Jump to content

Misjudged Widebeam Liveaboard Purchases?

philjman

By philjman
in Living Afloat

 Share

Featured Posts

philjman Explorer

philjman

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm not sure whether it's just us who are noticing a definate pattern; Brand new widebeam arrives in marina owned by someone who has never owned or even sailed a boat previously, live on it for a year or two and then sell it, normally at a huge loss and move back into a house! We've now seen our 6th iteration of this process happen in our marina in 3 years! Is this the same country wide or are we just unlucky?

Edited by philjman
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Paringa Proficient

ParingaDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

My belief is that same people get a boat to live on - often with some romantic notion - and soon find the realities are not quite what they expect.


Or are drawn to it as a cheap lifestyle choice...and we all know the reality of that...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
deckhand Proficient

deckhand

Posted
Posted (edited)

It was the marina atmosphere that did it in the end for us. went to live on boat for a bit of freedom only to find ourselves more tied down by rules in the marina. it was in effect like living on an estate, only closer together and less room to escape from it all. The marina was in your face all the time. With work commitments it was not possible to get out on the water as we had hoped. In the end it was a relief to get back on land. We hope to have a boat in the not too distant future but purely for leisure. Edited to add that it was a narrowboat we moved onto, had it built 2 years ago for ourselves, sold it and did not make a loss on it.

Edited by deckhand
Link to comment
Share on other sites
deckhand Proficient

deckhand

Posted
Posted

You must have got it very cheap as they usually loose a large proportion of their value in the first 2 years.

 

Neil

not sure what you mean by cheap. if we bought it at £100000 and got £100000 back or bought it at £60000 and got £60000 back surely its all relevant isnt it? Forgive me if I am missing something but maybe we were just lucky in finding the purchaser that we did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
OldPeculier Community Regular

OldPeculier

Posted
Posted

Yeah, I think a lot of widebeams are marketed as floating apartments and the ones I've seen have been jolly nice too.

 

But the realities of living on a boat are the same regardless of your granite breakfast bars and plasma tvs ; limited power, gas runs out half way through your shower, filling water tanks, emptying toilets, lugging bags of coal in the dark with the sleet coming at you horizontal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RufusR Community Regular

RufusR

Posted
Posted (edited)

There was an artcle in the telegraph supplement Stella yesterday entitled " couldnt afford a mortgage so we bought a canal boat " was about a woman who bought a widebeam in London and CCd .. to be fair she tried not to paint too a romantic picture talking about water and loo's and cold etc but can you see how the this and the plethora of canal progs on the TV at the moment encourage folk to look at it with rose tinted specs .

 

Also related we competed to buy a very nice boat last year before we found who da thought it and we were effectively guzumped by a family who were first time boaters , we couldnt afford to compete in a bidding war so walked away as you do ... Saw same bought yesterday back on the market and for £10k less lol .. my guess boating was not for them after all though they dont seem to have given it long so maybe some other reason

Edited by RufusR
Link to comment
Share on other sites
philjman Explorer

philjman

Posted
  • Author
Posted

There was an artcle in the telegraph supplement Stella yesterday entitled " couldnt afford a mortgage so we bought a canal boat " was about a woman who bought a widebeam in London and CCd .. to be fair she tried not to paint too a romantic picture talking about water and loo's and cold etc but can you see how the this and the plethora of canal progs on the TV at the moment encourage folk to look at it with rose tinted specs .

 

Also related we competed to buy a very nice boat last year before we found who da thought it and we were effectively guzumped by a family who were first time boaters , we couldnt afford to compete in a bidding war so walked away as you do ... Saw same bought yesterday back on the market and for £10k less lol .. my guess boating was not for them after all though they dont seem to have given it long so maybe some other reason

 

It sounds like this isn't just an issue near us. I think you're right that the number of TV programmes about cruising and living on the inland waterways could well be a contributory factor.

 

Did you buy that boat back from them for £10k+ less ;-) ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RufusR Community Regular

RufusR

Posted
Posted

 

It sounds like this isn't just an issue near us. I think you're right that the number of TV programmes about cruising and living on the inland waterways could well be a contributory factor.

 

Did you buy that boat back from them for £10k+ less ;-) ?

 

no issue everywhere . number of boats near us that never get visited is shocking .

 

lol nah it was fate we lost it in the first place or we wouldnt have found who da thought it . Better boat , newer , better fit , better hull and finish and even less money as we got it from friend of a friend , Karma maybe ..

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lady Muck Veteran

Lady Muck

Posted
Posted

We get the lifestyle blogger/journo types in London, they last around 2 -4 weeks before they realise the boatlife kind of clashes with their constant cocktail parties/MacBook pro lifestyle (stuff like keeping a fire in and needing lots of water for showers). They're not really cut out for slumming it for a much longer time than four days at Secret Garden Party. They often then rent the damn boat out to someone else who is as clueless as they as they are desperate to move away. I feel like screaming, 'get the damn thing towed back to Whilton!'

The worst one of these is this one http://www.cityam.com/225058/london-living-houseboat

figuring out the dates, she managed about, oooh three weeks onboard. it then looks like she moved off (maybe even she was only renting) and it actually sank about a month after that. Yes it sank, so much for the dream.

It's only the noobs who do articles like this, I don't think I've seen one of these interviews yet where the boater has been onboard more than a year..

