bunch of other people off. And I can see the arguments against. In the end we decided not to go ahead If we'd been able to live on her with third party insurance and cruise to a yard/welder of our choice, that may have been worth a punt. However, with the hull currently paper thin and the boat a long distance from backup accommodation (Mums and Dads), the logistics of overseeing and managing the situation in Covid times looked a bit of a nightmare. Yard it's at is open air and weather dependent too, so the timescale on completing the work was erm, 'Spring'. It's an anticlimax - but I think we've made the right call in the circumstances. I'll note the welders people have recommended. Be v useful if we find ourselves in the same (or hopefully a less extreme) situation with another boat. To address something mentioned earlier, before this boat cropped up we were indeed pursuing GRP - I've even done posts here asking. We missed out on a Highbridge 32 back in the summer. However, as @doratheexplorer says, we do reckon that size is not ideal for two people to liveaboard. Possible, but not ideal. The issue really is the scarcity of longer GRP boats - which unless you've been actively looking for one may not be clear. We'd be cruising Midlands, and as far as I know Fibreline and Morgan Giles are the only two narrowbeams longer than 32 foot (?). They appear v rare, which is perplexing considering they look a great solution at the lower (rustier) end of the market. Maybe historical reasons for this...? @Alan de Enfieldyou mentioned a GRP narrowboat sold recently on ebay for 8kish - what kind was it, out of interest?

Hi everyone - thanks for all the thoughts so far - the insight + advice is v helpful. I'll get back re some of your other thoughts in the morning. Just specifically re overplating... is the original steel thickness of an overplated boat taken into account when a future buyer's survey is undertaken? Does a surveyor measure the combined thickness? Or just the new steel added? If it's just the new steel, an overplated hull with 4mm sides and 5mm base wouldn't give much leeway for insurance ie any new pitting could make it uninsurable. This is bad for us, but also perhaps going to put off a prospective buyer in (for example) 5 years time. We're looking to live on the boat for as long as we're happy, but we're in our twenties and have to take into account the resale value. We're not looking to make a profit, could accept a loss, but we can't afford to write off £15k.

Hi all, My partner and I are in the process of buying a 45ft steel narrowboat off a friend of a friend. The owner has allowed us to boatsit for two months while we await a survey, tootling around a few miles of canal in socially distanced isolation. We've really enjoyed it - especially as 2020's restrictions had separated us before this. The boat has zero mod cons and many resident spiders, but the Isuzu runs smooth and the boat appears in very liveable condition with no internal problems to report. Now we have reached the dreaded post-survey moment. It's not good news. The baseplate was built 6mm and the sides were built 5mm. These are both heavily pitted - down to 0.5mm in places - and not safe to go back in the water. The consensus is that it needs baseplate and sides completely overplating up to the top rubbing band - for which the yard has quoted us 10 grand. The boat was originally ours for £12,000 - which in a rust-free scenario felt like a good deal. Now the owner (who wants it gone) has offered to drop the price to £5,000 - so it'd be £15,000 for us - right at the top of our budget. The boat was built in 1990 by Heritage. Our surveyor reckons it'll be worth about £28,000 when plated, and will be good for another 20 years if taken care of. What we don't quite understand, though, is that both our surveyor and the yard recommend adding 5mm to the baseplate and 4mm to the sides - they both say that any thicker would unbalance/sink the boat. Assuming we should discount the original thicknesses (?) that leaves us a scratch away from <4mm, which would seem to raise not-too-distant insurance and future sale problems. Can anyone enlighten us on the logic here? The surveyor paused the survey after the hull, as the owner hadn't yet offered us the big discount, and we thought it'd be all over there and then. Now we need to decide whether to pull out, or to commit to overplating and get surveyor back asap to do the rest of the boat. If any other big problems come to light, that's another new conversation... Jack

Just gave them a call re this. Sadly it is not for sale, just in for a few repairs. Hens remain toothless for now. Thanks for posting though!

