Thames Moorings/Maid of Oak

[Victor Vectis]

I had a long chat with a mate is evening.

He is thinking about buying a boat and living on the Thames.

He was quizzing me about permanent moorings in the Twickenham area. I had to tell him I knew little about this, so, first question........what do others know about residential/permenant moorings in that part of the world? He is aware that such moorings will be (very) expensive but is comparing costs with renting a flat in that area.

He said had looked at boats online and was interested in 'Maid of Oak' (!) I think (hope?) I persuaded him to not even think of touching that boat with someone elses boatpole. (Wooden top with wood hull etc etc). His argument was that he is over 6ft tall so a full length and width bed in a boat is his deciding factor. 'MoO' has a full length/width bed at the front of the accomodation. I tried to persuade him that clambering over the bed to get onto the foredeck is not ideal but he was not convinced. So, second question, are there any boats for sale that might meet his criteria? The size of the bed would seem to be his most important factor.

Much as I lothe myself for saying this I think a fatarse boat would tick his boxes. He said he had thought about this but said he would prefer a boat that would be able to visit the whole of the connected network.

Over to you, CWDF world. What advice would the collective panel offer?

ETA I'm sure I've read about 'Maid of Oak' here on the forum but despite searching can't seem to find owt about that boat. Any chance of a link?

 

Edited March 16, 2018 by Victor Vectis

[MtB]

Maid of Oak would be a stupid boat to buy. How many owners is it now? 

You're right a fatarse boat would not be out of place on the thames but once he gets a proper taste for boating he will probably regret it. Plenty of NBs with full length beds about. 

[MtB]

Oh and a permanent (but not strictly residential) Thames mooring for a 70ft boat up that end will prolly be best part of £20k a year. 

[ditchcrawler]

4 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Maid of Oak would be a stupid boat to buy. How many owners is it now? 

You're right a fatarse boat would not be out of place on the thames but once he gets a proper taste for boating he will probably regret it. Plenty of NBs with full length beds about. 

Has it actually ever been sold. I though it was bit of an expensive folly by the people who had it built, It was moored on the T&M

 

[MtB]

15 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Has it actually ever been sold. I though it was bit of an expensive folly by the people who had it built, It was moored on the T&M

 

 

Not sure actually. Always seeme to be for sale so I imagined a series of disillusioned buyers.

But maybe no-one ever bites.

[ditchcrawler]

5 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

But maybe no-one ever bites.

I think that is more like it. By the look of the add its still at the Taft http://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/boat.phtml?id=485478

                                    http://www.thetaft.net/RHMFRG73.htm

                                                                 

[stagedamager]

If i was looking to buy a boat I would always get a survey done. In this case by someone who understood wooden boats. I would also research works carried out, and also boats built by the same yard to gauge build quality, to see what life is left in the hull before replanking works..

Dan

[X Alan W]

9 hours ago, stagedamager said:

If i was looking to buy a boat I would always get a survey done. In this case by someone who understood wooden boats. I would also research works carried out, and also boats built by the same yard to gauge build quality, to see what life is left in the hull before replanking works..

Dan

M of O is a Jem Bates build is it not? I seem to remember seeing a video of a side slip launch & with a frozon cut the bare hull being worked up to Bulbourne to the dock with "Severn"powered with the "Seffle" that came out of the "josher' I had "Lily" Thinking M of O is not to old a boat I presume the eye watering price is due to the mooring Have no idea of the layout power unit etc. Wonder the asking price without the mooring

[cheshire~rose]

My other half if 6'3" tall and rather than concentrating on the size of the bed he has to concentrate on the headroom in a boat. There are A LOT of boats where he could not stand upright in the cabin. Sadly the headroom is a dimension that is rarely reported in adverts so if everything else seems to tick the boxes he normally has to ask the question and has been disappointed many times to find the boat that looked just about perfect in the advert is actually only perfect if he has 3" of his legs surgically removed. This especially seems to apply to Dutch barges so if your friend is looking at wider beam boats this could rule out a lot of the more shapely traditional craft. 

