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Help and advice sought.


ScottBolton

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Hi ladies and gents, I have just joined so please be gentle! ?

 

OK, so I am currently going through a divorce and due to the way the law is in this wonderful country of ours, I am going to have to let the "other" take much more than myself. Because of this I am left with either getting a huge mortgage or think of alternatives. I live in Warrington, so the Bridgewater Canal would be my nearest canal. 

Initially, I did think about going down the widebeam route. This being because my kids are 14 and 17 and are with my 75% of the time, so the extra space etc would be vital, as I would need 3 bedrooms, and then us living permanently on board. But having read several posters getting advised not to do this I had another idea. 

What if I rented a house, and bought a narrowboat with my share of the equity of the house? My thoughts being that if I could rent out the boat during the months of say March to September, I could possible pay the rent for my house for me? 

Then once my kids have gone their own way, I could move into the boat full time. 

 

I have no idea about boating etc, and I totally understand that I would need to have a few weeks aboard at least before making a decision. But my thoughts are genuine, as the lifestyle really really appeals to me, so it's not just for the sake of dodging the stupid mortgage costs. 

 

I would be extremely grateful to hear what people think about this idea. That would be involved licence and insurance wise, other costs to be taken into consideration etc.... 

I would be looking to spend in the region of £50,000-£60,000 on the boat itself. 

Thanks in advance. 

 

Scott 

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First off the Bridgewater is a separate navigation authority to CaRT so you need to find out their requirements for letting out a boat on their waters. The Bridgewater is not that long so some hirers may demand a CaRT license as well. The Cart and BSS requirements for hire boats may not be  easy to meet if the boat is not built for hire. You will need an acceptable operating base, Commercial license, commercial insurance, Hire boat BSS, annual gas inspections (I think). By and large hiring is unlikely to be cost effective and what about covering turnrounds, servicing (including pump outs and filling with water) and breakdowns?

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Three distinct sleeping areas is goung to be quite a challenge especially in a used boat. If you look at plans on some of The brokers who give them you can get some idea of the options. Certainly it will eat in to the living space. Remember that bedrooms on narrowboat are unlikely to allow much other than sleeping so the three of you will have to share the living space - and computers! As far as renting out, I be surprised if you could make a viable business plan based on what you have said. Tgat said, if tge lifestyle suits all three of you, go for if, but on  12 month basis. Best to try it before blowing up the bridges behind you. (I nearly said before you burn your boats but that might not be encouraging!)

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3 hours ago, ScottBolton said:

Hi ladies and gents, I have just joined so please be gentle! ?

We normally are - honest :D Welcome to the forum Scott 

 

3 hours ago, ScottBolton said:

This being because my kids are 14 and 17 and are with my 75% of the time, so the extra space etc would be vital, as I would need 3 bedrooms, and then us living permanently on board.

Have you considered an ex-hire boat they are often set out with several rooms, and another option though you may not like this one is that you don't actually need a whole bedroom to sleep in and bunk beds are not unusual for kids, It may take teen a little getting used to though, each bunk can have it's own curtain. 

 

https://www.black-prince.com/duchess-6-narrowboat/

 

duchess6.jpg

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Don't make any rash and impulsive decisions whilst going through a divorce.

You are not the first person to have this idea.

Renting out a boat is mostly a non starter, rules, regulations and basic economics are stacked against you, you need several before it becomes viable and even then two or three really good hire companies have gone bust of late.

Teenagers need privacy and space and most don't like living on boats with a parent.

 

Living on boats is great, and a very few have made it work with teenagers but its not easy, most young boaters leave the cut when they have kids.

 

...............Dave

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Thanks for the replies, I understand that about the kids which is why I was now thinking more of buying the boat, and then moving onto it once they have flown the nest so to speak. 

Because if this, I wouldn't necessarily need 3 bedrooms on the boat like I would if I intended on moving aboard right now. 

With regards to the business case, I wouldn't need to make a huge sum of money to make it work, as long as it paid for itself and then had money to help me to pay towards my day to day living. 

I hadn't thought of buying an ex rental boat, that would make so much sense in terms of all of the legislations the boat would have to meet etc. 

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10 hours ago, ScottBolton said:

 

With regards to the business case, I wouldn't need to make a huge sum of money to make it work, as long as it paid for itself and then had money to help me to pay towards my day to day living. 

 

Just that comment rings large and very noisy alarm bells!!
I really think you need to do a lot more studying of the hire industry and all the legislation and problems that it WILL cause you.
There is an awful more to it than money.

Edited by Graham Davis
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2 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:

Just that comment rings large and very noisy alarm bells!!
I really think you need to do a lot more studying of the hire industry and all the legislation and problems that it WILL cause you.
There is an awful more to it than money.

 

My first boss was fond of saying how easy it was to run a successful business, The same applies to a business plan or business case. All you have to do is:

 

(1) Get work;

(2) Do work;

(3) Get paid.

 

Failure to achieve any one of the three means total failure.

 

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51 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

My first boss was fond of saying how easy it was to run a successful business, The same applies to a business plan or business case. All you have to do is:

 

(1) Get work;

(2) Do work;

(3) Get paid.

 

Failure to achieve any one of the three means total failure.

 

Your first boss was a very wise person.

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Try hiring a Boat for a week and taking your teenagers with you, preferably when it is cold and wet.

 

Whilst a weeks hire is nothing like living on a boat it should give you a flavour of whether you and the kids can survive it or not.

Edited by cuthound
Spillung
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17 hours ago, ScottBolton said:

Thanks for the replies, I understand that about the kids which is why I was now thinking more of buying the boat, and then moving onto it once they have flown the nest so to speak. 

Because if this, I wouldn't necessarily need 3 bedrooms on the boat like I would if I intended on moving aboard right now. 

With regards to the business case, I wouldn't need to make a huge sum of money to make it work, as long as it paid for itself and then had money to help me to pay towards my day to day living. 

I hadn't thought of buying an ex rental boat, that would make so much sense in terms of all of the legislations the boat would have to meet etc. 

Even if it is immediately ex-hire, don't take it for granted that it would still meet all the regulations After all, that might be why it was time to dispose of it!

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8 hours ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

My first boss was fond of saying how easy it was to run a successful business, The same applies to a business plan or business case. All you have to do is:

 

(1) Get work;

(2) Do work;

(3) Get paid.

 

Failure to achieve any one of the three means total failure.

 

You missed out quite a few steps in the modern world. 

(1a) have a GDPR policy

(1b) have an H&S policy

(1c) have an employee pension scheme

(1d) have a Gillick child policy

(1e) have a chaperone policy

etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc

 

This is why we have just sold our successful business after 29 years. We still enjoyed the job, but the red tape and beaurocracy has become ridiculous. 

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