The mooring cost is a vast one, so many marinas and CRT linear moorings do not offer fully legal residential, paying the extra council charges really hikes the fees. I looked at Crick early last year I think at £6 odd per foot, over the year not an exorbitant cost but they're not residential, at present CRT have 6 legal residential moorings available on their website, this brings into contention their hike in CCing surcharge being added this year. My advice to anyone is if you're going to live full time on a boat in a mooring, FIND THE MOORING FIRST!!!
You are spot on I have had boats for 50 years now 80 years old all ways get a full writen survey hull heating engine look at how many running hours if looking for a boat look for up to ten years old and the builder with a beater engine talk to old boaters with narrow boats thats a must and listen to them keep away from Brookers there all the same as car sales keep away.👎
I’ve lived aboard my 40ft for 8 years now. As well as regular costs the best thing I did was set up a maintenance savings account. I learned this the hard way as a few years back I had to suddenly find £6k for a new engine installation. Those kinds of costs can come up as well as predictable costs and saving up front now gives me tremendous peace of mind. Overall I budget for moorings and licence 200pcm, coal, diesel and gas 120pcm, maintenance account £300pcm this covers insurance, blacking, repairs, replacing batteries etc. and it just builds in the background. Overall £620pcm. Unused funds in the maintenance account are slowly building into a financial cushion. Is it worth it? Bottom line for me is it makes me happy, the happiest home I have had so every penny is well spent. I used to own a house (mortgaged) and even though it was a financial investment I was not happy there so you could say that every penny I put into that house was wasted.
Thanks for this video. It was really helpful, me & my husband will be buying narrowboat soon.. In the future, hopefully, we will learn more from you and others
Delighted to have discovered your channel, Dan. Subscribed and enjoying your valuable experience and comments 🤩 As I am contemplating buying a boat to _live on_ then this is welcome.
Thanks Greg. I’ll certainly be sharing my story and experiences - I am rather new to it… so plenty of real world “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing but here is what I’ve learned” type things to come!
First back home to Cornwall from South Africa and then see where we go from there. As I said; always fancied doing the narrowboat thing so lets see how that goes... @@CutSluice
I know, just a bit tricky to make a living and find somewhere to live, which is why I've spent over half my life in Africa. Still; it's been an adventure. Getting long in the tooth now so it's time to come home. See you on the cut somewhere I reckon. Good luck with your venture.@@CutSluice
Research, research, research... We haven't even bought our narrowboat yet, but we've been looking since last May. We will be buying over the summer (as funds will be available then), and we're constantly looking to see what's available, visiting marinas, checking out boats, even had one surveyed but didn't buy which meant we lost out of nearly a thousand pounds :( Also we've been researching into what we have as our wish list of things we'd like the boat to have, so compremise is another one, I doubt the prefect 2nd hand boat exists, so we may have to compremise on something... Loving the vlogs👍
We planned on buying a 57ft cruiser stern reverse layout narrowboat. We actually bought a 45ft semi-trad traditional layout. She's a beauty and we love her!
Awesome new channel. If I may suggest - number your episodes some how. I watch more than 30 narrowboat and yachting channels and add more daily. When one starts watching a new channel - especially if it has been going some years, it is an awful job trying to keep the sequence of events and get back to the last watched video when there are nine rows all dated 3 years ago 🙂
Thank you! For any vlogs I may do that. Any videos that are fairly agnostic of date I probably won’t and it wouldn’t be time sensitive… if that makes sense
I would just like to add to that. We have just bought a 55ft cruiser at a cost of £53,500 add the survey £500 add jet wash and blacking £450 plus the licence and insurance as continuous cruisers around £1500 we also needed new batteries (lithium hybrid system) so added solar panels at the same time and shore power hookup £3531. Then there is the inside of the boat so new sofa £1000 and we are going to extend the bed, the mattress alone will be around £400 then there is a full service on the engine that I will do and the oil was fairly hard to find so bought a 25l drum at £130 then there is all the filters etc. It's definitely not cheap and as first time buyers we did overlook a few of the expenses like batteries because we thought they would be fine for a year or so. So far a £53,500 boat has cost £61,500 but we see it as it should be good bow for a good few years.
@@CutSluice I'm at the boat now and we just sprung a leak behind the shower so have to dismantle the bed to egt in through the back 🙈 at the moment we are in swanley marina in Nantwich, once we leave we will be heading up towards the Leeds Liverpool canal.
@BullyBonanza that sounds like an epic journey and a worse leak than my tiny roof dribble! I do however have a video in the making of a slightly larger leak… but I don’t want to be known and Leaky McGhee! 😂 At least you are at a marina so getting help if required will be more straightforward. You should film your leak repair! Would be really interested to see how you got it sorted.
That’s a video in itself… but the biggest thing is I was expecting I would feel cramped but I’ve got used to it really quick. I’ve been brutal about not keeping stuff that I don’t need… it’s been a cleansing experience.
