Think I might be in trouble.

[david909]

So I bought a canal boat. A 60foot, 1994, trad' narrow boat. 
I'd not bought a boat before.
The brochure gave the appearance that the boat was in great shape. The survey I had done revealed a somewhat grittier picture, but I'd fallen in love and, on the strength of advice from the boat broker that the work that needed doing would cost me around £13-16k, I negotiated a stiff price reduction and went ahead with the purchase.
There was some serious mis-selling involved, which I will be looking to take action over. 
I took the boat to a nearby boatyard and was given a series of very reasonable figures for the various bits of work that needed doing that were beyond my skillset.
However, things have become nightmarish. They've already had £18,000 off me (because the hull needed completely replating instead of patching and apparently the steel cost £17k.) Everything they look at costs way more than originally stated or wasn't mentioned but "needs doing". New engine mounts. New propellor. I was told that a gasket set would cost a few hundred quid. That's now changed to £1800. I asked for a complete engine service and was told £380. THat's changed to "thousands if we go ahead with it, or put it back unserviced and take your chances". I'm looking at a final bill of around £30k+ for what amounts to hull replated with a single sheet of steel, and blacked, new anodes, engine mounts, a new propellor, the engine removed, cleaned, oil sump gasket replaced and engine replaced, a hatch into the diesel tank because "there's no other way of cleaning it out", and water tank cleaned and painted, and that's it. This makes the final cost of the boat north of £60k and the toilet still doesn't work and the inverter also doesn't work, despite both showing up as working in the survey I had done.
I'm on the verge of nervous collapse, if not actual bankruptcy over this.
Do these costs seem unusually high to anyone? (They do to me.) (This is not in London, or anywhere near London.)
I told them there was a strict budget involved but that has been ignored. I stand to lose somewhere around £50k on this as it stands.
I have no idea what to do or where to turn.

[Wanted]

It’s hard to tell if you are getting value for money or not, but it does seem that the communication is poor and the way you are dealing with them is leaving you wide open. 
 

I would be asking for individual written quotes for each bit of work, and I’d pay no more unless it has been agreed. 

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, david909 said:

The brochure gave the appearance that the boat was in great shape. The survey I had done revealed a somewhat grittier picture, but I'd fallen in love and, on the strength of advice from the boat broker that the work that needed doing would cost me around £13-16k, I negotiated a stiff price reduction and went ahead with the purchase.

 

You are not alone.

Some years ago I had a 'good survey' so bought the boat, it subsequently turned out that it needed between £20,000 & £30,000 spending on it to make is usable and safe. I had the minimum amount of work done and contacted a Marine Solicitor to take the surveyor to task (court).

 

The Solicitor went thru the survey and came back to me with bad news - the survey clearly states that the surveyor is not responsible for anything he has not seen, he has not lifted carpets, opened cupboard doors or used any tools to remove or open inspection hatches, and, it is only valid for 24 hours from the time he did the survey.

He said he'd happily represent me but it would cost me a fortune, not only his costs, but I'd be paying for the surveyors costs as well as we didn't have a chance of winning.

 

I have never had a survey since.

 

I ended up selling it a couple if years later at around £20k below market value because of the work that still needed doing so I 'lost' £40,000 on that boat (out of 18 boats bought and sold it's the only boat I have ever lost money on)

 

Was the survey commisioned by you ? Did you pay for it ? is it in your name ?

Have a read of the small print and see what it says - you may have a chance !

 

The prices you have quoted are probably on the high side, but certainly (in my experience) not impossible but without knowing the condition of the boat it is not really possible to comment.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Alan de Enfield

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, david909 said:

what amounts to hull replated with a single sheet of steel,

 

Well, that shows a degree naivety. That steel should be over 4mm thick and is very unlikely to be a single sheet. Have a read of this: https://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?/topic/115097-josephine-diy-replating-and-full-fitout-of-a-70s-hancock-and-lane-narrowboat/page/5/#comment-2898680

 

You say "re-plated", but the original estimate might be for local over plating, there is a difference. You have not given any idea of time elapsed, so are you aware that the cost of steel has been rising for some time. Expecting a hull re-plate for £1000 labour I think should have rung alarm bells, although I acknowledge you did not know enough to recognise this. Guessing at a labour rate of £50 an hour means it would pay for 20 hours labour.

