Why is there a shortage of boats for sale...?

[churchward]

 

Whilst I agree with some of that, we have never had any problems with Hull surveys, Insurance or Boat Safety on our 34 year old boat. But some people seem to think that old means worn out, which is simply untrue. Just like cars, boats are bult to different sprcifications, and whilst most of us will recognise the difference between different makes of car, not that many people "new" to the canals recognize the difference, between different boat builders, or the quality of steel used. Consequently, they use the "how old is it " consideration to make their decisions, not realizing that a well built, well maintained, older boat can be exceptionally good value..

Quite so but in addition the older the boat the more importance maintenance and upkeep of a boat is and how well that has been done over time. I would prefer a boat well maintained but not top drawer make than a first class built boat that has been neglected. Rolls Royce's still rust if not looked after and poorly maintained ones will cost you a fortune in parts to put right.

 

If I was buying an older boat (I already have one) I would be interested to see receipts kept of blacking and other work done on the boat and engine for example.

[Sabcat]

 

 

Not sure what this has to do with my querying of Sabcat's assertion that "more boaters is a good thing"...

 

Is he a northern boater in an uncluttered canal?

 

More boaters is, I would argue, an objectively good thing for a number of important reasons. Boating on the cut is a minority activity but requires the support, via the grant and the commercial property revenue given to CRT, of national government. An increased number of boats and boaters helps with this most obviously by increasing revenue from boaters thus making us more self sufficient but also the more of us there the more people there are with an interest in keeping the system navigable. Other tangible benefits to more boats is more investment in canal based business, boat services, marinas etc and of course boat building.

 

Yes. Northern BCN and they don't come much less cluttered than the Cannock Extension!

 

Yep, there's no overcrowding here at all for miles around.

[RufusR]

 

Whilst I agree with some of that, we have never had any problems with Hull surveys, Insurance or Boat Safety on our 34 year old boat. But some people seem to think that old means worn out, which is simply untrue. Just like cars, boats are bult to different sprcifications, and whilst most of us will recognise the difference between different makes of car, not that many people "new" to the canals recognize the difference, between different boat builders, or the quality of steel used. Consequently, they use the "how old is it " consideration to make their decisions, not realizing that a well built, well maintained, older boat can be exceptionally good value..

 

yes I 100% agree with this David , Our last boat was built in 1972 and was in great condition considering its age and is still going strong on the cut .. ITs just when we went to insure out new boat in November they pretty much all asked either online or in person if we it was a springer specifically as they would not insure these anymore without a comprehensive hull survey ( some ) or at all ( 1 company IIRC ) .

[David Schweizer]

Quite so but in addition the older the boat the more importance maintenance and upkeep of a boat is and how well that has been done over time. I would prefer a boat well maintained but not top drawer make than a first class built boat that has been neglected. Rolls Royce's still rust if not looked after and poorly maintained ones will cost you a fortune in parts to put right.

 

If I was buying an older boat (I already have one) I would be interested to see receipts kept of blacking and other work done on the boat and engine for example.

 

Yes good advice. I have receipts for most of the work done on Helvetia, and have a record of every service, and docking/blacking. What is surprising is that over twenty years surprisingly little hull maintenance has been required, which must be some sort of testement to the steel quality and routine hull cleaning and blacking.

 

The last hull survey (September2015) required a 5ft section of sacrificial chine to be shoe plated, and a sink outlet replacing. I also had four new sacrificial anodes fitted, as the old ones were approaching the end of their useful life.

 

Of course anyone with any knowledge of boats will know that all these can be considered to be long term routine maintenace, much in the same way that new tyres or exhaust are on a car.

 

P.S. In response to your second sentence, some boats are, of course, both top drawer and well maintained.

Edited March 4, 2016 by David Schweizer

[Mrs Trackman]

What I was more thinking was that we'll get a lot of boaters who think it's a good idea because they've seen the programme. Some will get hooked and love it but I suspect reality will put a lot of people off after they have already bought. In the meantime, if they follow what I've heard timothy West said, we'll have a lot of boats and infrastructure hit.

[RufusR]

What I was more thinking was that we'll get a lot of boaters who think it's a good idea because they've seen the programme. Some will get hooked and love it but I suspect reality will put a lot of people off after they have already bought. In the meantime, if they follow what I've heard timothy West said, we'll have a lot of boats and infrastructure hit.

 

Agreed , our boat was bought from new but the purchasers didnt like canal life and all so it sat for 4 years in a marina doing nought pretty much until bought by the owners prior to us who put pretty mcuh all of the 1200 hours it has on it in 2 years . There are alot of boats in our current marina which never go anywhere nor do the owners come up to see it hardly at all if ever . Maybe if more of theses bit the bullet and admitted boating was not for them and sold up then there would be more boats for sale

[Jon57]

Yes I would agree with that. This boat has been polished moor than used. 227 hrs. And the price!!!!http://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/feature.phtml?id=443531

[Peter X]

The gut feeling I get from my brother and the forum plus my fairly limited boating experience so far (albeit scattered a bit around the system due to my modus operandi of crewing for others) is that there has been a bit of a surplus of boats for some years, and that demand is now rising for various reasons, perhaps summarised quite well by RufusR in post #48. Naturally this will lead to some increase in prices, but in the reasonably free market which exists for boats, we may expect that the various parties' reactions to increased demand and higher prices for boats will dampen the effect over time.

