Living on a boat

[midden]

20% deposit required for a boat mortgage, difference between cost of a boat compared to flat shows where I am- plus the first time buyer position!
Atm, this is my only choice of owning somewhere to live, and I don't see this position changing in the near or distant future, so instead of paying rent for someone else to own property I might as well start paying towards what I can!

Have you thought/looked into affordable homes where you buy a percentage of the property you can afford and I believe pay a rent (possibly as a lease holder) for the remainder
It'll get you on the property ladder and the beauty being you buy more of the property as your finances allow.
Once you own/mortgage something like 75% of the property you get the freehold.


Not fully sure on the details but a friend did it years ago and it worked for him, he is now in a much bigger house.
Worth looking at imo

[Punkstig]

In financial terms the argument for living on a boat doesn't really hold up.  A mate of mine liked the idea and looked into it a year or so ago but the costs were higher than living in his flat.  Apparently, it is the mornings that are the problem.     

I live in a house, the mornings are the problem there too... :wink

Haha, we all know what he meant!

The financial difference depends on where you live!
Boat living isn't cheap as chips as many initially believe, but without a mooring and moving every 2 weeks is cheaper than renting in the area I live, not forgetting that living cost will drastically reduce in 10 years when the boat is payed off!

[Punkstig]

Soooo,
Went to view two boats in Cambridgeshire area yesterday (Sunday) saw a black'n'grey fz6 on the A10 on way to Ely. Good start!
First one I viewed 'appeared' to be in good condition and was built entirely by the owner, 59’ long 10’ wide very nice size having a second bedroom for the kiddiwink, only 3 years old! (The boat, not my daughter)
Ticked all the right boxes before I went to view and those ticks confirmed with a good 2 hour visit and chat to the owner Trevor who seemed genuine enough.
Reason for sale? He'd recently finished his new boat for him to move onto, same length but 12’ wide, moored right next to the current boat so legitimate, plus within budget including transporting to the Grand union!


2nd boat was in a marina, owners already moved out and not on site to chat to.
Took the keys and walked round to it, externally in a state- needed completely repainting, it has a wooden wheelhouse which originally caught my eye as this creates an extra room on the boat, at the time of viewing it was raining and roof was leaking in several places, not only that but the whole wooden structure looked in disrepair!
At 57’ foot long it had a great living space but no 2nd bedroom, interiors can be refitted to accommodate but as the boat was already 'just' over budget I didn't see the point in making an offer so went home and enjoyed a lovely lunch!


Spent a few hours looking on internet on other boats on watch list and without viewing them personally they were already not up to the same standard as the first boat I viewed, older and smaller!


Deliberated for a while, had a positive chat to a guy who owns and lives aboard an 8 year old boat built by Trevor, made a phone call and placed a deposit with a third party marina He has used to sell his boats in the past!


So, it's being booked to be lifted out the water for a full survey at my cost (which is the norm for a buyer)
Trevor is so confident in the integrity he has said if anything negative comes back he'll pay for the survey and rectify the issue.
A new 4 year boat safety certificate is to be issued at the same time at his cost, then it will be craned on to a lorry and transported over to Leighton buzzard to be put on the Grand Union.




Well, that's the current plan anyway.


Big thanks to skippernick for enduring my constant questions, I daren't count the 'Re's Re's on the messages list!

[midden]

Sounds GRRRRReat hope all goes smoothly
Just one silly question why does it need to be transported by lorry to the grand union, can you not don the Captins hat and ride the waves round?

[Exupnut]

The second boats in a marina ? Mate...i know i heard an echo but that's just takin the piss lol. Post up some PICCIES

[Punkstig]

Sounds GRRRRReat hope all goes smoothly
Just one silly question why does it need to be transported by lorry to the grand union, can you not don the Captins hat and ride the waves round?

It's currently moored on the little ouse to which there is no direct link to get a widebeam onto the grand union so craning and lorry transport is needed!

[midden]

The second boats in a marina ? Mate...i know i heard an echo but that's just takin the piss lol. Post up some PICCIES

[lew600fazer]

This was my last boat and glad to see the back of them after 43 years at sea.



The day I retired from seafaring 43 years , would have got less for murder. lol

[midden]

So we gonna be having a lofo meet at little Venice?

[ChristoT]

So we gonna be having a lofo meet at little Venice?

Only if Punkstig puts tiger print on his narrow boat! 

[midden]

So we gonna be having a lofo meet at little Venice?

Only if Punkstig puts tiger print on his narrow boat! 

Stupid boy 

[Punkstig]

Ultimately when I have the spare money I'd like to paint it like the mystery machine from Scooby doo!!!
No tiger print on this one!

[kitcrazy]

thats great news mate hope all works out.willbe boating on the ouse myself this summer im sure you can go up the great ouse to denver and get on the grand union from there.

[pete786.u]

Only problem with getting a boat 10ft wide is that if you intend to cruise the canals a lot of the locks only take boats up to 8ft wide.
 

[Punkstig]

Only problem with getting a boat 10ft wide is that if you intend to cruise the canals a lot of the locks only take boats up to 8ft wide.

