Selecting a nice boat to buy

[HYBRID]

After nosing around this forum and generally getting a feel for the experiences and thoughts of the members through their posts I am worried.

The bottom line is, at some point I want to buy a Narrowboat, and I will have to work to a budget. My budget is limited by a number of factors.

 

• What I can afford

• What I am comfortable spending

• What the market has on offer

 

For the purpose of this post, assume a budget of £40000.00 max but less would be better, this would give me the option of either a sailaway or a secondhand boat.

I would ideally like a trad or semi trad boat

 

I am concerned by the following

 

• New boats, even some expensive ones can be supplied problems stored up for the future.

• Second hand boats have the same issues, as they are the new boats to which I refer, just further down the chain.

 

I am a bit of a perfectionist and if something isn’t right it plays on my mind until I put it right, surveyors are limited in what they can survey on a completed boat and I doubt they will be interested in establishing how much internal hull corrosion is present, just how thick the steel is.

With so many bad builders, craft manufactured by builders that no longer exist, boats owned in the past by people ignorant to the problems, careless and neglectful owners (have seen a boat currently advertised as engine last serviced three years ago) and a finger in the wind attitude to prices how do you buy a good honest secondhand boat?

I can accept any craft has a limited life, but it appears from my observations that many are built with the knowledge that when problems surface from lack of attention to detail, sufficient time will have passed to ensure the manufacturer is not responsible.

I have seen some new craft on web sites that are obviously built with quality and reputation in mind, but these I am afraid, fall outside my budget.

In a previous post it was suggested an ex hire boat requiring total refurbishment was a route to ownership and I can see why this might be a good idea, but there must be an alternative, easier route to ownership.

[NB Phoenix]

Hi and welcome

 

One question must be. What is your skill level? Could you fit out a boat? (that could be two questions)

 

If you answer yes, I would considering the sailaway option. Have a shell made to your layout design and you'll start with a clean sheet. If you go down the way of a second hand fitout you'll have the constraints of the original design. i.e. window locations.

[Lady Muck]

My advice is take your time. There are bargains out there. As long as you can do your research and be patient you should be able to get something good.

 

We made a list of 'wants'. We bought a second hand boat in the end, it ticked every box on the wants list! But it took us about 9 months to find the right boat. We looked on the internet every night, bought all the canal mags, subscribed to towpath talk, went to marinas at weekends and became downright canal boat bores. But it was worth it!

[Machpoint005]

We bought a second hand boat in the end, it ticked every box on the wants list!

 

Same for us, but it only took six months to find. My feeling is that for the budget (not too dissimilar from ours) you're better off with a good secondhand boat, so long as you go in with your eyes open. It may not be perfect, but if it's a few years old the serious problems should have reared their ugly heads by now - so you will see them and walk away.

 

Questions I asked yourself when first viewing a boat:

Does it tick all my boxes?

Does it look right (ie no list!)?

Has it been well maintained?

Does it smell damp when you open the door?

Is the engine 'ole nice and clean?

 

If you are a bit of a perfectionist, don't accept the 'wrong' answer to any of the above!

 

Best of luck, and enjoy looking. You'll see all sorts of rubbish at extortionate prices, but there are some good 'uns out there.

 

Ian

[carlt]

Questions I asked yourself when first viewing a boat:

Does it tick all my boxes?

Does it look right (ie no list!)?

Has it been well maintained?

Does it smell damp when you open the door?

Is the engine 'ole nice and clean?

 

Shouldn't that have been the last question on the list?

 

Edited for speeling

Edited June 13, 2007 by carlt

[Machpoint005]

No particular order... should I have put in an option (6): All of the above?

[Lady Muck]

The quality of the hull is the most important thing followed by the engine. Most other things can be changed.

[Gillie]

surveyors are limited in what they can survey on a completed boat and I doubt they will be interested in establishing how much internal hull corrosion is present, just how thick the steel is.

 

I think most surveyors use ultrasound testing to test the steel thickness...I know our surveyor did...

he tested the thickness in about 40 different places all over the hull...

He also looked in all the places possible to look to see if there was any internal hull corrosion...

Edited June 13, 2007 by Gillie

[HYBRID]

Ok, thanks for the replies so far, my initial post assumed a budget of £40000.00 I wonder if any one would care to share any experiences of buying a boat well below this budget.

So, setting the budget at ‘as cheap as possible’ what can I realistically expect to pay assuming I am looking for a boat that does not requiring the hull welding (yet), but would benefit from a repaint, the engine runs but may need work in the future, and an interior that is useable but could be improved

Any comments welcome.

What I am trying to do is get an idea of the financial level I should enter boat ownership, as I have said before, I am not afraid of tackling things to improve in the long term but don’t want to buy something that is useable from day one.

I know I need to start looking at some boats, its just I don’t feel I have enough info yet to get learn anything from looking. I also need to know how many toys I should sell to fund it.

On a plus side we have booked a week on a 58ft semi trad from Middlewich, this will be a baptism of fire for my partner, after the week away I hope to have the green light to start planning for a boat. Unfortunately we are out in August as I have to take fixed holidays, but we intend to go with the flow so to speak.

Thanks