With regard to the bed, we have a small double that we slide out a few inches at bedtime making enough elbow room gunwale side for us both to be comfortable. He sleeps on the outside of the bed which mean his feet can hang off the end if he really wants to stretch out but it rarely happens 

[Rob-M]

I believe there are two Maid of Oak boats, certainly the one at Taft is still for sale as we passed it yesterday.

[alan_fincher]

3 hours ago, X Alan W said:

M of O is a Jem Bates build is it not? I seem to remember seeing a video of a side slip launch & with a frozon cut the bare hull being worked up to Bulbourne to the dock with "Severn"powered with the "Seffle" that came out of the "josher' I had "Lily" Thinking M of O is not to old a boat I presume the eye watering price is due to the mooring Have no idea of the layout power unit etc. Wonder the asking price without the mooring

 

Are you talking about the Maid of Oak linked to above?

Unless I'm missing something, is there anything there about a mooring being part of the deal?

Seems unlikely to me, as it is currently moored at the foot of the owners garden, surely?

[Horace42]

It has got to be a narrow boat if you want to cruise anywhere.

It has got to be a wide boat if the want to sleep stretched out across the boat width-wise.

 

[Victor Vectis]

1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

Are you talking about the Maid of Oak linked to above?

This was the boat my friend had been looking at, online.

Thanks for the replies so far.

Any ideas about a mooring near Twickenham?

ETA Thinking about my mates bed requirement, are there any ex Canal Club boats (those ugly looking blue things) on the secondhand market?

Edited March 17, 2018 by Victor Vectis

[carlt]

On 16/03/2018 at 23:18, Mike the Boilerman said:

Maid of Oak would be a stupid boat to buy. How many owners is it now?  

One...but they've been trying to offload it for years.

 

19 hours ago, X Alan W said:

 I presume the eye watering price is due to the mooring....

I imagine the eye watering price is due to the even more eye watering amount they shelled out to have it built.

Maid of Oak was a nice idea but, like all unconventional "bespoke" boats...you've got to either want to keep it for life or hope to meet someone who has exactly your taste for the unusual and, vitally, more money than sense.

[roland elsdon]

I dont think made of oak (the wooden ones that dear) theres a lot of dubious metal stuff about  pretty near the price. I believe theres some mid 90s stuff in the same range from some indifferent builders wheras she was built by a wooden boat craftsman

[blackrose]

On 16/03/2018 at 23:18, Mike the Boilerman said:

Maid of Oak would be a stupid boat to buy. How many owners is it now? 

You're right a fatarse boat would not be out of place on the thames but once he gets a proper taste for boating he will probably regret it. Plenty of NBs with full length beds about. 

Why would he regret it? I've done enough proper boating on my fatarse boat and I've no regrets at all. But I'd already lived owned a narrow boat for a few years and knew I didn't want to live on another one.

Edited March 18, 2018 by blackrose

[matty40s]

21 hours ago, Rob-M said:

I believe there are two Maid of Oak boats, certainly the one at Taft is still for sale as we passed it yesterday.

The other one for sale quite a lot is Heart of Oak, last seen somewhere near Charity Dock.

[blackrose]

18 hours ago, Horace42 said:

It has got to be a narrow boat if you want to cruise anywhere.

It has got to be a wide boat if the want to sleep stretched out across the boat width-wise.

 

And how many people buy narrow boats thinking they're going to cruise the whole system but never end up going anywhere? I've done more on my widebeam than most narrow boaters. The fact is that most boats don't move very much, wide or narrow.

Edited March 18, 2018 by blackrose

[MtB]

39 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Why would he regret it? I've done enough proper boating on my fatarse boat and I've no regrets at all. But I'd already lived owned a narrow boat for a few years and knew I didn't want to live on another one.

 

Because it is a wooden boat and the perpetual maintenance necessary will turn it into a millstone.

[Robbo]

On 16/03/2018 at 23:18, Mike the Boilerman said:

Maid of Oak would be a stupid boat to buy. How many owners is it now? 

You're right a fatarse boat would not be out of place on the thames but once he gets a proper taste for boating he will probably regret it. Plenty of NBs with full length beds about. 

If he gets a proper taste for boating he will need a sea going sail boat.