What's the catch!

[Starcoaster]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/chelsea-emily-cruiser-style-narrow-boat/87545203

 

A nice looking 33ft narrowboat at £5,300... There's got to be a catch, surely?

Can anyone suggest things to ask about it if I phone up?

 

(And if there's not a catch, paws off, I saw it first lol )

 

Edit to add- I found that the boat was for sale previously by a marina, but don't know how much longer ago that was. I assume the marina sold it to the new owners, and if you view the .pdf file they had it up for double what is being asked now...

http://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/used-narrowboats/details/1533.aspx

 

AND!! Edited again.

It sold on ebay at the start of July for £8,700 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320719794898 and yes the current ad on Gumtree is definitely a new one as it's only been up one day...

 

What to make of this!

Edited September 10, 2011 by Starcoaster

[smudge837]

Hi,

 

Sorry i do not mean to sound like a snob BUT. The advert is very shallow and gives nothing as to the age of the craft. does she have any inspection certs?. Not even going into presentation of the ad.

 

If she fits the size/ length you are looking for then have a look. Please do not let your heart rule your head. Dig very deep into this one, look for age related drama. This is not a new boat and sorry if this is blunt, but the vendor does seem to be overly educated, would you trust them with your investment? have a very very good look, and poke very deep.

 

you never knowShe might be a bargain. i for one do not see it.

 

hope it works for you.

 

SMUDGE

 

EDIT

 

To include replating to an insurable condition

 

THIS GIVES IT AWAY I THINK, might be do-able but i do not know enough

Edited September 10, 2011 by smudge837

[onionbargee]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/chelsea-emily-cruiser-style-narrow-boat/87545203

 

A nice looking 33ft narrowboat at £5,300... There's got to be a catch, surely?

Can anyone suggest things to ask about it if I phone up?

 

(And if there's not a catch, paws off, I saw it first lol )

 

Edit to add- I found that the boat was for sale previously by a marina, but don't know how much longer ago that was. I assume the marina sold it to the new owners, and if you view the .pdf file they had it up for double what is being asked now...

http://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/used-narrowboats/details/1533.aspx

 

AND!! Edited again.

It sold on ebay at the start of July for £8,700 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320719794898 and yes the current ad on Gumtree is definitely a new one as it's only been up one day...

 

What to make of this!

 

 

 

I just read the Wilton marina ad, 1977, 6mm bottom plate, and needs replating, un-insurable condition, i personally wouldn't touch it with an extra long barge pole. it's a scrapper, and would be a money black hole for you. ( i'm guessing your not a welder )

Edited September 10, 2011 by onionbargee

[Starcoaster]

Thanks for replying.

That statement about the plating was on the previous sale from the marina, so I don't know if that has maybe been done...

I may be being thick but does that mean the anodes need doing or the hull itself? Is that something that costs masses?

 

I have now emailed the seller asking (perhaps cheekily but they don't have to answer just as I reserve the right to try and protect any future investment!) how come it's up for £5,300 now when it sold (presumably to them) on ebay for £8,700 only two months ago...

 

Will let you know if they reply!

 

It's a 1977 manufacture according to the Marina site.

[Gibbo]

OP. What is your budget? Realistically.

[Starcoaster]

Ok this is where you all get to laugh at the optimistic poor girl, but my budget is up to 7k.

And for that it needs to be good to go and not need anything major doing for at least a year, including having good enough antifoul for a year. And not be about to fall apart totally within say the next five years either!

 

Moorings, licence etc. I have budgeted seperately, but yeah for the boat itself, 7k total for the sale and anything that may need doing.

Generally ones I am viewing are grp cruiser types.

Edited September 10, 2011 by Starcoaster

[Gibbo]

OK, you're struggling at that. You have no chance whatsoever of getting a decent steel boat. Non whatsoever. It simply isn't going to happen. You might find a few, but they'll need replating as a minimum and will probably be knackered inside and need a refit or they'll fall apart within weeks/months of buying it. You're stuck with a relatively small GRP boat at that money. It's not impossible, but it's a bit of a struggle. We'll have look round...

