Finding our Perfect Narrowboat

Myself and my partner had always entertained the idea of living on a narrowboat. We had a friend who had one, and visiting always seemed so magical. I felt so privileged sitting on the bow as everyone else trundled past looking enviously at our supper and drinks.But I also remember feeling apprehensive about some of the ‘living arrangements’. It was only a few months ago when I finally had enough of renting and sofa surfing around London that we decided we wanted our own home and because we have an aversion to Mortgages or anything that requires being owned by a bank - we started to seriously look into buying boats.
Here are the steps we took and worked for us:

1. SCOURED THE INTERNET

We spent ages looking at Apolloduck, Ebay and Facebook. It's a really good way to get an understanding of the price range out there. There was a lot of choice so we narrowed it down by writing our list of must haves. This started off as a 70ft  Cruiser Stern Narrowboat in reverse lay out. There were still so many choices that I ended up creating a spreadsheet of a handful of 10 boats to view, their cost, their 'USP's' etc. I found this really helpful to remember which boat was which.

I'd like to add at this point that we did NOT end up ticking any of those original ‘must have’ boxes! We allowed ourselves to be flexible and through the duration of our search we decided that we didn't like the cruiser sterns as much and 50ft would be easier to manoeuvre. Nothing wrong with being flexible and I think you learn what you want as you go and visit more boats.

2. BROKER OR PRIVATE? VIEWING BOATS
We were nervous about buying privately and initially limited our boat search to broker only. Having eventually brought our boat privately I would say that this apprehension was unnecessary. Of course you need to be careful when buying a boat privately because you're drawing up your own paperwork and you need to feel like you can be open with the seller.

Here are some good questions to ask when viewing a boat:

•  When was the boat last blacked/ out of the water? How is the paperwork history?
• How frequently is the engine serviced? Oil changes? 
• Do you have the original bill of sale?
   Where is the water tank and how big is it?
  Are the gas bottles easily accessible? Automatic or manual switch?
• Do you have a fridge? Is it a gas or a 12v fridge? If it's a 12v fridge does it drain the batter?
• How new are the batteries? How often do you charge them?
• Do you have a generator or do you idle the engine to charge? (Diesel engines shouldn’t really Idle as they get ‘coked up’ so try and avoid boats that have charged their batteries this way)
• What hot water system do you have?
• When was the stern gland repacked and is it greased regularly?
• Can I see the engine and can you start her up for me ? (Listen for a start first time, clean sounding engine)
  

One of the boats we saw, we were showed by a ‘renter’ - though this is not strictly legal there are loopholes which are exploited. We were extremely distrustful of the owner for not showing up and showing us round the boat himself. I would advise caution if buying a boat fem a renter - common sense prevails - If I rented a boat for a year - would I care about Oil Changes or general tedious boat maintenance?

3. SURVEY
Treat this as an absolute must. Just factor it in to your costs. You will spend approx £1000 on dry dock and survey costs if your lucky and this is for a small 50ft boat.

We booked ourselves a Full survey, but you can get a hull survey which involves the surveyor taking several randomised readings of the hull and producing an ‘average guess’ report on the thickness of your hull and is a bit cheaper.

Note that it is DIFFICULT to sort out the boat survey but don't let it put you off. You need to arrange a time when the person living on the boat can get the boat to a boat yard, and you need to book the boat yard and align that with the twelfth moon of Saturn and a boat surveyor! Keep calling places up and keep at them until you get your slot. They often seem very relaxed about things which is just the boat way I think. 

At the end of the survey before the report is sent off - the surveyor will sit down with you and bring up some really ‘nitpicky’ stuff - which is great because it’s what you pay him/her to do! Be prepared for him/her to advise against buying the baot - will you walk away if that's the case? It can help you go in with a lower offer for the boat if you feel necessary. I really stress that last word. This isn’t the housing market. It’s a small community of people. Let’s not scam money off each other. In our case there were a few bits thrown up by the survey which we did not know about. The Rudder was off, and the stern gland needed repacking. We asked for a couple of hundred towards that cost, but did not expect the seller to cover all of it. It’s about a mutual respect and a trust and we feel we have made friends with the original owners of our boat. Our sale was amicable and pleasant and we found a lot of value in that.

Once you have your slot booked. Make sure they have a contact number for you (we made this mistake) so they can get in touch if anything goes wrong with the boat!

Our boat in dry dock, ready for it's survey

5. MOVING ON TO YOUR BOAT
If you go ahead with the boat purchase enquire at your boat yard or local marina if there is a mooring with good vehicle access for the first day of your move. It should take no more than a day to move into a narrowboat - but space outside of the boat to leave your boxes is very handy. We moved in moored up at a pub which was a double edged sword - good for refreshments but not so handy for productivity!
 

I don't think there is any single tried and tested method and you will find your own way to your perfect boat - but this might help you on your way! Good luck!