Help sought re living on a boat & finding one first!

[Salopgal]

Hi

 

I'm going through a divorce and when the house is sold I'll be on my own with no more than 100K to spend and live on. I only earn £500 a month and want to retrain at Chester University (I'm 46!) so am really keen to live aboard a boat based either near to Chester, or here in Shropshire (Whixall) where my heart lies.

 

What advice would you give me as I am starting out on this adventure - I know nothing about narrowboats! I've seen wide beam barges that look better sized for living on, but I need to keep a substantial amount of the house money to fund my 2 year University course, otherwise I'd love a custom build! But to be realistic, I think a second hand boat is best but I don't know where to look, whether you can transport one from another county, or what pitfalls to be aware of. Can you help?

[dor]

Why do you think a boat is the answer? The reasons why you want to move onto a boat will affect what is the best solution for you.

I believe Whixhall marina does have residential moorings.

[Paul C]

There's at least 2 hire firms within a day of Chester and 6 within a day and a half. Hire a boat and try it for a week (or two) - at this time of year. Most of the boats you'll be able to hire will be quite well specified, with central heating (and a few also have solid fuel stoves), and pretty much everything will work on them.

[Ex- Member]

Hi

 

I'm going through a divorce and when the house is sold I'll be on my own with no more than 100K to spend and live on. I only earn £500 a month and want to retrain at Chester University (I'm 46!) so am really keen to live aboard a boat based either near to Chester, or here in Shropshire (Whixall) where my heart lies.

 

What advice would you give me as I am starting out on this adventure - I know nothing about narrowboats! I've seen wide beam barges that look better sized for living on, but I need to keep a substantial amount of the house money to fund my 2 year University course, otherwise I'd love a custom build! But to be realistic, I think a second hand boat is best but I don't know where to look, whether you can transport one from another county, or what pitfalls to be aware of. Can you help?

 

If you really want to go for a boat to live on and not necessarily to travel the canal network then I would suggest a wide beam, although I'm not too sure if the canal network in your area is good for wide beam boats, others will know though. If you go for second hand the price difference between wide and narrow won't be much, I would advise to view both before deciding.

 

There will be brokers listed somewhere on the forum, Apollo Duck springs to mind.

 

Basically though do lots of homework, read through threads on the forum, speak to people on the canals. 100k is ample budget if you wanted to buy new so second hand you should pick something up that's ready to live in and decent quality from 20k up, could go cheaper and could go a lot dearer, just depends on what you want. It's also possible to pick up cheap boats that are abandoned projects but will need finishing. As i say do your homework, get out on the canals and get a feel for it.

 

Good luck

 

 

 

[IainW]

Hey Sal,

 

We thought that a widebeam would be necessary when we first went onto narrowboats. They seemed tiny at first. But after a hire we realised how comfy narrow ones can be. And after a year aboard, we wouldn't really want to be on a wide one.

 

Go and poke your nose around lots of boats and enjoy the idea that one could become yours. Then you'll start to get a feel for what boat would suit you. The boats that we found most suitable for living aboard came in about £30-£40k and were between 5 and 15 years old. Depending on how shiny you want your boat, it would be very possible to find a really nice liveaboard for half your budget i reckon.

 

Good luck, i hope it all works out great for you...

[MtB]

Hi

 

I'm going through a divorce and when the house is sold I'll be on my own with no more than 100K to spend and live on.

 

Hello! You sound nice

 

 

I only earn £500 a month

Ah.....

 

 

and want to retrain at Chester University (I'm 46!) so am really keen to live aboard a boat based either near to Chester, or here in Shropshire (Whixall) where my heart lies.

 

What advice would you give me as I am starting out on this adventure - I know nothing about narrowboats! I've seen wide beam barges that look better sized for living on, but I need to keep a substantial amount of the house money to fund my 2 year University course, otherwise I'd love a custom build! But to be realistic, I think a second hand boat is best but I don't know where to look, whether you can transport one from another county, or what pitfalls to be aware of. Can you help?

 

Ok, being serious now.... As others have said, buying a boat and a daft idea unless you have a burning desire to own and live on a boat in particular. They are NOT a cheap option. Maybe half the price of a house but the running costs can be tenfold those of a house.