Hey. So, I verified the ownership with the boatyard - is all kosher. We've 90% ruled the boat out, though. It's been left 6 months with no stern cover. The deck's pretty rusty and the struts that support lifting panels are crumbling. I doubt this is a cheap fix. The hull is a converted 1940s butty (extended at some point..). It doesn't look bad, but would for sure need survey. The cabin is aluminium and feels, er, spongy. Wasn't able to access the join to check for corrosion. We're at the budget end of the market, if you hadn't guessed we shall see. Mainly out of interest then.... Here's the discussed Ruggerini engine. And when I say engine turns out I mean outboard. The whole thing turns with wheel steering. Are these usable or something to avoid?

Let's assume for now that the engine is a Ruggerini MM 250 (if it's some kind of 250cc petrol bodge that's well underpowered I'll most likely back out anyway) I want to eliminate variables, so that I can check the engine/drive running smooth - I'm told it was when last run... this was 6 months ago, though. - I've a Halfords 70ah leisure battery for the starter. - Can get hold of jump leads. - I'm bringing Diesel in the appropriate container - I have some 20w50 oil lying about - this be good for this engine? (potentially a naive question) If not might pick up something else tomorrow - I have diesel redex engine cleaner, which the owner recommended in our brief chat https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/redex-250ml-diesel-fuel-system-cleaner/p/0133792 - Assorted spanners / screwdrivers Anything else I should bring?

Nice - thanks for checking - yep I've confirmed it's in the arm by Severn Fabrications / Maelor Feeds

Just got back to check this. Thanks for all the replies. Very helpful! I'll be careful. It'll be way easier to discuss/find things like paperwork etc when I meet in person. Will get hold of jump leads to bring (unless Graham's about!) Hey Graham, the postcode which I've just finally been sent, puts it near Oswestry boat builders - a yard right at the end of the connected section - don't know if you know it? Looking at the map, the boat may in fact be moored there at the moment. This I will try to discover. I've tried to rind the yard today but no one's picking up... will try again tomorrow. If OBB open Sunday, potentially there'll be someone there with the time to help. Although, I imagine a mechanic there will want to be paid for this. And without wanting to be too cynical, they perhaps won't be unbiased if they recommend we pursue a boat with lots of mechanical/potential exterior work needed.. In other words if you do happen to be around Sunday that'd be wonderful. Just took me 10 mins to work out 'Churchward' is another user. Yep if either of you can help!

Understand. It's all seems very genuine, to be honest. The friend is a middle aged welsh woman who sounds rather sick of the whole darn thing. But then, we could consider that's part of the scam too and so on and so on into the conspiratorial. I'll be wary as I can. At the same time, I'm just going to view the boat for now, and will come back with more info. To try to circle back to my original topic... if anyone's currently South of Oswestry to come by they may be able to help me notice such plot twist and also whether boat is viable!

As sure as I can be. I spoke to him Monday and we set up the meeting with his friend for Sunday. He told me a bit about his boat and a lot else besides. Quite a character, though not exactly big on details. And not good at picking up the phone since. But as I say he mentioned he has health problems so I don't want to push it. What can I say, it's a classified ad, but everything seems legit.

Re the engine that completely figures and is invaluable knowledge, thanks. I did think 250cc seemed weedy. As I say, the friend of owner I'm in contact with doesn't know boats... And re the battery, cool gotcha, hopefully I can deal with it!

Hi all, My gf and I are viewing a 40 foot narrowboat that’s moored on Montgomery canal just south of Oswestry Sunday at 2pm. Owner can’t make it – he’s ill, sadly, hence the sale – so we’re meeting his friend who doesn’t really know boats. There’s no-one living aboard rn and looking unlikely we can get further info pre-Sunday. I've done endless research over the past months + rung some surveyors for advice. But it’s a private sale and we’re nervous we don’t have the hands on experience make an informed decision. It needs a new starter battery, which we’ll bring to test the engine. Engine is *small* - a 250cc Ruggerini. Hoping 70ah will be sufficient? Are there specific terminals for a starter battery that makes it different to a bog standard leisure battery? And on the off chance... any professionals and/or knowledgeable boaters happen to be in the area who might be able to swing by, watch me struggle to fit the battery + start the engine and offer wisdom on whether the boat’s worth us pursuing? Might say more on the general boat/survey situation in a bit – but want to focus on the above first! Thanks, Jack