newbie good solid build for 15k approx.

[Alan de Enfield]

 

 

That has left me rather speechless! It would never happen, I couldn't subject myself, let alone daughter and dog, to live on that for a year, it would be an apartment if that was our only option, it just is way too basic to even consider. .............

 

 

 

That looks 'pretty normal', needs a bit of a 'womans touch'.

A basic price boat is going to be pretty basic, there is not a huge amount of room for knick-knacks and 'tat' but they can easily be personalised and 'tarted up'

Not sure what you are expecting for £15,000.

 

Maybe if you could post some pictures of what would be acceptable, folks could try and find something for you.

 

Edit to add - I actually think that this is a lot of boat for a very low price. There is a very similar one for sale in our Marina, it was priced at £40,000 but has now been reduced for a quick sale to "low £30s". Pretty much the only difference is it has had a solid fuel fire fitted in the Saloon and is a comfortable liveaboard.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Alan de Enfield

[Lady Muck]

The only other option is to go for a static houseboat, some friends have one. They had to sell their narrowboat as it was too long for the mooring they had obtained (London moorings being a bit difficult to get they had to compromise). Its boxy, caravan shaped, no engine. The shell cost them £10k and they fitted out themselves. Not my sort of thing as its more floating caravan than boat, but if you want a floating apartment...

[Southern Star]

 

Not sure what you are expecting for £15,000.

 

 

^^^ This.

[twbm]

The interior of Amazing Grace is not fundamentally all that different from a narrow boat from the lower to middle end of the market. With respect you probably need to seek out some boats for sale on line that meet your aspirations, then determine how many noughts you need to put on the end of that '15'.

[pinkiescot]

yep, thanks guys, it seems I may have to hold off for a year, and rent an apartment instead, then look again when my budget is higher!

 

Not what I was hoping for, but a more sensible option in my situation I guess.

[haggis]

OMG!!! and text speak drives me mad!!!

 

That has left me rather speechless! It would never happen, I couldn't subject myself, let alone daughter and dog, to live on that for a year, it would be an apartment if that was our only option, it just is way too basic to even consider. Although I could envisage driving it for fun!

 

Thanks for the thought though, but seriously?! I'm 46, not 20!

I think you have a rose tinted idea of what boats are like to live on and perhaps you need to do a bit more research before parting with any money :-)

You said you weren't bothered about mooring price increases but just to throw some figures into the pot, I understand that the annual mooring fee for a widebeam on the Lowland canals is about £5,000 and likely to go up substantially.

 

haggis

 

Cross posted with your message and I think you have made the right decision.

Edited September 27, 2015 by haggis

[pinkiescot]

thanks again guys, i think it may well take a year or so to substantially up my budget to something i would be comfortable living on. A static wouldnt be an option for me, i want to travel, bit pointless otherwise.

 

Also, it may take a further year til I find the right boat for me. Clearly not an overnight decision or thing that can be rushed.

 

I don't mind things going wrong but I couldn't be in a confined space with my daughter and the dog, much as I love them, and I'm sure they would say the same. I was reminded by my daughter last night of how we argued in the motorhome, I still don't remember it, but she does.

 

Strange how we gloss over the bad bits in our memories........it will happen, but apparently now is not the time, it would be a waste of money to buy the wrong boat because that is all I could afford.

[TheBiscuits]

 

Here is an example that would appear to fit your needs and would probably be 'gettable' at £15,000

 

http://motorboats.apolloduck.co.uk/feature.phtml?id=412313

Muttering: I don't need another boat. I'm not allowed another boat. It was probably a sour grape anyway ;D

[Arthur Brown]

IF I were living in Glasgow I'd consider having a sea boat so that the West Coast was "my patch"

[TheBiscuits]

IF I were living in Glasgow I'd consider having a sea boat so that the West Coast was "my patch"

I have considered moving up towards Glasgow for that reason!

[Sea Dog]

IF I were living in Glasgow I'd consider having a sea boat so that the West Coast was "my patch"

Ah, those lovely Western Isles - I can see the attraction. The boat 'must have' list changes substantially then though. For example, "a roof that doesn't leak" now ranks above "a hull that doesn't leak"!