 

If the sump gasket was leaking, then on the majority of boats the engine will need to be lifted out. It would be faster to do that (less labour time) than trying to do it with the engine in place. Once it is out, cleaning the oily mess on the hull and engine is, in my view, simply best practice.

 

Likewise:

 

1 hour ago, david909 said:

a hatch into the diesel tank because "there's no other way of cleaning it out"

 

On the majority of narrowboats that is absolutely true, however I can't see why it needed cleaning out (lack of info), i may well do if it was suffering from bug, but there is nothing in your post to indicate it was.

 

Likewise, why did the propeller need changing? If you agreed to having it done AFTER the boat was refloated after the re-plating there will be dry dock/slipping/crane fees on top of prop cost and labour.

 

Please talk to Citizens Advice BEFORE taking any legal action and try to get a free half hour with a lawyer, because I suspect that you may not have strong enough grounds for success.

[Bee]

You have been unlucky, a 1994 boat needing complete overplating is not usual but as you said the survey was grittier and you negotiated a reduction. My feeling is that you get the plating done and no more than is needed to actually sail it away. You can do the engine service yourself, it is basically just oil and filter, just like a car. You now need to learn about engines and prop shafts and everything else as a) it is necessary and b) you do not want to be at the mercy of any other boatyards any more than is absolutely unavoidable. Most boat engines are based on car or van engines but with much better access. Get the engine put back as it was and then don't be afraid to ask for help, we've all been there and some of us used to have ancient wooden boats so we know all about heart stopping moments. Good luck

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, david909 said:

They've already had £18,000 off me (because the hull needed completely replating instead of patching and apparently the steel cost £17k.)

If replating cost £18k, then no way was the material cost £17k of that. I have just had a 70 ft boat rebottommed and the cost of the steel for a 12mm thick bottom and refooting the sides in 6mm plate cost about half that figure including VAT. In my case I paid the steel supplier's bill directly, so I know that is the material cost.  I would have thought you have had something like £6k worth of plate and £12k of labour.

[david909]

There is some context, which I'm not going into, surrounding the whole "getting a boat" thing.

The brochure said, "needs reblacking". The survey said, "needs some spot welding to deal with rust pits". It noted that the propellor was somewhat worn, but not broken as later claimed. After shot blasting the hull I was told, "the rust was way worse than expected, there are now holes in the hull and it needs a new sheet of steel, the length of the boat, which we'll drop the boat onto and weld into place". I couldn't say, "forget it" with holes in the hull and was told there was no other way. 

What I was not told, and was not made clear or even referred to, was that the boat had been a static live aboard for several years, so hadn't been out and about, so the engine had likely only been run occasionally just to turn it over, the latrine wasn't even connected because the marina it was at provided nice clean bathrooms for boat owners close by, and the boat's own stand-alone electrics also hadn't been needed because it was plugged into the marina provided mains supply. Though I still don't understand how it passed the survey or how they got the inverter to work for the surveyor but no one could get it to work for me. The Agent repeatedly promised to arrange for all the work to be done, but again, never did. He said it could be done at the Marina's own facilities so all I would have to do was collect a boat, ready to go. Nothing ever came of this. Once I'd paid, the promised meeting with the boat's previous owner didn't happen, he was "busy, sends his apologies". Now I know why.  Once I'd paid and I once again said, "you said you would sort out all this for me, what's happening?" he laughed at the idea that the Marina could do it and said he'd sort something out with the nearby yard. He didn't do this either, leaving me to arrange it. The boat broke down on the way to the yard and had to be towed half way, turning it into a £1000 journey.
I was offered £20,000 scrap for her before any of this. I wish with all my heart I'd accepted.

