I've only gone and bought a boat

[Tecka]

Hi all,

 

I wanted to say thanks for all the advice on here and to let you all know that I have bitten the bullet and bought myself a 55' trad from Great Haywood.

 

I've just booked a survey and blacking once surveyed so will hopefully be on the water and living the dream very shortly.

 

This is the one I've bought http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/feature.phtml?id=445820

 

She's a self fit out with standard house furniture which certainly wasn't what I was originally looking for but when I got on shes got a really nice feel to her and is surprisingly spacious.

 

The thing that sold it to me though was something I found during my nose round, number one I found a folder with every manual for every item, I then found a second folder with absolutely every bit of paperwork and receipt for work since the boat was first built in 1989. Finally when I opened the engine compartment it looked at though the previous owner cleaned the engine daily - it looked brand new, also in the engine cabin are spare parts and tools galore - it really looked as though the chap took really good care of her.

 

I'm going to make arrangements to meet the surveyor onsite whilst being done and have also booked myself a IWHC course as it's been a long time since I was at the helm of a narrow boat, the chap is also going to advise me on single handing the boat. Anyway, I'm aware that not everyone feels these are useful but to me it's all piece of mind.

 

Anyway, thanks once again to all for the advice and I look forward to meeting some of you on the cut soon.

 

Tez

[saltysplash]

Similar age and size and price as the shell on VC Marine yet so much more with it.

 

Hope the Survey goes well and enjoy

[junior]

Nice looking boat, congratulations!

[Richard10002]

Looks good, and I'd guess youve paid less than the £25k asking price? Is it a 1998 boat, or a 1989 boat?

 

The only issue for me would be the fact that you might have to be a bit of a contortionist to sit on the loo

[Tecka]

Cheers, It's weird really. I started looking with what I wanted planted in my head and ended up with something different. I think a few people on here told me it was going to happen.

 

I've been looking at power, it's got 8 leisure batteries which I know is a lot but as I'm going to cc I'm wondering about solar. I'm unsure about efficiency in the winter and whether I should go for it straight away or wait and see how I get on and maybe go solar in the spring if I then feel it necessary.

[Tecka]

Looks good, and I'd guess youve paid less than the £25k asking price? Is it a 1998 boat, or a 1989 boat?

 

The only issue for me would be the fact that you might have to be a bit of a contortionist to sit on the loo

 

Yeah, I made an offer below asking price (I'm the kind of person willing to haggle in primark ) It's 98 according to the advert but in my head I had it as a 89. Might need to phone the surveyer and talk about price again.

 

I know what you mean about the loo but it's not quite as bad as it looks. The bathroom is 'semi-walk through' two doors cover the toilet and sink area and when opened gives a full width bathroom including the shower area, the toilet is hinged and swings round to use. I was actually really impressed as it gives a spacious bathroom but you don't have to walk past the loo every time you travel bow to stern.

 

Edited to answer the date question.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Tecka

[magictime]

Congratulations and best of luck with the survey!

 

I believe the rule of thumb on solar panels is that they generate roughly the equivalent of five hours' full power a day in midsummer and more like one hour's worth in winter - e.g. a 100W-rated panel should generate about 500Wh a day in summer and 100Wh in winter.

[Bettie Boo]

What a lovely boat interior - I especially like the galley and engine room with all the built in and what looks to be well thought out storage. Don't see too many skinny boats that have both a fridge & freezer. Not that it's a necessity, but as your going to cc is there a space to fit in a washer?

 

As for the solar, we also have 8 leisure batteries, and we wouldn't be without our solar array now - it just saves so much on diesel and needless engine running hours. It does make picking mooring spots a little more complicated as now we look out for spots that are as open as possible without tall buildings or trees to give shade as well as somewhere with decent tv and wifi coverage - not that its a real issue, just something to keep in mind

 

Hope all goes well with your survey and happy boating

[Phil Ambrose]

What a lovely boat interior - I especially like the galley and engine room with all the built in

and what looks to be well thought out storage. Don't see too many skinny boats that have both a fridge & freezer. Not that it's a necessity, but as your going to cc is there a space to fit in a washer?

