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Sailaway or Knacker?


gpspadi

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33 minutes ago, Alastair said:

I won't bother listing pros.

 

Cons:

Heating - it is a corridor, like all narrowboats. Some spaces closed off. Single source of heat in one room. That simply won't spread to the other areas. You'll end up with the area nearest the stove at 28C in winter - and the bathroom+bedroom will still be freezing.

Electric - numerous power-240V-hungry devices. Even the toilet needs electrikery to flush. It is a boat designed to be plugged into a shoreline. Fine, if you are going to live connected to a shoreline. 

My boat is trad a 57ft and good build & design [improved handling], no major build flaws.I understand 57ft is go anywhere length.

I have seen far better interior designs, but I have been warm all winter , so a good stove amidships is essential, and two independant heating options.

I would be happy with a smaller pullman diner, but understandably, most people prefer 6 x 4 bed conversion

I have seen a few stylish walk through bathrooms, they need to be very swish if on display.

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1 hour ago, Alastair said:

I won't bother listing pros.

 

Cons...

... it has all the charm of a used paint tin (white of course) 

 

16 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

I completely agree. 45k is enough to buy a very reasonable boat not very old in good serviceable order from day one. 

Me three :)

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Personaly,the only two things I would be concerned about are the condition of the hull and the engine/gearbox. Things like insulation,wiring you have to relate to price.  If the boat is cheap enough and you have checked secondary items(which are still quite expensive)like cooker,fridge,water heater,inverter-charger then you have to make a judgement. Our last boat was bought on a whim and suited us well for 11 years .In the end ,condition of the bottom plate(6mm) pushed us to selling up.(The new purchaser was aware of the problem) In retrospect,I wish we had spent a bit more on a newer boat with a 10mm bottom plate. On length ,going down hill on a boat the max size for any given lock,you may get very wet. There are some very leaky loch gates out there.

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I bought my first boat ex share boat, I altered it, second boat finance repossession I altered it I have a third boat I am working on, I am altering it!! The moral is unless you know exactly what you want and a secondhand boat fits that bill you will alter it, alternatively buy a sailaway and build it to what you want exactly, if you want to go anywhere make it 57 foot its easier

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3 hours ago, Bee said:

I would buy an old heap but ONLY if it was what I wanted, of historical interest, a definite bargain or something quite unique. Apart from that it would be a new shell, no bulkheads, tanks, engine bearers, or somebody else's bright ideas to sort out. I've fitted out on the towpath before, its awkward but keep it tidy and a small genny (even if it can just charge cordless tools) is needed. Also it will take at the very least 12 months so it gives you time to get stuff from E Bay , boat jumbles and other places to avoid the expensive places. You need doors and windows ready to fit at once otherwise stuff will vanish and the boat will fill up with rainwater. You also need to be ruthlessly organised. Pretend you are doing it for a customer so no short cuts or bodges or days off. Every spare minute you need to be sourcing stuff, making stuff at home in the shed if you have one or thinking of ways of getting everything from ballast to paint. Its hard work and all consuming. In fact I've no idea why I have spent big chunks of my life doing it when I could have been having fun with sex n' drugs n' rock and roll. What a waste.

I did precisely that apart from I rented a space in Aynho car park rather than Bank side. Everything brand new and fitted myself apart from full pro paint job to finish it off. Would I do it again?  No bloomin way Jose ?

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4 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

I did precisely that apart from I rented a space in Aynho car park rather than Bank side. Everything brand new and fitted myself apart from full pro paint job to finish it off. Would I do it again?  No bloomin way Jose ?

Same here

 

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On 03/03/2020 at 08:51, Alan de Enfield said:

Well. it is only in exchange for the boat keys.

 

It has worked for me on a number of occasions, an Aldi (other brands available) carrier bag with a load of notes inside is a powerful negotiating tool. 

 

I was looking down the NB listings on Apollo Duck when a 'new one 'popped up' which looked a good buy so gave the guy a call and arranged to meet up in 3 hours time (that was the time to drive to Preston Brook from home.

 

We (SWMBO & I) jumped in the car and off we set, got there, looked, negotiated the price and did the deal.

The boat still had all his 'stuff' on board so gave him an hour to clear it off whilst we went to the pub for lunch.

Went back, handed over the cash, wife took the car home and I set off in the boat.

Took me 10 days to get home.

 

Sold it 2 years later for more than I paid for it. 

Sold it two days (over Christmas) Young couple bought it and when the weather allowed set off down to London with plans to liveaboard.

But harsh only giving him an hour to remove all his gear.?

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13 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It doesn't take long to throw a few clothes and a toothbrush into a bin-bag.

I don't live aboard but I have clothes, 2 tvs cutlery, crockery, booze, pots, pans, kettle, tool kit. spares, all sorts of electrical objects, and probably lots of stuff in draws and cupboards that I cant remember. but saying all that he could always have said he needed more time.

3 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

He could always have said no to the bag of cash right there .. 

 

And I assume it wasn't a live aboard, so not all his worldy goods to shift.

and not many of us have the odd £30,000 or £40,000 in cash just hanging around waiting to be bunged into a plastic bag.