[Eeyore]

2 hours ago, david909 said:

So I bought a canal boat. A 60foot, 1994, trad' narrow boat. 
I'd not bought a boat before.
The brochure gave the appearance that the boat was in great shape. The survey I had done revealed a somewhat grittier picture, but I'd fallen in love and........

 

Welcome to the forum.

Seriously not a criticism because given the choice I always go for the "red one" because I love red; never been any different. We all learn from our mistakes. Have a good look through the well meaning answers on here to see how you wish to move forward with this. 

Toilet; just get something like https://www.thetford-europe.com/gb/products/toilets/portable-toilets/porta-potti-165 its one of there cheaper models. A spare cassette is handy, but often just as cheap to buy two complete toilets.

Inverter; nearly always neglected batteries on boats that have sat a while on brokerage. A cheap halfords transformer based charger might get some limited life out of them. Expensive "smart" chargers often won't start to work on very flat batteries.

Don't forget to keep us up to date; that warm feeling we get from being helpful is all the payment we need.

Good luck.

[david909]

44 minutes ago, David Mack said:

If replating cost £18k, then no way was the material cost £17k of that. I have just had a 70 ft boat rebottommed and the cost of the steel for a 12mm thick bottom and refooting the sides in 6mm plate cost about half that figure including VAT. In my case I paid the steel supplier's bill directly, so I know that is the material cost.  I would have thought you have had something like £6k worth of plate and £12k of labour.

Apologies. My bad. That implied I'd paid that sum for that job. 
No, alas, they've had that sum off me via a payment here and a payment there. When I was talking to him on the phone a week or so ago he mentioned a price, "for parts" and when I said, "yes, but you've had at least £14k off me in invoiced payments already, surely they get taken off that?" he either got lost in some detail or dissembled brilliantly, and the point was not answered.
I was told the steel cost £17k, alone, without any labour. I tried to find out if that was unduly high. It seemed an awful lot to me. But couldn't find anything that made any sense.
Yes, I freely admit - way out of my depth, with a way too trusting attitude. Alas.

[david909]

23 minutes ago, Eeyore said:

Welcome to the forum.

Seriously not a criticism because given the choice I always go for the "red one" because I love red; never been any different. We all learn from our mistakes. Have a good look through the well meaning answers on here to see how you wish to move forward with this. 

Toilet; just get something like https://www.thetford-europe.com/gb/products/toilets/portable-toilets/porta-potti-165 its one of there cheaper models. A spare cassette is handy, but often just as cheap to buy two complete toilets.

Inverter; nearly always neglected batteries on boats that have sat a while on brokerage. A cheap halfords transformer based charger might get some limited life out of them. Expensive "smart" chargers often won't start to work on very flat batteries.

Don't forget to keep us up to date; that warm feeling we get from being helpful is all the payment we need.

Good luck.

Portapotti - duly noted.
I can replace the batteries. Will standard 12volt car batteries do? There are two solar panels on top which I was told were keeping the batteries charged, but may only be connected to the starter battery. 
I can live with limited power. I have a portable solar array with toaster sized battery pack which can recharge my laptop/phone/etc. I don't watch telly. I can do without mains power when on the move. A kettle is essential to life, but there's a gas hob kettle present and the gas rings all seem to work as expected. There's a woodburner present too, so heating is not an issue and it can be used to keep coffee warm and do toast on. With toileting now being something I can sort myself, it just remains to try to get to grips with the HeathRobinson-esque thing that is the boat's electrics. The rest is cosmetic/weatherproofing.

Thanks for the welcome. Makes a lot of difference.
 

[Barneyp]

Reading this thread it's hard to see exactly who is to blame:

Yes the broker made the boat look better than it really was, but they'll have covered themselves by including a get out clause in the small print.

The surveyor pointed out several defects and remedial work that was required.

The broker then said that he could arrange for this to work to be done, but didn't actually follow through on this promise.

The yard doing the work are now charging more than they quoted for the work.

 

So maybe the surveyor missed stuff or thought the hull was in better condition than it actually was, or maybe he was right and the yard are making the problems worse to get extra work. Now the works been done its impossible to say.