 

As for the solar, we also have 8 leisure batteries, and we wouldn't be without our solar array now - it just saves so much on diesel and needless engine running hours. It does make picking mooring spots a little more complicated as now we look out for spots that are as open as possible without tall buildings or trees to give shade as well as somewhere with decent tv and wifi coverage - not that its a real issue, just something to keep in mind

 

Hope all goes well with your survey and happy boating

Interesting comments about fridge and freezer Bettie, we have a skinny boat and have both, we also have a washing machine and......wait for it, a tumble dryer! (Genny copes OK)

Phil

[Bettie Boo]

Interesting comments about fridge and freezer Bettie, we have a skinny boat and have both, we also have a washing machine and......wait for it, a tumble dryer! (Genny copes OK)

Phil

 

Sorry Phil, didn't mean to imply a fridge/freezer & washer were unheard of on a skinny boat, just didn't think it was on the common side. Well at least the ones we came across when deciding whether we wanted a skinny or fat boat. Most had a fridge some with a freezer compartment, very few had both with and the space for a washer.

 

I think the OP has done well to find a 55' that well laid out at what seems a good price ta boot - not that I know much about such things

[TheBiscuits]

It's exactly the sort of boat that would have been on the must visit list if we were looking for a boat.

 

It's odd, but in a good way! I like it.

 

ETA:

 

Yes, fit solar. I don't know how anyone can live on a boat without solar unless they have shoreline power.

 

If budget is a bit tight, fit one panel and a larger MPPT controller than you need, and add extra panels later.

Edited October 8, 2015 by TheBiscuits

[bottle]

 

I don't know how anyone can live on a boat without solar unless they have shoreline power.

 

Well we managed it for five years, CCing, live aboard.

 

Now have 400 watts though.

 

Oh! and Betty we also have a full size fridge, full sized freezer an a washer dryer on a 'skinny' boat.

[peterboat]

another one for solar i have flexible panels neater than rigids dont get caught in ropes and they make life so much easier. is that a solid fuel cooker as well enjoy the boating life

[patty-ann]

Well done, congrats and enjoy your boating.

[Tecka]

It's odd, but in a good way! I like it.

 

Glad to say the same thing is often said about me

 

 

but as your going to cc is there a space to fit in a washer?

 

 

I think I can get one in the cupboard next to the shower room, full size or twin tub?

 

If budget is a bit tight, fit one panel and a larger MPPT controller than you need, and add extra panels later.

Now have 400 watts though.

 

 

If 400w is good enough then this http://www.amazon.co.uk/ECO-WORTHY-Polycrystalline-Solar-Battery-Charging/dp/B014YYEXSC/ref=sr_1_5?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1444319638&sr=1-5&keywords=solar+mppt or maybe if 600w would be better this http://www.amazon.co.uk/ECO-WORTHY-640W-Monocrystalline-Solar-Panel/dp/B014WXN7IW/ref=sr_1_9?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1444332633&sr=1-9&keywords=solar+mppt are stretchable to. Is the 20a charge controller up to the job of either of them though?

is that a solid fuel cooker as well enjoy the boating life

 

Diesel, never heard of them before but the tanks on board already, the only draw back being trying to figure out the tax breakdown! And thank you

[bottle]

For solar, you need to match the panels output voltage (open circuit voltage) to the maximum that the controller can receive.

 

The panel(s) output voltage will vary as to how you wire them together, series, parallel or series parallel.

 

Better to have the controller able to take a higher voltage than the panels can give out.

 

My 400 watts is into a 24v system

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If the diesel stove has a completely separate tank from the propulsion tank then your declaration is 100% domestic for the stove tank.

 

You can still declare a split for the other tank, your choice on split, as of course the propulsion tank supplies your engine and that also charges the domestic batteries.