 

But if your heart is set on living on a boat (and it IS an emotional decision, not a logical one) then I recommend a proper narrowboat not a wide beam, mainly because narrowboats are half the price of widebeams (half as much boat) and a lot of the canals e.g the Shropshire Union up your way are narrow canals with 7ft wide locks that a widebeam will not fit through, so getting a widey severely limits your ability to move around the system. If you get a narrowboat you can buy it pretty much anywhere and cruise it to anywhere else in the system. Not the case with a widebeam unless you can afford to hire cranes and lorries a lot!

 

And with my sensible head on, may I point out you can rent yourself a small flat for a helluva long time for the £100k. Buying one would be an even smarter move if your goal is low cost accommodation.

 

Mike

[Tuscan]

Mike above talks a lot of sense....

[Arthur Brown]

1/ Assume that the money from the house will not materialise for a long while. Unless the ex is able to buy you out then the house is on the market not selling. To secure a quick sale you may need to drop the price hugely -which affects the settlement.

 

2/ Don't assume that a boat is a cheap option, it's a great way of life, and the boat can be really cheap BUT it costs more than living ashore (I used to say 2x, MTB above says up to 10x the land cost)

 

3/ Boat life is manual will you have time or the energy to study for your course, £9000 a year fees plus living and commuting will eat into your cash so you must get good grades to compensate. Can you get accommodation at the uni -live in hall or something.

 

If you really decide that boat life is for you then look at 100 boats online and 20 in real life, then you should know what you really want, and what it might cost. A boat 6'10 beam by 60ft long should let you travel an almost all of the major canals, but learning boat handling solo on a big heavy boat will take a time. Watch the rules on mooring for a long period, it will be hard to be at uni without falling foul of the mooring rules unless you have a mooring paid for in the area. On the water you pay for everything, licence to float and move, permit to moor, to empty the bog tank - everything.

[Starcoaster]

Hello! You sound nice

... You never learn, do you.

 

 

OP, you can't decide if it's a good choice for you without doing a lot more research and stuff first... Living on a boat isn't necessarily the cheap housing alternative that a caravan can be, for instance. It's much more labor intnsive and can potentially go wrong in a lot more ways.

It may afterall be the right choice for you, but it's not a simple undertaking and you should do a lot more research first- what I am tryign to say is, it's not the 'easy' option it may at first seem.

Edited October 30, 2012 by Starcoaster

[Ally]

however, if you still decide to get one, definately go second hand, you won't get anything half reasonable as a new bespoke boat for the money you have, and need to live on, trust me, I really know!

BUT.......get a second hand narrowboat (keeps more flexible options open) and yes it will be hard work at times, but it will also be a lot of fun, a good social and supportive community (generally) and a steep learning curve.

It's not the cheap option people think, but that said, if you can find the right boat, keep back a bit for any necessities like new batteries etc, it can be a relatively economic way to live, but factor in insurance, licence and mooring fees, oh, and a 4 yearly BSS inspection (like an MOT). After that, apart from pulling out to re-black etc, it's down to you and your lifestyle needs, so long as you choose the right boat!

Learn all you can, make the forum an important part of your reading, view lots and try to actually beg, borrow, or hire a boat to make sure it's for you......preferably in winter, when it can be hardest.

Above all, good luck in your decision making!

[Ange]

Listen to Ally - she knows what she's talking about!

 

We did a lot of research before we bought our boat, some of it on here reading through old threads and asking numpty questions, but also spending a lot of time walking the towpaths and hanging around at locks so we could chat to boaters. Believe me boaters are generally a very chatty lot and love giving advice and telling you about their pride and joy!

 

Even so we went through a massive learning curve when we moved aboard, particularly relating to electrics. Saying that, if you get a mooring with electric hook up that won't be such an issue. You don't say whether you're planning to cruise much or stay moored up. It'd be good to hear from you again with a little more detail as to your plans, and why you're drawn to living on a boat, otherwise it's difficult to give advice.

 

Best of luck!

[comfortably numb]

As usual some excellent advice given here from people in the know, people who have experienced it and have sometimes learnt the hard way. Me and the wife are in the process of selling up and moving on to a narrowboat to live (and cruise) and although I've read quite a few books and mags about living afloat I've learnt so much more from this forum during the last few months since I found it.

 

So my advice is to spend a good while trawling through the old threads on here which will tell you pretty much all you'll need to know, and then ask away if you have any questions and you'll receive some very helpful advice. Remember, even if you go 2nd hand it's still a huge investment as well as a massive lifestyle change so you need to know what you're getting in to.

