Narrow Boats

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Wansworth

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A mate wants to buy and live on for extended periods but not the winter.Are there any pointers to be aware of in the purchase of such a craft.Secondly his wife wants a mooring that is "no5 in the middle of nowwhere".......a pub and a small town.Any help I will pass on,thanks.
 
Wansworth said:
A mate wants to buy and live on for extended periods but not the winter.Are there any pointers to be aware of in the purchase of such a craft.Secondly his wife wants a mooring that is "no5 in the middle of nowwhere".......a pub and a small town.Any help I will pass on,thanks.
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Pointers? Usual boaty things like surveys etc are best bet for peace of mind. Current Boat Safety Scheme Certificate a must. Many NBs are sold as sail-aways for home completion. Although easier to fit out than yachts/powerboats, build quality can be dubious. Best to avoid anything fitted out using MDF or chipboard type wood as they absorb moisture and not good in the long term. Beware even yard-built NBs can be fitted out this way to keep costs down. Hulls/superstructure normally pretty bullet proof but better ones are built using 8 or 10mm base plate. NBs fine if you like living/staying in a tube, wide beam versions are around and can be cavernous inside. Some canals too narrow to accommodate wide beams though. As regards a mooring that depends on whether this is a holiday boat or needs to be somewhere close to work.
 
I would agree with the above.

The two crucial things are which waterway he wants to keep the boat on? you did not say, so since this is the "Thames" forum, everybody has assumed that is where you want to keep it. But plenty of people ask questions here about other inland waterways.

The second thing is how you want to use the boat. Are you looking for a static house boat? perhaps with occasional local trips? or are you going to travel widely exploring lots of different waterways?

If the latter, then a NB is pretty much what you need if you want to explore the narrow canals, but if just on the Thames and not going far it's probably not the best choice.

Beware of old NB's. Many will have been neglected. Older ones were only built with thin steel. The result is may old boats are badly rusted. Anything that's been "over plated" will have been on the point of rusting through and has been patched up. I would not personally be happy with that. Ideally you want a well maintained boat that has a recent survey so you know the state of rust and steel thickness remaining.

Also beware of older boats with air cooled engines that might have engine room ventilation very close to the waterline. There have been cases of these getting overwhelmed and sinking if taken anywhere with waves, e.g the tidal part of the Thames.
 
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Regarding hull thickness and rusting, if you're not familiar with steel boats be aware they invariably rust from the inside out so just a visual inspection from the outside is not enough. As ProDave suggests, avoid anything overplated as it can hide a multitude of horrors.
 
www.canalworld.net is your source of info for all things narrowboat. Some of the above is based on very limited experience.... I'm not saying its wrong, just npt the whole picture.

I asked about narrowboats here in 2010, and was pointed to canalworld. Havent looked back.
 
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