Does this seem fairly priced? 1974 46ft £27500

[AftApeth]

Ask all the leading questions and do not buy without a proper survey, at that vintage you need one for insurance purposes anyway.

 

It looks a well loved and cared for boat and quite sweet and homely.

 

In the end it comes down to " no foot no horse , no hull no boat " hull condition is the most important factor. It's hard to make satisfactory repairs to a fitted out boat.

 

Oh good luck and welcome too. Keep coming back and asking questions.

Thanks! It does seem quite homely too, doesn't it? I can very much imagine myself on this one. I love the solid wood floor and layout.

[magnetman]

 

 

Under-exaggerate, perhaps?

 

 

Didn't know you could do that

[MtB]

Thanks! It does seem quite homely too, doesn't it? I can very much imagine myself on this one. I love the solid wood floor and layout.

 

This IS the trouble. Plenty of newbie boat buyers get seduced by a nice interior and extrapolate from this to hope/conclude the hull 'must' be in equally good condition. Sadly there is no such correlation.

 

Either that or it never occurs to them there could ever be anything wrong with a floating hull....

 

(You have seen it floating, haven't you???!!)

 

 

MtB

[magnetman]

Is it sort of this scenario

 

My boat cost me £80k so I tell people I paid £37k for it?

[MtB]

Didn't know you could do that

 

I can do lots of things you wouldn't believe!!

 

 

MtB

[magnetman]

A negative over-exaggeration

Going back to the OP boat. 1974 is quite old for a steel canal boat so a bottom report would be worth doing

[MtB]

Is it sort of this scenario

 

My boat cost me £80k so I tell people I paid £37k for it?

 

 

No. That would be over-under-exaggerating, silly.!

 

 

MtB

[magnetman]

 

 

No. That would be over-under-exaggerating, silly.!

 

 

MtB

 

£68k?

[AftApeth]

Google for "narrowboat stern tube assembly",m then click 'images'.

 

That brings up lots of nice pictures so you'll understand the arrangement.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=narrowboat+stern+tube+assembly&client=firefox-a&hs=znq&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=en5wVN2oD9XvaIC5gbAE&ved=0CCIQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=902

 

 

MtB

Excellent, thanks. So the stern tube seems to be something like the drive shaft on my motorbike.

Edited November 22, 2014 by AftApeth

[MtB]

Your motorbike has a propeller?!!

[AftApeth]

 

This IS the trouble. Plenty of newbie boat buyers get seduced by a nice interior and extrapolate from this to hope/conclude the hull 'must' be in equally good condition. Sadly there is no such correlation.

 

Either that or it never occurs to them there could ever be anything wrong with a floating hull....

 

(You have seen it floating, haven't you???!!)

 

 

MtB

Not yet, just the photos so far. Now that you mention it, the only exterior photos show it in dry dock! I'm hoping to get down to Cambridge at some point soon to have a look, if I can work first whether the seller is willing to come down to my price range and see the hull survey he had done last year.

 

(Just noticed your Russell quotation. It's a good one. I'm a big fan of BR.)

Your motorbike has a propeller?!!

Doesn't yours?

[matty40s]

[AftApeth]

Forget the narrowboat. I now want this.

[magnetman]

For continuous cruising ?

[zenataomm]

80" = 6' 10"

 

6' 08"

[AftApeth]

I call it 'the apalling duck plague'

 

Would be cool to have a land registry type list of what boats actually SOLD for

Definitely, I do wonder about this. I notice there's quite a big general difference in price between the Whilton Marina and Venetian Marina websites, and the private listings on Apollo Duck. I get the impression that the marinas are a little more realistic about price, since they shift hundreds of boats a year.

[MtB]

Definitely, I do wonder about this. I notice there's quite a big general difference in price between the Whilton Marina and Venetian Marina websites, and the private listings on Apollo Duck. I get the impression that the marinas are a little more realistic about price, since they shift hundreds of boats a year.

 

I'd say Whilton must be shifting three or four a week at least, or it wouldn't be commercially viable to run that sales site with all the staff, overheads etc. They don't charge for mooring a boat for sale there so they must only be making significant money from sales commissions and boats they buy in for themselves to resell.

 

MtB

MtB

[matty40s]

 

I'd say Whilton must be shifting three or four a week at least, or it wouldn't be commercially viable to run that sales site with all the staff, overheads etc. They don't charge for mooring a boat for sale there so they must only be making significant money from sales commissions and boats they buy in for themselves to resell.

 

MtB

MtB

Considering they buy boats for around half what they price them at subsequently, this would seem to be a good business model.!!!

