 Finding
your Boat
Deciding what boat to buy depends on what your
liveaboard plans are. If you plan to live on a boat for
more than a few months, buying a boat would probably be
more economical than long term renting, if you were able
to do some work yourself to improve it you could even
show a profit! You will need to decide what level of
comfort and amenities you want. You have to consider how
much room you need and what facilities you want on
board. |
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Buying
a boat
You could buy a reasonably habitable second-hand boat from about
£20,000 upwards, though more comfort and space and features
could push that up to £70,000 plus. We give some
general boat buying advice on another
page, most importantly to get the boat surveyed by a fully
qualified surveyor. There are
a number of boat brokers who could have 30 or more boats you
might be interested in a single location. see our
Boat Sales page.
Most relatively modern boats (say last 10 years) are reasonably
well equipped and can probably be lived on as well as cruised on
for a few weeks as designed. All boats on canals now have to
have a valid 'Boat Safety Scheme Certificate of Compliance which
is basically evidence of a fairly recent expert examination of
gas, electric, heating, ventilation and fuel systems to make
sure there are no major dangers there. The sound advice is to
get a survey done before you buy. The C. of C. tells you nothing
about the condition of the hull or cabin or engine for instance.
There is a list of marine surveyors in the Contacts section of
Canal Junction. A survey will cost a few hundred pounds and the
boat may need to be dry docked. You can see details of the Boat
Safety Scheme at
www.boatsafetyscheme.com .
Steel hulled and cabined narrowboats will range in price from
about £10,000 upwards. Ex hire boats are usually well equipped
though hulls may be worn, you can always get patches welded on,
and engines tired. Don't get anything other than steel hull and
cabin unless you are prepared to put up with leaks at both
ends!
However most boats were not purpose built to live on, they were
built for no more than a few weeks stay. Watertank and waste
capacity, permanent bedrooms, mains voltage, insulation and
ventilation and heating for winter, type of fuel. etc. may all
be important considerations. Your requirements will be different
if you are permanently moored or are cruising. We've more advice
about finding and financing a residential
boat purchase. |
Exchanges
Exchanges do happen, probably the best way to organise
one would be either to post to the canals newsgroup
uk.rec.waterways which a lot of boatowners contribute
to, or put a small ad in one of the waterways monthly
magazines. They are listed in our magazines page. |
Long
term hire
There may be some firms who will hire boats for longer
periods. This can be an attractive option if you want a
boat to cruise for a few months and don't want the
bother of buying and then selling a boat, or of being
responsible for its maintenance. |
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Other
Costs
You'd have to budget for a waterways licence (about £500 a year
depending on boat length) and insurance, say £200 or more.
Mooring can be free if you are moving regularly or well over two
thousand pounds a year if you are on a proper residential site
with mains services. Then you have the usual fuel and heating
costs. |
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