VandeBloom

Hello everyone and thank you so much for the communal help! Ahah, I guess I'll have to wait and see what the survey will bring, perhaps the surveyor will come across a brand or any sign of who the manufacturer might be! As for it being historic - if historic means pre - war then I used an incorrect term, I meant, even if she was from the 60ties and refurbished I'd be thrilled. And there's a German saying which goes "the wish is the father of the thought" and I guess it means "wishful thinking"... 😉 But then, the older the boat the bigger the worry about its hull's condition, so I'll have to wait off and see. Just to clarify to the forum though - I am NOT interested in the DIY project advertised as Harland&Wolff on Apolloduck at the current moment and this post is not referring to any of the posted boats here on this thread now! This was NOT what I've been looking for neither would I have the expertise to revive this poor thing! But true, hey - it's floating! 😆 Thanks again for everyone's help and introduction into ship - building during the early days. Have a good day and stay safe in the storm!

Thank you Magnetman! Next time I go up to her I'll look very carefully. On the videos and photos I took there's nothing, but I have admittedly looked more into her general condition and how the internal infrastructure is built into the boat, etc. . So I'll keep an eye out. Thank you for the tip. 🙂

Oh dear! Thank you for this, so there is basically nothing to rely on in my situation! Loool, oh well, I hope I'll be able to solve the mystery at some point! Thanks for everyone's help! :-) Most important for me is currently anyway that her hull will be found in good condition at the survey and everything else shall be resolved PERHAPS at some point. Probably I'll fall over dramatically in my boat in a few years time, have to hold on some wooden skirting, end up ripping it of accidentally and alas - there it is, make, serial number and year of birth, it will come to me like magic! If it ever should then I'll share it on here! :-)

Thank you, Tonka, I shall now go and google hull 25, apprentices, Harland and Wolff! 🙂

Ha! Very interesting, had a very long chat with my dad about all these findings today and he suggested something similar could have happened after the wharfs officially shut down. Some former employees still must have had all the knowhow to built those boats - so he(my father) did have exactly this thought coming up - that in agreement to the former bosses some might have been allowed to keep going under the former name. In case that anyone might know a little more about this, please do share with us. 🙂

Hi everyone, thanks so much for all the above information, as well about the slight name - twin! I spoke to the owner and I asked him about the boat's potential origin. On the licensing it says it's a Harland and Wolff made in Glasgow. Year of manufacture 1989. So... The wharf in Glasgow shut down in 1966. Looking at the boat's bow, she does come the "Themis'" on theyard's (history about Harland and Wolff as ship makers) website very, very close, with the slightly more rounded appearance around the bow than other narrowboats might display. So ... I'm wondering, could there be the possibility that this boat might have been refurbished/totally overhauled in 1989, given a new name and sold with a new birthday? Is this something anyone might have heard of having happened in the past with elderly boats? Based on all this confusion I contacted the yard's person (Harland and Wolff person) and sent him photos with the contradicting information I'm having, specifically as the make is in the boat's license with this year of manufacture. Probably at least he could determine the boat's make or let me know if they did leave serial numbers or years of manufacture somewhere in the boat behind which could give more insight. Would be incredibly thrilled if she was a historic boat... But I'll see what happens next!

Hi Matty, thanks so much for your answer and insight - I looked up all the information about the Harland + Wolff wharf in Woolwich and concluded myself that she's either ancient OR simply not a Harland + Wolff boat. Furthermore it made me really question how come my surveyor seemed to barely know the make - given how big they were in England for such a long time and him being a marine engineer, one would think he came across them in one way or the other... Oh well, I may call up the vendor and see what I may be able to find out! Thanks everyone for the precious help!

Thank you so much Tracy, for the detailed reply! I'll screenshot it and get back to it once I have more news about the hull's condition, may follow this advice rather than plating then (if this topic should come up!). At least I'm reassured that the make will have used high quality steel! I just hope there is something left by now in 2022!😅 Thank you so much for your help! 🙂 😂😂😂😂😂 Thank you so much for making me aware of the caution I'd need to take around icebergs in case of choosing to cruise this specific boat of said make...😂😂😂 I'm glad someone pointed it out me!

Thank you so much for the reply and sorry, I might have expressed myself confusingly - the Widebeam was a boat I had looked into (by Liverpool Boats) and had asked in the forum about it recently, so I just thanked everyone who had answered to it in a separate post. The boat I'm currently looking at is a Narrowboat by Harland and Wolff and is 62ft long. She is a beauty and was at least very well maintained for the past 4 years, unfortunately I don't have much information about the 30years prior though - if she hasn't in fact been restored already back then. She might be an Oldtimer!😊 Thank you for the link, I shall look it up right now. 😊

Hello lovely boaters, Many thanks for helping me out regarding the Widebeam I asked about moored in London, regarding being overpriced or not recently - I ended up heeding everyone's advice on here and looking elsewhere! 🙂 Currently I found a VERY beautifully restored and newly fitted boat, being newly blacked, having a BSS until 2025 and seeming to be in pristine condition. She was built by Harland and Wolff in 1989. Have already put my deposit down (I do love her, I can't help it!) and scheduled a pre - purchase survey on a marina nearby. So today I spoke to the surveyor and he said that he "believes" that Harland and Wolff did built narrowboats with a 6mm thick bottom plate and said that might be a problem given the age. Bear in mind, he hasn't surveyed the boat yet. So I was trying to find some information about how their narrowboats were built back then and as I only found out that they built the Titanic, I didn't get much further... So I thought I'd have to turn to the lovely boating community on the web! Does anybody know about built quality, build characteristics, anything about the make or might even have experience with a boat of similar age of this make? Any information would be very much appreciated! With many thanks to everyone in advance! 🙂

