We're Symantha (Sam) and Clyde, a couple of boaters from the US and have a 5 year plan. This plan includes cruising the UK for six months a year (thank you UK) and France for three months, starting next March/April. We've lived several years on small sailboats (three years on a NorSea 27), so are somewhat accustomed to the tight spaces. All have been GRP and they've had gas or diesel inboards or outboards. Both our current boats have outboards.
We've alternated our options between a 30'-40' steel narrowboat, a 25'-30' GRP river cruiser (love the Albin 25), and a 25'-30' GRP narrowboat. All these boats have their pros and cons. We're probably in the $20k-$30K market but we could do more if we fell in love with something. We're relatively handy and tend to purchase fixers. However, this time, since we're not familiar with the market and availability of supplies, transportation, etc (and COVID), we would probably prefer something that needs more cleaning/painting than major repairs/remodeling.
In a perfect world, we would be able to cruise the canals and rivers in the UK and then trailer/ship it to France. Our needs are relatively simple and we believe it's more about the journey than the destination, so we tend to move slowly. (We will be driving the 3700 miles from Oregon to Florida in a Toyota Sienna van, and sleeping in it.)
So, the other day, we came across a Wilderness 23' Beaver. It's quite small but the layout is very good. Too bad they don't make a 25'-27' boat. So, the question I would like to pose to this group of very experienced and knowledgeable people is; Are we out of our minds for considering this boat??
Your input and opinions will be greatly appreciated. We hope to meet many of you next year...clyde
PS: Sorry for the length of this question.