A Comprehensive Resource For Narrowboat Owners And Buyers
A Narrowboat Resource For Owners And Buyers
A narrowboat is likely to be your most expensive purchase after your bricks and mortar home. You can pay upwards of £150,000 for a new boat built to your own specification and upwards of £30,000 for a boat a few years old in reasonable condition. You need to be sure of your facts before you make a purchase.
There are over 4,000 posts and pages on this site covering all areas of narrowboat ownership and maintenance. There are checklists, advice and suggestions for those considering buying a boat and how to avoid the common costly mistakes made by many over enthusiastic purchasers.
I created the site in February 2010 in anticipation of moving onto my own floating home two months later on 2nd April, my 50th birthday. The intention was to create a journal of my new lifestyle. That was the intention, but I became slightly obsessed by it. To date I’ve spent nearly 3,000 hours researching and writing content for the site and for the three books I written which are available on the site. One of them Living On A Narrowboat: 101 Essential Narrowboat Articles is available to download free of charge. You’ll see a link to the download in the left hand column.
Narrowboat For Sale – What You Need To Know Before You Buy
The first and most important thing you need to discover is how much a narrowboat is going to cost you, not only to buy, but also to maintain once you’ve made your purchase. The widely held belief is that a boat is a low cost housing option. It isn’t. If you are going to live in reasonable comfort, a narrowboat costs as much to run as a small family home. I’ve had a few narrowboat owners argue with me on this point but when I’ve spent some time with them and asked them to analyze their own spending, they’ve usually been surprised by a higher than expected figure.
The running costs are many and varied. You could spend weeks searching for them on the internet and still not find an accurate figure or you could do it the easy way and invest in this low cost but extremely comprehensive package. You’ll find all the information you need to know before making an informed decision about narrowboat ownership. The guide is the only commercial resource recommended by the waterways network governing body the Canal & River Trust (CRT) here on the boating section of their site.
You need to know more than the costs though. You need to decide exactly what you’re going to use your boat for so you can decide on the best style and configuration. For example, the best style and layout boat for recreational cruising is completely different from a boat which you intend to live on. Fortunately for you, all the information you need is on this site. I’ve put a few links below to some of the more popular articles and sections of the site but you can also search for other subjects by using the Google custom search box at the top of the right hand column of every page.
How To Choose A Narrowboat To Live On | Narrowboat Buyer’s Checklist | Forum | Case Studies
I hope this site site answers all of your narrowboat questions but if you can’t find what you’re looking for, just let me know.