I live with my husband and three cats in the middle of the countryside, North East Spain. We moved here with our two young children 20yrs ago. They've both left home now so it's just my husband and I. We have no mains services and no terrestrial TV so I guess we live similarly to you. It's taken some adjusting to but I love my home now more than I ever have. The solitude (we have no neighbours) and being surrounded by nature (birds, rabbits, deer, boar etc) are what I love about living here. X
@@eltrym that’s awesome. I think I’m going to be in that headspace soon. I don’t know enough of how to fix issues yet to be fully confident, but it’s certainly feeling more like home every day.
Useful video for potential boaters, but your costs are WAY LESS than the average, as your boat is a tiddler compared to the average 57 footer! I have a 45 footer, and even that extra 5 feet bumps up the prices significantly above yours. Then there is fuel, coal, wood, engine servicing, painting, spares, tools, necessary equipment such as life rings, life jackets, fenders, VHF radio and permit if you want to use tidal waterways, constant maintenance costs including fixing BSS fails, insurance, RCR cover, and that’s just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head. Also, buy a NEW boat now and you are looking at anything between 100k and 180k, or up to 250k for a widebeam. Living on a boat CAN be cheaper than living in a house, and certainly was before Covid, but on the whole it isn’t anymore.
All great points. Thank you. Yeah buying new just wasn’t an option for me and the reason I ended up at 40ft was down to annual costs… I was really close to putting an offer on a 70ft boat and then put my coats head on and changed my mind within seconds!
Buy a house let's see house insurance,council tax, electricity,gas buyers survey, land search, general maintenance. If it's a flat you never own the land so ground rent to pay,water rates,boiler service incase of warranty claims.........oh buy a house for £45000 good luck with that
Of course - as always... If I have missed anything, please add in the comments.
These are just my experiences and I am here to learn 🙂
The mooring cost is a vast one, so many marinas and CRT linear moorings do not offer fully legal residential, paying the extra council charges really hikes the fees. I looked at Crick early last year I think at £6 odd per foot, over the year not an exorbitant cost but they're not residential, at present CRT have 6 legal residential moorings available on their website, this brings into contention their hike in CCing surcharge being added this year.
My advice to anyone is if you're going to live full time on a boat in a mooring, FIND THE MOORING FIRST!!!
You are spot on
I have had boats for 50 years now 80 years old all ways get a full writen survey hull heating engine look at how many running hours if looking for a boat look for up to ten years old and the builder with a beater engine talk to old boaters with narrow boats thats a must and listen to them keep away from Brookers there all the same as car sales keep away.👎
Thanks Rodney. Really appreciate it. Where in the country are you based?
I’ve lived aboard my 40ft for 8 years now. As well as regular costs the best thing I did was set up a maintenance savings account. I learned this the hard way as a few years back I had to suddenly find £6k for a new engine installation. Those kinds of costs can come up as well as predictable costs and saving up front now gives me tremendous peace of mind.
Overall I budget for moorings and licence 200pcm, coal, diesel and gas 120pcm, maintenance account £300pcm this covers insurance, blacking, repairs, replacing batteries etc. and it just builds in the background. Overall £620pcm. Unused funds in the maintenance account are slowly building into a financial cushion.
Is it worth it? Bottom line for me is it makes me happy, the happiest home I have had so every penny is well spent. I used to own a house (mortgaged) and even though it was a financial investment I was not happy there so you could say that every penny I put into that house was wasted.
This is superb advice. Financially and emotionally. Thank you.
Well done, Captain Dan. ^5 I've yet to own my first boat, but you're inspiring and informing me. Thank you. Bright blessings. 💖
One day soon!
Thanks for this video. It was really helpful, me & my husband will be buying narrowboat soon.. In the future, hopefully, we will learn more from you and others
Thank you! More videos coming - it’s just been a really busy time of late!
Delighted to have discovered your channel, Dan. Subscribed and enjoying your valuable experience and comments 🤩
As I am contemplating buying a boat to _live on_ then this is welcome.
Thanks Greg.
I’ll certainly be sharing my story and experiences - I am rather new to it… so plenty of real world “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing but here is what I’ve learned” type things to come!
Moving back home to the UK soon and seriously considering a narrow boat. Looking forward to following your progress. Subscribed.
Thanks Jack. Where are you moving back from?
First back home to Cornwall from South Africa and then see where we go from there. As I said; always fancied doing the narrowboat thing so lets see how that goes... @@CutSluice
@@cousinjack2841 I bloody love Cornwall I do!
I know, just a bit tricky to make a living and find somewhere to live, which is why I've spent over half my life in Africa. Still; it's been an adventure. Getting long in the tooth now so it's time to come home. See you on the cut somewhere I reckon. Good luck with your venture.@@CutSluice
@@cousinjack2841 yup… expensive place to live but a tough place to make money
Great Vlog Dan, good information ,nicely done 😎👍
Glad you enjoyed it... should have mentioned the financial requirements for CT-1 🤣
@@CutSluice 😂😂definitely a game changer ,can't imagine life without it 👍👍
Aim in life - Find a person that looks at you like Andy looks at CT-1 🤣
Research, research, research... We haven't even bought our narrowboat yet, but we've been looking since last May. We will be buying over the summer (as funds will be available then), and we're constantly looking to see what's available, visiting marinas, checking out boats, even had one surveyed but didn't buy which meant we lost out of nearly a thousand pounds :( Also we've been researching into what we have as our wish list of things we'd like the boat to have, so compremise is another one, I doubt the prefect 2nd hand boat exists, so we may have to compremise on something... Loving the vlogs👍
I certainly have had to make compromises. I love that though. Who wants it easy?!