 

In other words, boat builders will find their order books filling up and will either get staff working more hours or take on new people.

The same will apply to everyone in the repair business; as prices rise it becomes more worthwhile to look after boats better, all the way down the market from a nearly new boat to a near-wreck that desperately needs some plating work to keep it afloat.

 

Also, as prices rise it becomes more likely that someone who has a boat they no longer use will decide to bite the bullet and sell.

 

All of these reactions are probably rather sluggish, in particular the capacity of boatyards can only gradually increase, and if their owners are wise they won't want to invest heavily unless they foresee sustained demand. So, given that I think the factors pushing up demand are all likely to apply for some time, and that I don't expect any drastic policy change by CRT that would shake up the market, my best guess is slowly rising boat prices for some years to come.

[stephsol]

I've come across this topic a bit late, maybe I should start a new topic?....... based on a the original topic (ie) ".as we had a 'nice' looking boat last time..which attracted too much unwanted attention....as one 'cheeky chappy' said to us as he walked past with a battery angle grinder....."It looks a nice boat so it must have nice things on it !!"

I have also been following boats for sale..and agree that Apollo duck and others have plenty up for sale, however, as I'm looking for a broad beam and will be paying a bit extra, as I'm looking to retire on something "nice looking "also, the "cheaky chappy" with a "Battery powered angle grinder" is a matter of interest to me.

So......Q.....is this kind of break in common????

Steph

[RufusR]

Depends where you are going to keep your boat ? if in a marina unlikely if CCing then you need to take precautions . and when cruising the same be careful where you moor keep curtains closed etc etc . Alot of boaters have canine friends aboard which will deter many a "cheeky Chappie " espcially if large breed with deep bark . Would have to be a brave chappie to enter a 60 foot steel coffin with an unknown large dog .

 

On that subject came across the ultimate guard boat dog on a boat the other day , was a pit bull type breed ( probably perfectly legal ) and it was so aggressively protecting the boat as we went by it actually scared my 40 kilo Bulloxer half to death . he is a big old boy but this dog had a head like a anaconda looked like it could swallow me and rufus whole as he smashed up against the window fangs out .. think that boat is very safe from cheeky chappies , angle grinders or not

[churchward]

 

Yes good advice. I have receipts for most of the work done on Helvetia, and have a record of every service, and docking/blacking. What is surprising is that over twenty years surprisingly little hull maintenance has been required, which must be some sort of testement to the steel quality and routine hull cleaning and blacking.

 

The last hull survey (September2015) required a 5ft section of sacrificial chine to be shoe plated, and a sink outlet replacing. I also had four new sacrificial anodes fitted, as the old ones were approaching the end of their useful life.

 

Of course anyone with any knowledge of boats will know that all these can be considered to be long term routine maintenace, much in the same way that new tyres or exhaust are on a car.

 

P.S. In response to your second sentence, some boats are, of course, both top drawer and well maintained.

quite so a well made boat well looked after is the best of all worlds of course! but was just saying no matter how good it started out if a boat has had 20 years of neglect it won't be as good as a boat properly maintained over that time.

 

Yours will sell I am sure. I think sometimes it is just luck of the draw with these things and the right people who will recognise the boat for what it is will come along and buy it.

 

We sort of had the same issue when selling our house a couple of years back. It took 11 months and we started to wonder if it was as good as people told us in the village but in the end we had a sudden amount of interest and 4 offers all at once. It just seems random sometimes how it plays out.

[Mrs Trackman]

I've come across this topic a bit late, maybe I should start a new topic?....... based on a the original topic (ie) ".as we had a 'nice' looking boat last time..which attracted too much unwanted attention....as one 'cheeky chappy' said to us as he walked past with a battery angle grinder....."It looks a nice boat so it must have nice things on it !!"

I have also been following boats for sale..and agree that Apollo duck and others have plenty up for sale, however, as I'm looking for a broad beam and will be paying a bit extra, as I'm looking to retire on something "nice looking "also, the "cheaky chappy" with a "Battery powered angle grinder" is a matter of interest to me.

So......Q.....is this kind of break in common????

Steph

I'd say this is uncommon. We continuously cruised with our new boat and moored in many places, town and country. We do not own a dog, many boat owners don't.

from time to time boats are broken into but can be by someone who wants a bed. In fact, we may have had a new boat but I struggle to think what anyone would want from it. We don't have a TV.

[stephsol]

Thats good news! will continue unperturbed with my search.

Thanks steph

[Guest]

Just had a look at Rugby Boats web site which I do from time to time and as at lunchtime today noted that they have 18 boats listed as currently on brokerage which I think is lower than usual for them BUT 12 of them are noted as being either sold or under offer. Some of which have been for a while now.

So they only have 6 boats listed that are actually available. I think that is a pretty low number for them based on what I've noted n the past. That would suggest there are less boats coming to the market and/or boats are selling quickly.

[Lady Muck]

just had a look on Apollo Duck, there have been consistently between 75 and 95 narrowboats listed in London, over the past five years or so. Today there are just 41! I agree it's very unusual.

CRT have told us that numbers in London are 'flattening' but I'm seeing double mooring for the first time on the towpath side near my home mooring, it's not as busy as it was a month ago, here, but boats never move around evenly. It could also be busy because yet another services has been closed.