Considering buying a boat....

[Owengriffiths]

Hello everyone. I love canals, learnt to Kayak on the leeds/ liverpool and have canoed most of irelands waterways. After holidaying close to the Avon/Kennet canal in Bath we are considering buying a narrow boat.

 

We live in Ireland so things might be different here, but I cant find an Irish forum.

 

Can I ask;

 

How much would a survey coast before buying a boat, does this include a hull survey? How do I find out who could do a survey?

 

How far would you travel in canal boat in a day. I have overtaken some in my canoe, but to be honest the waterways here are virtually empty. Not that far i would guess.....

 

Origianally considered buying a boat in the UK and shipping it over but have found two on Appollo duck ireland that might be in my price range. I hope to go and see them this weekend but to be honest I'm not sure what to ask......

 

Info on the website is very limited;

 

'Barrow otter' 43'' cruiser manufactured 1980 by Dartline, draft 18'' Beam 6' Diesel sahft drive engine, five berth, shower and woodburning stove. It hasnt had a hull surevy for five years.

'Barrow queen' 38 Canal Barge BMC engine, beam 9 foot 2.2HP engine. 4 berth. No mention of survey although I have asked.

 

Any opinions, any crucial questions to ask? Are either of these models real duffers?

 

Any advice would be gratefully welcomed befpre I turn up and make it obvious I havent a clue what I'm talking about.

 

Is beam how wide it is?

 

How do you change the name of a boat (is this allowed) and whre do you get that pretty lettering and pattern done that garces most canal boats? Do you do it yourself?

 

One is listed under narrow boats, one under barges, is there a subtle difference/

 

Andrew

[Bee]

Hi and welcome, I can only offer a general guide on a few points but roughly from the top;, surveys, best bet is to google surveyors in or nearby and talk to them. distance to travel in a day, I reckon on 20 miles give or take depending on weather, locks, stamina, beer drunk the night before .... As for the two boats, are they ex hire? the first sounds like a narrowboat, solid but a bit dull when built but now quite elderly, beware of thinning steel and generally a bit worn out, the other, well its a bit wider but that's about all I can guess at, neither sound very exciting. I wouldn`t worry about sounding clueless, treat it as practice and carry on looking. Beam is width. You can call a boat whatever you like. As far as painting is concerned, vinyl stick on is available or just have a go yourself. Get in touch with the Irish Waterway authorities and check what you can /can`t do, what you can circumvent and how much it costs.Good luck and be careful

[John Williamson 1955]

Depending where you are and who you ask, about £200 - £700 for the survey, plus, if the boat is in the water, cranage in and out or dry dock rental for a day, about another £200 - 300. The survey can be either a full survey or a hull survey, depending on how confident you are around boats and their various system (Mechanical, electrical, gas and water). Surveys aren't compulsory except for insurance purposes, when older boats are required to be surveyed regularly by the insurers. What is compulsory on waters owned by the Canal and River Trust in England, Wales and Scotland is a boat safety certificate, but the Irish authorities will have different rules.

 

How far you can travel in a day depends on you to a degree. Allow two to four miles an hour (5 - 7 kilometres) and about a quarter to half an hour per lock, depending on how busy it is. Most people will travel for between 6 and 8 hours in a day. That's a very rough rule of thumb. There are online journey planners available for a better prediction of journey times from A to B.

 

Is there a difference between narrowboats and barges? It depends on who you're talking to. Officially, a narrowboat is a boat with a beam of 2.1 metres or so and a length of under 72 feet, designed to fit the locks on the narrow canals in England. A barge is a river boat, with a wider beam, though some barges were built to use on wide canals like the Leeds & Liverpool or canals linked to navigable rivers. Unfortunately, some people use the word "barge" for both, and you will often find a narrow boat referred to as a "Long boat".

 

Traditional canal art can either be painted to order by an artist, and there are many specialising in it, or available as vinyl stickers (Some are good, some aren't). You can also attend a course and learn how to do your own.

 

Call the boat whatever you wish, as long as the authorities haven't banned the name or designated a format. For instance, all boat names on the Thames and Broads have to be unique, so if you want to call the boat "Overdraught" or "Escape", you may end up with an apparently random number tagged onto the end by the authorities. There are superstitions about renaming a boat, ranging from "Don't do it, it's terribly unlucky", to "It makes no difference at all" via "Only do it when she's out of the water, and break a bottle of champagne over the bow before you launch her again." Take your pick. It's common practice to rename ships when they change hands, partly because debts for unpaid port fees and the like used to follow the ship's name, not the owner or captain, and if the name changed, the debt couldn't be enforced, as the authorities would find it hard to prove it was the same ship and not another if the same type. If you're on British canals, under CRT rules, the identifier they use is the boat's registration number, which is assigned by CRT and in theory stays with the hull for life.

 

The advert for Barrow Otter is very vague, and there are no pictures, which isn't promising. I can't find the advert for the Barrow Queen at all.