 

Good luck

[mrsmelly]

Hi

 

I'm going through a divorce and when the house is sold I'll be on my own with no more than 100K to spend and live on. I only earn £500 a month and want to retrain at Chester University (I'm 46!) so am really keen to live aboard a boat based either near to Chester, or here in Shropshire (Whixall) where my heart lies.

 

What advice would you give me as I am starting out on this adventure - I know nothing about narrowboats! I've seen wide beam barges that look better sized for living on, but I need to keep a substantial amount of the house money to fund my 2 year University course, otherwise I'd love a custom build! But to be realistic, I think a second hand boat is best but I don't know where to look, whether you can transport one from another county, or what pitfalls to be aware of. Can you help?

 

Hi

 

You will get much advice I hope. One point I would like to help with is that you must WANT to live on a boat and not treat it as a cheaper alternative to land based stuff. There are two reasons for this one is that boat life is hugely different to house life, for me it is much better but for many it is not and secondly I have said and will keep saying it is NOT cheaper to live on a boat unless you either want to cheat the system or live like a caveman

 

Tim

[boathunter]

My house needs 19 new windows (the bays count as 5 each), a new roof, a kitchen (it's appalling), the car port is rotten and 50ft long, the close boarded fences are falling down (150m in total) and I'm responsible for the lot. The brick wall in front of the house is falling down. The front door alone cost £1200 8 years ago then there's council tax, the mortgage, elec and gas, water rates and landline for internet on top of a mobile I already have. This lot is a weight on my shoulders I'm looking forward to shrugging off.

 

I can buy a boat for the price of the long overdue repairs alone. It's not always enough to say boat life is as/more expensive than house life, though I can see it will be for most people. The overall calculation does depend on your circumstances.

Edited October 31, 2012 by boathunter

[mrsmelly]

My house needs 19 new windows (the bays count as 5 each), a new roof, a kitchen (it's appalling), the car port is rotten and 50ft long, the close boarded fences are falling down (150m in total) and I'm responsible for the lot. The brick wall in front of the house is falling down. The front door alone cost £1200 8 years ago then there's council tax, the mortgage, elec and gas, water rates and landline for internet on top of a mobile I already have. This lot is a weight on my shoulders I'm looking forward to shrugging off.

 

I can buy a boat for the price of the long overdue repairs alone. It's not always enough to say boat life is as/more expensive than house life, though I can see it will be for most people. The overall calculation does depend on your circumstances.

 

I quite agree that costs are very individual, but if my boat had been neglected for as long as your house then it would be sinking and cost many many thousands to rectify. I have owned houses and boats and have many years experience as a liveaboard and believe me to do it properly and keep the boat in fair order and pay all the bills it aint cheap

 

Tim

[Tuscan]

My house needs 19 new windows (the bays count as 5 each), a new roof, a kitchen (it's appalling), the car port is rotten and 50ft long, the close boarded fences are falling down (150m in total) and I'm responsible for the lot. The brick wall in front of the house is falling down. The front door alone cost £1200 8 years ago then there's council tax, the mortgage, elec and gas, water rates and landline for internet on top of a mobile I already have. This lot is a weight on my shoulders I'm looking forward to shrugging off.

 

I can buy a boat for the price of the long overdue repairs alone. It's not always enough to say boat life is as/more expensive than house life, though I can see it will be for most people. The overall calculation does depend on your circumstances.

 

 

 

In a previous post you listed all your practical skills - what happened? Me i am useless at anything practical. Seriously Mrs Smelly is right its only cheap if you let your boat deteriate like your house otherwise pro rata maintenance is much more expensive. Anything with marine in front of it is B&Q plus 150% usually .

[boathunter]

What happened was due to illness and a subsequent career change I suffered a 90% pay cut, but stayed in a large crumbling house struggling to meet the basic bills. We were going to sell said crumbling house and buy 2 small ones and become mortgage free. One to live in and one to rent out, but then the wifey decided to run off and wants to live in what was going to be our pension/income. I can't afford the materials is the problem. It really needs a £50K renovation and fitting that in while working long hours for peanuts with failing health doesn't work out for me - I simply can't keep up. I've been on a series of 2 year "sick notes" from my specialist for 7 years, though rather than claim anything I've muddled along restoring and spannering VW campers. Lying about on benifits seems like a trap best avoided to me, just about anything short of starving must be better...

