Wide Beam Retirement

[Ian Sullivan]

Good morning, thanks for letting me join. I am licky enough to be able to retire in approximately a year and my plan is to buy a widebeam to cruise and live aboard. I have only ever been on a canal boat holiday so my experience is zero. I am starting to do my homework now in preparation.
What I would like is to find permanent moorings somewhere in the South or South East of England with the ability to cruise the Southern network. I will have a purchase budget of approximately £185,000. I am considering having a boat built and have been drawn to the Collingwood style boats but I think a new one is a little above my budget. So firstly can you recommend alternative builders to look at with similar Collingwood stylings also can you advise of a reputable boat broker that will be able to source suitable moorings and boats should I choose to buy used? Thanks in advance. Ian

 

[Tranona]

Welcome

You might do better posting on a canal boating forum such as this Canal World and here canalrivertrust.org.uk and here www.gov.uk/topic/environmental-management/boatingwhich will tell you where you can cruise with a wide beam.

However I think you will find it is very restrictive in the south of the country to mainly rivers as most canals are narrow beam except the K&A and the GU. Equally as with everything in the south, particularly related to boating, facilities are in short supply, including moorings and therefore expensive compared with northern parts.

Go and talk to builders of wide beam boats as they will be able to tell you where there boats can be used.

 

[LittleSister]

Don't trouble yourself about design of boat. That's the easy bit. Find yourself a residential mooring first. That's much easier said than done.

How much have you budgeted for the mooring?

 

[westernman]

Don't trouble yourself about design of boat. That's the easy bit. Find yourself a residential mooring first. That's much easier said than done.

How much have you budgeted for the mooring?

Or continuously cruise.
For a live aboard a wide beam is considerably more luxurious than a narrow boat.

You will have to put it on a truck to get to somewhere you can put it back in the water to access the north half of the wide beam accessible network.
But that is not insurmountable.

 

[LittleSister]

Or continuously cruise.

The OP specifically refers to getting a residential mooring. Continuous cruising demands a whole different lifestyle, and means of funding it, than most people are able and willing to adopt.

 

[Ian Sullivan]

Thanks guys. It's still a year or so away. I am just juggling all the different options. I think perhaps I might go the continuous cruise mode during the better weather then take winter moorings? As far as funds for moorings, I have been doing some investigations and if I can find something for around £350/month I can cope with that. Obviously I wont't be going near London with those funds but somewhere out past Reading on the K and A would be fine.

 

[Ian Sullivan]

Don't trouble yourself about design of boat. That's the easy bit. Find yourself a residential mooring first. That's much easier said than done.

How much have you budgeted for the mooring?

I have been looking at costs. Wow.....its expensive. I reckon I can cope with about £350/400 pcm. It just means I wont be near London, which is fine by me.

 

[Ian Sullivan]

Welcome

You might do better posting on a canal boating forum such as this Canal World and here canalrivertrust.org.uk and here www.gov.uk/topic/environmental-management/boatingwhich will tell you where you can cruise with a wide beam.

However I think you will find it is very restrictive in the south of the country to mainly rivers as most canals are narrow beam except the K&A and the GU. Equally as with everything in the south, particularly related to boating, facilities are in short supply, including moorings and therefore expensive compared with northern parts.

Go and talk to builders of wide beam boats as they will be able to tell you where there boats can be used.

Thanks. I was planning on being on the K&A as its not too far from family and stuff. I understand that you have to choose North or South with a widebeam. It really has to be South for me.

 

[LittleSister]

I have been looking at costs. Wow.....its expensive. I reckon I can cope with about £350/400 pcm. It just means I wont be near London, which is fine by me.

One could build a nice house for your boat budget, it's actually the cost of the land to put it on that costs the real money!

You're not the first to put this particular cart before the horse!

When considering any mooring -
(a) access/parking/storage for clutter/security/nearest supplies and services/public transport/etc?
(b) rented moorings will usually have very limited legal rights compared to rented houses/flats. Do research the basics and check carefully (get expert advice on) the exact legal terms of any mooring lease you are considering; .
(c) You will almost certainly need a licence for the vessel from the relevant authority to keep it on the waterway. This in turn will almost certainly require your boat to obtain, and keep up to date (i) a Boat Safety Certificate, and (ii) insurance.
(d) where could you have your boat lifted out of the water for maintenance?

As Tranona suggests above, you are most likely to get informed advice about the sort of thing you have in mind on a canal forum.

p.s. Don't forget to budget for maintenance, repairs and alterations. You will be doing that from the outset, and will be ongoing, whether you buy new or secondhand, and it will cost more than you expect.

 

[Tranona]

Thanks. I was planning on being on the K&A as its not too far from family and stuff. I understand that you have to choose North or South with a widebeam. It really has to be South for me.

Not sure you can get anywhere much from the K&A except onto the Thames and into the GU. Wide beams are generally a northern "thing" in rivers rather than canals as most of the linked up canal system is narrow.

 

[LittleSister]

And into the (Bath/Bristol) Avon*, I believe, though not, I suspect, in a wide beam boat.

("In turn leading to the challenges (probably unsuitable for canal boats?) of the Avon downstream of Bristol, the Bristol Channel (and the whole world beyond), and up the Severn to Gloucester canal etc., etc.)

 

[harvey38]

There's a couple on show at Boat Life.

 

[Momac]

Narrowboaters hate everything that is not a narrowboat
They even hate some narrowboats
They certainly hate GRP boats
But the thing narrowboaters hate most of all is widebeams.

The mooring needs to be found before the boat really.

 

[harvey38]

Narrowboaters hate everything that is not a narrowboat
They even hate some narrowboats
They certainly hate GRP boats
But the thing narrowboaters hate most of all is widebeams.

The mooring needs to be found before the boat really.

Funny bunch of water users at the best of times

 

[Momac]

Funny bunch of water users at the best of times

I agree but despite my earlier post they are not all the same .

 

[Wansworth]

Are narrow boaters like gaff riggers,dressed in scruffy smocks Breton caps constantly whining about deck leaks or gribble….

 

[ean_p]

,dressed in scruffy smocks

substitute ' coarse knitted baggy old brown jumpers.......'

 

[Bilgediver]

You mentioned the Kennet and Avon. Beam might not be a problem but air draft could be.There is at least one Widebeam Groupe on Facebook however Canal and River Trust would be a good source of info and a waterways map covering the UK another.

I believe thhe Grand Union north from londo is a good bet but might not be able to wander far from it.

 

[V1701]

With all due respect having a boat budget of £185k but only being able to live with mooring fees of £350/month doesn't really compute. I think you'd be lucky to get a residential mooring at all let alone one for a widebeam for that and your maintenance costs for a widebeam will be significantly more than for a narrowboat. They will better advise you on the canal forum but I think your plan needs a lot more research and refinement. But go for it and good luck...

 

[Paulg25]

Narrowboaters hate everything that is not a narrowboat
They even hate some narrowboats
They certainly hate GRP boats
But the thing narrowboaters hate most of all is widebeams.

The mooring needs to be found before the boat really.

I have a widebeam GRP!!! Better keep my head down!