Jump to content

Help and advice (possibility of renting rather than sell) info required please


H.C.Astell & Co

Featured Posts

Dear All

 

My wife and I bought a beautiful 50ft Trad canal boat built by Keith wood narrow boats.

we have had many a fantastic time on her over the last 4 years of ownership, but the last two years my wife's health has deteriorated due to having RA, and having to self inject recently, she can not manage the boat anymore.

So we are talking about either selling or renting it out?

I don't know enough about life on the canal to know if its a viable idea, so I would ask the knowledgeable of you for some advice.

we tried to sell it last year, and only got as far as the office of ABNB and my wife broke down in tears, so I said we would keep it another year, but since then we have only been up to the boat once.

 

Im not sure if my wife can go through with a sale, so my other idea was to see if we can long term rent it out, to responsible couples with experience?

if this is something that has been done, can someone please help with information to do such a thing?

 

Kind regards

H.C.A

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi

It has been done in several cases with very differing success. Its a bit of a minefield with regards insurance etc. Boats are often not realy well looked after either. If you realy love your boat you are in a bit of a predicament realy I am genuinely sad to say.

On the one hand if you keep ownership and rent it out but its left in a poor state you will be upset and if you sell it also upset.

I hope you find a positive way forward.

 

Regards

 

tim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If renting there are a whole host of 'different' regulations to adhere to :

 

You need a 'commercial' C&RT licence

You need a 'commercial' (stricter) BSS

You will need 'commercial' insurance.

 

You should speak to C&RT as part of their requirements is to have customer car parking available at your mooring, and to have your own waste disposal facilties etc etc.

 

I'd suggest that to do it 'legally' for one boat is not worthwhile, to do it illegally puts both you and your clients at risk should anything happen.

 

Its going to be hard but maybe 'biting the bullet' and selling is the best way, then look to rent later in the year if you still have a leaning towards the canals.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you feel so strongly about your boat then I think Tuscan has a great idea. That way you will know who is using it and won't get any shocks when you manage to use it yourself. Good luck on your quest. Sorry to hear that your wife's health has prevented you enjoying your time on the waterways

Edited by Pete & Helen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel for you, having to give up regular boating, but do any share boat companies manage such things for owners?

That way proper maintenance etc is scheduled and you get some use out of it if you want.

Edited by Kwacker
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear All

 

My wife and I bought a beautiful 50ft Trad canal boat built by Keith wood narrow boats.

we have had many a fantastic time on her over the last 4 years of ownership, but the last two years my wife's health has deteriorated due to having RA, and having to self inject recently, she can not manage the boat anymore.

So we are talking about either selling or renting it out?

I don't know enough about life on the canal to know if its a viable idea, so I would ask the knowledgeable of you for some advice.

we tried to sell it last year, and only got as far as the office of ABNB and my wife broke down in tears, so I said we would keep it another year, but since then we have only been up to the boat once.

 

Im not sure if my wife can go through with a sale, so my other idea was to see if we can long term rent it out, to responsible couples with experience?

if this is something that has been done, can someone please help with information to do such a thing?

 

Kind regards

H.C.A

 

 

 

 

 

it's perfectly possible to run a private hire boat, I know several people who do it.

 

you will need to be pretty hands-on and near to where the boat is moored. it costs quite a lot in yearly overheads so marketing it will be your main issue.

 

you need to write a proper business plan and see how many weeks you need to break even.

 

you will also need to be very practical, certainly when starting out there will little spare cash to pay maintenance wage bills.

 

I do know people who make a success of it but they are very focussed and business minded individuals.

 

it's a lot easier to rent it out as a liveaboard but that wouldn't enable your wife's occasional use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Firstly our sympathies. We dread giving up our narrowboat too but as we purchased her as part of a nominal five year plan we are already planning three years out? on how we selfishly spend the proceeds of the sale. Motor caravan around Australia? Cruise to the Arctic/ Antarctic. Share of boat in Europe? All of the above? Hopefully by the time we have to sell these plans will be in such a state that all we want is to get Whio sold quickly so we can get on with another truely great adventure. Diversion therapy, Why fight when you can run to another great place. Best wishes. Don and Val

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last year when you went to sell your boat the "event" dictated by realisation of your wifes deteriorating health and all the emotions at this time painful and fresh. mum had severe RA and i witnessed the daily struggle to carry on and sacrifices made.