Thank you, really appreciate it!
We planned on buying a 57ft cruiser stern reverse layout narrowboat. We actually bought a 45ft semi-trad traditional layout. She's a beauty and we love her!
@@susanadams4964 awesome. I have a 40ft Cruiser Stern. Do you have an Instagram or anything for the boat?
No I don't really post photos online.@@CutSluice
Awesome new channel. If I may suggest - number your episodes some how. I watch more than 30 narrowboat and yachting channels and add more daily. When one starts watching a new channel - especially if it has been going some years, it is an awful job trying to keep the sequence of events and get back to the last watched video when there are nine rows all dated 3 years ago 🙂
Thank you! For any vlogs I may do that.
Any videos that are fairly agnostic of date I probably won’t and it wouldn’t be time sensitive… if that makes sense
I would just like to add to that. We have just bought a 55ft cruiser at a cost of £53,500 add the survey £500 add jet wash and blacking £450 plus the licence and insurance as continuous cruisers around £1500 we also needed new batteries (lithium hybrid system) so added solar panels at the same time and shore power hookup £3531. Then there is the inside of the boat so new sofa £1000 and we are going to extend the bed, the mattress alone will be around £400 then there is a full service on the engine that I will do and the oil was fairly hard to find so bought a 25l drum at £130 then there is all the filters etc. It's definitely not cheap and as first time buyers we did overlook a few of the expenses like batteries because we thought they would be fine for a year or so. So far a £53,500 boat has cost £61,500 but we see it as it should be good bow for a good few years.
Love this!!!
Where in the country are you starting from and heading to?
@@CutSluice I'm at the boat now and we just sprung a leak behind the shower so have to dismantle the bed to egt in through the back 🙈 at the moment we are in swanley marina in Nantwich, once we leave we will be heading up towards the Leeds Liverpool canal.
@BullyBonanza that sounds like an epic journey and a worse leak than my tiny roof dribble! I do however have a video in the making of a slightly larger leak… but I don’t want to be known and Leaky McGhee! 😂
At least you are at a marina so getting help if required will be more straightforward.
You should film your leak repair! Would be really interested to see how you got it sorted.
Richard parry the CEO of canals and rivers authority was paid £214,155 in 2019.
For a more up to date salary check it out on the internet.
That’s not a small amount, is it?
I’m reliably informed that the first and most important thing when buying a boat is the haul and andoes
Yup hull survey and check when the blacking and anodes were last done. Very important.
Thank you Dan
Very welcome 🙏
Hello
Morning
How did your expectations of living on a narrowboat compare to the reality of living on one?
That’s a video in itself… but the biggest thing is I was expecting I would feel cramped but I’ve got used to it really quick. I’ve been brutal about not keeping stuff that I don’t need… it’s been a cleansing experience.
I live with my husband and three cats in the middle of the countryside, North East Spain. We moved here with our two young children 20yrs ago. They've both left home now so it's just my husband and I. We have no mains services and no terrestrial TV so I guess we live similarly to you. It's taken some adjusting to but I love my home now more than I ever have. The solitude (we have no neighbours) and being surrounded by nature (birds, rabbits, deer, boar etc) are what I love about living here. X
@@eltrym that’s awesome. I think I’m going to be in that headspace soon. I don’t know enough of how to fix issues yet to be fully confident, but it’s certainly feeling more like home every day.
Useful video for potential boaters, but your costs are WAY LESS than the average, as your boat is a tiddler compared to the average 57 footer! I have a 45 footer, and even that extra 5 feet bumps up the prices significantly above yours. Then there is fuel, coal, wood, engine servicing, painting, spares, tools, necessary equipment such as life rings, life jackets, fenders, VHF radio and permit if you want to use tidal waterways, constant maintenance costs including fixing BSS fails, insurance, RCR cover, and that’s just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head. Also, buy a NEW boat now and you are looking at anything between 100k and 180k, or up to 250k for a widebeam. Living on a boat CAN be cheaper than living in a house, and certainly was before Covid, but on the whole it isn’t anymore.
All great points. Thank you.
Yeah buying new just wasn’t an option for me and the reason I ended up at 40ft was down to annual costs… I was really close to putting an offer on a 70ft boat and then put my coats head on and changed my mind within seconds!
Buy a house let's see house insurance,council tax, electricity,gas buyers survey, land search, general maintenance. If it's a flat you never own the land so ground rent to pay,water rates,boiler service incase of warranty claims.........oh buy a house for £45000 good luck with that
Very true!!!
Simple rules for buying a narrow boat.. don't buy a narrow boat ever unless you like throwing your money into a sinking boat!!.🤣🤣
Bit like most vehicles tbf!
£2664 per year is excellent. I live down south and mooring fees in a marina here are between £8k and £18k pa.
Holy moly!!!!! Yeah… that’s a huge cost!!!