 

The brokers promises were presumably only verbal so unenforceable.

 

I think only thing you can do now is pay the yard for any work they have done that you agreed to, and make sure you get definite quotes for all future work, if they try and put the price up part way through the job ask advice from someone independent before agreeing.

[Alan de Enfield]

19 minutes ago, david909 said:

Apologies. My bad. That implied I'd paid that sum for that job. 
No, alas, they've had that sum off me via a payment here and a payment there. When I was talking to him on the phone a week or so ago he mentioned a price, "for parts" and when I said, "yes, but you've had at least £14k off me in invoiced payments already, surely they get taken off that?" he either got lost in some detail or dissembled brilliantly, and the point was not answered.
I was told the steel cost £17k, alone, without any labour. I tried to find out if that was unduly high. It seemed an awful lot to me. But couldn't find anything that made any sense.
Yes, I freely admit - way out of my depth, with a way too trusting attitude. Alas.

 

So, what are your plans to extricate yourself from this situation ?

 

Legal action ?

Take out a bank loan ?

Pay up and shut up ?

Just walk away ?

[david909]

1 minute ago, Barneyp said:

I think only thing you can do now is pay the yard for any work they have done that you agreed to, and make sure you get definite quotes for all future work, if they try and put the price up part way through the job ask advice from someone independent before agreeing.

Yes, I've done this today. Told them to stop work, to give me a full breakdown of al costs incurred so far and a quote, not a guesstimate, on what the remainder will cost.

[david909]

2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Legal action ?

Take out a bank loan ?

Pay up and shut up ?

Just walk away ?

Precisely.
Legal action? The Courts are backlogged so it would likely be a few years before we got into a Court room. It would come down to my word against his. I would have to represent myself. Time taken to get to Court cuts both ways.
Bank loan? No.
Pay up and shut up? We'll see. If not too high then yes. I do want to disappear down the canals and go wandering. Not sure if I want to commit to living aboard for the rest of my natural. 
Just walk away? That is one option. If the bill is too high then I may have no choice but to say, keep the boat, do it up sell it and that's your costs back. And walk away empty handed, but that's still £50k for nothing vs £70-80k for a boat still in need of some work, that might be worth half that if I'm lucky. No use to me if I can't get the boat, bankrupt myself not being able to pay the full amount and then end up with absolutely nothing, with debt collectors pursuing me. Also, not much use is a boat that I can no longer afford to run because I went broke fixing the thing.
Least use to me is the life I'd have to lead having paid that much for a boat only to end up with no money and no boat.
The original idea was to spend a summer pootling up and down the canals and then either sell the boat at the end of the season, or move on board permanently, not to buy HMS Money Pit.

 

[Mad Harold]

There have been some real tales of woe on here from new boaters buying their first boat, and I think this one ranks among the best (worse)

As Alan says, either pay what's necessary or walk away a sadder (and poorer man) 

Speaking as one who has been done buying a boat, you have my sympathy.

[Tony Brooks]

27 minutes ago, david909 said:

Will standard 12volt car batteries do? There are two solar panels on top which I was told were keeping the batteries charged, but may only be connected to the starter battery. 

 

Not really, and remember the suggestion the inverter problem might just be a battery problem is just that - a suggestion. In no way was it a diagnosis because a diagnosis can not be made without suitable battery voltage readings at least, and even then it will not be totally accurate. The boat probably has two battery banks, the engine start battery and a domestic/service bank. It would be unusual for the solar to be connected to the start battery because once being used, start batteries spend most of their time fully charged. The inverter is normally connected to the domestic bank, so the solar is probably charging that bank. Without inspecting the boat, nether is 100% sure, just extremely likely.

 

So what is the voltage between the domestic bank positive and negative with everything turned off and   then again when there are load running like all the lights and domestic water pump, pus the inverter. from that we can have a fair guess if it is a battery problem or not.

