GoldenV

Kudos JonathanA, that must be quite the feet, it is an absolutely brilliant resource

Thanks everyone, I hadn't realised Canalplan was so outdated which is a shame!

It is a private sale, and the photos included are quite blurred - it’s been photocopied in black and white. I’ve found who the survey was originally commissioned for on a Facebook boaters forum. So I’m going to message her to see if it’s the same boat too. it’s all pretty suspect, but could equally have a simple explanation. It’s a 1980s build so no ID sadly.

Hello all, hope everyone is well and thanks in advance for your thoughts. I am looking to buy a narrowboat, I've seen another that I am pretty interested in which was listed yesterday. It is a 57ft cruiser. The current owners have shared a previous pre-purchase survey with me this morning, however, the boat name on the survey is different to the one advertised for sale - initial thought was name change (I'm waiting to hear back from the current owner). I had a look at the Boat Index on Canal Plan for both names + the reg. no. listed in the survey. The only boat I can find with the reg. no. listed in the survey is for a 55ft long boat with a slightly different name to the one listed in the survey. The only boat listed with the boat name advertised for sale is 60ft rather than 57ft. The plot thickens. I've emailed the surveyor to see if they are able to confirm whether they carried out this survey. Any thoughts? It is quite the mystery.....

Which is their choice, but seems mad to me unless you have very deep pockets. I can't see the harm done in putting forward an offer, there do seem to be a lot of chancers selling

Absolute gold Bill 😅 Duly noted Thanks MtB, really useful advise here

Hi Tony, funnily enough, I had an extremely similar experience, despite the 20-year gap! They gave me the keys to the three boats I was seeing, left me to it, I went to turn the invertor on, and it was faulty, let them know it was tripping and the person I spoke to said the same thing - that I shouldn't have tried as they don't let anyone try electrics/engines out as they would be liable if I(?) broke it. I had to insist that someone had a look at it - it turned out it was just the isolator key that was faulty - but yes very odd and quite unhelpful in comparison to other brokers I've dealt with. Doesn't seem like there's much point in viewing a boat in the first place if it's not to check everything is as described :')

So my gut feeling was to put in a much lower asking price, of around £30k. I of course imagine this will be rejected, but do you think (in this inflated market) that is absurd/just plain insulting? Appreciate your responses so far. The very basic interior design isn't a deterrent for me, this is something I can do myself, and I' fortunate to have family/friends who are tradespeople too who are willing to lend a helping hand. In terms of potential damp, I could be wrong, but I spent a good 40 minutes inspecting the pipes I had access too, windows and other usual weak spots for damp, and didn't find anything, there also wasn't the alarming mushroom smell, so I from my inspection, I think the poor paint job is down to a poorly skilled painter more than anything here? 😕

Sure this is the case for others, but I have viewed quite a few in Nottinghamshire (where I'm from), and have had my eye on marina's much further afield. Sadly, the prices aren't much better than in the South at present - or at least in my experience so far. More than happy to move one down if it is the right one. The Victron calculator comes up with prop sizes which are pretty close to what engine manufacturers like Beta use, to what Crowthers have recommended on various boats, and even what electric boat suppliers like Finesse have found by testing -- so I'd say that it's a bit more than good place to start, if your prop size is well off from what it recommends then you're almost certainly over- or under-propped. Obviously it's crucial to use the right data (engine power, rpm and gearbox ratio), propeller rpm in particular makes a *massive* difference to the optimum prop size, to swing a big prop it needs to turn more slowly than on most modern boats. Thank you both, this is really useful information

I'm with you on this, I've tried to get more information from the marina, but not had much back from them regarding this. I'll do some more digging A compost loo - I no not everyones first choice, but I've used them in the past and they work for me!

Hi Alan, thanks for that, my understanding is that they have a personal loan rather than marine finance but I'm going to get a concrete answer from the brokers.

Hello Bill and Booke thanks for your input - really useful insight. It is indeed Kestrel. Booke, in terms of propeller sizes, this is certainly something I wouldn't have picked up and no nothing about. No you have any recommendations on where to read up on this? I tried to look into prop sizes-engine capability last night, with little luck. Would this also impact the rudder, perhaps why it needs re-welding?

Hello Richard, thanks for replying so quickly. I'm with you on something feeling off, but I look at the survey and I can't quite figure what that is 😕 Like you say, boats are selling extremely quick, where this one has been on the marinas site for almost two weeks (which these days seems like forever), and I know the current owner had tried to sell independently for £45k in October before they moved. off her. From what I've been told, this was also the current owners first boat, so could this be a case of someone changing their mind...still seems odd though.

Hello all, I'm looking for some advise an hoping the wealth of knowledge that's in this forum may be able to steer me in the right direction, so thank you in advance and sorry for how long-winded this post became! I've been looking to buy a narrowboat for quite some time to continuously cruise. I've been doing my research, but of course there are still going to be a lot of blind spots. I viewed one, and it looks like it could be a goer. It was bought by the current owner a couple of months back, who had a full out of water survey completed pre-purchase (September 2021). Their situation has since changed and they've moved city, hence the resale. I would still get my own survey completed if I was to put an offer in. It is currently on the market for 43k and as the owner bought it on finance, I've been advised by the marina that the seller may be unable to take offers as they now have monthly loan payments to cover. I appreciate this is quite a fair price for a (good) boat, but I don't want to get caught out in a few months and realise it was worth much less. I have quite a modest budget of around £40k - so this is at my upper limit. A bit about the boat: it is 57", built in 1994 by John White (Any thoughts on JW as builders?), with a 10:6:4 Hull, trad stern with a Lister LPW54 diesel engine, BSS till 2025 and last blacked in 2018. It has a 1600w Sterling inverter, 3 leisure bats, Solar, 12v fridge, Calorifier, stove. Basic fit out, but nice and tidy and I could happily continually cruise with the set up and there 's no signs of damp (that I could see) or leaky pipes, which has been a running theme for boats within my budget. Now onto the important parts: The hull survey reading's came back good in my opinion(?) for a boat this age (as below)... However the Surveyor also noted that: Here's where I get a little confused, the baseplate's readings seem ok - but the surveyor has said it requires grit blasting and 2pack - which costs around £7-8k with lifting/mooring costs included when I've looked - appreciate this is best practice for hulls, but is it common for surveyors to suggest this when there isn't cause for concern? Do I take this into consideration when putting in an offer? Engine: There is a leaking injector. Engine service record unknown. I started the engine from cold during my visit, and it seemed fine. Other cons: The heating system is broken. The Surveyor couldn't identify what the unit was(?) - so this would need replacing, but a positive for me is that the boat has all the piping and radiators in place, so it would just be a case of replacing the unit, which I imagine is a fairly straightforward? The rudder needs welding to the stock This is a small con - but it has a pump out toilet, which i'd be looking to remove fairly early on probably leave the tank in for the time being and just seal it off. This is going to be a gruesome task, any ideas of costs to have this done? From my perspective the works - other than the base plate - seem somewhat straightforward. Thoughts on whether I should put in a lower offer considering the works that have been noted....or do you think 43k fair? Thank you again, and hope to pass some of you on the cut sometime soon. Kestrel Full Survey 030921 (3) (1).pdf