In her case she gave up cake decorating then driving and finally training her beloved dogs and she was a brilliant dog trainer but she always replaced one focus with another. For a while she distance trained them using disability scooters and dad got her one she could use on the fields.

This year its another year distant from that time so you may find that with time your wife is beginning to realise would perhaps be best to let go of this dream and find one thats more achievable. Its tough and RA a horrible painful disease.

Have you tried a cruise? I know its not the same but disabled people cope very well on board and if, as you say you only managed one trip on the boat then perhaps this could substitute in some way.

I think handing your boat over as a hire could be quite painful, I would hate strangers on mine. It also sounds quite complicated.

Good Luck

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks LM.

Thanks for the replies so far, it's a tough call and your all absolutely right, we are worried about dog hairs on carpet, let alone some real damage caused by someone else.

 

If you are house=proud/boat-proud enough to worry about dog hair you will only suffer constant worry if someone else is cruising your boat. It's been said, NO-ONE will be as careful with your boat as you would be. DandV and patty-ann are absolutely right - find a new goal, a new ambition. That way you will have the one-off trauma of the sale but then you will have the pleasure/excitement of the new (and some money!). Otherwise you will be coping both with your wife's deteriation and the worry of what is being done to your boat, and if you're unlucky even dealing with serious damage done to it.

 

Tam

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A very difficult situation to find yourself in and I feel for you.

 

You love your boat and have many happy memories of time spent on board. Bite the bullet and sell it now while she is in good condition and not suffering from lack of use/maintenance. That way you will protect those memories of happy times.

 

Keep it another year and the paintwork will be deteriating, there will be dust and possible the start of mould growth inside, the spiders will have taken over and those little jobs you do each time you spend time on board will have run away into a long list of things you need to do before you can start to enjoy using the boat. You do not want this to sulley your happy memories.

 

Hire it out and someone else will fail to do all those little jobs so they still mount up, they will spill red wine on the furnishings, they will cut their vegetables on the worktop instead of using a chopping board, they won't bother to clean the oven and your bird identification guide will go missing. In addition to this it will have cost you a fortune to get the boat ready to legally rent it out. You do not want those memories

 

Life moves on and sometimes it moves in a direction we would prefer it not to. Sometimes we have to say goodbye to things we love. It is hard but we treasure the happy memories and given time the grief subsides.

 

I wish you well

  • Greenie 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know what RA is and what limitations it brings, but is it possible that you and your wife could continue to enjoy boating if you had a friend or relative to come along as crew and take over the tasks your wife can no longer manage? So long as you have the space for an extra person, and it's someone who isn't going to spill red wine, leave dog hairs etc., and your wife can still get on and off the boat safely and get any medical care she needs, it might work out?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah yes, that'll be it. At 59 I'm not exactly young, and roughly aware of what rheumatoid arthritis is, but lucky enough not to have that or any other important health problem myself.

I'm guessing that with an extra crew member a sufferer could go boating, but that getting on and off the boat would become tricky, and steering or operating locks difficult or impossible?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go through all the sales sites to see what sort of asking price is realistic, bear in mind that few boats make their asking price.

 

The pain of sale is once, the pain of hire is every time it's due back you wonder what state it's in and can you ready it for the next user.

 

You could of course advertise it on this site.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes RA = Rheumatoid arthritis comes with Fibromyalgia, and the two combined is just very painful.

Peter X, I sense a very slight whiff of sarcasm from your post #18.. :-(

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to give offence but I see that what I wrote could be read that way. What I meant by referring to others' earlier comments about red wine and dog hairs is that it's entirely up to you to decide what standard of care you would expect others to take of your boat and act accordingly. The higher your housekeeping standards are, the more particular you need to be about who comes aboard. In my house for example, outdoor footwear is allowed throughout, mostly because my carpets were nothing special when I bought the place and I regard them as a bit expendable. But if I go in someone else's house I expect to follow their rules; unless their floor coverings are clearly worse than mine I'd be offering to remove my shoes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.