[Alan de Enfield]

Some years ago we moored our boat in Holyhead - the West coast all the way up to the top of Scotland, the Isle of Man & Ireland were in 'our patch'

 

Many pleasant trips around Largs, Rhu, Oban, the 'isles'. - sweet memories.

[Alan de Enfield]

Looking back at the 'logs', fuel at 27p-30p per litre (but we were only getting just over 1mpg), getting the tanker down into the harbour as the marina could not cope with boats with large tanks (they only had 1000 litre tank to supply all the yachties)

 

Dolphins / Porpoise following / leading the boat - memories !!

 

Bit of a brown trouser moment in Faslane.(Gare Loch)

 

Entered the Lock at about 25 knots - lovely day, sun shining and then noticed there were 3 'rubber boats' chasing us, they were only doing about 26 knots so it took them some time to catch us - eventually saw that they were full of men in black suits with ski-masks and sub-machine guns,

I got the gist of their shouting (they didn't have VHF) that they wanted us to stop.

Apparently they were very concerned that we were terrorists and going to blow up / bomb all of the Navies submarines (which just happened to be tied up together on that particular day).

 

I was informed that there was a speed limit on the loch, but when asked to explain where it was shown ( it was not in the almanac, not on the charts, no signs on the loch entrance) they just got threatening and took the boat details, my name and address etc and said I would be hearing from the Military Police.

 

Nothing was ever heard, but it was a bit concerning for a day or two

 

Memories !!!

Edited September 27, 2015 by Alan de Enfield

[Arthur Brown]

There are a number of boat designs that are better suited to estuary use than a steel narrow boat.

 

Every space on a boat is at least dual function. Narrow boats are very expensive for marine moorings simply because they are long. An estuary mooring may be three times the per foot price of a canal mooring and a 20m estuary mooring usually prices for a 20m ocean going vessel (but may have water, drains and three phase power)

[peterboat]

i paid for this boat 48.5k it was a 50 x12 johnathon wilson widebeam, i had to bargain hard to get it for that price it was only a couple of years old and a repossession. bargains are out there you just have to find them. my first boat was a 60 foot narrowboat 39k ex share boat it had gas central heating the addition of a stove made it warmer and more boaty it was a 6 berth so for your needs would be perfik. dont give up hope keep searching and look at hire/share boat sales contact the companies direct and ask if they are selling any and pre look at them good luck and i hope you make your dream

 

peter

 

ps caps and shift keys killed by virus so sorry for lack of caps

[Alan de Enfield]

There are a number of boat designs that are better suited to estuary use than a steel narrow boat.

 

 

Very true, but, I don't think anyone has proposed that a NB would be suitable.

The boat is question is a very 'seaworthy' Dutch barge - its only 'problem' would be the small engine.

[Arthur Brown]

OP post 1, " so narrowboat it is. "

[Alan de Enfield]

OP post 1, " so narrowboat it is. "

 

Granted - but the OP planned on the canals. It was the rest of us that derailed the thread to include estuary and sea after a boat which was thought to be suitable was identified, and that boat was 'sea capable'.

 

My understanding was that the OP had discounted widebeams because she thought they would limit her navigation options.

The OP is possibly not aware that the Scottish canals are not connected to the English 'narrow' canals.

The Forth & Clyde has a maximum beam of 16 feet 6 inches so a widebeam should not really be a problem.

The Union canal has a maximum beam of 11 feet.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Alan de Enfield

[David Mack]

Put it this way, a narrowboat for £15k would not be much different inside.

Except it will be 4 ft narrower, so a lot less space for the OP, daughter and dog.

[Peter X]

Pinkiescot, I wonder if the way to go for you would be a compromise between your low budget and the need for space.

As that boat on the Medway is too small for you and your daughter to contemplate (and you would need to be getting on well and keep your possessions to a minimum), and the mooring you have in mind is longer, perhaps you could find the money for a longer GRP boat at around £30,000 which you'd be happier on? Of course it has to stay within the other dimensions; not just beam but draught and air draught, for all the waterways you want to get it along. Sea-going boats might have fins or even a keel which will hit the bottom, or there may be a cockpit which won't fit under a crucial bridge.

