Tantarin

thank you all for your responses. I can see that more info from me on my expected use is needed for you to guide me on what might suit me: I'm 66 but fit & active at present. I'd welcome the exercise associated with narrowboating to keep my body working. I don't have a house in the UK. I can store a small amount of stuff in the garages of family & I have already as I'm currently living abroad. I will skulk off to Thailand each November to avoid the dismal UK winters & return in the Spring to see the leaves come out. I would expect to stay at pleasant moorings for a week or more, perhaps for the full 2 weeks; I want to explore the nicer bits of canals & rivers but I'm not on a mission. I'm persuaded by comments that 50ft is likely to be quite long enough for me to liveaboard & I'd choose that size if it's no impediment to later resale. I won't be going for a fibreglass cruiser as I think it might be too fragile on canals. I quite like the idea of a solid fuel stove as it seems cosy, although I recognise it creates dust. I don't think I care about a washing machine; I think I'd like a quick shower every other day with a good wash on alternate days I don't imagine I'll have visitors staying with me; I'll be fairly solitary although hoping to meet nice people along the way. I'm expecting this boat to be sold after 2 years by which time I'll have a much better idea whether I want a new boat or a new retirement idea. Accordingly, I want it to command a ready sale. I know I'll leave it better than I found it. £60k is all I can afford but I've no real idea whether it will take all that amount to buy a decent boat that will readily resell in 2 years; I don't really have any clue what makes a boat a £40k boat and what extra desirable features make a £60k boat. I definitely don't want to be seduced into paying £60k for a boat that I later find is really a £40k boat & that's all I can reasonably achieve on resale. Thank you all very much for your helpful guidance so far. I've enjoyed all the washing machine discussions although I didn't expect them

Hello all I've been lurking in this forum for a while & watching many Youtube videos of continuous cruisers; I've decided that this is something I really want to do now that I've just retired and so I'll be looking for a boat. I'm aware that my first boat won't be the boat I'll end up wanting & so I need to consider it as the boat that will introduce me to the life & will do me fine for a couple of years while I get to understand what I really want. These are my initial ideas: I'll be living aboard alone & continuously cruising from April to end October; for the winter I'll leave it somewhere fairly cheap & perhaps out of the water if that's practical. After 2 years I want to be able to sell it on fairly easily & without losing much on my buy price so I can go for my next boat. I can't afford to pay more than £60k I don't want to have to do much work on the boat to make it suitable to liveaboard; I'm fine with doing maintenance & running repairs & upgrades I'd really appreciate any guidance you experienced boaters could give me on what kind of boat might fit the bill here. I'm assuming that it will be 53-55 foot but I don't know at all what style, what features & what accessories or equipment would be needed to make it readily re-sellable later.