Hello Happy Nomad, Thank you so much for your reply - I think you may be perfectly right about the London - Boom thing. This is why I wanted to ask if this price is somewhat to be expected to be accepted by me given all these hiccups coming up or if it might be even for London overpriced... 😆 To mention a few more details about the hull - there was corrosion found on the bottom and sides of the hull, epoxy apparently either not well applied or somehow damaged he wrote - the rudder keeps bashing into the hull rear (there must have happened a bump into something at some point) causing a big dent and is in need of welding. Anodes should have been exchanged and he advised that the boat should be taken out of water as soon as possible to fix the corrosion of the hull, back in 2019. He suggested that one should prepare to grit blast and epoxy to protect the hull. Mentioned the bitumen option but only to delay the grit blasting and epoxy job for another three years. The vessel had though not lost too much thickness of hull and would have still fallen into a normal insurance risk at the time. As non of the blacking or any repairs was mentioned in the advert for the boat I am now simply assuming that nothing (at least substantial) got actually fixed after the last survey and the boat went straight back into the water. 😅 I will though know more tomorrow I hope, fingers crossed! If you'd tell me that all above are horrendous works to be left for resale, then I'll just be so free and knock off 50.000£! 😆

X-D yes, it could be sort of described like banana - shaped I suppose? Taken from you post I do assume this is not a good thing? 😅😆

Hello and thank you to all for your time and valuable advice and information! To add a few things regarding this mooring - everything is a little bit up in a limbo and I'm trying to get written confirmation of all I'll be mentioning. So far the really lovely harbour master of the potential wharf gave me all following information on the phone: There is this huge rejuvenating project running in Brentford - trying to revive and upgrade the area. The boat of interest is on the river Brent and has this pied a terre mooring there. The mooring is at the moment for 2% transferrable and for London comfortably low (I guess because it's quite industrial for now). The investor who will have us/ the boaters move then for around a year to complete the constructions, is apparently liable for compensating "us" and "take care of the resident boaters" during the time we'd have to move to other basins. Apparently. Also apparently, afterwards the boaters will retain there berths, got residential moorings promised, with a 5 - year stretch of slowly but surely increased mooring costs, as they (the investors) will surely want to have their share of it by the end of it all. The lady will stop running the marina, it will be run by the new investor, so new mooring agreements coming along... I got in touch with these investors to see if any of this word by mouth info can be confirmed by writing, so I'd know what to rely on and what not... I personally think, if the boat was in good condition and it is true that I could keep my mooring for a couple of years for a relatively low price in London and might have time to consider and prepare to move to another mooring within the amount of up to 7 years, then I'd be a pretty happy sausage. But as I think it's getting more and more obvious - there are a LOT of things for me to find out and think hard about, the state of the hull needing asap work did add up strongly to this and as lots mentioned here on the thread - I had counted with a higher cost because of being situated in London, but with all these issues coming up I just needed to hear from some people with boating experience if this was a price I'd be rude to dodge or if my concerns surrounding all facts around this boat and mooring should clearly be reflected in the offer. If fixing it up now, it would all be because of an actual mooring tied to it - I admittedly saw boats in better condition which are though continuous cruisers that I heavy heartedly better don't even go viewing - I've been told and made aware of more than once, that finding an own mooring in London AND getting your own boat of desire on top of is a thing of impossibility - other than one is prepared to wait unknown amounts of years - precious lifetime I'd rather spend on a canal! X-D Thanks to all again for the help! If I may ask one more question please - which manufacturer of wide beams would be a good choice? Are there any commendable ones out there, as I've mentioned - I am a wanna - be boater, so I do lack experience and am absolutely grateful for any kind of advice regarding built quality, what to look out for and what brands may be of higher standards than others. With many thanks to everyone, Stefanie

Hello and thank you already for both replies - I thought I may missing out on loads of more details putting up question, so thank you for making me aware! The hull is manufactured by Liverpool Boats. Thanks you so much regarding the repair/dock - advice - it's a little bit intimidating at the beginning!

Hello there, I'm currently looking into buying a wide beam barge 57x10ft, built in 2004. First impression of the boat - inside all lovely and well looked after, has a BSS until 2023. Upon seeing the last full survey report from 2019 it turns out that the motor hasn't been serviced and the hull needed taking care of already back then. No major diminution of hull thickness though - back then. I'm currently awaiting to hear if any works had been done upon this survey, but I do doubt it. So as it looks like, I'd have to have the barge grid blasted and epoxy hulled (at least I'd prefer to get the long term option done now, instead of bitumen, if the boats already out of water), anodes fitted and some rust taken care of above water. After my now intended pre - purchase inspection and if things didn't deteriorate much within this past 2 years, fingers crossed. In between the survey I'd need to agree on a sales price, getting the works hopefully done on the same dry dock and only then going back into water, so logistically a bit of a faff, but I hope doable if worth it. My question is - the owner wants currently 105.000£ for this boat, which was apparently more or less what she paid for it in 2019, but it doesn't look like the boat has been taken care of/ I'd be the one to having to take care of it now (it was epoxy hulled 7 years ago, but damage to the epoxy already visible in 2019). How much would this boat be worth, taking the repairs into consideration? Could any experienced boaters have a rough idea with above details in mind? The boat is moored on a pied - a - terre in London, but will have to move because of construction works coming up, so a slight question mark here. If anyone might have a number coming to mind of what price I could offer and would be still fair and what would be definitely overpriced, I'd be hugely grateful! (Hoping to be first time boat owner here, so any advice or heads up will be greatly appreciated!) With many thanks to everyone who might take the time to get back to me about this! :-)