Narrowboat share schemes

[hugh dumbarton]

Has anyone used one and if so is there any advice

Regards Hugh

[robtheplod]

Yes we used to have a share of a narrowboat before we bought. Work well if you find yourself hiring lots as can be cheaper. Upside is all costs are shared so you don't pay as much, but downside is you can't generally choose your weeks, they tend to be allocated.... we enjoyed our time in the share..... are you considering one in particular?

[BEngo]

They work well for a lot of folks.

 

Key issues, apart from keeping your own eye on costs:

 

Make sure the time allocation system suits you.  

Find a syndicate where you are on the same wavelength as the other members.  

Find one of the group to be an effective Chair, or import one for big discussions like time allocation, basing, major maintenance etc.

Find one of the group to manage and deal for or with the engineering/upkeep  issues. 

 

Find another member to deal with the admin, and money:  sinking fund, share payments,  licensing, insurance BSS etc.

 

Make sure you like the boat and are not buying into a lemon.

 

 Some or all of these can be dealt with by using a management company, but that comes with a cost, and you may not get as much input as you would like to decisions.  Not all management companies have proven to be reputable.  Do homework.a

 

N

 

[hugh dumbarton]

Thanks for the replies we have hired for the last 15 years and now we are both retired and we would like to try a longer time i.e. 2 weeks together.

The ones we have been looking at are either self managed or through a management company which is costlier although with us in Scotland might suit us.

The cost of the share would seem to reflect the age of the boat would that be fair comment?

Regards Hugh

[Machpoint005]

4 minutes ago, hugh dumbarton said:

The cost of the share would seem to reflect the age of the boat would that be fair comment?

 

Yes.

[Paul C]

1 hour ago, robtheplod said:

Yes we used to have a share of a narrowboat before we bought. Work well if you find yourself hiring lots as can be cheaper. Upside is all costs are shared so you don't pay as much, but downside is you can't generally choose your weeks, they tend to be allocated.... we enjoyed our time in the share..... are you considering one in particular?

 

You can choose your weeks, but with the caveat thus: There is an allocation list, say there's 12 shares, everyone gets their place on the list 1-12. List entry #1 gets free choice of whichever week(s) they want, observing that they can choose 2 weeks in the high season and 1 in the low season. Then #2 gets choice of all but the chosen weeks, etc.......and so it goes on, until  #12 gets Hobson's choice.

 

Every year the list shifts up 2 places, so if you were last the previous year, you'll be 10th this year.

 

If you want/need to have the weeks in school holidays you can pay a premium for "special shares" and then you get the guarantee of school holiday weeks.

 

If you're not bothered with when you are on it, all the above is nice but it doesn't actually matter that much, you have to choose in (say) Nov/Dec the previous year, you can't predict the weather 6 months in advance except to say obviously the middle of the high season is probably warmer than the edges. But with the British weather, there's no guarantee of that.....

 

Obviously, the main advantage of a shareboat over owning 100% of a boat, is that if you work for a living and only have 4 weeks holiday per year, then that's all you need. Its obviously much cheaper than owning the whole thing, but the running costs tend to be high because shareboats get hammered. I'd say its marginally cheaper than hiring, but you'd need to look at the details to be sure, on a shareboat you'll be paying your own diesel/pumpout and maybe gas, coal etc depending on the way the thing is run.

[matty40s]

Another thing to bear in mind is the location of the share boat base. Is it fixed forever, or does it move every couple/5 years or so. 

Does the boat always return to base at every changeover, or can you agree with other shares to changeover at a much further away location (so you do one half of a 4 week trip).

Another share boat I know of sets off in late Feb early March, on a long continuous journey, all the changeover points loosely agreed at an annual meeting with the shares doing a new bit each year.

 

[David Mack]

With most shareboat schemes you have your allotted weeks, a boatyard does the handovers and maintenance, and at the end of your week or fortnight you return the boat to the same place as you picked it up. So as far as using the boat goes it isn't really that different to taking out a hire boat. You have little contact with your co-owners, apart from perhaps an annual meeting and assorted emails, although you do have a say in the colour of the curtains.

 

Or there are just a few shared boats that operate on a different basis. They are co-owned by a group of friends (and friends of friends) who go boating together - as many or as few are available may be on board at any time. You don't have allotted weeks - anyone can go boating anytime. The boat leaves its home mooring in the spring, handovers are done on the move, or the boat may be left moored to the towpath for up to a fortnight, or in a marina for longer, and the the boat only returns home towards the end of the year. That enables the boat to travel much more of the system than can be done in a fortnight. The basic running costs are not that different, but as the owners tend to do more of their own maintenance than conventional shareboat schemes, that side of the costs is probably less.

 

Doesn't suit everyome, but it works for us.

[cuthound]

I had shareboats from 1992 until 2013, when I retired and bought my own boat.

 

As others say, make sure you get a boat that can move its location every year.

 

I still have friends made when we were co-owners.

 

It is a great way to boat cost effectively, especially if you can't commit to having several longer boating  holidays.

[midnight cowboy]

Ours is unusual in having fixed weeks.  AGMs are held online so being mikes away in a self managing group doesn’t matter.  I attended one AGM from India

[hugh dumbarton]

Thanks to everyone who has replied I am now in process of completing  a purchase of a share in a narrowboat based at Nantwich  canal centre

 

Thanks Hugh

[robtheplod]

38 minutes ago, hugh dumbarton said:

Thanks to everyone who has replied I am now in process of completing  a purchase of a share in a narrowboat based at Nantwich  canal centre

 

Thanks Hugh

congrats!!

[midnight cowboy]

Hi Hugh

 

our share is also at Nantwich- what name is yours?

 

tony

nb Meridian 

[hugh dumbarton]

Our boat is called Minuet

Regards Hugh