House Boats

[Menelaus]

Amsterdam

I lived on the NADINE II at Waterlooplein in Amsterdam when working at ABN Amro in 2006. Houseboat living in the middle of a town isn't great if it's a massive tourist haven like Amsterdam but I'd expect if outside of Oxford then it'd be good.

In other things to be considered:

- sanitation: how does waste water get off the boat?
- water: does it have a clean water source / water purification?
- electrics: how does it generate power (e.g., solar panels, mains connection)

Maintenance and mooring charges may be an issue to be considered also.

[TiroFijo]

The two happiest days in boat ownership are...

The day you buy it!

The day you sell it!

A boat is a hole in the water where you throw money!

[TiroFijo]

The name of the vessel is the most important thing.

If, for example, she's called "The Canal Queen", make sure the paint hasn't peeled away on the letter "C".

Otherwise you may be getting some unexpected visitors.

unless he's the one doing the peeling

[Churchill]

A few questions...

When was the boat last surveyed and by whom?

Year and method of construction?

Anodes, when were they last replaced?

Certificates, Boat Safety etc.

Are you paying cash or getting a marine mortgage?

[wurzel]

Always been a pipe dream of mine. I am, in fact a bit of a closet gongoozler.

[Moscow Mule]

£120K for a boat seems a bit steep. No idea how that compares, but it sounds like not much less than a cheap flat with a lot of disadvatages.

I'm not sure I'd want to be walking along a tow path at night, and I'm not an 18 year old girl. There was a murder on the Oxford canal in Banbury not so long ago.

There was a murder in a high street in london this weekend*. This fact didn't stop me from doing the shopping.

Boat living is a lot of fun, and generally has much more of a sense of community than a flat. I would have been overjoyed if my parents had bought me a boat whilst I was at uni.





* in all likelyhood. They tend not to report them unless they are kids with knives these days.

[dang65]

I have done a few narrowboat holidays, normally pay about £1200 for the week.
It strikes me as perfect while its a novelty, but could easily become a real bummer.

Yeah, it's incredible how quickly you get seduced into wanting to buy one and live on it, just after a week's pleasant holiday. I ended up reading the entire narrowboat-related internet and even buying a few boat magazines. Now I'm kind of glad I never went further, but the idea still pops up in daydreams from time to time. I think if I could buy one and use it for a year or so to do a proper tour of the canal network then I'd still be really tempted, but I'll wait till the kids are long gone... which is the standard sort of age for narrowboat owners anyway as far as I can tell.

[EternalOptimist]

Yeah, it's incredible how quickly you get seduced into wanting to buy one and live on it, just after a week's pleasant holiday. I ended up reading the entire narrowboat-related internet and even buying a few boat magazines. Now I'm kind of glad I never went further, but the idea still pops up in daydreams from time to time. I think if I could buy one and use it for a year or so to do a proper tour of the canal network then I'd still be really tempted, but I'll wait till the kids are long gone... which is the standard sort of age for narrowboat owners anyway as far as I can tell.

They do tend to be oldies. My son in law got busted for speeding as he raced for the RV at a canal side pub. he was doing 50% over the speed limit at 3 knots

[Sysman]

They do tend to be oldies. My son in law got busted for speeding as he raced for the RV at a canal side pub. he was doing 50% over the speed limit at 3 knots

Once, just once Thank God, we got cornered by a John Bull type who flew the Union Jack and kept going on about Queen and Empire. We politely declined his offer of sharing a long flight of locks with him. There are 23 locks on the canal as it drops down to Wigan.

It took me a couple of days to cope with the fact that I could walk faster, but once that was out of the way it really was a great way to wind down.

[bogeyman]

A few questions...

When was the boat last surveyed and by whom?

Year and method of construction?

Anodes, when were they last replaced?

Certificates, Boat Safety etc.

Are you paying cash or getting a marine mortgage?

Good questions, but was not in a position to ask them all, but will.

I would be paying cash for this, if I went for it, and that's a big IF as well as a big load of cash.