What's the paperwork involved in buying?

[Bamboo]

Well. the money has arrived in my bank account so hopefully we will be making an offer on Thursday.

 

What I don't have a clue about is the paperwork involved in buying a boat and the timescales for it all to go through.

 

I mean, it can't be as simple as buying a bag of sugar, can it, or as complicated as buying a house, or is it?

 

The boat is already licensed for the time being so I will need insurance, I think we have mooring sorted, the wife has a hat that says Captain.

 

What have I missed?

 

Mike

[Chris J W]

There's oodles of info on the BW Waterscape site on Buying A Boat (Clicky) - hope it helps.

[mayalld]

Well. the money has arrived in my bank account so hopefully we will be making an offer on Thursday.

 

What I don't have a clue about is the paperwork involved in buying a boat and the timescales for it all to go through.

 

I mean, it can't be as simple as buying a bag of sugar, can it, or as complicated as buying a house, or is it?

 

The boat is already licensed for the time being so I will need insurance, I think we have mooring sorted, the wife has a hat that says Captain.

 

What have I missed?

 

Mike

 

Just the necessary rituals of becoming a boat owner.

 

These involve;

• Drinking copious amounts of alcohol
  
• burning any captains hats that your crew may have unwisely bought!
  
• 
  

[RLWP]

IIRC the most important thing is to make sure that the seller is legally entitled to sell you the boat in the first place. After that it is much nearer a bag of sugar than a house.

 

Richard

[blackrose]

IIRC the most important thing is to make sure that the seller is legally entitled to sell you the boat in the first place.

 

Which of course is much easier said than done.

 

I might be wrong but as yet I don't think there's an equivalent to a car HPI check for second hand boats.

[Machpoint005]

I'd just ask myself if there is a credible history for the boat: how long has the previous owner had it, where was it moored, that sort of thing. Shifty answers might be a warning.

 

But in general, there's a 99-point-something percent chance that all is kosher. Any paperwork with the owner's name on, going back over the years, is good evidence of title, but an HPI check is not something you can easily do. It depends!

 

Having said that, I've bought three different canal bats over the past 10 years with absolutely no problems. Just find the right boat!

[Bamboo]

Just the necessary rituals of becoming a boat owner.

 

These involve;

• Drinking copious amounts of alcohol
  
• burning any captains hats that your crew may have unwisely bought!
  
• 
  

 

Is there a special funeral ritual for owners who indulge in the burning of hats?

 

 

Thanks for the advice, I believe the final decision will be the "Captain's" depending on if she finally decides if she likes the furniture.

[Tiller Slave]

If it is a new boat use the Canal Boat Builders Association contract available on their web site to download:http://www.c-b-a.co.uk/

 

If second hand use the Boat Brokers Association contract see http://www.britishmarine.co.uk/membership/...x?GroupId=49484

[Marc Harris]

Yeah, do what these clever folks recommend, not what we did:

 

1. Load car with all our earthly possessions.

2. Drive to new boat.

3. Phone bank to xfer money.

4. Unload car into boat.

5. Get totally s##tfaced with previous owners!

6. Wake up in morning with hangover, and float off down the canal thinking "did we need a receipt for this thing?"

[Bamboo]

Yeah, do what these clever folks recommend, not what we did:

 

1. Load car with all our earthly possessions.

2. Drive to new boat.

3. Phone bank to xfer money.

4. Unload car into boat.

5. Get totally s##tfaced with previous owners!

6. Wake up in morning with hangover, and float off down the canal thinking "did we need a receipt for this thing?"

 

 

Yeah Marc, that sounds like me.

 

Thanks Tiller Slave will look at those.

 

Mike

[ditchcrawler]

Well. the money has arrived in my bank account so hopefully we will be making an offer on Thursday.

 

What I don't have a clue about is the paperwork involved in buying a boat and the timescales for it all to go through.

 

I mean, it can't be as simple as buying a bag of sugar, can it, or as complicated as buying a house, or is it?

 

The boat is already licensed for the time being so I will need insurance, I think we have mooring sorted, the wife has a hat that says Captain.

 

What have I missed?

 

Mike

Get it surveyed

[bargeeboy]

Simple you pay the money

You get the boat

 

BUT if buying privately make sure the boat is the sellers property !!!

 

And for your own piece of mind proof of identity!!

 

Oh and a reciept should be issued.

Edited September 24, 2008 by bargeeboy

[AlanJ]

Do you think we will ever get to the point as we have with cars where there is a licensing authority who keep a log of who owns which boat?

I guess, on the one side it is kind of already done with BW issuing licenses for boats as it is - the trouble being that not all boats are on BW waters.

 

Guess we could always as DVLA to take it on

 

(I was joking BTW)

[RLWP]

Do you think we will ever get to the point as we have with cars where there is a licensing authority who keep a log of who owns which boat?

I guess, on the one side it is kind of already done with BW issuing licenses for boats as it is - the trouble being that not all boats are on BW waters.

 

Guess we could always as DVLA to take it on

 

(I was joking BTW)

 

I believe that is what the "registered at Watford" thing on boats was/is about. IIRC registering a boat is a way of identifying the owner to the authority. It can then get complicate when the boat is sold. This stuff comes from maritime practice, also IIRC.

 

Richard

 

That's all I can remember, well it's been five years since we bought a boat...