Historic Boats for sale online

[David Mack]

3 hours ago, Francis Herne said:

Keith Lodge told me I'd be daft to buy an old boat, and to look into replicas like his own Hadar. Possibly not wrong, but there are even fewer good replicas out there than the real ones!

Here you are!

https://www.nortoncanesboatbuilders.co.uk/home/index.php/boats-for-sale

1199-brochure.pdf

 

 

[Francis Herne]

19 hours ago, David Mack said:

Here you are!

Thanks for pointing that out, although I had seen Tuco on the market already. Have often admired Shorelark, a very similar boat owned by a BCNS member. Gardner in that one, beautifully finished inside and out. Slightly more cabin and less tug deck.

 

 

I think my ideal would be an unconverted boat, with a small cabin extension or under-canvas 'pod' for a toilet and shower, but mostly open hold. Big steel cabin with a tug deck not quite what's in my mind's eye, and taking an angle-grinder to a brand new sprayfoamed cabin would be a bit mad.

 

Of course that might be a bad idea. Probably another couple of years before I'm confident enough to actually try to buy one, assuming I don't come to my senses first. It's not that long since as a novice boater I thought a little aluminium thing was ideal (and indeed it's been a lot of fun, there are places I've been with Lark that would have been impossible with a big deep-drafted boat).

Edited July 5, 2023 by Francis Herne

[alan_fincher]

56 minutes ago, Francis Herne said:

I think my ideal would be an unconverted boat, with a small cabin extension or under-canvas 'pod' for a toilet and shower, but mostly open hold. Big steel cabin with a tug deck not quite what's in my mind's eye, and taking an angle-grinder to a brand new sprayfoamed cabin would be a bit mad.

 

Very occasionally something like that comes up, but it is VERY occasionally.

Far more likely, of course is a totally unconverted motor.

 

Quite  a few on offer at the moment with mostly an under cloth conversion - I can think of BADSEY & CHISWICK, (plus CYPRUS, if owner will sell separately from its butty).

 

If you want a completely unconverted one, then there is VESTA, but she is 40 Feet long, not 72 Feet long

[Francis Herne]

4 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

Very occasionally something like that comes up, but it is VERY occasionally.

Far more likely, of course is a totally unconverted motor.

 

Well, yes - with a totally unconverted boat I could build my own little 'pod' to sit in the hold.

 

Badsey was the one I was wondering about - it's a wooden under-canvas conversion with the beams and stands retained, so would (maybe?) be relatively easy to 'de-convert' a couple of bays.

 

Chiswick is steel under the canvas with only a short length left open, and has a smart interior fit-out priced accordingly, so not sensibly de-convertible.

 

Bognor I could imagine cutting the cabin off because it's an empty shell to begin with, but with the weird engine and probably a lot of work needed on the hull it doesn't seem reasonable compared to other boats for the cost/time, nor really a project within my capabilities (besides just paying someone competent to do everything, and then it's really not economic).

 

Vesta looks lovely - I saw her by Trent Lock a couple of months ago - just not really what I imagine as the boat for me.

 

In all honesty, as in the last post, at this moment I don't feel I have the skills or knowledge to take care of one of these and not get stuck everywhere. A couple more years of playing with Atlas & Malus and whatever other old boats I can get near and I'm hoping that'll change.

 

That being the case I'm not so much interested in specific boats on the market right now for their own sake - more the general range of boats and how people with vastly more experience assess them. Things to be wary (or just aware) of, approximately how things like a wooden/steel/non-existent cabin conversion or Bognor's strange engine affect value, odd things like the shape of the 'replica' rear end on "Achilles" a few pages ago. I've learned quite a bit just quietly reading the thread for the last ~year.

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Francis Herne

[stagedamager]

44 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

snip

(plus CYPRUS, if owner will sell separately from its butty).

snip

I think the pair have been split if recent Facebook posts are correct.

 

[chris barker]

I had a quick look around bognor at the weekend while i was working on a friends boat, it looks to me like it needs some work on the hull but I'm no expert. The propeller is bloody huge to, I did over hear someone up there saying its over priced especially having the wrong engine in it. They feel the owner doesn't really want to sell it but that and vanguard have been there on the hardstanding for years. Its a shame seeing them deteriorate. Vanguard looks in better shape hull wise but the cabin needs alot of work. 

[magnetman]

I like the Bognor boat but I don't think it would deconvert well at all. Its a big boat and I'm sure u converted with not enough ballast these must be a nuisance unless you are using it for trade. 

 

I had a motorised horse boat by Bantocks for a short time. It was a truly nice boat and I did get it from Ricky to Stafford and back once which was enjoyable but wooden top, leaks etc etc. The real thing but a nightmare and I didn't want to put a steel lid on it. 

 

Small Woolrich or a Josser would be my preferred approach if looking at another hysteric boat. 

 

I currently have a replica but it is a 9ft wide replica of an inspection lunch so not a narrow boat. 

 

I do like Roger Fuller's replicas a lot. 

 

 

[Kez]

8 hours ago, Francis Herne said:

Some of the ones with welded 'rivets' look fairly convincing above the waterline - and a lot of original boats seem to have welded replacement bottoms/footings anyway! I've heard about the costs of hot riveting these days, can't imagine it being viable for a new build.

 

EDIT: I suppose a replica Severner could be welded and still historically accurate? Strange boats though.

