Talk me out of a narrow boat? :)

[RLWP]

I love my boat so much that if someone invented a perfume that smelt like my engine I may even wear it!!!

 

This took some finding!

 

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=28696&p=527536

 

Richard

[MissMax]

Spiders wait till you sleep then empty your bank account and spend the money on gin and kebabs.

 

I had money once

[Richard T]

Just go for it. We live 10 mins drive from our boat. It great to arrive home from work on a Friday night chuck a few bits in a bag and inside of an hour we can be boating. Don't have to far to chill out. I would be tempted to have a berth at somewhere like Mercia or Chapel Farm at Shardlow. They are a little further to travel but you can get away without worrying about the state of the river - the Trent floods several times a year. As for the boat look at plenty and if one catches your eye buy it. It may not be what you started out looking for but it will be right for you and your wife. Do get a survey before parting with your hard earned cash.

Most of all enjoy boating it's addictive!!

[peterboat]

Spiders wait till you sleep then empty your bank account and spend the money on gin and kebabs.

 

I had money once

My spiders broke my bath!! I had to spend loads of time and money to sort it

[WhiteSuit]

As previously said share boating won't give you the de stress of evenings and weekends you are looking for. The most important thing is the length of journey to the boat so you do use it.

We were similar to you having first hired then shared but we now have a holiday home we can take wherever we want.

Go for it because the bug will eat you up if you don't

[Mrs Tawny Owl]

We considered a share, but because we had children so would be tied to the school holidays, and anyway we fancied days and weekends out we bought our own instead and haven't regretted it.

I think for your needs owning your own would suit better for spur of the moment getting away from it all.

 

For that reason as well I'd suggest mooring on the canal, probably with a narrow boat as that will give more space than a narrow cruiser, as the Trent can flood and be un-navigable on occasion and the canals are (almost) always available. At least with the canals the stoppages are usually planned whereas the Trent is dependent on the weather so you might not be able to go out at short notice.

 

As for what boat to go for, well visit a few and one will pick you!

Our main requirement was for holidaying with friends so we wanted lots of beds. This meant ex-hire was our only requirement, we didn't even think about reverse layout / type of loo or bathroom or kitchen layout. Tawny just made us fall in love with her when we saw her so decision made.

 

As for length, we first though we wanted 57ft so we could go anywhere, but as we both still work and live in the midlands we realised we couldn't actually get as far as the northern canals where the length is restricted so we went for 70ft for the extra space and don't regret it in the slightest.

 

Sounds like time for you is also a consideration so length might not be so much of a consideration. We also found there is a premium for 57ft boats, and longer can be not much more expensive to buy, though they are more expensive to license and moor as that is done by length.

 

Good luck.

[Sea Dog]

Having something ready to go at short notice is a bit meaningless if it's a 3 hour drive to the coast

You'd think so, wouldn't you. However, my house is on the coast and my Narrowboat (my wife shares your wife's seagoing reservations) is 3 hours away! Actually, it works out rather well for us since almost everywhere is a long way from Devon and having a second home in the Midlands is really useful.

 

Three hours is maybe a bit far if you still need to work, but it may well be advantageous to have a boat in a great cruising area just a bit further from home. Half an hour in the car might equal about 2 days cruising in the boat, so you don't need to add much of a commute to have a boat in 'another world' as opposed to right on your doorstep but exploring your own back yard. Where could your boat be based if you drive, say, 60-90 minutes?

[magictime]

Talk you out of it, you say?

 

I'll try: £50k plus associated mooring, licence, insurance and maintenance costs seems like an outrageous amount of money to spend on something that doesn't even need to accommodate you for a fortnight's holiday on now and again. Halve your budget and buy a nice cruiser, or a shorter narrowboat; something far smaller than 50ft would be perfectly adequate for the sort of evening and weekend use you're talking about, and a short enough boat will give you the flexibility to turn anywhere on the canal rather than having to plan your journeys around the locations of winding holes.

 

Personally I'd be tempted to do without the home mooring, 'forcing' you to go cruising at least every other weekend and to explore a bit more of the network. In my experience, you can spend just so long cruising up and down the same 20 mile stretch before you want to see somewhere new.

[Peter X]

There are a few people who come onto the forum who should be talked out of buying a boat, or at least persuaded to think further about their plans before going ahead. But the OP is not one of them; this man needs to own a boat. I'd agree with magictime that for the stated pattern of use, i.e. frequent short periods, either a cruiser or a shorter narrowboat would make sense. However I think being in a marina would suit the OP, as it sounds as if his job would sometimes clash with being a CC'er.