 

No, car batteries are not really suitable. They will typically be around 35Ah and are optimised to supply very high currents for a very short space of time. The domestic batteries are likely to be a set of 100 Ah plus batteries and will ideally be optimised for much longer, lower current discharges. (An Amp hour is the way we show how much electricity a battery will hold). You can buy expensive types of cheaper types but as a new boater you are very likely to wreck any batteries within a few weeks or months by over discharging and under charging, so my advice would be to look for "leisure" batteries that cost around the £100 each mark. But do not go buying new batteries and hoping until we have seen those two voltage readings. 

 

You may find the notes on my site helpful in getting a bit more knowledge. My site.

15 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

There have been some real tales of woe on here from new boaters buying their first boat, and I think this one ranks among the best (worse)

As Alan says, either pay what's necessary or walk away a sadder (and poorer man) 

Speaking as one who has been done buying a boat, you have my sympathy.

 

I think that he has all our sympathies. It is such a pity naive people seem to get caught out so regularly.

[Eeyore]

27 minutes ago, david909 said:

Portapotti - duly noted.
I can replace the batteries. Will standard 12volt car batteries do? There are two solar panels on top which I was told were keeping the batteries charged, but may only be connected to the starter battery. 
I can live with limited power. I have a portable solar array with toaster sized battery pack which can recharge my laptop/phone/etc. I don't watch telly. I can do without mains power when on the move. A kettle is essential to life, but there's a gas hob kettle present and the gas rings all seem to work as expected. There's a woodburner present too, so heating is not an issue and it can be used to keep coffee warm and do toast on. With toileting now being something I can sort myself, it just remains to try to get to grips with the HeathRobinson-esque thing that is the boat's electrics. The rest is cosmetic/weatherproofing.

Thanks for the welcome. Makes a lot of difference.
 

Ahh, batteries.

Lead acid "Leisure" batteries are what you probably need for a like for like change. Measure then Photograph or draw the layout of the existing batteries to make sure you get the right type. (they come in lots of different configurations). Stick with something low to mid range price to start with - the important thing here is that you can kill an expensive battery just as easily as a cheap one if you don't look after them properly. Expect something like 2 to 3 years out of a well maintained set. Batteries are a consumable item. You'll get recommendations for online suppliers in due course from those on here.

Lithium is (I would suggest) an option for next time, lots to look into before you get there.

There are a couple of useful Facebook groups for electrics (no harm in asking for other opinions) "12 volt boating group" and "12 volts boating group". Both have their own "power audit" spreadsheet in the files section (under the "more" tab), you need to fill one out to see your power requirements. There might be one on here as well?

[enigmatic]

I would consult a different party on the engine. There are lots of other marine engineers that can do work on engines. Some people may even be able to give recommendations if you're happy to disclose what area you're based in (and possibly what engine type).

 

The difference between £380 for an "engine service" and "thousands" for an engine service sounds like the difference between changing oil, filters, alternator belts etc whilst putting the mounts and sump gasket in and a significant engine rebuild. What is to be rebuilt and why it supposedly needs a rebuild should be relevant here, and any competent engineer ought to be able to explain this to you in terms you can discuss with other engineers. Same goes for why they're proposing cutting a hatch into a diesel tank (typically "cleaned out" by siphoning out the fuel and sucking out sludge, but there might be a bigger issue with yours). Painting the water tank is similarly normally an elective decision about how much it matters. Any marine electrician can diagnose faults on an inverter and battery bank and replace inexpensively if necessary, no need to have it done by the yard or in a yard. 

 

It's possible your survey missed some serious problems, it's possible the yard is overcharging and billing you for work of dubious necessity, but it's also possible that they are rightly or wrongly under the impression that stuff is supposed to be restored to an excellent condition rather than as expected on a 30 year old boat, and this is the difference between the views expressed by the surveyor and the "I'd change that if I were you" suggestions from the yard about things like the water tank and propellor and full engine rebuild

[Eeyore]

@david909 a useful tip if you are new to forum life, any forum.

You will almost certainly, at some point, read things that you don't like. The best thing is to ignore it and concentrate on your original question.

Just saying 😎

[david909]

6 minutes ago, enigmatic said:

I would consult a different party on the engine. There are lots of other marine engineers that can do work on engines. Some people may even be able to give recommendations if you're happy to disclose what area you're based in (and possibly what engine type).

