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Boat transfer payment logistics - how to not get scammed?


jetzi

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1 hour ago, Boater Sam said:

Not being snotty, but, you know Ivan for a guy who has done so much research about buying a boat, you seem to know very little about the practicalities of ownership and living aboard.

Have you read many boating magazines? And the adverts for insurance? The CRT websites about BSS and licencing?

Sam.

 

I guess you could say we're taking it one step at a time, or learning as we go!

 

I am a complete and utter newbie, so I apologise for my endless stupid questions. I'm doing my best to learn though, even if I do look a bit of a fool doing it. No I haven't read any boating magazines, but I will if that is going to be a good source of information?

 

We plan to take a short helmsman course at a marina, just so they can explain how to drive and work the locks and the basic rules. We are very well-meaning and really love the boating community who have been so friendly and helpful at every turn. We have several friends who are boaters or ex-boaters who have all enthusiastically offered to help us drive and such until we get the hang of it.

 

Alice lived on a permanently moored boat for a year. I've never lived on a boat. Neither of us have even been on a moving narrowboat. So your observation is correct that we know very little about the practicalities of ownership and living aboard. We all had to start somewhere though, and we are really doing our best to get it all figured out. Until then, you might want to cross over to the other side of the canal if you see us coming...

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16 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

Will you be showing a yellow flag then? Horn signals learnt yet?

 

Yes. read some mags and the CRT sites, you will learn a lot. We all had too but then there were less boats around for most of us, and very few if any fatties.

There are lots of people who hire narrowboats with no experience at all, so hopefully we'll at least be a small step above them. I'll fly a yellow flag and I've read through the horn signals here: http://www.canalnarrowboat.co.uk/boat-handling/narrowboat-horn-signals/

 

I'll print these out and stick them next to the horn.

 

I can but promise to make myself as small of a hazard as possible!!

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14 minutes ago, ivan&alice said:

I'll fly a yellow flag and I've read through the horn signals here: http://www.canalnarrowboat.co.uk/boat-handling/narrowboat-horn-signals/

You do realise that the yellow flag indicated 'free of disease and welcome to  board and inspect the vessel, I request free practique'

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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19 hours ago, ivan&alice said:


I found a place to get a list of BSC surveyors here:

 

https://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/boat-examination/arranging-the-examination/find-an-examiner/?counties=London&search=


I'll ask the seller tomorrow for his BSC reference number and expiry date. I'll try to book an examiner sometime this week if it has expired.
 

 

At the moment our worldly goods are two bags of clothes and whatever few old appliances come with the boat. I'm not concerned with household (boathold?) insurance. I just want the boat itself to be insured in case it sinks on us or the engine blows up. That said, as we make this boat our home we'll accumulate a bunch of stuff that should probably get insured as well, so you're right that 780 won't cover much by this time next year.  But I'm happy to cross that bridge when we sail under it.

 

I've emailed the seller's present insurer for a quote and I'll give Craftinsure a call in the morning and see if the standard automatic quote will cover continuous cruising. Between the two of them I should find one that will sort us out.

If you don't have to have a new BSC straightaway, you might be advised to wait until you have your licence based on the existing certificate. It is not improbable that the surveyor will find one or two niggles and may withhold registering the certificate until these have been rectified (there are others on this forum who can give more detail on this) If that happens before you get the licence your conscience might tell you that you cannot tell CaRT that it has a BSC when you apply for a licence - and hence another unwanted delay whilst you do the stated work. If you  have the BSC inspection whilst a licence is valid then you do have time to fix things.

 

Needless to say, if you are worried that there might be significant safety issues the they should be fixed pronto and not ignored. Remember that the BSC is primarily about the safety of other people not the people on the boat - hence fir a CO monitor asap if it does not already have one.

6 hours ago, ivan&alice said:

There are lots of people who hire narrowboats with no experience at all, so hopefully we'll at least be a small step above them. I'll fly a yellow flag and I've read through the horn signals here: http://www.canalnarrowboat.co.uk/boat-handling/narrowboat-horn-signals/

 

I'll print these out and stick them next to the horn.

 

I can but promise to make myself as small of a hazard as possible!!

The real problem is figuring out whether the other boat also knows the signals! Otherwise best to stick to waving madly - universal language known to all, even those who look down on newbies and think that they know it all . . . Do they really?

 

I am sure that everyone here really wishes you all the best and keep learning - just don't expect to pass the test in the first fifty years, still too much to learn even then.