[Starcoaster]

Thats cool, I was already committed to the idea of a narrowboat being well out of my range and looking at grp boats between 25-30 foot, but I'm sure you can understand how when that boat came up in my search at that price it caught my eye!

Edited September 10, 2011 by Starcoaster

[Gibbo]

OK, at least you're being realistic. A liveable 25 to 30 foot GRP is just about doable at that money. I'll avaganda tomorrer, as I'm sure others will. But basically, yes it can be done, with some compromises.

[carlt]

You're stuck with a relatively small GRP boat at that money. It's not impossible, but it's a bit of a struggle. We'll have look round...

Or a very reasonable wooden boat...

[Starcoaster]

Wooden boats scare me lol...

 

Cheers everyone who has posted.

Edited September 10, 2011 by Starcoaster

[Gibbo]

Or a very reasonable wooden boat...

 

Absolutely. Bargains are to be had for those at the moment because no one wants them, but look at the maintenance issues.

 

I'm seriously contemplating selling Lionheart so I can buy something more interesting (without Mrs Gibbo shouting too loudly - I already have the guitar collecting problem to deal with), like an old lifeboat. And not for the first time

 

Wooden boats scare me lol...

 

Wooden boats scare everyone except Carl and looneis. Maybe they're the same thing

[carlt]

Absolutely. Bargains are to be had for those at the moment because no one wants them, but look at the maintenance issues.

 

The maintenance issues, for a wooden boat with a good hull, are the same as a steel one...

 

Out the water every 3 or 4 years, check the hull for any signs of rot/damage, paint the hull, black the bottoms, put her back in the water, go boating.

 

My boat cost £1200 with which I got a 4108, reconditioned in 2009, stainless steel diesel and water tanks and gas locker, a brand new rewire, sterling charger/inverter thingy, new calorifier, water pump and plumbing, a mint interior, rotten gunwales and a big hole in the side.

 

The gunwales and planking will cost £1200 in wood, £250 in screws, £50 or so in caulking, £200 in paint, £200 in Cuprinol 5 Star and £1200 in craning in and out and hard standing, assuming it will be on the hard for a year.

 

So for less than £5k (and some hard work) I will have a boat that, with minimal future maintenance, will outlast me.

 

A similar boat has just sold on Ebay for £770.

 

I had a good nose round it and I couldn't find a bad plank. It just needed caulking, painting' the engine recommissioning and the interior was filthy, but sound.

 

I didn't want it because I can do the woodwork but I'd never get round to buying all the toys that came with my boat.

[Gibbo]

<big snip>

 

Then educate OP

 

She might get a bargain. I do understand the fear of wooden boats because I, like OP, knows nowt about them. You do!

[Guest]

Starcoaster-

 

If that was my budget and it was a GRP boat I was after then you will not go far wrong with a Norman -

 

http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/feature.phtml?id=196979

 

http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/display.phtml?aid=200461

 

http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/display.phtml?aid=206198

 

Good owners club and forum to help too.

 

Shorter ones without a centre cockpit are available for even less.

[alan_fincher]

I have now emailed the seller asking (perhaps cheekily but they don't have to answer just as I reserve the right to try and protect any future investment!) how come it's up for £5,300 now when it sold (presumably to them) on ebay for £8,700 only two months ago...

I don't know anything about this boat, but try this for a speculative answer.....

 

Whilton had a boat for sale that had badly failed a hull survey at some stage, and advertised it for circa £12K, to include the hull work, which, depending on what was required, might have cost (say) £4K to get done if not included in the sale.

 

Nobody showed any great interest, so they eventually off-loaded to someone with no hull work done, at a much lower price, (say £5K or less, we can only guess).

 

That purchaser then resold it via e-Bay for approaching £9K, without admitting its defects, to someone who didn't know too much about it, didn't get a survey, and still believed they were getting a bargain, (as most steel boats cost far more than that, don't they!). The first buyer walks away with a quick profit.

 

AS things start to dawn on them, the new purchasers realise they have a potential sinker. They have maybe already tried to resell at something approaching what they paid for it, but haven't found another mug. They are now trying to offload it for as much as they can, therefore are still not saying anything about the fact that it's hull has thinned to the point of being uninsurable.