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2 minutes ago, Neil Smith said:

I don't live aboard but I have clothes, 2 tvs cutlery, crockery, booze, pots, pans, kettle, tool kit. spares, all sorts of electrical objects, and probably lots of stuff in draws and cupboards that I cant remember. but saying all that he could always have said he needed more time.

My mate bought a boat and all that was still on it

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1 minute ago, ditchcrawler said:

My mate bought a boat and all that was still on it

hope he didn't use the underpants.?

2 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

That'll be why Alan's seller blinked and said sure, see you in an hour!

before he could change his mind.

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5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

My mate bought a boat and all that was still on it

It's very common with proper boat sales that whatever is on the boat when you strike the deal is included in the sale.

 

Again, not usually for liveaboards though, or you might end up with 2 dogs and a spare wife!

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3 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

It's very common with proper boat sales that whatever is on the boat when you strike the deal is included in the sale.

 

Again, not usually for liveaboards though, or you might end up with 2 dogs and a spare wife!

??

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5 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

It's very common with proper boat sales that whatever is on the boat when you strike the deal is included in the sale.

 

Again, not usually for liveaboards though, or you might end up with 2 dogs and a spare wife!

Sometimes wish I still had a dog

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The cash thing. 

 

It isn't a certainty, it depends on the person you are dealing with, as it does is in much of life.

 

Yes some sellers might grab a bag of cash in return for a reduction in price, others would be put off by it. I'm in the latter camp. A carrier bag of cash would be an utter ball-ache to deal with (think of having to make the trip to the bank to pay it in and answer reams of stoopid questions about where it came from) so I'd be far more amenable to doing a deal in return for no survey and a bank transfer today.*

 

I'd say for many sellers the willingness to forgo a survey is actually the underlying big attraction in any given buyer waving around a carrier bag of cash, not sight of the cash itself.

 

 

*This can actually be quite difficult to do nowadays as banks sometimes place quite a low limit on the first transaction you make to a new payee. A fraud reduction measure.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Mike the Boilerman
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On 03/03/2020 at 08:50, LadyG said:

See Journey with Jono, three years in to his sailaway. He took two years to get it in to a paint shed, then a lot of work to get rid of rust, I know painting outdoors is a problem unless you get ten days of warm dry calm weather, else you have to keep sanding surface 'cos previous coat has cured, and won't accept next topcoat. Coatings are very important on a steel boat, mine is over 15 years old, yet has almost no rust, I have seen boats three years old, where the waterline is raw metal, so if getting a sailaway, my advice is to get a good one, pay for a good paint job, no castles and roses, just good two pack paint applied properly in a controlled environment. Three solid weeks work, a huge wad of cash, and a lot of dust. You need proper personal protection, I use 3M stuff.

Colin Jaques [youtube] also fitted out his own boat, had all skills, tools, and his own workshop, he got someone to do the wiring loom, and made very few changes as he went, probably due to narrowboat experience.

 

 

It's ok, I don't need to watch other people's videos of fitting out sailaways. I did it myself so have first hand experience.

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2 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

It's ok, I don't need to watch other people's videos of fitting out sailaways. I did it myself so have first hand experience.

I fitted mine out from a bare shell, but it is interesting how other people go about it.

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On 03/03/2020 at 10:47, gpspadi said:

The length question.

 

I know I've fallen into the newbie trap here at 60'. Only because I know its a go anywhere length. Obviously longer the better for living on full time.

 

I've lived, happily, in 52ft for four years and not felt particularly cramped.

Yes, longer is better (isn't it always!?), but don't get fall into the trap of thinking you must have 60ft to be comfortable. 

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On 03/03/2020 at 09:34, gpspadi said:

The Journey with Jono vids are what turned me on and then off the idea of a sail away DIY fit out on the move.

 

So a 60' at £40k looking primarily for a good hull and engine with reasonable electrics and plumbing. What should I be looking at? newer owner fit outs, ex hire boats, or older yard fit outs. I guess all of the above is the answer. Amazing how just writing this all down is consolidating my thoughts.

 

I wont be buying untill around September this year, but could do with some reassurance I'm thinking about the right sort of boat. This for example.

 

https://www.apolloduck.com/boat.phtml?id=614141

first I thought.. that's a pretty boat... black outside, white inside... perfect

then read the comments....

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  • 1 year later...
On 03/03/2020 at 11:02, David Mack said:

Apart from a couple of locations in the Fens (Lode End and Brandon locks) a 70 ft narrow boat can go anywhere in the South and Midlands

 

How long is Lodes End Lock? Is it doable in a 65' boat? I hope so, otherwise it makes Woodwalton Fen, Monks Lode and Holme all inaccessible :(

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Yup Upware lock makes Wicken Fen / Burwell / Reach all inaccessible for a full length boat. I'm going to give it a go but plan to do a "dry run" without the boat in it first, to see what happens with the auto-closing, then try with the boat and be very ready to get out of there if it looks like I'm going to get guillotined.

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