 

If I'd planned such a move when I was a single parent with a 13 year old daughter (plus a son who mostly lived with his mother at that time), I think she'd have seen living on a boat as a fun adventure, but wouldn't have liked moving to another area, far from her friends and in a new school. Every child is different of course.

[blackrose]

I don't mind things going wrong but I couldn't be in a confined space with my daughter and the dog, much as I love them, and I'm sure they would say the same.

 

Forget about living on a boat then.

[alan_fincher]

yep, thanks guys, it seems I may have to hold off for a year, and rent an apartment instead, then look again when my budget is higher!

 

Not what I was hoping for, but a more sensible option in my situation I guess.

 

 

thanks again guys, i think it may well take a year or so to substantially up my budget to something i would be comfortable living on. A static wouldnt be an option for me, i want to travel, bit pointless otherwise.

 

Also, it may take a further year til I find the right boat for me. Clearly not an overnight decision or thing that can be rushed.

 

I don't mind things going wrong but I couldn't be in a confined space with my daughter and the dog, much as I love them, and I'm sure they would say the same. I was reminded by my daughter last night of how we argued in the motorhome, I still don't remember it, but she does.

 

Strange how we gloss over the bad bits in our memories........it will happen, but apparently now is not the time, it would be a waste of money to buy the wrong boat because that is all I could afford.

 

 

Being totally honest, from most things I have seen you say, I'm far from convinced you should be following this dream, however much you have to spend.

 

Even if much better funded, boat living will inevitably mean probably not a lot of space, and even on boats bought at a much higher budget things will go wrong, and you will need to be able to fully take that in your stride. (Even if the toilet is full, the fresh water tank empty, you are running out of fuel, and you are frozen in by 3" of ice).

 

At the very least, I think you need to do a great deal more research, but at least you are listening to those you have asked the questions of, so you are probably in a better place than when people ask the questions, but don't like the answers, so largely choose to ignore them!

[Southern Star]

At 42', my boat would be cramped for two people to live aboard, but I can't see that if it was a car's length longer this would make an enormous difference. You do need to be able to live in a confined space on a narrowboat, some can and some can't.

[scrabble]

Ive been trawling eBay, apolloduck, gumtree for past year or so since i decided I wanted to live on one for various reasons.

 

I too was hoping to spend around 15k on my first one, at 32 years of age it wasnt goin to be something id spend the rest of my life on, it was really a way of getting into the lifestyle, where then if i felt there was no going back to bricks and cement id do up said 15k boat maybe make a bit of money on it sell it and buy something else.

 

As others have said, for 15k, its hard to find something worthwhile, more so because there is 2 of you and wanting adequate space, where a 15k boat would work for me is iam a single guy with no women or kids, also most boats in the 15k price range tend to be all between 30 feet and 45 feet with the odd 50 foot wreck popping up now and again.

 

Ive seen many a springer, and a few others for 12.5-15k in tidy exterior condition, with sound hull, recent survey, long safety certificate but the interior resembles an old garden shed, miserable dark wood, something in a confined space would make the happiest person depressed i feel, but ive been lead to believe you can either paint it white, or nail thin ply over the top of that and then paint that white.

 

I too am mechanically/engineering minded so id have no issues with engine work, or anything that keeps it moving, charges the batteries, and keeps it floating, my downfall is i know nothing about decorating, plumbing, woodwork, electrics etc but i feel being mechanically etc minded is the better of the two.

 

What im trying to say is if your not mechanically minded and are going to take a gamble on a older boat in this price range then it would be wise to have another few grand put aside for if and when things do go wrong if you cant fix them yourself

[Southern Star]

 

 

Ive seen many a springer, and a few others for 12.5-15k in tidy exterior condition, with sound hull, recent survey, long safety certificate but the interior resembles an old garden shed, miserable dark wood, something in a confined space would make the happiest person depressed i feel, but ive been lead to believe you can either paint it white, or nail thin ply over the top of that and then paint that white.

 

Well, each to their own but my boat is fitted out in iroko which, if you rated wood in terms of darkness and miserableness would have to be just about the most dark and miserable wood you can get but the thought of nailing plywood over the top of it and painting it white just makes me shudder!