It pays to exercise due-diligence.

[Alan de Enfield]

From NBW

 

The worst decision we ever made

Published: Monday, 29 July 2019

AS YOU champion boaters I don't expect this article will see the light of day, write Josie Blackburn.

Selling our house and moving onto the canals to live was the worst decision my husband and I ever made, that came from talking to those already on the water, as it were.

Very naïve

We thought we were sensible in buying a large boat, a broad beam in fact, to give us plenty of space to allow us to fulfil a long time ambition to explore the waterways of England, but alas it has proved that we were very naïve, hearing only the good points.

Perhaps it was our own fault for a last minute change of hearts to go for a broad beam instead of the narrowboat we had first decided upon, seeing how little space there was, not really investigating the canal as we should have done, soon discovering that launched on the Grand Union Canal at Crick, where the broadbeam took our fancy, we quickly realised that there was no way we could get to our family at Wolverhampton, and are is fact stuck on that canal or the rivers, that neither of us cared for, with their propensity to flood.

We were stuck

Yes, we had discovered there were two kinds of canal—broad and narrow, and the latter was no good for the size of out boat. So we had no access to our belongings that were stored in a friend's property in Wolverhampton, and certainly no space in the boat. We were stuck.

We then discovered the lack of facilities for anyone moving short distances, pump-outs and water taps were few and very far between, so we were controlled by having to reach such facilities, then to find they were closed as they had been dispensed with.

Perhaps I should mention that we ordered this boat at last year's Crick Boat Show but it was not until October we took delivery, as the alterations we required proved too much for the builders who were more set on their own, really useless, design.

Winter continued the rot

The winter continued the rot, as the Eberspächer [diesel heater] we were advised to have installed just was not up to the job, and had to go back for repairs twice, leaving us extremely cold during both late November and early February, as we did not want the dirt and clutter of a stove stuck at one end of the boat.

It was from this that we discovered that boats have about one inch of insulation, that is practically useless, as they are very cold in winter and very hot in summer, it being those hot days last week that had us joining others on the towpath who too were driven out of their 'ovens' by the hot weather, that we are told is to be the norm in the future, that prompted me to write.

Go in with your eyes wide open

There must be others, who like us,believe the delights of living on the water, and even some who obviously take to it, but please, unlike us, go in with you eyes wide open.

I feel much better for getting this off my chest, even if you will not include it, but have had pleasure in sending a copy to what we both thought were fairly useless boat builders, I understand new to the business, that I can well believe.

[Athy]

A little more prior research would have been beneficial.

I wonder why, if the boat had a useless design, they went ahead and ordered it.

[Boater Sam]

Sad, pity they didn't find this forum before commissioning a wide boat or hire one in winter for the experience.

 

I wonder which boat fitter thought 1" of insulation and an Eberspacher  was sufficient for a big boat?

Edited July 30, 2019 by Boater Sam

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, Athy said:

A little more prior research would have been beneficial.

I wonder why, if the boat had a useless design, they went ahead and ordered it.

They will probably now move into a quaint little village and complain about the Church bells.

[Theo]

A fortnight's hire would have saved them £100k.  It would soon have become blindingly obvious that there are broad and narrow canals.

 

Well done NBW for publishing this.  It goes to show the expense that the very minimum of research could have saved.

3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

They will probably now move into a quaint little village and complain about the Church bells.

Or the hens next door.

[Alan de Enfield]

11 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

Sad, pity they didn't find this forum before commissioning a wide boat or hire one in winter for the experience.

 

I wonder which boat fitter thought 1" of insulation or an Eberspacher  was sufficient for a big boat?

Lets not generalise - there are BIG Eberspachers (100% Biodiesel compatible)

Mine is 8Kw and I have a 14 foot beam boat.

 

Ebers manufacturer up to 35kw in both 'water' heaters and  'blown air heaters'.

 

 

Edited July 30, 2019 by Alan de Enfield

[mrsmelly]

17 minutes ago, Athy said:

A little more prior research would have been beneficial.

I wonder why, if the boat had a useless design, they went ahead and ordered it.