 

I admit this is purely speculative, and, as I have not seen the e-Bay advert, may or may not fit other facts not presented in your post.

 

This boat almost certainly has not had major hull work done on it since that Whilton advertisement, and you could end up spending sums approaching the current sale price, if it proved to be a complete duffer.

 

If it needs other work £10K might not cover the whole deal, you might well end up with a boat still not worth £10K, and there may well be better £10K boats out there.

 

All these numbers are randomly plucked from the air, but I'm sure you get my drift!

 

EDITED TO ADD: Anybody else notice that the Whilton ad says the engine is a Lister ST2, but latest ad has downgraded it to an SR2. Unlikely it has been changed, I say, so both can't be right!

Edited September 10, 2011 by alan_fincher

[Dovetail]

I think Alan is spot on regarding this boat.

 

 

But well done on your research Starcoaster

 

I don’t know of any boats but you never know.

 

Good look

Edited September 10, 2011 by Dovetail

[ditchcrawler]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/chelsea-emily-cruiser-style-narrow-boat/87545203

 

A nice looking 33ft narrowboat at £5,300... There's got to be a catch, surely?

Can anyone suggest things to ask about it if I phone up?

 

(And if there's not a catch, paws off, I saw it first lol )

 

Edit to add- I found that the boat was for sale previously by a marina, but don't know how much longer ago that was. I assume the marina sold it to the new owners, and if you view the .pdf file they had it up for double what is being asked now...

http://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/used-narrowboats/details/1533.aspx

 

AND!! Edited again.

It sold on ebay at the start of July for £8,700 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320719794898 and yes the current ad on Gumtree is definitely a new one as it's only been up one day...

 

What to make of this!

OK Has it been replated since Wilton sold it,they said it needed doing.

The BSC ran out last January, has it been renewed.

Was it really sold on E Bay, the sales info looks identical to Gumtree

[jonk]

Looks like a nice little boat though!? A quote for a full replate is obviously the first step and then an offer taking that into account perhaps? Say 7000 less cost of hull work? You would then have a really good boat, I would say, at a very reasonable price?

 

Good luck!

John

[RLWP]

Looks like a nice little boat though!? A quote for a full replate is obviously the first step and then an offer taking that into account perhaps? Say 7000 less cost of hull work? You would then have a really good boat, I would say, at a very reasonable price?

 

Good luck!

John

 

7000 less cost of hull work? Who's going to give you money to take a boat away?

 

Last time Tawny Owl was in for hull work, there as a short springer in for a new bottom - £5000

 

Richard

[n.b.Goldie]

7000 less cost of hull work? Who's going to give you money to take a boat away?

 

Last time Tawny Owl was in for hull work, there as a short springer in for a new bottom - £5000

 

Richard

 

I suppose if they get desperate enough they could always sell it for scrap, at least they would get something for it..............

 

Regards

Ditchdabbler

[jonk]

7000 less cost of hull work? Who's going to give you money to take a boat away?

 

Last time Tawny Owl was in for hull work, there as a short springer in for a new bottom - £5000

 

Richard

 

Wow - didn't know that a replate would cost so much! It's not a very difficult job is it?

 

John

[sociable_hermit]

Could always offer them the scrap value of the boat? Then get the plating done and spend some time and effort sorting out the rest of it.

 

Potentially quite a low cost route into boat ownership, but lots of time and effort would be needed.

[RLWP]

Wow - didn't know that a replate would cost so much! It's not a very difficult job is it?

 

John

 

On a springer? It's the whole bottom of the hull - a new vee section and two sides plus bow and stern work. Not a trivial job, especially when you have to move the boat to get the parts in place.

 

A Narrowboat is probably easier with a flat bottom

 

Richard

[jonk]

On a springer? It's the whole bottom of the hull - a new vee section and two sides plus bow and stern work. Not a trivial job, especially when you have to move the boat to get the parts in place.

 

A Narrowboat is probably easier with a flat bottom

 

Richard

 

Right! - I am sure that most people looking at second-hand boats don't know that! Puts Springers with a less than perfect hull into a 'do not buy category' I would think?

 

John