 

Limit my scope to buying a NB in good condition with spare cash in the bank for unplanned eventualities and the pressure's off my time and it works for me hopefully. i.e. I can potter all day long, just not slog away at stuff 16 hours a day (which I used to).

 

Right - back to the plastering.

 

EDIT : Not to mention first looking at the NB life in the late 80's and brooding about it ever since.

Edited October 31, 2012 by boathunter

[John V]

I quite agree that costs are very individual, but if my boat had been neglected for as long as your house then it would be sinking and cost many many thousands to rectify. I have owned houses and boats and have many years experience as a liveaboard and believe me to do it properly and keep the boat in fair order and pay all the bills it aint cheap

 

Tim

 

EXTREMELY WELL SAID :clapping:

[boathunter]

I agree too for what it's worth.

[John V]

I agree too for what it's worth.

Goodluck to you boathunter - it sounds like you are due some

[boathunter]

There's a particular calmness I'm experiencing from my situation where everything becomes water off a duck's back. It's made me a stronger, more appreciative and content being. Everything happens for a reason.

 

What could possibly go wrong?

Edited November 1, 2012 by boathunter

[bottle]

Salopgal.

 

lots of good advice above, I will just put in one thing:

 

Many people have asked before about the cost of owning and running a narrow boat and the answer has always been about 5 to 6,000 pounds per year and that figure was a few years ago. Costs are always rising.

 

Licence (depends on boat length) about £800, insurance (depends on cover and boat value) about £200+, mooring (depends on area and facilities) range is up to £7,000++ per year lets say £2,500.

 

We have reached about £3,500 and the boat has not moved.

 

Your income £500 per month is £6,000 per year. (stating the obvious)

 

You now have £2,500 for all other costs.

 

ps. the only reason to buy a boat is because you want to live the life, it 'aint cheap'

[RLWP]

Now add in gas, diesel for generating electricity (or hook-up costs), fuel for heating

 

I'm trying to keep this to a sensible minimum

 

Richard

 

MORE: I forgot that the £2500 has to include food and transport as well

Edited November 1, 2012 by RLWP

[dominicebs]

I am just about to move into a boat for the first time - and like you I know / knew very little but let me share with you what i do know.

 

widebam is good but does restrict where you can go and they are expensive.Buying a boat is a rich mans hobby or a cheaper way to live - not as cheap as you may think but cheaper than living in a house. The main costs I have identified are

 

moorings £2,500 - £3,000 per annum

Licence £1,000 ish per annum maybe a bit less

Blacking £900 every 2 years

Painting £6,000 every 5 or 6 years

insurance £ 350

engine service and repairs allow about £500 a year.

 

I am buying a 58ft boat for £47,000 which needa bit of work but not much.

 

They are right about trying out a time on a boat but the 3 things that attracted me to it are a) I like water and living on water is fantastic - watching herons do their thing etc There ia a nice community in the boat world - people are friendly and polite to one another and just has anice feel c) The ability to change your view from time to time.

 

I work so will have to stay put in a marina during the week but will go chugging around at weeeknds.

 

Find a mooring first - once you have the cash buyig aboat s relatively easy - finding moorings can be harder.

 

And my last tip is ask lots of questions.

 

the one thing I am not looking forward to is the toilets - the prospect of emptying the casette fills me with dread but into each life a little rain must fall.

 

Good luck

[loubyscooby]

I sold my house and bought a brand new widebeam because that suited me. I had boating experience, my ex had a narrow boat so was used to that but I really am not a DIY'er so a new build was best. My knowledge has improved vastly regarding how the boat works, I may still be trying to grasp electrics and battery's but I do find out so much from the forum and books.

 

I would only like to give 2 bits of advice really. Firstly you must love the idea of boating (having no experience of narrowboats as you put in your post is a bit of a worry, try it first) The reason for this is that it is a different way of life. You will need to think about filling her with water each week, getting coal/logs to the boat. Emptying the loo. Weekly check lists to ensure things are still OK.These are just a few things-you need to always think ahead and watch the weather. Secondly think about where you want to be moored (I wanted to have the security of a marina) and where you can take the boat if you go out. Look around both narrow and wide beams, see how you and your belongings could fit in, bear in mind you will seriously need to downsize those belongings. Chat to owners and then make a decision with your heart and head.

 

I love this new life and have not regretted it. My boat choice may not suit boating purists, I may be restricted to certain canals and yes I love all my electric guzzling necessities ie hair straighteners and big TV but for me it is perfect.

 

Good luck

Louise