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Keep or sell?

gary955

By gary955
in General Boating

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gary955 Proficient

gary955

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I'm in the very lucky position of going off to cruise the continent for a couple of years, and in the even luckier position of not having to sell my narrowboat to raise funds for the cruise. I like my narrowboat, she suits me and my partner perfectly in terms of size, accommodation, style and frugal demands of electricity, fuel and coal. But she'll be expensive to keep idle for a couple of years and possibly worrysome if left in the water. What are my options? should I sell her, find a marina for her of have her stored ashore? has the forum any recommendations for economical marina's hopefully where the boat doesn't have to be licenced or storage facilitys on land?

Or perhaps I should let her go. She's a 55ft Trad with central engine room. I've put a little information about her on the boats for sale section of the forum.

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mrsmelly Veteran II

mrsmellyDonate to Canal World

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I'm in the very lucky position of going off to cruise the continent for a couple of years, and in the even luckier position of not having to sell my narrowboat to raise funds for the cruise. I like my narrowboat, she suits me and my partner perfectly in terms of size, accommodation, style and frugal demands of electricity, fuel and coal. But she'll be expensive to keep idle for a couple of years and possibly worrysome if left in the water. What are my options? should I sell her, find a marina for her of have her stored ashore? has the forum any recommendations for economical marina's hopefully where the boat doesn't have to be licenced or storage facilitys on land?

Or perhaps I should let her go. She's a 55ft Trad with central engine room. I've put a little information about her on the boats for sale section of the forum.

 

Personaly I would sell it. Boats sell very very quickly if priced at their true worth. Leaving a boat even on hardstanding for a couple of years is not going to improve it at all and may get damp inside. There are plenty of boats available when you return and you will still hopefully have instant cash and I have ALWAYS found that gets me a very good price.

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gary955 Proficient

gary955

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She's lovely. I'd keep her if the hardstanding won't be too expensive. With windows left open and all water drained she should not get damp.

Thank you for the compliment. She's a very dry boat and suffers very little from condensation. I won't be disappointed to keep her but am conscious of mrsmellys valid remarks and hope that she'd be the same boat on our return.

I've already followed up on some of the suggestions for storage ashore kindly given by forum members and find that my current marina fees are as cheap. I think my marina has no connection fee's as well so perhaps I won't need to licence.

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gary955 Proficient

gary955

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Why not keep her afloat and monitor the bilges and battery remotely? Easier to keep the batteries charged unless you plan to buy new ones anyway in 2 years.

Remote monitoring? Tell me more. She has 3 120ah batteries replaced last year. they're kept topped up by an 80w solar panel. I wouldn't want any shore power plugged in while away as a defence against any galvanic corrosion. Would that solar panel and battery set up keep up with the transmit demands of any remote monitoring do you think?

If you keep the boat, either on hardstanding or afloat, use a dehumidifier to keep the boat damp free.

I wouldn't leave it plugged in while afloat so a dehumidifier is out. But in the six years that I've owned her, sometimes living aboard summer and winter, sometimes leaving her for weeks or months at a time, she's been a remarkably dry boat.

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Robbo Veteran II

Robbo

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One method of keeping it dry would be to lower the humidity level in the boat as much as you can before you go, and perhaps seal the boat up? Condensation mostly comes from us in everyday living, removing us would remove the majority of the humidity.

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mross Influencer

mross

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Oh yes! the one I have sends a text message if the bilge gets wet but uses very little power otherwise. It has a 13A socket which you can turn on and off remotely. so you could use this for a standby bilge pump. I have an iSocketWorld device but there are many available now. I have one gadget which has its own battery and will text me if the boat gets too cold. But temperature should not be a worry if you have antifreeze in the cooling and heating circuits and drain the fresh water system. There are threads on here discussing these gadgets.

 

see an example - UK made

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GSM-Switch-Dual-Relay-One-Input-Case-Included-Use-any-phone-to-control-/401263769838?hash=item5d6d2f38ee:g:56kAAOSwLEtYhQ0J

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roland elsdon Influencer

roland elsdon

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Our boat is left through uk winter every year in water.

No heat no dehumidifier

No mains . solar for batteries

The clue is clinical cleanliness when you leave to prevent mold, drain everything, double pack soft furnishings and lots of ventilation.so on warmer days the air moves. Do not attempt to seal it. Heat will trap and then condense... Repeat you do not want damp air trapped in boat.

Cabin bilge needs to be dry.

Mattress upended, cupboard doors open a crack.

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Dave Payne Influencer

Dave Payne

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Baddsley wharf on the Coventry canal, halfway through the atherstone flight requires no license, mooring fee would be about £180/month for your boat.

 

It's a nice safe marina and there are some residents there who I'm sure if you had a chat would keep an eye on your boat, perhaps let them a key and check it weekly.

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gary955 Proficient

gary955

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Baddsley wharf on the Coventry canal, halfway through the atherstone flight requires no license, mooring fee would be about £180/month for your boat.

 

It's a nice safe marina and there are some residents there who I'm sure if you had a chat would keep an eye on your boat, perhaps let them a key and check it weekly.

excellent, cheers, I'll check it out.

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churchward Veteran II

churchward

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If she suits you as well as you imply, you're unlikely to find another one when you come back that suits you as much. I'd store it out of the water, saving you the licenses etc.

If you don't need to sell and really like your boat then the above is a good option.

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