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Purchasing an Ex Hire Boat, whats your view?


huami

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I deliberately bought an ex hire boat with a big ding or two in the bow about 20 years ago and feel I could not have done better. Easy to service, good access to parts needing attention and as long as its from a REPUTABLE fleet likely to be properly  and regularly serviced. Now selling on at 29 years old and I understand the survey only found wear that required attention on the uxter plate and even then I am not sure it was not a reading error (my survey said it had a 5/16 and a 1/4" plate there with no apparent reason).

 

Mind you I wanted a cruiser stern rather than an anti-social trad or a more difficult to board semi-trad, horses for courses.

 

Note REPUTABLE in caps!

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I like the look of some of the day boats for hire. They’d make lovely little mobile art studios. Either for private use or for taking a few paying folk out to do their arty stuff. 

 

Has anyone ever seen them come up for sale?

Edited by Goliath
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4 hours ago, Gayzingalone said:

So, I have been given some very positive reviews on purchasing ex hire boats. Normally I would personally stay clear of ex (anythings!) but on reflection I can see and understand the logic of looking to purchase an ex hire boat. 
Why you may ask? .... Because hire companies need to keep their fleet in top condition as they don't want problems when a boat is out on hire for someones holiday. As far as I have understood they will check and service their engines far better and more often than a private individual. They also tend to repair all and everything immediately in readiness for their next customer. 
I wonder if anyone (other than the person who advised me to look at ex hire boats) could give me their views? Positive or Negative, I would like to find out more.

 

Thanking you all in anticipation .... Neil 

 

We purchased an 58'-6" Ex Black Prince boat 7 years ago, we CC for 9 month of the year and have been very happy with ours. 

 

Our need.

1). Something bullet proof, to “try the life” have a look round the system and learn on.

Then after 2 years move up to have a high spec boat built.

2). Simple to maintain.

3). Go anywhere.

4). Look good.

 

Outcome

 

We have had two big rams amidships (and others) from hire boats out of control on bends. They are built like a BSH, so no probs.

 

BP converted her from a four berth to 4+2. So she is very flexible.

BP provided us with new mattress and other odds & sods as well as the re-paint to out design.

We often have other boaters visit and they are usually amazed at the quality of the fit out, some who have bespoke boats are even envious.

The fit-out is very easy clean. 

The engine room is large and all the bits are standard.

So we have never felt the need to up grade as intended.

We were told she could go anywhere and she has, including down all the Witham Drains, up the Slea, on to the Uttoxeter and over all the Huddersfield.

 

 

Re Mods

 

Remember IT IS NOT A HIGH SPEC boat. Timbers are not solid.
If you want a boat with a Queen Mary timber fit out with lots of dials and gadgets you will have to fit them yourself.

The only thing we added were low profile solar panels

and some extra shelving.

 

Ex BP boat owners have a bit of an unofficial club going so one is often invited for inspections of the mods they have made.

 

BP boats have very good but distinctive fenders so you WILL NEED a roof top decoration.

Immediately we put one on we were treated with respect by other boaters.

Edited by Martin@75
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33 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

Where is Blue String Pudding when we need her? I seem to remember that Lisa's boat is ex-Black Prince fleet. 

She doesn't use the forum very often anymore but your right it is ex black prince but bought from a private seller not direct.

Solid boat with a massive poo tank, in fact it had 2 massive poo tanks but she had 1 removed

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7 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Solid boat with a massive poo tank, in fact it had 2 massive poo tanks but she had 1 removed

We can store 600 litres of the brown stuff.  Sees the two of us good for 5 weeks, but as ours was designed for 8 people, doubt it would have got much beyond a week, when in hire service!

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48 minutes ago, Goliath said:

I like the look of some of the day boats for hire. They’d make lovely little mobile art studios. Either for private use or for taking a few paying folk out to do their arty stuff. 

 

Has anyone ever seen them come up for sale?

Valley Cruisers, Coventry had / has a day boat. It was purchased from Chesterfield Canal. 

As mentioned above Valley Cruisers went into liquidation this month.

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We never knew our boat was a (sort of) ex hire till we found an old blog by the first owner. They had it built for themselves, but put it into a hire fleet for a couple of seasons while making preparations to move on board. So we bought a (sort of) ex hire boat without knowing it!

 

Personally I'm inclined to think the regular maintenance, repaints etc. weigh more in ex hire boats' favour, than the risk of their possibly 'hard life' bumping in to things weighs against them. Many hire boaters are regulars and good at boat handling, many private boat owners will have had bumps over the years from awkward manoeuvres, accidents, high winds or whatnot. Most such bumps do no harm anyway. And in many ways I'd rather know that if any damage has occurred in the past, it's been assessed and dealt with by a hire firm rather than a private owner with who knows what level of expertise or DIY skills.

