buying on Sunday, don't know the first darned thing.

[MtB]

Whoever said boating is a cheap way of living is a bare faced liar.

 

My botes were all cheeper than any of my houses....

 

(Nice wine, this)

[Naughty Cal]

 

My botes were all cheeper than any of my houses....

 

But your bricks and mortar didn't keep sinking!

[Rickent]

The way I bought my boat was high level rash/potential massive mistake, but you've got me beaten hands down here.

Get out while you can. You might be screwed in two months without a home, but pissing the money that you do have up the wall in a preemptive panic to buy a ringer isn't exactly going to help with that.

Don't buy an ancient wooden boat on Sunday with no idea what you're doing, buy some boating books today and educate yourself.

 

If push comes to shove, you can always camp out in a cheap caravan for a couple of weeks while you acquire the info and sense you need to make an informed decision on what to buy, and more importantly, what not to buy.

 

 

 

 

Absolute sense.

I am looking for a boat at the minute and to make sure I didn't rush in and buy the first one I have bought a caravan and will be moving it to proctors in Barrow on sunday.

Please think about what you are doing and don't rush in and make a big mistake.

[Arthur Brown]

Just think carefully about how you are going to meet CaRT's mooring or movement requirements without a fully functional engine. Where are you planning to want to live and how are you going to get to work from there. Remember, on a boat you have to go to a place to empty the toilet tank and fill the water tank, you also need diesel or solid fuel for heating and cooking, all of which have to be bought and got to the boat.

 

Wait a few moments and someone will pop up with the list of all the boats from that yard in that year and you can decide whether the history you have been sold on is true or (more likely) not completely.

[alan_fincher]

As bluntly as I can possibly put this.

 

If you know nothing about near 80 year old wooden narrow boats, and can extract yourselves from this, then do.

 

Don't ask further questions, or continue to think about it in any way - get out now - this is far to specialist for even the most enthusiastic DIYer with no background in the subject.

 

If you are desperate for a home, but only have a small budget, you would be better off with a basic small steel boat than a huge 80 year old wooden one.

 

Let us know what you can afford, and (provided it is vaguely a realistic amount), people will point you at some possibilities that will not come with the "baggage" that this one inevitably will.

 

By the way, I own two 1936 steel boats, both bought without a survey, so I'm not exactly without taking risks, but I wouldn't touch a wooden boat of similar vintage, even if it was gifted to me.

[MtB]

And to trot out the cliché, you don't own a wooden boat. It owns you...

Hello???

[Graham Davis]

The way I bought my boat was high level rash/potential massive mistake, but you've got me beaten hands down here.

Get out while you can. You might be screwed in two months without a home, but pissing the money that you do have up the wall in a preemptive panic to buy a ringer isn't exactly going to help with that.

Don't buy an ancient wooden boat on Sunday with no idea what you're doing, buy some boating books today and educate yourself.

 

If push comes to shove, you can always camp out in a cheap caravan for a couple of weeks while you acquire the info and sense you need to make an informed decision on what to buy, and more importantly, what not to buy.

 

Well said Starry.

 

To the OP, this lady says sensible things, listen to her with BOTH ears and your wallet firmly closed!!

[David Mack]

If you buy an ageing wooden boat as a hobby and it sinks, the most you've lost is an ageing wooden boat.

 

If you buy an ageing wooden boat as your home and it sinks, you've lost your home, most of your possessions and probably your biggest capital asset.

 

Boats like this really are for the dedicated enthusiast, or the well off who can afford to lose their investment. From your post I don't think you are either of these.

 

Leave this boat for someone else, and buy something a bit more conventional. If you really don't know anything about boats, then spend some time reading back through the forum. There's plenty of people who have done this before you, and simply reading of their experiences and the advice they have received, will give you a better idea of what is involved, and help you decide whether this really is right for you.