Precisely. We moved aboard thirty years ago, not many people lived aboard, no such thing as Google or tinternet just a couple of waterways mags. We knew within the first day or so of research that we had to buy a narrowboat in order to cruise all the connected waterways and indeed a short one. Our first was a 56 foot narrowboat. This artcile realy beggars belief and I am sorry but I am not suprised they quickly became disilusioned. Smacks me of the many many new posters who come on here asking questions but if they dont like the answer simply disregard it and do their own thing anyway.

[Boater Sam]

17 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Lets not generalise - there are BIG Eberspachers (100% Biodiesel compatible)

Mine is 8Kw and I have a 14 foot beam boat.

 

Ebers manufacturer up to 35kw in both 'water' heaters and  'blown air heaters'.

 

 

Corrected my post to "and".

 

You may have a big one dear, but bet you have more than an inch.

Edited July 30, 2019 by Boater Sam
An before a vowel or h

[Athy]

8 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

This artcile realy beggars belief 

Very much so - to the extent that I wonder if it is actually genuine.

[carlt]

5 minutes ago, Athy said:

Very much so - to the extent that I wonder if it is actually genuine.

Part 2 will focus on their overflowing poo tank, frozen water points and being sunk by a rampaging shanty boat. 

[Guest]

Quite simply, they didn't do their homework. So many sources of info these days; forums, facebook groups, and others. Still a learning curve even when you have dome some research, but at least you should have an insight.

1 minute ago, carlt said:

Part 2 will focus on their overflowing poo tank, frozen water points and being sunk by a rampaging shanty boat. 

Those damn shanty boats

[Athy]

2 minutes ago, carlt said:

Part 2 will focus on their overflowing poo tank, frozen water points and being sunk by a rampaging shanty boat. 

...or perhaps,as was mentioned on this forum some time ago, their bafflement that after a week the water stopped coming out of the taps?

[Peter X]

Hang on a sec, Alan quotes this:

 

Perhaps it was our own fault for a last minute change of hearts to go for a broad beam instead of the narrowboat we had first decided upon, seeing how little space there was, not really investigating the canal as we should have done, soon discovering that launched on the Grand Union Canal at Crick, where the broadbeam took our fancy, we quickly realised that there was no way we could get to our family at Wolverhampton, and are is fact stuck on that canal or the rivers, that neither of us cared for, with their propensity to flood.

 

It's not clear, but do they mean that the boat was actually put in the water at Crick before they realized their mistake? Unable to even reach any broad canal or river because both the Watford and Foxton locks are narrow!

That would be one hell of a mistake to make, and they might even have grounds to sue whoever arranged it for negligently failing to warn them of that. It might be acceptable to sell a widebeam on say the L&L or the K&A without mentioning the north-south divide, caveat emptor and all that, but at Crick it would be very sharp practise.

[carlt]

Just now, Athy said:

...or perhaps,as was mentioned on this forum some time ago, their bafflement that after a week the water stopped coming out of the taps?

That reminds me of the time we met up with my sister and family in their new caravan. 

They loved it apart from the fact that none of the plug sockets worked. 

Their holiday experience was transformed when I explained the concept of mains hook up. 

[frangar]

Are we sure this is real?? Can anyone be this naive? If it’s been going up & down the summit I’m sure someone would have stumbled upon it....I’m moored locally and not heard anything. There is a widebeam in north kilworth marina but then they would have a hook up....

 

 

[dmr]

Its all quite humorous but I don't think we should take the article too seriously, it is NBW after all. They also report that the Calder and Hebble navigation is flooded at Todmorden, just maybe boats on the C&H have washed up at Tod but that would be a very very serious flood indeed.

 

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

[Alan de Enfield]

34 minutes ago, Peter X said:

That would be one hell of a mistake to make, and they might even have grounds to sue whoever arranged it for negligently failing to warn them of that. It might be acceptable to sell a widebeam on say the L&L or the K&A without mentioning the north-south divide, caveat emptor and all that, but at Crick it would be very sharp practise.

Disagree - when you go to buy a new car, does the Car Salesman explain to you that you need a driving licence ?, or that your 7.5 tonne Camper Van cannot go over 3 tonne weight limit bridges ? etc etc...…………...

[Momac]

I spent a year deliberation before buying our first boat. In part the deliberation was due to a shortage of funds – things had to be sold (but not the house) . It may well have been a wise move as we had few surprises. The boat was capable of doing everything we wanted  and the limitations in its range were no surprise

 

Selling your home and buying boat to live on with no previous experience is a highly risky decision. I would strongly suggest retaining a shore property should be a priority (even if it is a small property rented out while you live afloat).