I have no intention of cruising the network- I have a job and a daughter.
That being said I can get from London to Birmingham, and London out to bath, that's further than capable to do on a two week holiday and return to where I am!

[fireblake]

So how are you settling in to life on a boat? Sounds idylic?
 
Mickey

[Punkstig]

Yeah, feel a bit daft for not making updates or creating new thread but I've not been on here overly much-

To be blunt, it'd be difficult to make life better atm.

I have the joy of two extremes of lifestyle, zooming round London during the day, chilling out in the relaxed atmosphere of an evening/ weekend.

The community is comparable to the friendliness of the biking community but even more so believe it or not!

Still working out my living costs but it's a shitload cheaper than bricks and mortar - that being said winter will obviously become more expensive with the need for coal and running engine to charge batteries more due to less sunlight ( I had a 600 watt solar panel system fitted!)

I've had issues- I found a couple of inches of water in the front bow locker after a few weeks of having it, I believe this came from storing the hose I fill the water tank with in, I dried it out, repainted it and no longer store the hose in there and haven't had a problem since!

At the weekend I found a couple of inches of water in the engine bilge, I'm in the process of drying the area out, I think it's come from a loose bolt on the stern gland (lubricated seal that the driveshaft runs through to the propeller) I've tightened it up and shall keep an eye out for more water.

Finding stuff like that is quite concerning but I believe I'm on top of it.

I was going to get winter moorings which is a license to stay in one location if wanted for 5, 3, or one monthfrom Nov. to March at just under £100 per month, I'm now thinking for the first year I'll save my money and keep moving to see how it goes.

I'm looking for a new TV, my 4 year old 42" is just to power hungry -100 watts with power saving options turned on, a decent new 32" will run around 30 watts (for a naff one) to 40 watts for a new Sony with very good reviews.

I'd like a more energy efficient fridge/freezer but there's little choice with what I have already - 12v fridges are available but stupid money in comparison to domestic!

Continuing with power saving I should change the light bulbs to led ones, but as I have to buy adapters for the current fittings I'm looking at a good £75 to do that.

My driving's getting better, that being said last weekend I tried to turn the boat around twice in different locations that were too small, so had to straighten up and try further down, lol.

Lit the fire for the first time on one of the chilly nights the other week and completely smoked the boat out, had to go to the pub!
Second time I did the fire I'd learnt from my previous mistakes and the Internet and all went well.
My dad's got me a chainsaw and I'm currently stocking up on logs and other bits of wood lying about the place.

Got several plans to make the place more mine, starting with replacing the bleurgh beige tiles around the log burner and kitchen with slate tiles.

All in all, as far as I'm concerned I wouldn't be interested in living on land again, imagine the freedom you have on a bike then having that freedom with your home too!

[Punkstig]

Oh, and I had some porthole covers made for the bedroom-

[Skippernick]

Punk,


Regarding water in bilges, remember this.
All boats sink, some just do it faster than others!!

[Punkstig]

Cheers skip, been doing a lot of research, I have one of those vetus non maintenance stern glands that apparently according to vetus need maintenance every 200 hours, makes sense obviously!

The fact that the bolt was loose makes me assume that's the point of water entry but I shall keep an eye open to make sure!

[Skippernick]

Cheers skip, been doing a lot of research, I have one of those vetus non maintenance stern glands that apparently according to vetus need maintenance every 200 hours, makes sense obviously!

The fact that the bolt was loose makes me assume that's the point of water entry but I shall keep an eye open to make sure!

Yeah not the best of things, you're doing the right thing though.

[DILLIGAFF]

Sounds great. Been a pipe dream of mine for many years now.
I'm in the fortunate position of having the cash and no mortgage outstanding but...............


Everyone says it would be expensive
I worry about being too hot in summer, too cold/damp in winter.
I worry that the novelty may quickly wear off and all those little things like filling water tanks, emptying shit tanks, carrying crap ashore and goods on board, moving every few days etc., etc. would take the shine off the lifestyle?


Anyhoo, if you find yourself on the Thames going through Shepperton lock on a Monday I may be the kindly keeper waving you through??

[Punkstig]

Not sure where expensive comes from, but it depends if you're thinking of living aboard or just a weekend cruiser kind of affair!
Summer was lovely- open front and rear doors and a lovely cooling breeze swept the inside of the boat, not that you spend much time indoors when it's nice weather out- why would you?
I fill water every four weeks and I'm no where near empty and that takes about 40 minutes, but while that's happening I do other stuff like clothes washing or cleaning.
If the boat has a pump out tank there's boats that travel the canals that'll empty them for you, obviously costs a couple of quid.
There's also fuel boats that travel the system and you don't even need to be there for them to fill the tank for you and leave coal, you just pay online or over the phone after they do it- plus fuel from the boats is a much cheaper rate than marina's - about 10p difference in my area!

Yes I'm yet to go through winter but I'm looking forward to that roaring fire!

You're more than welcome to come up for a weekend if you wanted, so long as you enjoy a few pints and play pool!

[Razgruff]

Shame you're 10ft, you could have stopped by for a coffee 

http://canalplan.eu/gazetteer/q4u9

I'm in the mobile home on the farm.

cheap living on wheels ;-)