 

A few points you might like to consider:

 

• Are you taking a mooring? If so it will come at a cost. Most moorings are not officially residential but plenty of people live on them 'under the radar' , but there are no guarantees that you will be able to continue doing this. Official residential moorings tend to be quite a lot more expensive (although there are exceptions).
• There is no security of tenure for a boat mooring. Your landlord can ask you to move on without notice.
• Don't pay a premium for a boat on a mooring. The right to occupy the mooring is worth very little. If you do take a boat on its mooring, before parting with your money check with the mooring owner/operator (don't just rely on the vendor's word) that the mooring will be transferred to you. Many can't be.
• If you declare yourself to be a Continuous Cruiser, you don't need a mooring, but you do have to continuously cruise. Exactly what this entails is not defined, and often discussed and disputed here and elsewhere. But CRT are clamping down on those who claim to CC, but actually move as little as they can get away with. Most other navigation authorities don't allow CCing at all. Proper CCing is difficult (but not impossible) if you have fixed commitments like jobs and schools.
• If you have a mooring will it have a mains electricity hookup? If not, or if you are CCing how will you generate power?
• Are you happy to become much more intimately acquainted with the contents of your toilet than you have ever had to be in a house?

 

 

[boatywooster]

Whoever said boating is a cheap way of living is a bare faced liar.

I cannot believe it can be any more expensive than living in commuter belt Surrey

[alan_fincher]

 

Are you happy to become much more intimately acquainted with the contents of your toilet than you have ever had to be in a house?

 

 

 

You obviously never lived in my first house!

[FadeToScarlet]

Wow I wasn't expecting a response so quickly.

The boat is a 1936 wooden butty made by walkers of Rickmansworth, didn't make a note of the name. Might be a key boaty thing I will have to get used to.

I really wish this was not a wind up, truly. But owing to unforeseen family circumstances we have no choice other than to take to a boat as a more affordable housing option. We have two months to make a boat a home else we will end up without one. that's life, and we won't loose any sleep over it.

If wooden might not be the most practicable option, we still have time to cancel (no cash has yet exchanged hands) although this one ticks the box for convenience etc. I am having a minor panic because we do have a limited budget for major works. I will be getting a survey (hearing that boat insurance may require one on old wooden crafts).

we are also seeing a steel hulled version tomorrow (5hr round trip).

all advice is much appreciated, and I expect this will not be our only posting over the next few feet months of drama.

If I do not respond promptly, don't be offended; I have a lot of research to do.

 

 

This is Drake, formerly named Taunton, another wooden butty built in 1936 by Walkers of Rickmansworth.

 

It was bought by a succession of owners (I think), all of whom found the maintenance far too expensive. Eventually, the stern post split, the boat sank, and the owner salvaged what few possessions they could.

 

 

This is Hesperus, another 1930s wooden narrowboat, also I think lived on before sinking.

 

 

This is Umbriel, same age as Hesperus and the same builder, same story I think.

 

Wooden boats are cheaper to buy, compared to steel, but the costs of maintaining them can be much, much higher. You're looking at docking fairly often, replacing planks occasionally, rebuilding parts every so often, caulking, tarring, replacing plates, worrying every time you run over something submerged in the canal....

 

In all seriousness, buy a steel boat. They're easier to survey, easier to repair because everyone can do it, not just a few specialists, and far more common.

Edited February 27, 2015 by FadeToScarlet

[Texasboater]

 

This is what you COULD be facing with a wooden boat!

[boatywooster]

Thank you for all your helpful advice - will give the guy a call and start looking at steel instead. tooo much drama, by the sounds of things.

We will be cc, because we aren't making long term plans. We won't be entering into this on the premise that a pm will open up.

am wondering what the effect of cc will be on the car insurance? Any views or experience there?

I still have no idea about the size of inverters/tanks/cassette loo or other bog or what a calorifier does, and which one I will need but there appear to be plenty of posts and websites..

There is a lot to learn in a short space of time. Yee gads

[koukouvagia]

I was once offered an historic wooden butty for free but I could see that it would have cost a small fortune to make it sound so I walked away. I wonder what became of it - it was Beatrice.

 

Edited February 27, 2015 by koukouvagia

[boatywooster]

This is Drake, formerly named Taunton, another wooden butty built in 1936 by Walkers of Rickmansworth.

It was bought by a succession of owners (I think), all of whom found the maintenance far too expensive. Eventually, the stern post split, the boat sank, and the owner salvaged what few possessions they could.

This is Hesperus, another 1930s wooden narrowboat, also I think lived on before sinking.

This is Umbriel, same age as Hesperus and the same builder, same story I think.

Wooden boats are cheaper to buy, compared to steel, but the costs of maintaining them can be much, much higher. You're looking at docking fairly often, replacing planks occasionally, rebuilding parts every so often, caulking, tarring, replacing plates, worrying every time you run over something submerged in the canal....