 

The difference between £380 for an "engine service" and "thousands" for an engine service sounds like the difference between changing oil, filters, alternator belts etc whilst putting the mounts and sump gasket in and a significant engine rebuild. What is to be rebuilt and why it supposedly needs a rebuild should be relevant here, and any competent engineer ought to be able to explain this to you in terms you can discuss with other engineers. Same goes for why they're proposing cutting a hatch into a diesel tank (typically "cleaned out" by siphoning out the fuel and sucking out sludge, but there might be a bigger issue with yours). Painting the water tank is similarly normally an elective decision about how much it matters. Any marine electrician can diagnose faults on an inverter and battery bank and replace inexpensively if necessary, no need to have it done by the yard or in a yard. 

 

It's possible your survey missed some serious problems, it's possible the yard is overcharging and billing you for work of dubious necessity, but it's also possible that they are rightly or wrongly under the impression that stuff is supposed to be restored to an excellent condition rather than as expected on a 30 year old boat, and this is the difference between the views expressed by the surveyor and the "I'd change that if I were you" suggestions from the yard about things like the water tank and propellor and full engine rebuild

It's a Kubota 38bhp engine.
The fuel pump needed replacing as it was rusty from watery diesel. Yes, the hatch was required to clean out the tank or just more and more issues and rusty things. The engine is already out and, I was led to believe, in pieces for cleaning, but apparently not, just jet cleaned externally. There was a leak beneath the engine which is suggested to be the oil sump gasket. I originally said, yes do all the gaskets while the engine's out, but then the cost went up dramatically as apparently he hadn't expected the two full sets to be so expensive. So I said no, just get it back in because costs need to be kept down now. The unexpected matter of the steel price really trashed the budget. The shaft is, apparently, an unusual size (oh my life) so hence more costs because the shaft was badly worn and thus hard to find and more expensive to boot. No way any of this could have been seen or known by the surveyor, I fully realise.
And, once it's all done, she'll have a lovely bottom Matron, that should last a few years, so there should be no constant worry that something is going to give way at any minute or that I'll return from the pub/shop to find her trying to join the Submarine Service.

[Unicorn Stampede]

Purely on the information you've provided about over plating, then it feels like you're being ripped off (or have already been...)

 

Did the boat yard decide you needed the entire thing replating, or did you? Is that what the surveyor said?

 

Has this particular boat yard done much over plating before?

 

Did you enquire the potential costs at other boat yards first, or just go with the first boat yard?

 

I can't speak much about the other work, apart from to query that did you examine the engine, have it running, etc. before you purchased it? 

 

I'm a tad confused also why these other bits of work have been mentioned by the boat yard... How did they get to examine your engine if they are just over plating??

 

It -feels- like you've been stiffed somewhere, but it's impossible to know where if so, based on every one involved (seller, broker, surveyor, other boat yard...)

 

Personally, the cost of overplating a 60k boat for 18k sounds an awful lot, from my experience. Yes steel prices has gone up, but not to that level and certainly not if the yard is buying in the kind bulk needed to entirely replate the damn boat. 

 

I suppose I'll ask, how much are they replating? Is it literally every bit? Or just sides? If the base is being thrown in I could see it being 18k but if the base needs it, then eehh..

 Are they doing around the back/propeller etc as well?

 

How far up are they replating? From base to water line?

[david909]

5 minutes ago, Eeyore said:

@david909 a useful tip if you are new to forum life, any forum.

You will almost certainly, at some point, read things that you don't like. The best thing is to ignore it and concentrate on your original question.

Just saying 😎

I've been on Linux forums on and off for over 20 years. But it's been a while since I was this much of a noob.

[david909]

3 minutes ago, Unicorn Stampede said:

Purely on the information you've provided about over plating, then it feels like you're being ripped off (or have already been...)

 

Did the boat yard decide you needed the entire thing replating, or did you? Is that what the surveyor said?

 

Has this particular boat yard done much over plating before?

