Very cheap holiday available

[D.T.D.A.R.T.H]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and boating in general. I have just purchased a 50ft traditional stern narrowboat (very exciting)

Regrettably as I'm going on holiday I will be unable to move the boat closer to home myself. I was really looking forward to getting to know it and the waterways on the way. 

I would like to offer the boat as a very cheap holiday but whoever takes me up will need to travel from Preston to Leicestershire. I believe for an experienced crew it's about 9 days of travel with over 40 locks. 

A retired couple with experience would be ideal for this adventure. A small contribution to cover fuel and so on is all I would ask for. 

If I was to loan it to a new boater I would require a contribution towards re-blacking and expect some degree of training before hand. 

PM me if interested

Thanks

[haggis]

Mmm, it usually works the other way! The boat owner pays someone to move his boat for him :-). 

Haggis

[Rob-M]

I would be concerned about insurance if you are letting somebody move the boat as a cheap holiday.

[Athy]

2 hours ago, D.T.D.A.R.T.H said:

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and boating in general. I have just purchased a 50ft traditional stern narrowboat (very exciting)

Regrettably as I'm going on holiday I will be unable to move the boat closer to home myself. I was really looking forward to getting to know it and the waterways on the way. 

I would like to offer the boat as a very cheap holiday but whoever takes me up will need to travel from Preston to Leicestershire. I believe for an experienced crew it's about 9 days of travel with over 40 locks. 

A retired couple with experience would be ideal for this adventure. A small contribution to cover fuel and so on is all I would ask for. 

If I was to loan it to a new boater I would require a contribution towards re-blacking and expect some degree of training before hand. 

 

Welcome to the forum.

Obviously you are new to the waterways, so you could not be expected to know this, but the terms of your offer do suggest that you want jam on it. It is more customary to pay someone to move a boat, not for them to pay you.

On this forum there are two established boat movers, Matty 40s and Nigel Carton, and possibly others that I don't know about. Try contacting them and getting a quotation.

[Rickent]

As others have pointed out, you will need to pay someone to move it , not the other way round.

Can't you just move it when you come back off your holiday? The most exciting and scary part of getting a boat is the maiden voyage. By the time you reach your mooring you will know a lot about your new boat.

[David Mack]

3 hours ago, D.T.D.A.R.T.H said:

 

I would like to offer the boat as a very cheap holiday but whoever takes me up will need to travel from Preston to Leicestershire. I believe for an experienced crew it's about 9 days of travel with over 40 locks. 

Preston to Leicestershire will involve passage of the Ribble Link including the tidal Ribble estuary. Do you really want to entrust your new boat to a tidal passage by someone you don't know and which won't be covered by insurance?

[rgreg]

When you say Preston is your new boat on the Lancaster canal? If so you will know that a booking will be required to get the boat over the Ribble Link? 

....David Mack beat me to it.

Edited March 26, 2018 by rgreg

[Sea Dog]

Hi and welcome to the forum.  You'll have the message by now, no doubt, but what you've just asked is the equivalent of asking this on a motoring forum:

"I bought a new car miles away and then went home.  It's  ready to collect now, but I have better things to do with my time so would someone like to hire it, one way, to bring it to my house?  You'll have to get yourself home, but I'll only charge you for fuel and so on to get you here.  Of course, if you're a new driver I would expect you to take additional lessons and make a contribution towards my 2 yearly tyre change."

An then there's the insurance to cover someone else delivering your boat.

What I wanted to say is similar to Rickent above.  The delivery voyage might well be one of the best times you'll have with your new boat.  It's a great way to get to know her and, by the time you get her to her new berth, your knowledge and skills will have increased many fold. I wouldn't have missed my 2 month delivery voyage (across January to March) for anything. 

Enjoy your new boat.

[D.T.D.A.R.T.H]

Some great points above. I'll see if I can pull a few strings and move it myself. 

 

Thanks for your advice. 

[TheBiscuits]

Just now, D.T.D.A.R.T.H said:

Some great points above. I'll see if I can pull a few strings and move it myself. 

Thanks for your advice. 

Where is the boat at the moment? I might be able to assist you in part of your move if you want some help and tips, as I live near Preston.

[rgreg]

If The Biscuits is unable to fit in with your plans I may also be able to assist.

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, D.T.D.A.R.T.H said:

Some great points above. I'll see if I can pull a few strings and move it myself. 

 

Thanks for your advice. 

And you don't have to do the move all in one go. You can weekend the boat, and either leave it tied up to the towpath for up to a fortnight for free (where there are no signs to the contrary), or you can take paid moorings at a marina/boatyard, n which case you aren't restricted to 14 days.   

[Tim Lewis]

5 hours ago, David Mack said:

Preston to Leicestershire will involve passage of the Ribble Link including the tidal Ribble estuary. Do you really want to entrust your new boat to a tidal passage by someone you don't know and which won't be covered by insurance?

I  assumed that he meant Preston Brook which is a nine day trip to Leicester , a lot more than 40 locks though, 96 in fact. Preston (Lancs) would be a 13 day trip and 121 locks as well as the tidal passage.

Edited March 26, 2018 by Tim Lewis

[Peter X]

I suggest you have a look at the small print of your insurance. In general I think it's fine if you hire a professional boat mover because they have their own insurance, and fine if you move the boat yourself with a non-paying crew, but problems arise if money changes hands. If you lend a boat to friends (or strangers off the Internet) without being aboard, I'd expect most policies would be OK provided that they were competent boaters and again no money changes hands. If they pay for fuel I'm not sure where you'd stand and whether that might count as a commercial hire, whereupon various rules come into play; better insurance, higher standard of BSS, a CRT business licence.

But as you've seen there are people on the forum who are happy to crew for others at no cost; I don't own a boat myself and have done various trips like this with people, and my going rate is just to get food. At present I'm recovering from an operation last month, but later in the spring I may be available. So I suggest you get one of the above to help you at least part of the way, particularly for the Ribble Link which I gather is the sort of place where having a crew member with local knowledge is a good idea, then depending on your timetable and mine I might be able to crew for you in the later stages of the journey. I've done the T&M from Great Heywood down to the Trent and up the Soar before.

If you do the trip yourself, when do you think it would be?