Anyone got or owned one?
Advice and what to look out for?
I do. Been around them all my life What did you want to know?
Don't wrap a double mattress around the prop and shaft. There isn't much more tricky to remove, not even the giant traffic cone and shopping trolley combo we picked up 1/2 mile later. Oh and don't go through Dudley area on a canal boat.
A boat is a hole in the water you pour money into. You need to get a lot of use from a boat for it to be an asset.
A bit like a motor home. Great for retired people. My father in law owned one for a few years but sold it due to lack of use. Just my opinion of
course.
Are you thinking of one as a home, or a toy?
Thinking of one as project to renovate then hire out or sell.
Could live in it as a break /holiday .
Last time I looked at them was as a possible live aboard. Done right, it might work, but you'd need to find a cheap shell to do up and somewhere cheap in which to store it too! Moving them about is not the work of 5 minutes unfortunately!
If you fancy the challenge of rebuilding making good then go for it. But if you want to see anything like a return on your labour then don't hold
your breath. The amount of work & cost will be far more than you imagine. Is it for fun in spare time or as a way of earning money?
As already said finding somewhere to store it whilst doing the work has a cost & if you need to move it by road the cost will climb rapidly. There
are yards that can offer hardstanding & will have crane or slipway arrangments. Alternatively you will be looking at having it afloat on a mooring
this is likely to mean you need a licence ok if the boat is fit to hold a BSS ticket. No BSS no licence.
Regarding hiring it out do your research its not quite as simple as people think. CR&T set out most the rules & regulations. They even
actually enforce them these day's!
Residential use is perfectly possible again worth doing your research.
If you fancy it have a go it can be great fun but at least go into it with your eyes open.
You are welcome to contact me if you need more specific info. Maybe in indication of how much you intend to spend would be helpful.
What is it they say about boats, you only get two great days, the one you buy it, the other when you sell it!
They soon lose their fasination, expensive to keep still & expensive to use.
I have looked into this for possible 4 to 6 months cruise around the canals and for just the odd week or days and weekends away and you have got to use it a lot to make worth while buying one mooring licence costs and maintenance will cost £2.5 to £3.0k min a year for a 45 to 50 foot boat plus the cost of buying one in the first place you can long term rent a boat min 3 months for about £1.5 k a month or short weekly rentals £700 to £1.5 a week as I'm not retired yet I would only use it for maybe two weeks a year plus a few weekends or days out a year so it would make sense just to rent I guess if was retired it maybe worth it but as with all boats they are money pits for sure .
There are a few companies that do a boat share scheme, a friend has one which gives him a 1/12th share of the boat and 4 weeks use each year, much
cheaper than outright ownership and any bills are shared. Costs less than half that of hiring one inc all bills - and he can sell the share anytime he
wishes
Full story is here http://www.gregafloat.org.uk/blog/index.html#nabble-td2945250
and
http://www.gregafloat.org.uk/canals/2015adderburyviewing.html
etc
[Edited on 5/11/15 by ianhurley20]
Hmmmm its sounding awfully expensive for projected use, more than ctax and water.
quote:
Originally posted by twybrow
Don't wrap a double mattress around the prop and shaft. There isn't much more tricky to remove, not even the giant traffic cone and shopping trolley combo we picked up 1/2 mile later. Oh and don't go through Dudley area on a canal boat.