 

Did you enquire the potential costs at other boat yards first, or just go with the first boat yard?

 

I can't speak much about the other work, apart from to query that did you examine the engine, have it running, etc. before you purchased it? 

 

I'm a tad confused also why these other bits of work have been mentioned by the boat yard... How did they get to examine your engine if they are just over plating??

 

It -feels- like you've been stiffed somewhere, but it's impossible to know where if so, based on every one involved (seller, broker, surveyor, other boat yard...)

 

Personally, the cost of overplating a 60k boat for 18k sounds an awful lot, from my experience. Yes steel prices has gone up, but not to that level and certainly not if the yard is buying in the kind bulk needed to entirely replate the damn boat. 

 

I suppose I'll ask, how much are they replating? Is it literally every bit? Or just sides? If the base is being thrown in I could see it being 18k but if the base needs it, then eehh..

 Are they doing around the back/propeller etc as well?

 

How far up are they replating? From base to water line?

From memory - the replating is the flat of the bottom plus 6 inches up all the way around. Plus double coat blacking all the way up to beneath the gunwales. 
I asked for - the hull to be blasted, welded and reblacked, the extent of the rust was unknown; the engine to be serviced, the "leaking stern tube" to be fixed and the steering gear bearing to be repacked. As work towards those progressed other issues arose - the engine mounts, the fuel tank, the water tank. All checked with me first, all approved because they're essential to basic function, which was the point. Sort out the basic mechanical problems. They offered various other choices - a hatch over the weed hatch to make it easier to get to - too expensive, a steam clean of the engine compartment, again, too expensive, a full engine strip down and rebuild until it was realised what the cost would be.
Didn't check other boatyards, nor would she have made it to any of them. I'd have been marooned until I got a tow, on a boat with no power and no toilet. 
I live in Birmingham, the boat was in Leicestershire. I don't drive so the taxi's and train fares were becoming expensive. It was a combination of factors, including my own health, that led me to using the yard I have used. It was all going to be done (according to the boat agent) by July, then August, then September, then sort it out yourself. Then according to the yard December, then late December, then the New Year, then it turned out they didn't start on it until sometime in January. I bought the boat in April of last year. 
If there's been cheating/ripping off via unnecessary works then that's dealable with. The Small Claims Court would probably suffice.

[Tracy D'arth]

I fear that you have let it get out of hand and go on too long. You should have got professional help long ago, its a bit late now.

An important question, who commissioned the survey?  What is this "Boat Agent" a surveyor, a boatyard , or a broker?  You would usually get a surveyor to check a boatyard's work and progress and use a broker to sell a boat on commission but never to organise repairs.

[Arthur Marshall]

As a guide, my forty foot boat four years ago cost just under £10k to resteel sides and bottom and steel has gone up hugely since. The estimate was much less, but like yours, they blew holes in the hull when they shotblasted it. Gearbox rebuild just under £3k and a refit of the flex coupling cost another thousand (all labour) because it was a pain in the neck. All at a reputable yard who did a first rate job, and who I'd happily recommend (Stoke Boats)  though it nearly bankrupted me, too.

A starter battery is fine as a car battery, they last forever as get little use and are always fully charged. Others need to be leisure and it depends how many you need! Solar should surely charge the lot, just running the engine a bit will top up the little taken from the starter.

Painting the water tank is a horrible job if it's integral, as presumably it is, but you can do it yourself and use a water carrier for drinking water for a while till it gets done.

The trouble is a lot of these things don't become apparent until the boat is out of the water, and everything is connected to everything else so more and more turns up.

Surveys are perhaps helpful,  but essentially useless and will be caveated so heavily there is never a comeback on stuff they missed.

Boats are wonderful to have, but they do cost a fortune.

ETA mine got left a while (with a hole in its bottom) before they started work. Yards work on narrowboat time, which is twice as long as everyone else's. I couldn't pick my yard either - just the nearest one. Luckily they were excellent. I did take it away from one because promised work hadn't started two weeks after the promised date, but it was drivable then.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Arthur Marshall