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Hiya I'm new to live-aboard boating and have been researching and trying to buy a narrowboat for about 3 months now. My budget is on the lower end of the spectrum (£21k max) and i've found a 45footer just within my price range. It seems as though it's ready to live in, burner, calorifier, batteries (2 leisure 1 starter), solar panel, 12volt for cc'ing, 240v basic landline installation, last survey looks good (no overplating been done), (not had my own survey done yet), however, the engine was overheating when it was brought into brokers by previous owners. The marina advises that they will get this fixed before sale. I'm tempted to make an offer (pending survey) but not first without getting some advice about the engine situation. It's a Perkins 4108 diesel. My main concern is due to the long cruise back to where I live. (London to Bristol), part of which will include a piece of the tidal thames. I really don't want to be doing that with a dodgy engine. another concern is future costs, which i have left a small budget for, but if the engine problem turns out to be something major - i'm not sure i'll have the budget for it. Plus i plan to be a continuous cruiser so this would be an issue. A bit more info about the engine - from the previous survey in Late 2013 it seems the engine was smokey when cold and on high load, cranked pressure was present - both indicators of internal wear. Also fuel leaks were present at the fuel filter top and the aft injector (which was recommended to be fixed - and at this point i assume it was). It also appears that the engine was serviced in Feb 2017. So my questions are - 1) is it possible at this stage, with the information here, to get an idea of what the cause of the engine overheating can be? 2) Is it possible that the fault could appear to be fixed after a short test cruise and an hours running of the engine, and then 4 hours cruising later start to overheat again? 3) Are there some specific questions I should ask the brokers/owners? 3) Am i crazy to consider this boat as an option, since I have so far to travel back? I would be very grateful for advice and information to help me make my decision. Any other advice also welcome. Thanks Sadie