It probably would become a bit dull to be doing the same stretch repeatedly; personally I haven't had this problem because I crew for other people, often on long trips, and consequently end up seeing quite a lot of the system. At first I was only doing short trips on my brother's boat out of one marina, but not enough of them to get tired of it and start thinking "Braunston again... yawn". But if the OP does become tired after a year or two of doing short trips out of one marina, there's always the option of switching the boat to another.

[mark99]

Any form of boating is a madness.

 

If afflicted, do it. Do it before you get too old. Money is only money. There are no pockets in any shrouds.

[cuthound]

Any form of boating is a madness.

 

If afflicted, do it. Do it before you get too old. Money is only money. There are no pockets in any shrouds.

Very true, but don't forget that God doesn't deduct from mans allotted time span the time spent boating!

[system 4-50]

It sounds as if the OP not only needs a nice boat, he needs a nice marina as well, who will look after the boat for him so that when he gets to it for the weekend he doesn't have the great long list of maintenance jobs in front of him that many of us have.

[SimonM]

Thanks for all your input... So the boat hunting has begun

 

Now I know my budget was originally set at £50k, however I made the mistake of showing my wife this:

 

 

Luckily it's sold

 

On a serious note, we are doing the rounds of a few more tomorrow, that are probably a little more reasonably priced.

[NealSmith100]

I have admired boats from afar for years, have hired for the second time this year and now want to live on one with all my heart. Alas, Mrs Neal, not so much

 

I even fell into the canal last week and ruined my phone in the pouring rain, and STILL have zero intention of talking you out of it..............allow me to live through you!!!! ??

 

[Sea Dog]

 

I even fell into the canal last week and ruined my phone in the pouring rain...

Crikey matey, you're really getting the hang of boating - even without one!

[NealSmith100]

i KNEW i was a boater, dammit!!

[matty40s]

Thanks for all your input... So the boat hunting has begun

 

Now I know my budget was originally set at £50k, however I made the mistake of showing my wife this:

 

 

Luckily it's sold

 

On a serious note, we are doing the rounds of a few more tomorrow, that are probably a little more reasonably priced.

I accompanied the new owners of this down the Leicester Arm through to Sileby, hopefully you will learn to use a boat without thrashing the bowthruster to within an inch of its life at every opportunity, entering locks, exiting locks, cruising round corners.....

[SimonM]

I even fell into the canal last week and ruined my phone in the pouring rain, and STILL have zero intention of talking you out of it..............allow me to live through you!!!! ??

 

 

For some reason I managed to get through iPhones at an alarming rate, water damage saw many go to the Genius bar in the sky.

 

Then I discovered the Sony Xperia, and never looked back

 

 

 

Anyway back to boats... What are the general thoughts on something like this:

 

http://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/image.phtml?id=492554ℑ=1

 

It seems a bit quirky with the very large cruising deck, and somewhat offset proportions this leads to with the shorter well deck, however the functionality a large outside area offers would no doubt come in handy for summer social events (amazing how many pre-bookings I already have for mini-cruises from friends).

 

One thing I do like is the "Extra reverse layout" (stern > saloon > dinette > wc > bedroom > bow).

 

I am a bit worried (should I be?) about the very square stern, and how that would effect reversing. I'm also nervous that quirky = hard to shift if I decide to change/upgrade in a few years time.

 

And yes I know it's over my original budget!

[SimonM]

I accompanied the new owners of this down the Leicester Arm through to Sileby, hopefully you will learn to use a boat without thrashing the bowthruster to within an inch of its life at every opportunity, entering locks, exiting locks, cruising round corners.....

 

They are very fortunate individuals, it looks lovely!!! Disclaimer: I have to admit driving an electric car the drive train was also intriguing!

[system 4-50]

I have a square stern. It has never occurred to me that it has affected reversing?

[MtB]

It seems a bit quirky

 

 

Instantly we know this will be a basket case without even clicking the link.

 

'Quirky' boats generally hit the market three or six months after the current owner bought them, as that's how long it takes for them to realise why 'quirky' boats are generally a bloody disaster area, and non 'quirky' boats work a million times better.

 

Try googling 'narrow boat Whitfield', for a perfect example.

[SimonM]

I googled Whitfield, and that certainly takes quirky to a new level!

 

However this slightly unusual one is plucking at my inner 12 year old's heartstrings:

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2176938/Homemade-U-Boat-sails-English-canal-goes-sale-30-000.html

 

:D

[SimonM]

Or something much more sensible:

 

https://www.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=490819

[Neil2]

Before you get too carried away I suggest you have a good look at Great Haywoods terms and conditions.

[SimonM]

Before you get too carried away I suggest you have a good look at Great Haywoods terms and conditions.

 

Are you referring to their client account policy or is there something more specific in the fine print?