 

Having said all that, we didn't (intentionally!) bother viewing any ex-hire boats when shopping around for our liveaboard because the layouts always seem to be based around cramming in extra berths and often extra toilets and showers. At the end of the day they're designed to be used generally by 4-8 people for short periods from spring to autumn, with most of every day spent on deck or in the pub - not by 1-2 people living on board all year.

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We have an ex-hire boat. Tyto Alba was built for the Bank of England social club and was operated by them for a number of years. (They still have one called Watermark it was based at Teddesley not certain if it still is). After the bank sold it our boat was operated as a hire boat on the Soar until we bought it 7years ago. We were looking for a boat having been part of a share boat for ten years and it ticked most but not all of our boxes. However we saw the potential in it - we had it converted from a semi trad to trad with a large slide which means that 3 people can stand comfortably at the stern. We added a solid fuel stove, cratch and cover, rebuilt the seating, coverted one set of bunks into a sofa plus many smaller things. The boat was well built and maintained and we have the advantage of keeping it at the place it was hired from so any issues with maintenance we can get solved quite quickly. It has a hull by a well known and repected builder - Colecraft- and a very solid fitout. We are happy with what we bought and it suits our needs. So if a boat ticks your boxes or can for modest sums be made to tick them and it is an ex-hire boat go for it.

One member of this forum bought a hire boat found that they were not really using it enough so have now placed it into a different hire fleet.

 

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6 hours ago, The Dreamer said:

No worries.  It worth noting that ABC sell for private owners too, so look for the bright yellow (with Viking names), or the red and green ones (with double barrel bird names).  At the moment they are also selling a few for a hire firm called Valley Cruisers, who recently went bust...

Hi Dreamer,
All replies are sounding very positive regarding buying an ex hire boat but you also mention about "a hire firm called Valley Cruisers, who recently went bust...". I think I personalty would be a bit dubious about buying from a firm who went bust. I would worry about the after sales service which of course would not exist if the firm were no longer trading.  

Anyway, have a lovely day and thanks again for the information.

Neil

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3 minutes ago, Gayzingalone said:

 . I think I personalty would be a bit dubious about buying from a firm who went bust. I would worry about the after sales service which of course would not exist if the firm were no longer trading.  

 

No after sales service if you buy a private boat, no comeback if it falls to bits.

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1 hour ago, Richard T said:

We have an ex-hire boat. Tyto Alba was built for the Bank of England social club and was operated by them for a number of years. (They still have one called Watermark it was based at Teddesley not certain if it still is). After the bank sold it our boat was operated as a hire boat on the Soar until we bought it 7years ago. We were looking for a boat having been part of a share boat for ten years and it ticked most but not all of our boxes. However we saw the potential in it - we had it converted from a semi trad to trad with a large slide which means that 3 people can stand comfortably at the stern. We added a solid fuel stove, cratch and cover, rebuilt the seating, coverted one set of bunks into a sofa plus many smaller things. The boat was well built and maintained and we have the advantage of keeping it at the place it was hired from so any issues with maintenance we can get solved quite quickly. It has a hull by a well known and repected builder - Colecraft- and a very solid fitout. We are happy with what we bought and it suits our needs. So if a boat ticks your boxes or can for modest sums be made to tick them and it is an ex-hire boat go for it.

One member of this forum bought a hire boat found that they were not really using it enough so have now placed it into a different hire fleet.

 

Hi Richard,

I am so pleased about the number of people who take the time to reply to my postings. I am very new to Web-boards and how they work. 
Thanks for your reply which I read with interest.

Have a lovely day,

Neil

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2 hours ago, magictime said:

We never knew our boat was a (sort of) ex hire till we found an old blog by the first owner. They had it built for themselves, but put it into a hire fleet for a couple of seasons while making preparations to move on board. So we bought a (sort of) ex hire boat without knowing it!

 

Personally I'm inclined to think the regular maintenance, repaints etc. weigh more in ex hire boats' favour, than the risk of their possibly 'hard life' bumping in to things weighs against them. Many hire boaters are regulars and good at boat handling, many private boat owners will have had bumps over the years from awkward manoeuvres, accidents, high winds or whatnot. Most such bumps do no harm anyway. And in many ways I'd rather know that if any damage has occurred in the past, it's been assessed and dealt with by a hire firm rather than a private owner with who knows what level of expertise or DIY skills.

 

Having said all that, we didn't (intentionally!) bother viewing any ex-hire boats when shopping around for our liveaboard because the layouts always seem to be based around cramming in extra berths and often extra toilets and showers. At the end of the day they're designed to be used generally by 4-8 people for short periods from spring to autumn, with most of every day spent on deck or in the pub - not by 1-2 people living on board all year.

Hi Magictime ..... Interesting reading and thanks for your very comprehensive reply. I am gaining information every day.

Thanks again and have a lovely day.

Neil

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18 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

No after sales service if you buy a private boat, no comeback if it falls to bits.

