What is a fair value for this boat

[MtB]

21 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I spent hours going back to Screwfix for yet another five hundred screws.

 

 

Seconded. Whenever I do any substantial work on a boat I find myself visiting B&Q or Screwfix every single morning to get a list of sundry stuff I needed and complied the previous day. A carrier bag of bits and pieces every day costing £30-£50 and never mind that one can use up five 8x4 sheets of marine ply at £100 each on almost nothing when constructing say, a new shower room. 

[LadyG]

On 15/11/2022 at 11:03, Cheshire cat said:

That was my first thought. The producer is even more naive than some of the people that take on these projects. 

I think this has been done before, I seem to remember a similar request about four years ago

There are a few good self fitting out YouTube series, not sure how a TV program would work. Presumably looking for a personality, maybe Robbie Cummings could buy a second boat, but then would anyone who knew what they were doing really want to have a TV crew messing about on a narrowboat while they were trying to fit it out.

Edited November 16, 2022 by LadyG

[Tonka]

How do you know the boat was built in the 1960's ? Has the engine been changed? Does it have a weed hatch screwed down with wing bolts ? 

I ask because it looks like a boat we used to own way back. Do you know of any previous names the boat may of had ?

[doratheexplorer]

Sorry to join the thread late but...

 

...about 6 years ago a friend sold their wooden top boat.  It was in similar condition internally and externally to the OPs.  It was shorter at 40' and the engine was not in tip-top shape.  He sold it for £10k without a great deal of difficulty.  The new owner spent a considerable sum removing the top and putting on a steel top, and redoing the interior.  I expect, in total they ended up spending upwards of £30k and ended up with a 40' boat with an old, thin hull, a dodgy engine and a basic fit out.  At that time, £30k would have bought a fairly decent condition 40' boat.

 

Point is, there's always a steady stream of willing narrowboat buyers at the £15k mark or less.  I suspect that if the OP doesn't buy it, someone else will.  Whether it's a sensible buy is another matter entirely.

[Tracy D'arth]

An old wooden top boat is basically a shed on a rusty tin box and it will be just like that until the day it is burnt out and scrapped no matter how much time and money you lavish in it. Buy a bit dearer, later, better and enjoy boating instead of fighting off the inevitable.

[Crewcut]

On 15/11/2022 at 21:59, lxs602 said:

 

Out of interest, why do you think this would be further along? If it is a sailaway, then surely the stove, water tank, sink, insulation, etc. would need to be fitted. I have heard fitting out the inside of the boat to be a lot of work and cost.

 

Apologies for the tardy reply - because somebody else has already gutted the boat ready for the refit. Frankly the one you're looking at looks for all the world like it needs gutting...

[lxs602]

The sellers lowered the asking price to £12k when I mentioned the surveyor's guestimate, but I decided not to go ahead given my limited practical skills.

 

I cannot gauge whether I would manage the work on the inside or the maintenance. If I decided to sell in a year or two, I would find it hard to address aspects of concern others, such as the hull being below 4mm in a few places.  I think it would be more sensible to save just a little for something in a more finished condition.

 

Leaving something is harder if you thought would be fairly suitable and have invested an interest. Perhaps it would be different if I had more experience with doing work myself and if I could also weld. 

 

It was a good size, looked nice from the outside, the roof redone, and the engine was well maintained. The interior would benefit from removing some items and a bit of freshening up, which always seems to help. I think the sellers have a good chance of selling in the current conditions though.

 

Thanks again for the replies. 

Edited November 26, 2022 by lxs602

[lxs602]

On 22/11/2022 at 15:46, Tonka said:

How do you know the boat was built in the 1960's ? Has the engine been changed? Does it have a weed hatch screwed down with wing bolts ? 

I ask because it looks like a boat we used to own way back. Do you know of any previous names the boat may of had ?

 

Hi, this was the sellers' guess and I think from what they were told. They have had it about 15 years. 

 

The bow has been more or less completely replaced through about 2 years of welding work. The engine is a replacement, as the original couldn't be repaired.

 

I can't remember about the weed hatch unfortunately... I don't know if it had any other names previously. 

[Alan de Enfield]

10 minutes ago, lxs602 said:

but I decided not to go ahead given my limited practical skills.

 

 

 

[MtB]

7 hours ago, lxs602 said:

Perhaps it would be different if I had more experience with doing work myself and if I could also weld. 

 

I think it would be. You'd have been far more quickly able to grasp the size of the project, and in particular the associated economic folly.

 

If you just save up the £100 a day probable spend rate on materials and hard standing this boat would cost to renovate, you'll probably get a decent boat cheaper and more quickly by just sitting around doing nothing!

 

Less fun though...