Houseboat or Dutch Barge or similar. Advice please.

[SimonH&Y]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking to buy a wide beam and have therefore done a fair bit of research but I'm actually looking for something else.

 

My mum is in her 60s and not particularly active but is really keen to live somewhere new and interesting. She can't stand hassle and housework so I don't think a pure canal boat is the thing. So, I'm looking for interesting options. She's keen on the idea of a boat but I'd like to find out about running costs, maintenance problems, pitfalls etc. She would sell her house to buy and could probably afford about 150k for boat and mooring. I'd also be keen to see how she could have a go at living aboard for relatively little money - she's a pensioner with little savings.

 

I'm thinking Duth barges etc as a good option? Or any other really interesting options.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks in advance.

[DeanS]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking to buy a wide beam and have therefore done a fair bit of research but I'm actually looking for something else.

 

My mum is in her 60s and not particularly active but is really keen to live somewhere new and interesting. She can't stand hassle and housework so I don't think a pure canal boat is the thing. So, I'm looking for interesting options. She's keen on the idea of a boat but I'd like to find out about running costs, maintenance problems, pitfalls etc. She would sell her house to buy and could probably afford about 150k for boat and mooring. I'd also be keen to see how she could have a go at living aboard for relatively little money - she's a pensioner with little savings.

 

I'm thinking Duth barges etc as a good option? Or any other really interesting options.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

It's a buyers market.

£60 000 should get you a load of options of varying shapes and sizes.

A boat wobbles...is often difficult to get in and out of, is not the easiest thing to keep warm in winter if you are a 60yr old woman on your own. If you are serious about this, I would recommend you start by finding a good marina, with a healthy social network for her (knitting groups in the local town, on a bus route etc). That will be more difficult than finding a boat. I wouldnt spend all her money on the boat...would definately buy 2nd hand boat to meet her likes/dislikes, and keep money in the bank to pay for any unplanned issues which might arise later on in life. ApolloDuck is a website with narrowboats for sale.

 

A boat is full of hassle and housework, keeping it clean. Just making a slice of toast means you gets crumbs everywhere, and then you have to go searching in the bottom of a cupboard for your brush and pan.....then when your bins full you have to take it to the marina bigger bins etc. There are many older boaters living aboard, but I do think they are the type of person who has boated for years and does it because they love boating....whereas it sounds like your mum isnt a boater....so could be a difficult transition.?

[Lady Muck]

If she doesn't like doing housework, then how will she manage with the boat toil? It's an active lifestyle, if you can't be bothered, then you head into squalor very quickly.

 

We're both suffering a virus at the mo and it would be great to be able to sit here and do nothing for the next couple of days, but the bilge needs pumping out, the three cassettes for our toilet are almost full and I think we need to fill up with water very soon.

 

There's a whole extra layer of messing about if you live onboard which you don't get in a house. Stuff like connecting gas bottles, arranging fuel deliveries, pumping the bog out etc. Equal amount of toil whether you're on a dutch barge or a narrowboat.

 

If your mother wants this kind of lifestyle with less hassle then I'd say go for a static houseboat with everything plumbed into the mains, but of course this would depend on availability at the locations you are considering. There are lots of boats like this on the Thames but they're not cheap, no idea about anywhere else.

[DeanS]

If she doesn't like doing housework, then how will she manage with the boat toil? It's an active lifestyle, if you can't be bothered, then you head into squalor very quickly.

 

We're both suffering a virus at the mo and it would be great to be able to sit here and do nothing for the next couple of days, but the bilge needs pumping out, the three cassettes for our toilet are almost full and I think we need to fill up with water very soon.

 

There's a whole extra layer of messing about if you live onboard which you don't get in a house. Stuff like connecting gas bottles, arranging fuel deliveries, pumping the bog out etc. Equal amount of toil whether you're on a dutch barge or a narrowboat.

 

If your mother wants this kind of lifestyle with less hassle then I'd say go for a static houseboat with everything plumbed into the mains, but of course this would depend on availability at the locations you are considering. There are lots of boats like this on the Thames but they're not cheap, no idea about anywhere else.

 

or a static caravan perhaps? aren't they a lot cheaper?

[Tuscan]

or a static caravan perhaps? aren't they a lot cheaper?

 

 

They have over 50's flats on the coast by us, by water, social life and get a cleaner

[DHutch]

Also worth consinder what happens in 20, 30, 40 years when the boat in no longer an option, if house prices have risen than the boat devalued. Not a very interesting thing to consider, but it happens, ditto static caravans.

 

 

Daniel

[luctor et emergo]

A bedsit in Brixton will be interresting.

 

And no need to move every 14 days either.

[bizzard]

A bedsit in Brixton will be interresting.

 

And no need to move every 14 days either.

Hopefully not Jebb avenue though.

[The Bagdad Boatman (waits)]

Will she be living on her own? My old mum used to come out with me and I can still see her skipping over the lock balance beam in her 70s. with oil heating and pump out loo work is minimal. with a wide boat no wobble but you need to open both gates on a lock. Look for a convenient marina and walk round and talk to the owners. the marina near Canary wharf while expensive allows you onto the tidal Thames with them working the locks. and a river licence allows you to go all the way to Lechlade. But there is the fact that boating is for the active We once met a couple who dreamed of having a boat when they retired but bought a new boat in there 70s and where too feeble to work the locks, it was sad to see. We sold our barge and retired to a Park Home in Devon. Advantages: warm weather, secure park home, protected by legislation unlike a static caravan. Disadvantages you need good site owners and have to pay site fees, plus pay 10% fee on the sale of the home. Get the park home magazine for more info. Hire a wide boat from Silsden boats near Skipton or a narrow boat to try it out.

Edited December 31, 2012 by The Bagdad Boatman (waits)

[SimonH&Y]

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for your replies. I can't wait to be a boater myself, everyone is so friendly.

 

Very good points. Definitely think she'd be looking at a static boat of some description be that houseboat or just something with a permanent slot in a marina. The over 50s idea is a good one but my mum isn't really into the conventional and I'm not sure it would be for her. Open to all suggestions.

 

Thanks again everyone.