Hi Brian, Thanks for your comment but I also noticed that in a footnote you said "Brian - Who writes a boring blog every day when he is on board Harnser travelling the canals.". I found your blog quite interesting and it is something I may consider to do myself in the future.

Thanks again and have a lovely day

Neil

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1 hour ago, Richard T said:

We have an ex-hire boat. Tyto Alba was built for the Bank of England social club and was operated by them for a number of years. (They still have one called Watermark it was based at Teddesley not certain if it still is). After the bank sold it our boat was operated as a hire boat on the Soar until we bought it 7years ago. We were looking for a boat having been part of a share boat for ten years and it ticked most but not all of our boxes. However we saw the potential in it - we had it converted from a semi trad to trad with a large slide which means that 3 people can stand comfortably at the stern. We added a solid fuel stove, cratch and cover, rebuilt the seating, coverted one set of bunks into a sofa plus many smaller things. The boat was well built and maintained and we have the advantage of keeping it at the place it was hired from so any issues with maintenance we can get solved quite quickly. It has a hull by a well known and repected builder - Colecraft- and a very solid fitout. We are happy with what we bought and it suits our needs. So if a boat ticks your boxes or can for modest sums be made to tick them and it is an ex-hire boat go for it.

One member of this forum bought a hire boat found that they were not really using it enough so have now placed it into a different hire fleet.

 

Hi Richard, Interesting reading and thanks so much for your comments. I am feeling more and more positive about buying an ex hire boat as time goes by.

Have a lovely day

Neil

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3 hours ago, Martin@75 said:

 

We purchased an 58'-6" Ex Black Prince boat 7 years ago, we CC for 9 month of the year and have been very happy with ours. 

 

Our need.

1). Something bullet proof, to “try the life” have a look round the system and learn on.

Then after 2 years move up to have a high spec boat built.

2). Simple to maintain.

3). Go anywhere.

4). Look good.

 

Outcome

 

We have had two big rams amidships (and others) from hire boats out of control on bends. They are built like a BSH, so no probs.

 

BP converted her from a four berth to 4+2. So she is very flexible.

BP provided us with new mattress and other odds & sods as well as the re-paint to out design.

We often have other boaters visit and they are usually amazed at the quality of the fit out, some who have bespoke boats are even envious.

The fit-out is very easy clean. 

The engine room is large and all the bits are standard.

So we have never felt the need to up grade as intended.

We were told she could go anywhere and she has, including down all the Witham Drains, up the Slea, on to the Uttoxeter and over all the Huddersfield.

 

 

Re Mods

 

Remember IT IS NOT A HIGH SPEC boat. Timbers are not solid.
If you want a boat with a Queen Mary timber fit out with lots of dials and gadgets you will have to fit them yourself.

The only thing we added were low profile solar panels

and some extra shelving.

 

Ex BP boat owners have a bit of an unofficial club going so one is often invited for inspections of the mods they have made.

 

BP boats have very good but distinctive fenders so you WILL NEED a roof top decoration.

Immediately we put one on we were treated with respect by other boaters.

 

Hi Martin,

WoW, You really gave me quite a lot of very good and well formatted information.

I am now feeling quite confident about the firm "Black Prince" and have joined their mailing list.

Thank you again that you took so much time to reply to me,

Have a lovely day

Neil

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3 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

I deliberately bought an ex hire boat with a big ding or two in the bow about 20 years ago and feel I could not have done better. Easy to service, good access to parts needing attention and as long as its from a REPUTABLE fleet likely to be properly  and regularly serviced. Now selling on at 29 years old and I understand the survey only found wear that required attention on the uxter plate and even then I am not sure it was not a reading error (my survey said it had a 5/16 and a 1/4" plate there with no apparent reason).

 

Mind you I wanted a cruiser stern rather than an anti-social trad or a more difficult to board semi-trad, horses for courses.

 

Note REPUTABLE in caps!

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the reply and some of the points in your posting are very valuable "Easy to service, good access to parts needing attention".

Have a lovely day

Neil

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2 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

 

Sorry, but I'm completely baffled about what this means.:huh:

Luckily at my age I am allowed to be "Baffled" .... (and it often happens!), but I am waiting for someones wise words to explain it.

 

Everyone have a nice day,

Neil

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7 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

 

Sorry, but I'm completely baffled about what this means.:huh:

Moi aussi.

The only thing I can think of is that hire boats do not have tubs of flowers, herbs etc. on the roof. So, if your boat is and looks like a hire boat, th epresence of such a rooftop garden will show people that it isn't - though I can't quite see how that matters.

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1 hour ago, Athy said:

Moi aussi.

The only thing I can think of is that hire boats do not have tubs of flowers, herbs etc. on the roof. So, if your boat is and looks like a hire boat, th epresence of such a rooftop garden will show people that it isn't - though I can't quite see how that matters.

 

Many boaters decorate their roofs with bags of coal at this time of year! ?

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