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22 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

If you don't have to have a new BSC straightaway, you might be advised to wait until you have your licence based on the existing certificate. It is not improbable that the surveyor will find one or two niggles and may withhold registering the certificate until these have been rectified (there are others on this forum who can give more detail on this) If that happens before you get the licence your conscience might tell you that you cannot tell CaRT that it has a BSC when you apply for a licence - and hence another unwanted delay whilst you do the stated work. If you  have the BSC inspection whilst a licence is valid then you do have time to fix things.

 

Needless to say, if you are worried that there might be significant safety issues the they should be fixed pronto and not ignored. Remember that the BSC is primarily about the safety of other people not the people on the boat - hence fir a CO monitor asap if it does not already have one.

I'll certainly only get the BSC if the current one has expired. Haven't gotten an answer from the seller about that yet - he doesn't have a physical cert so he has to look it up and hasn't got around to it yet.

 

The boat has three fire extinguishers, a fire blanket and a CO alarm. It has a LPG oven and hob and a Eberspacher D4 diesel heater that I expect need to be checked. It has exits on either end of the boat. It doesn't have a shore power hookup nor an inverter (for now), so the electrics are pretty basic. In my limited experience there is nothing I can see that is a danger or possibly non-compliant. Not sure what else needs to be examined?

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On 23/09/2018 at 00:50, Tom and Bex said:

On the subject of bank transfers, it is always worth transferring a token amount (say £1) and confirming with the intended recipient by phone or in person that it has gone through. That way you can use the same details for a repeat transfer of a larger amount. If for example you enter the wrong account number by mistake, someone may get an unexpected bonus, and as you authorised the payment the bank will do nothing to help you recover it. 

This is a method I have used in the past, and often between my own accounts for the reasons you quote. Usually the inital  £1 goes through no problem, but the larger follow up amount has often been queried much later in the day by the bank before making the payment.

 

When questioned why, the bank say that this is the way some criminals operate . When asked whether I should stop using this method, the banks have always said no, but beware the second payment could to be delayed if transferred on the same day.

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2 hours ago, rusty69 said:

This is a method I have used in the past, and often between my own accounts for the reasons you quote. Usually the inital  £1 goes through no problem, but the larger follow up amount has often been queried much later in the day by the bank before making the payment.

 

When questioned why, the bank say that this is the way some criminals operate . When asked whether I should stop using this method, the banks have always said no, but beware the second payment could to be delayed if transferred on the same day.

That's far too sensible!

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I paid for a car using my debit card, that all went OK but the dealer had to get the bank to authorise it with me completing the usual security questions. The fuel tank was on the red light. So a few minutes down the road I stopped at the first petrol station and filled up. When I got to the kiosk to pay my card would not work, the bank had blocked the card due to unusual activity despite going through telephone verification. Luckily, the credit card still worked. Be careful out there, nothing is far too sensible for the banks to mess up.

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5 hours ago, ivan&alice said:

I'll certainly only get the BSC if the current one has expired. Haven't gotten an answer from the seller about that yet - he doesn't have a physical cert so he has to look it up and hasn't got around to it yet.

 

The boat has three fire extinguishers, a fire blanket and a CO alarm. It has a LPG oven and hob and a Eberspacher D4 diesel heater that I expect need to be checked. It has exits on either end of the boat. It doesn't have a shore power hookup nor an inverter (for now), so the electrics are pretty basic. In my limited experience there is nothing I can see that is a danger or possibly non-compliant. Not sure what else needs to be examined?

 

I'm far from an expert on most things boaty, as many on here will confirm, but I know (to about a week either way) when my next BSC is due, without having to look it up.

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7 hours ago, frahkn said:

 

I'm far from an expert on most things boaty, as many on here will confirm, but I know (to about a week either way) when my next BSC is due, without having to look it up.

I know mine is not for another couple of years, but will need to check nearer the time as I can’t remember which month - memory never was any good for dates. That said, I do know it is valid.

Edited by Chewbacka
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When i bought my boat, the surveyor I chose, Craig Allen http://craig-allen-marine.co.uk offered a free BSS inspection with every full survey.

 

My BSC wasn't due to expire for another 18 months, so I asked what would happen if it failed. "Up to you"  he said, "you can either get the work done and i will issue a new certificate, or leave it on the old one and i wont issue it".

 

The boat passed so I had 4vworry free years.

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