Buying that narrowboat





Before I start the swan popped his head in, so I felt he deserved to be featured....

It all begins with how do I buy a narrowboat. I felt completely lost and overwhelmed. The internet helped me massively, although I never quite go about things the way I should. 

At first I spent ages working out what layout I thought would work best for myself and my greyhound (Jack). I came to the conclusion that would be a semi trad. I will do a later post with an explanation of different types of boats and layouts. Also after reading a lot about solo cruising I felt a 46 foot narrowboat would work best for me. Big enough for one person and a dog.

Next I decided I wanted a boat that was fairly ready for me to move into, so I listed the things I wanted it to include and tried to get as close to this as possible. Things I felt I needed were....

  • Multifuel stove
  • Washing machine
  • Fridge
  • Gas hob, oven and grill
  • Diesel heater for water and radiators
  • Calorifier
  • Solar
  • Inverter
I then looked at loads of boats online, and I mean loads. I was over narrowboats before I started.

I found one I liked the look of, it was a private sale and didn't have any of the things I wanted in it, but it had a nice layout. Off I drove, with Jack, to look at the boat. It didn't feel right, also the private seller, when I asked if I could have a hull survey done said 'lots of people she knew didn't bother with a hull survey, so I probably didn't need to'. That is when your alarm bells should start to ring. One thing I have learnt recently, if nothing else, here it comes.....ALWAYS GET A HULL SURVEY BEFORE YOU BUY A NARROWBOAT. She implied it would takes months and didn't know a dry dock that had space. At that point I was au revoir, adios, auf Wiedersehen.

So private sales were out for me. Just a personal thing, but I felt safer with a broker. I then went back to looking at hundreds of narrowboats online. I'm not great at actually viewing things in person, like properties, vehicles and apparently boats. I knew for me I was better finding what I wanted online then going in person. There were a few at  Whilton Marina, so I booked a viewing for the next day. The boat went before I left the house. looked again. Booked a viewing. Got to Whilton, yep you guessed it, the boat had gone. Luckily for me a lovely boat. the right length, layout with nearly everything I wanted had just gone on sale. I put a deposit on it immediately. I am now typing this from that very boat.

Before I left I used their provided list of surveyors (you will get people telling you to not use their list, it worked for me and I felt they were independent). The survey was booked for five days time and with the boat coming out of the water cost me £500.

Please feel free to comment. Ask questions. Tell of your experiences. No judgment here and opinions always welcome. Until the next time 😃




Location: United Kingdom

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