We get the bigger boats too, with all the gear and no idea, not least it doesn't matter how much electricity generating gubbins, gadgets, gensets and toys you have onboard you are still faced with exactly the same problems as the rest of us - no taps, broken services, not enough fuel boats to cope with the demand, ovecrowdedness. Just because you're well off it doesn't mean you can buy your way out of it. Well, not here, anyway. There was someone offering a cassette emptying service but he stopped, no doubt the business plan was not working out because the elsans are always blocking up and your customers keep getting forced to move further.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RufusR Community Regular

RufusR

Posted
Posted

We get the lifestyle blogger/journo types in London, they last around 2 -4 weeks before they realise the boatlife kind of clashes with their constant cocktail parties/MacBook pro lifestyle (stuff like keeping a fire in and needing lots of water for showers). They're not really cut out for slumming it for a much longer time than four days at Secret Garden Party. They often then rent the damn boat out to someone else who is as clueless as they as they are desperate to move away. I feel like screaming, 'get the damn thing towed back to Whilton!'

The worst one of these is this one http://www.cityam.com/225058/london-living-houseboat

figuring out the dates, she managed about, oooh three weeks onboard. it then looks like she moved off (maybe even she was only renting) and it actually sank about a month after that. Yes it sank, so much for the dream.

It's only the noobs who do articles like this, I don't think I've seen one of these interviews yet where the boater has been onboard more than a year..

We get the bigger boats too, with all the gear and no idea, not least it doesn't matter how much electricity generating gubbins, gadgets, gensets and toys you have onboard you are still faced with exactly the same problems as the rest of us - no taps, broken services, not enough fuel boats to cope with the demand, ovecrowdedness. Just because you're well off it doesn't mean you can buy your way out of it. Well, not here, anyway. There was someone offering a cassette emptying service but he stopped, no doubt the business plan was not working out because the elsans are always blocking up and your customers keep getting forced to move further.

 

 

A clue that she is not an experienced boater is that she doesnt seem to know what she is living on even .. is it a houseboat ? a Barge ? no love tis a nar -- row .. Bo A ttttt .. And it sank you say .. sigh .. feel sorry for em I do really but I am guessing the worse thing is the sheer volume of em beggers it up for the people who really are true boaters ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Alan de Enfield Veteran II

Alan de Enfield

Posted
Posted

We get the lifestyle blogger/journo types in London, they last around 2 -4 weeks before they realise the boatlife kind of clashes with their constant cocktail parties/MacBook pro lifestyle (stuff like keeping a fire in and needing lots of water for showers). They're not really cut out for slumming it for a much longer time than four days at Secret Garden Party. They often then rent the damn boat out to someone else who is as clueless as they as they are desperate to move away. I feel like screaming, 'get the damn thing towed back to Whilton!'

The worst one of these is this one http://www.cityam.com/225058/london-living-houseboat

figuring out the dates, she managed about, oooh three weeks onboard. it then looks like she moved off (maybe even she was only renting) and it actually sank about a month after that. Yes it sank, so much for the dream.

It's only the noobs who do articles like this, I don't think I've seen one of these interviews yet where the boater has been onboard more than a year..

We get the bigger boats too, with all the gear and no idea, not least it doesn't matter how much electricity generating gubbins, gadgets, gensets and toys you have onboard you are still faced with exactly the same problems as the rest of us - no taps, broken services, not enough fuel boats to cope with the demand, ovecrowdedness. Just because you're well off it doesn't mean you can buy your way out of it. Well, not here, anyway. There was someone offering a cassette emptying service but he stopped, no doubt the business plan was not working out because the elsans are always blocking up and your customers keep getting forced to move further.

 

Can this (and others of LMs posts) be pinned for reference for "I wanna live on a boat in London" questions

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lady Muck Veteran

Lady Muck

Posted
Posted

 

 

A clue that she is not an experienced boater is that she doesnt seem to know what she is living on even .. is it a houseboat ? a Barge ? no love tis a nar -- row .. Bo A ttttt .. And it sank you say .. sigh .. feel sorry for em I do really but I am guessing the worse thing is the sheer volume of em beggers it up for the people who really are true boaters ?

theres not many of them, thankfully, most people aren't doing it to pose.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RufusR Community Regular

RufusR

Posted
Posted

theres not many of them, thankfully, most people aren't doing it to pose.

 

 

Yeah some of them photo's lol

 

She reckons everyone asks here about this that and everything .. When people find out I live on a narrowboat they only ever say 1 thing and If I had a pound for everytime someone said .." tut ooo must be cold on there" .. I would be able to retire rich .

 

Can this (and others of LMs posts) be pinned for reference for "I wanna live on a boat in London" questions

 

 

yes agree might actually help answer their questions without having to repeat , repeat , repeat

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RufusR Community Regular

RufusR

Posted
Posted

This is popular with London Boaters, 'zone two guys' it's the zone two guys you got to watch out for!

 

https://youtu.be/n1QHgLDRqBI

 

If I didnt think there is truth in this it wouild be horrifying lol .. Wasnt there actually a lean too shed in someones living room up for rent at £500 a month a while back ? made the tent in zone 2 look spacious ..

 

so glad I am not in London town

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Loafer Veteran

Loafer

Posted
Posted

What IS this attraction to London all about? Why? Am I missing something? Is it scenic, beautiful, peaceful, quiet, not many boats, no traffic noise, no train noise or something?

 

The last time I went there by train and foot, it was 4 hours before I heard an English voice. What's happening down there? Have we been invaded?

  • Greenie 1
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
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • 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.