Anyone bought or own a narrowboat?

simpywimpy

Was really at a loss as to where to post this but here goes...

I am viewing a narrowboat this weekend and was interested if anyone could offer advice on proving that it is in fact owned by that person other than getting photo ID that matches the boat safety cert etc?

Also, if anyone owns a boat, Im interested in the costing for a heating system, possibly solid fuel one being installed.

Many thanks

wealdroam

You are certain to find your answer here:

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/

paddyrg

A friend just resold a boat he bought 11 months ago. They have many plus points (well, primarily they're cheap), but you're buying into a whole choice of way of life. It wasn't for my mate. He had glamorous ideas about exploring the waterways, and found it more like a smaller, damper caravan without proper plumbing and expensive bottled gas. That said, if you're in a marina you can have proper showers and getting pumped out isn't nearly as big a deal, so your mileage may vary.

One thing he was advised though is that owning a boat is more like owning a car than house. Houses are generally solid and rise in value, boats go down in value and require regular work to keep them afloat. Admittedly that's still probably less overall cost than a house, but it's not for everyone, let's say.

Other friends raised twins on a narrowboat though, so it can certainly be done :-) They put in CH, cost them a few grand because of the need to dry dock to do the work (it also had some panels welding at the same time), and they had to take a B&B whilst it was out of the water.

LimeLight

I was told that if you try emptying the canal with a bucket, pretend the bucket is full of money that you keep pouring from one place to another.

I suppose this depends on how much of disrepair your boat is.