Inland motor boat prices

[ridgy]

I'm normally a sea sailor but I do have a soft spot for the Norfolk Broads either by sail or power. I was perusing boats for sale and came across this:

Heritage 35

Now I'm not a boat builder but I have hired a couple of cruisers on the broads and they are just heavy fibreglass shells with caravan interiors with a simple diesel engine.

How exactly is this 300k? And this, hull design unchanged from the 70's, 270k:
Heritage 39

I've long admired the ability of the cartel of Norfolk Broads charter companies to charge 1k per week for 40 year old canal type boats with minimal wear and tear apart from engines.

 

[Tranona]

Seems pretty fair price for a custom built boat with all that standard gear. Surely it is irrelevant when it was designed costs relate to today. Equally £1k a week to hire a cruising boat does not seem excessive. I would imagine that all the charter companies have similar operating costs so doubt there is any formal cartel "fixing" prices - they do their sums and come up with similar answers.

 

[Alicatt]

We looked into first hiring one of these in Friesland a "Thomasz Tristan BC 40 OK", just as Covid locked us all down, they rent from about €1200 per week to about €2400 per week during high season.
To buy a second hand one was about €150k and new they were almost €300k.
Otti – Brakel Yachtcharter

 

[oldgit]

I've long admired the ability of the cartel of Norfolk Broads charter companies to charge 1k per week for 40 year old canal type boats with minimal wear and tear apart from engines.

but only able to earn its keep for 6 months of the year and the staff need paying 12.

 

[harvey38]

I'd imagine insurance would be pretty hefty and if the Thames River licence fee is anything to go by, also not cheap. A week on the river with good weather would probably still be cheaper than a week abroad.

 

[Momac]

I heard the broads license fees were rising significantly and elsewhere Canal and river trust fees are rising way above inflation.
I expect some inland boaters are looking at coastal boating as a more economical alternative.

Apart from the engines the fit out of the boats mentioned looks like it would require much the same shopping list of components and labour as a boat designed for use at sea. So in that respect the prices are no great surprise.

A dutch steel boat or GRP boat by Haines or Broom with capability of occasionally going on salty water would be my preference over craft designed specifically for the broads hire fleet.

 

[The Q]

1k a week is cheap, a boat such as the heritage 35 is more like 3k - £3.5k a week in high season.
Most hire boats on the broads are priced out on a working life of 30 years., which means they need to earn £10k a year just to pay off the build costs.

Each boat is hauled out every year to antifoul and check the bottom for damage.
Every boat needs cleaning every week , in some cases substantial cleaning, one of a friends hire boats was returned to his yard with the entire insides covered in excrement!!!

Substantial damage is not unusual, I saw a hire 45 footer T bone a 30 foot hire boat, it split the hull from cabin roof to below the waterline. Only quick work by members of the sailing club prevented it sinking.

A more accurate comparison would be with a mobile home rather than a caravan.
They can cost in excess of £150,000 without the need of engine fuel system and a waterproof hull.
Modern hire boats like the heritage, have multiple heads / showers, sometimes a generator, certainly a 230Vac system, a fully equipped kitchen, central heating, TVs, wifi and all the comforts of home.

Broads tax for a hire boat of the heritages size would be around £1500, over the years the Broad Authority has repeatedly increased the toll above inflation, wasting money on vanity project's and repeatedly trying to take money from the navigation account to spend on conservation. By law the income from boating is meant to be spent on boating. Note there's just one lock on the broads, most of the river banks are not maintained by them but by the private owners or the environment agency, they don't have the costs of the canals.

Most hire yards only carry 3rd party insurance as they do the repairs to their boats themselves. Death and injury liable to the boat yards are small, most such things are caused by drunken hireboaters. Insurance will be heavy by our standards but a small percentage of the costs.

 

[DinghyMan]

I fitted out a custom steel narrowboat shell for a customer to use as liveaboard and to run his business from some 20+ years ago and his budget costings back then were £1k per foot for a 40 footer, he went over budget in the end but loved it

 

[Alicatt]

I heard the broads license fees were rising significantly and elsewhere Canal and river trust fees are rising way above inflation.
I expect some inland boaters are looking at coastal boating as a more economical alternative.

Apart from the engines the fit out of the boats mentioned looks like it would require much the same shopping list of components and labour as a boat designed for use at sea. So in that respect the prices are no great surprise.

A dutch steel boat or GRP boat by Haines or Broom with capability of occasionally going on salty water would be my preference over craft designed specifically for the broads hire fleet.
View attachment 171799

Aquaholic's review of the Haines 360 rear cabin tickled my fancy, available as a RCD C or RCD B depending on engine choice, but the price at £440k is a bit eyewatering

The waterways cost per annum here is about €115 for my 7.5m riverboat plus €58 registration on the Belgian Register and about €370p/a for mooring at the club with water and electric on top

 

[Greg2]

Aquaholic's review of the Haines 360 rear cabin tickled my fancy, available as a RCD C or RCD B depending on engine choice, but the price at £440k is a bit eyewatering

They are currently building the first 360 with lower air draft specifically for inland use. It will join the NYA charter fleet on the Broads.

 

[Alicatt]

They are currently building the first 360 with lower air draft specifically for inland use. It will join the NYA charter fleet on the Broads.

The above 360 with engine choices of 59hp to twin 200hp, that covers a lot of bases, and having the folding radar arch would help, but on the broads I guess the clearance is quite low.

My friend with a steel cruiser that is moored 2 berths further up has to take down his mast and arch to get out of our canal, as the 4m clearance at the opening bridge is a bit low for him

 

[ylop]

Whenever someone tells me that a product is massively overpriced, I suggest that the market is clearly ripe for competition/disruption then and invite them to set up in business and reap the rewards….

 

[oldgit]

If you think a weeks hire on the Broads is "expensive" try a week on the Thames.
Mind you do get all those publically funded lockeepers to help you through the locks included in the price.

 

[Alicatt]

If you think a weeks hire on the Broads is "expensive" try a week on the Thames.
Mind you do get all those publically funded lockeepers to help you through the locks included in the price.

Here they would like you to use AIS so they can program the locks to operate more efficiently and if you don't have AIS then to use the Visuris App to indicate your route and they will take the timings of the locks from the GPS in your GSM
Otherwise then you can still use VHF to call up the lock operator - most locks are now unmanned and operate from a central location.
https://www.youtube.com/@DeVlaamseWaterwegnv

 

[oldgit]

Otherwise then you can still use VHF to call up the lock operator - most locks are now unmanned and operate from a central location.
https://www.youtube.com/@DeVlaamseWaterwegnv

Seems a good idea that the EA might consider worth looking at.

 

[Momac]

Here they would like you to use AIS so they can program the locks to operate more efficiently

Excellent idea

 

[Alicatt]

I think this video was in response to me asking Sören some questions on the waterways of Belgium/Europe