 

EDIT 2: I saw "Anson" come up for sale recently - with a welded steel hull and 6'10 beam, the 'Admirals' seem more practical than older working boats. Not the most beautiful, although when I passed "Effingham" it did look imposing with its shiny BW paint job. Anson's big passenger-boat cabin and rather bashed hull put me off looking closer which I kind of regret now.

 

So far I think I'd prefer a boat with an actual history, even if that does come with a stack of headaches. I can't give a rational reason why though. My father was an archaeologist and my other hobby is ringing church bells (and looking at the architecture) so I was probably just raised to appreciate old things. 🙂

Anson is very glad you overlooked her cos she's my baby now 😎

[junior]

17 minutes ago, Kez said:

Anson is very glad you overlooked her cos she's my baby now 😎

Have I missed you come past?

[Francis Herne]

1 hour ago, Kez said:

Anson is very glad you overlooked her cos she's my baby now 😎

I'm glad she's gone to a good home! Staying as a trip boat, or will you be taking the extended cabin off and doing something else with her?

 

(convention notwithstanding, it feels odd to call a boat named after a man 'she' 🙃)

Edited July 4, 2023 by Francis Herne

[Liam]

11 hours ago, junior said:

Have I missed you come past?

Yep mate, the Sunday before last.

[Kez]

11 hours ago, Francis Herne said:

I'm glad she's gone to a good home! Staying as a trip boat, or will you be taking the extended cabin off and doing something else with her?

She's having a new cabin but staying tripping!

 

 

11 hours ago, Francis Herne said:

(convention notwithstanding, it feels odd to call a boat named after a man 'she' 🙃)

To you perhaps, ive grown up with an androgynous Humphrey among other boats 😂

 

[Pluto]

3 hours ago, Liam said:

Yep mate, the Sunday before last.

A couple of photos from the early 1970s.

 

[BuckbyLocks]

As Pluto knows, Mine was the one with a hole in the roof of the engine hole! These must have been very early 70s, especially the one at Suttons as Linda/Victoria was engineless by the summer of 71, and unable to move under power. Anson started the work on conversion to Trip Boat in early 72 and I think much of the work was done at Horninglow.

[John Brightley]

9 hours ago, Pluto said:

A couple of photos from the early 1970s.

 

The top photo at Hawkesbury is 1970 or before, as the last Blue Line load was late in 1970. I've not seen that photo before, Mike, is that one of your own ?

EDIT: Alan Faulkner's article about B&MCCC in Narrow Boat summer 2008 says that the last loads of coal taken down south by B&MCCC were at Easter 1969, so I think the photo must be before that date.

Edited July 5, 2023 by John Brightley
additional info

[Pluto]

12 hours ago, John Brightley said:

The top photo at Hawkesbury is 1970 or before, as the last Blue Line load was late in 1970. I've not seen that photo before, Mike, is that one of your own ?

It is one by Roger Lorenz. I have most of Roger's photos, and those of Geoff Wheat, several showing narrow boats at work around 1970. The Gas Street one I took from the roof of Andy Millward's house.

[alan_fincher]

12 hours ago, John Brightley said:

EDIT: Alan Faulkner's article about B&MCCC in Narrow Boat summer 2008 says that the last loads of coal taken down south by B&MCCC were at Easter 1969, so I think the photo must be before that date.

 

I'm not convinced it is NUTFIELD paired with RAYMOND.  Might it not in fact be ROGER, before it was replaced by NUTFIELD?   If so the picture is no later than October 1968, I think.

[John Brightley]

45 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

 

I'm not convinced it is NUTFIELD paired with RAYMOND.  Might it not in fact be ROGER, before it was replaced by NUTFIELD?   If so the picture is no later than October 1968, I think.

I agree with you Alan. It doesn't look like a GUCCC motor. Maybe @Pluto can tell us if he has any other photos of Suttons taken on the same day.

[IanM]

1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

 

I'm not convinced it is NUTFIELD paired with RAYMOND.  Might it not in fact be ROGER, before it was replaced by NUTFIELD?   If so the picture is no later than October 1968, I think.

 

 @Chris M Jones might be able to confirm that one way or another?

[Chris M Jones]

Definitely ROGER - probably 1967-68 period

[Pluto]

4 hours ago, John Brightley said:

I agree with you Alan. It doesn't look like a GUCCC motor. Maybe @Pluto can tell us if he has any other photos of Suttons taken on the same day.

This is the slide which was before the Hawkesbury one. There was not much information on the slides, and although Roger had started sorting his slides, he had not got very far before infirmity stopped him.

[zenataomm]

On 04/07/2023 at 12:03, Francis Herne said:

Keith Lodge told me I'd be daft to buy an old boat, and to look into replicas like his own Hadar.

R. Fuller esq. Surely?

[Francis Herne]

5 hours ago, zenataomm said:

R. Fuller esq. Surely?

I think you're right that Roger Fuller built it, but it's Keith and Jo's boat, unless I've really missed something...

Edited July 6, 2023 by Francis Herne

[James Owen]

On 05/07/2023 at 09:57, Kez said:

She's having a new cabin but staying tripping!

 

 

To you perhaps, ive grown up with an androgynous Humphrey among other boats 😂

 

If the Anson is staying trip boating then it's crying out for a Lister instead of that AS...just saying 😉

[stagedamager]

Nowt wrong with an AS. Much nicer than a common Lister....... 🤣