They also don't have to pay any licence fee for any boats moored there so no real costs for that particular boat other than maintenance of the webpage ..

[AftApeth]

Apparently they shift 'over 300' a year: http://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/About-Us/default.aspx. They also boast of 'free valuations anywhere on the network'. They don't say it has to be your own boat though. Maybe I'll ask them to head off to Cambridge and take a look at that boat for me.

Edited November 22, 2014 by AftApeth

[Neil2]

I think it's overpriced, by quite a lot.

 

The swim looks very short for a 46 foot boat but probably typical for that era.

 

But I'd be mainly concerned about the power unit. That lever operated gear change will really get on your nerves, most Sabb engines have been converted to single lever, why hasn't this one? What you need to do is find out exactly which engine it has, there were three versions of the 2 cylinder unit, I think, and there were also lots of different gearbox/prop combinations. Get all the details and talk to the guys at Sleeman and Hawkins. I did this a few years ago with a boat that was Sabb powered and the guy scared the living daylights out of me.

 

Any twin cylinder Sabb will be getting on a bit by now so best to assume it's going to need some attention in the short/medium term.

 

Or maybe budget for a new engine and factor that in if it gets to the negotiating stage.

[magnetman]

Probably a 2G

 

They are good units although the replaced parts makes me wonder if it has been screwed somehow or maybe sunk? I don't see '£££s spent on repairs to engine' as a good thing. New engine yes thats good but an engine that is nackered needs replacing rather than repairing unless its a very nice antique of some sort.

 

I fitted a Sabb 2G in a 40ft narrow boat about 8 years ago and it was very nice but it was in excellent condition and cost me £350 with the gearbox so I couldn't really moan about that even if it had been pants. It was powerful and quite torquey although not amazing.

 

I think the most important thing is an underwater hull thickness and condition report for the boat in question as it is 40 years old.

[AftApeth]

Hello again. So I got a reply already from the seller, who tells me that the boat is moored at Hartford Marina, who are managing the sale. There are lots more photos on the site there (including some encouraging evidence that it floats), and a bit more info. Seller says he'll get the hull survey from last year for me when he goes to the boat on Monday/Tuesday. The marina listing says that the survey was done for insurance purposes, which seems to be the sort of thing madcat mentioned above.

 

I have to say I'm falling a little more in love with this one after seeing more photos. I'm wondering about the price again now that I know a marina is happy to list it at £27.5k. I wouldn't have thought it was in their interests to have a wildly inflated price, for the sake of clearing space and maintaining a reputation for reliability?

 

Thanks Neil and Magnet for info about Sabb engines, which I've just seen. I'll try to find out more. The marina listing says: 'Reconditioned Saab 20hp 2 cylinder diesel engine coupled to a cone clutch with separate gear and throttle controls.' I'll ask if the seller thought of having it converted to a single lever, and whether there were issues with doing this.

[MtB]

I have to say I'm falling a little more in love with this one after seeing more photos.

Take care. Boats NEVER look/feel the same in real life. Boats that look wonderful in pics can look dirty and scruffy in real life. And vice versa. Pedestrian looking boats on the listing can have a wonderful warm and attractive feel to them when you actually visit and look. So be prepared for potential disappointment!

 

 

 

I'm wondering about the price again now that I know a marina is happy to list it at £27.5k. I wouldn't have thought it was in their interests to have a wildly inflated price, for the sake of clearing space and maintaining a reputation for reliability?

If the marine is charging for the mooring (the usual state of affairs) it suits them just FINE to have an overpriced boat on their books.

 

 

MtB

 

 

 

(edit as I messed up the HTML!)

Edited November 22, 2014 by Mike the Boilerman

[Peter-Bullfinch]

Our Sabb 2g is 22hp. The engine is 1976 and despite its large number of hours clocked up has been very reliable. They sound really well. Spares are a little above average in price but oil and fuel filters are cheap. Fuel pump, alternator and starter motor can be refurbished by local suppliers in most larger towns.

Johno at UCC in Braunston can be approached for servicing along with quite a few others.

[AftApeth]

Our Sabb 2g is 22hp. The engine is 1976 and despite its large number of hours clocked up has been very reliable. They sound really well. Spares are a little above average in price but oil and fuel filters are cheap. Fuel pump, alternator and starter motor can be refurbished by local suppliers in most larger towns.

Johno at UCC in Braunston can be approached for servicing along with quite a few others.

This is good to know, thanks. I see you're in Chorley – White Bear Marina? I was there about a week ago looking around the boats. I'm based in Appley Bridge at the moment.