In all seriousness, buy a steel boat. They're easier to survey, easier to repair because everyone can do it, not just a few specialists, and far more common.

 

Ok then.... That's that deal scuppered then lol

Steel it is

[Guest]

I cannot believe it can be any more expensive than living in commuter belt Surrey

Ok but sorry if you believe that then go for it. Everything is relative.

 

However there are some trusted very experienced people on this thread suggesting that you walk away, you have confirmed doing so would not incur any penalty.......seriously just do it.

 

Ed. Cross post.

Edited February 28, 2015 by MJG

[Chagall]

Thank you for all your helpful advice - will give the guy a call and start looking at steel instead. tooo much drama, by the sounds of things.

We will be cc, because we aren't making long term plans. We won't be entering into this on the premise that a pm will open up.

am wondering what the effect of cc will be on the car insurance? Any views or experience there?

I still have no idea about the size of inverters/tanks/cassette loo or other bog or what a calorifier does, and which one I will need but there appear to be plenty of posts and websites..

There is a lot to learn in a short space of time. Yee gads

 

you've learnt the biggest lesson...take advice on here. well done so far.

[alan_fincher]

If you have any interest in people trying to make some sensible suggestions for you then you really need to give an idea as to how much you can afford.

 

Without that we can only guess, and probably make suggestions that aren't helpful.

[David Mack]

Wooden narrow boats were built for a specific purpose, and expected to last 25-30 years. Those that remain are mostly 3 times that age now. Those in good condition only exist because they have either been completely rebuilt, or because the owners are continually working on one bit or another, as in the Spey video above.

 

For another view on whats involved in rebuilding a wooden boat (wide boat in this case), take a look at Chris Collins' photos in this thread: http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=41409&p=778930

[Sea Dog]

Crikey, this truly was a close call for the OP, wasn't it! I couldn't have been more gobsmacked if she'd posted "we've just bought a pig in a poke. Does anyone know anything about pigs?....or pokes?"

 

I can see you must be in some kind of a fix Wooster but, honestly, if you don't have the time to do research into boats and life on them and then can't wait til you find the right boat (probably quite a long time) - don't even think about a boat.

 

Glad to hear you bailed out in time though (no pun intended). Good luck.

[RLWP]

I wonder if you know exactly how much of a loss the forum has just saved you

 

Richard

[Peter X]

OK, so the forum has saved you from one enormous expense, old wooden boats, and you've rightly identified another to avoid, i.e. renting property in Surrey, so you're heading in the right financial direction! CC'ing does save the cost of a mooring, so perhaps the next question to consider is where to CC? To what extent if any do you need to stay near Surrey or London? I ask because it sounds as if location may not be too important for you, it'll depend on your work and any family ties of course, and if you are able to do your boating well away from London it'll be cheaper. A place to moor and facilities such as water taps will generally be easier to find too.

[mark99]

Think about moorings too - how were you planning to live on a wooden boat with no engine?

 

There are not many residential moorings available. If you were to "cc" in an unpowered butty you could be hoovered up in enforcement fairly soon and probably lose your boat.

 

Reminds me in the 70's when we were young - my mate bought a Walkers boat on a whim and I think three times he had it pumped back to the surface by the fire brigade. It was an utter disaster. Some of us still talk about it today - i.e. how much of a liability that boat was. This was the same chap who also on a whim bought a falcon..........despite being a townie.

 

Eventually this chap, Graham, inherited I think 18 houses from his family who used to rent them out - he sold I think 7 or eight and lost the proceeds on the stock market so quickly it was astonishing.

 

Unfortunately we lost touch - he disappeared on another whim to S Africa.

 

So message to OP - research how you intend to live on the bank - you could be in for a nasty suprise to keep legal and out off the enforcement radar. For instance - there is no living allowed on the Surrey River Wey and CaRT are about to get tough with cc'ers who don't move too, far too often.

Edited February 28, 2015 by mark99

[Barge Maria]

I don't mean to be rude to the OP, and there is some very good advice in this thread from experienced liveaboarders, but if your main question is about car insurance rather than moorings etc. then you really have a lot of things arse about face I'm afraid.

[forsberg]

In hindsight I'm well pleased that the mast got stolen from the 1926 Skerry cruiser I was about to buy some 30 years ago.

Cant even begin to imagine how much money and workhours them thievs saved me.