 

If tanks are not separate then you still declare a split of your choice, your declaration is to how you expect to use the fuel, if you find that is not correct, you then adjust your next declaration. (official statement and put here to cover one's posterior )

 

If you always declare a split of 60/40 (propulsion/domestic, note the order) then HMRC said they will take that as the norm and not check but if you declare anything else then they may investigate and require proof of usage.

[canals are us?]

Exiting times Hope the survey goes well.

 

With regards to solar I have 280 watts on my 50ft trad and it certainly helps. I'm marina based with landline but unplug the battery charger on sunny days so saves me money. As a cc I would go for as many watts as possible. For me 500 watts plus. Bimble solar had 120 watt panels for £55.00 they are used but working. I have one of them plus 2x 80 watt panels. What size invertor is fitted to power the mains fridge and freezer? I have a washer dryer on board but couldn't run it through an inverter so would buy a generator if I ever went CC.

 

James

[bigcol]

Wishing you all the best, and hope the survey went well for you

 

Col

[Tecka]

Cheers Col,

 

Unfortunately I couldn't arrange my surveyer of choice and a slipway until the 29th. Everything crossed until then.

Inverter size etc... I can't remember but will familiarise myself soon.

 

Tez

[ditchcrawler]

 

 

 

 

If you always declare a split of 60/40 (propulsion/domestic, note the order) then HMRC said they will take that as the norm and not check but if you declare anything else then they may investigate and require proof of usage.

Which you will have as you have diesel heating and cooking. I would expect you to declare between 10 and 20% for propulsion depending on how much you move as a CCer

[Sea Dog]

My friends' marine boats, sail and power, are expected to use 60/40 as the standard ratio and none have diesel heating or anything like the domestic electrical system demands of a Narrowboat. So, even if anyone at the Revenue was remotely interested, it seems entirely justifiable to declare a different balance in the usage patterns of canal boats. It's predicted use too, so it can't be anything other than an estimate. Winter and summer usage may be also be very different.

[Southern Star]

I think the tax revenue from narrowboat fuel is so vanishingly small in the scheme of things that HMRC take no interest in it whatsoever. Certainly I've never heard of anybody having their fuel use questioned by HMRC and many vendors are perfectly happy to sell with a 100% domestic declaration.

[Peter X]

Somehow I suspect that very few HMRC tax inspectors would have much idea how to evaluate what proportion of its diesel a boat uses for domestic purposes. I'm conjuring up an image of Hector (remember him?) in his suit and bowler hat, complete with briefcase, clambering around the relevant parts of some scruffy boat to see what heating it has and evaluate whether the boat might have done more mileage than the owner claims.

 

Being an IT freelancer I operate as a one-man limited company, and back in the 1980s I'd actually have regular inspection visits every few years from both the Inland Revenue and the Customs & Excise (the latter for VAT; this was before the two were merged to create HMRC). It was no trouble, my accounts are pretty straightforward compared to a lot of businesses, and they just asked a few questions and went away again. I felt that the VAT people were very on the ball, the tax people less so. Nowadays it's all done remotely, they just have a program which compares figures in the annual accounts against the average for that type of business and visit the ones that look the most dubious, and I haven't seen an actual inspector since about 1990.

[Theo]

Regarding solar, I would plan for an much solar as I could fit on the roof. If you can't use all the power in the summer at least you will get the maximum achievable in the winter.

 

N

[Tecka]

So..... survey completed today. Hull, solid as a rock - no reduction in plate thickness what-so-ever (other than a spot I asked the surveyor to check as I'd seen a spot internally. A couple of internal issues, wood burning stove cracked, electrics not 100% (surveyors words - can't fault the equipment but why aren't the wires clipped?) Engine ran out of fuel during survey!

 

Basically, sorted out a little adjustment - and the engine will be sorted beforehand.

 

Blacking and new anodes paid for, need to transfer the money and I should be on board within a week.