I have known a few people who have given up their boat when reaching an age or deteriorated physical or mental health condition that prohibits them from safely carrying on. One couple I knew ended up renting in retirement and living a very modest life as the boat , when sold, would not buy the smallest house.

[Boater Sam]

Alan de Enfield again.

 

Do you ever just post in agreement with anyone or is it always so negative and contadictorial?

Not having a pop, keen to know please.

[howardang]

58 minutes ago, carlt said:

That reminds me of the time we met up with my sister and family in their new caravan. 

They loved it apart from the fact that none of the plug sockets worked. 

Their holiday experience was transformed when I explained the concept of mains hook up. 

In the days before mobiles and the internet, I worked on passenger ships running between UK and New York. We had a couple of British telephone kiosks and a couple of US kiosks installedso that when alongside the relevant line was hooked up for the convenience of passengers. I was once stopped by an irate American lady who complained that despite depositing a coin in the slot she was unable to get a line and thought that the service was atrocious. It took a lot of persuading her that the telephone cable wasn't long enough to reach the shore, especially considering that were in the middle of the Atlantic, around 1500 miles or so from New York!

 

Howard

[Bod]

1 hour ago, Peter X said:

Hang on a sec, Alan quotes this:

 

Perhaps it was our own fault for a last minute change of hearts to go for a broad beam instead of the narrowboat we had first decided upon, seeing how little space there was, not really investigating the canal as we should have done, soon discovering that launched on the Grand Union Canal at Crick, where the broadbeam took our fancy, we quickly realised that there was no way we could get to our family at Wolverhampton, and are is fact stuck on that canal or the rivers, that neither of us cared for, with their propensity to flood.

 

It's not clear, but do they mean that the boat was actually put in the water at Crick before they realized their mistake? Unable to even reach any broad canal or river because both the Watford and Foxton locks are narrow!

That would be one hell of a mistake to make, and they might even have grounds to sue whoever arranged it for negligently failing to warn them of that. It might be acceptable to sell a widebeam on say the L&L or the K&A without mentioning the north-south divide, caveat emptor and all that, but at Crick it would be very sharp practise.

There was a few years back, a wide beam for sale at Crick, left over from the show.  All the advertisements did say that the price included, it being transported to a location of the buyers choice.

Think it was taken away, the next year, as boats were craned in/out for the show.

It certainly never left the marina.

 

Bod

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

Alan de Enfield again.

 

Do you ever just post in agreement with anyone or is it always so negative and contadictorial?

Not having a pop, keen to know please.

When I disagree with a comment, or it is blatantly 'wrong' then I will comment.

If I agree then I will award it a 'greenie' of one form or another.

 

There are too many people posting 'off the top of their head' stuff without checking it is correct - this can cause problems for newbies who know no better and can end up in trouble.

 

 

Do you agree that a boat salesman can be sued for negligence because he did not tell the enquirer that it would only fit on certain canals ?

Do you think that the boat salesman can be sued for negligence because he did not ask the enquirer where they planned to launch / use it ?

 

A boat builder could take the order to build and have no idea that the buyer would not arrange for a truck to take it to the K&A, London, River Trent etc

[Ray T]

The other side of the coin, to me a classic example of ignoring perceived wisdom, freely offered, by some yards was "Whitefield."

Edited July 30, 2019 by Ray T

[Neil2]

It doesn't really matter whether it's a genuine story or not, many of us know that it could be - when you talk to enough newcomers it really is quite breathtaking how ignorant some folk are, even though there is no excuse these days for not doing some sort of research.

 

Try this - I promise you this is 100% true - a few years ago we were heading East down the Leeds Liverpool and at one of the staircases, I forget which, a guy approached me, Nicholsons guide in hand, and asked me how we were going to get through one particular lock as "it says here it's only five foot wide".  I feigned a laugh, and replied  I bet you've spent  all day coming up with that one, then I realised to my horror he was deadly serious, - confirmed by the look on his face when I put him straight.  

[Dave123]

Hilarious!! Someone please get the Guardian to add this to their current series of canal related articles?.

 

I also think it doesn't quite add up. They went with no heating rather than use a stove because it would make a mess? And were they really just going up and down the Crick Summit pound?