By Jingo, We've Gone & Ruddy Done It!

[BlueStringPudding]

Hello all!

 

I wanted to let you all know that Kev and I have finally bought a narrowboat. After our escapades over recent months looking at rust buckets we've finally got ourselves a bargain.

 

It's a 65ft ex-hire Black Prince all steel narrowboat built in 1998. We had her surveyed a week ago and she's in pretty good nick, and the hull is great (10:6:4). There's the old spongey floor problem in the back third which we've yet to resolve finding a carpenter to fix , but other than that she's a bargain at the much whittled price of £23k.

 

The previous owners obviously enjoyed feline company because the place has cat hair everywhere, even caked onto the inside of the oven, believe it or not!? But we can see through the grime to what will be a great home for us after mucho scrubbing and some decorating.

 

For those of you following my "Boat Viewing" threads we missed out on Silver Dream, the ex-Anglo Welsh boat as someone put a deposit on it the day before we went to do the same. And since we'd booked that weekend off work anyway we decided to go to a marina and look at all their brokerage boats, just to pass the time really. We saw this one, saw the potential but couldn't afford the £32k price tag (recently reduced from £40k). So we put in a cheeky offer of £25,500 subject to survey (which was accepted), then whittled some more off after the survey. We're very lucky to have had our offers accepted but it really was all the money we have! But as it turns out we've ended up with a much better quality boat, ten years younger than Silver Dream and with a much thicker hull. Just goes to show that there are some good deals out there if you're patient / cheeky enough.

 

Anyway - thanks to everyone here for all your support and brilliant advice. I'm sure there'll be many more questions from us in the future (apologies in advance!) if only in our hunt for a carpenter!

 

[Smudge]

Hello all!

 

I wanted to let you all know that Kev and I have finally bought a narrowboat. After our escapades over recent months looking at rust buckets we've finally got ourselves a bargain.

 

It's a 65ft ex-hire Black Prince all steel narrowboat built in 1998. We had her surveyed a week ago and she's in pretty good nick, and the hull is great (10:6:4). There's the old spongey floor problem in the back third which we've yet to resolve finding a carpenter to fix , but other than that she's a bargain at the much whittled price of £23k.

 

The previous owners obviously enjoyed feline company because the place has cat hair everywhere, even caked onto the inside of the oven, believe it or not!? But we can see through the grime to what will be a great home for us after mucho scrubbing and some decorating.

 

For those of you following my "Boat Viewing" threads we missed out on Silver Dream, the ex-Anglo Welsh boat as someone put a deposit on it the day before we went to do the same. And since we'd booked that weekend off work anyway we decided to go to a marina and look at all their brokerage boats, just to pass the time really. We saw this one, saw the potential but couldn't afford the £32k price tag (recently reduced from £40k). So we put in a cheeky offer of £25,500 subject to survey (which was accepted), then whittled some more off after the survey. We're very lucky to have had our offers accepted but it really was all the money we have! But as it turns out we've ended up with a much better quality boat, ten years younger than Silver Dream and with a much thicker hull. Just goes to show that there are some good deals out there if you're patient / cheeky enough.

 

Anyway - thanks to everyone here for all your support and brilliant advice. I'm sure there'll be many more questions from us in the future (apologies in advance!) if only in our hunt for a carpenter!

 

woo Who

About time aswell it will be the best thing youve ever done onece you get sorted

Good luck see you about and enjoy

[Moley]

After our escapades over recent months looking at rust buckets we've finally got ourselves a bargain. It's a 65ft ex-hire Black Prince all steel narrowboat built in 1998. We had her surveyed a week ago and she's in pretty good nick, and the hull is great (10:6:4). There's the old spongey floor problem in the back third which we've yet to resolve finding a carpenter to fix , but other than that she's a bargain at the much whittled price of £23k.

 

Excellent news

 

Well done you

 

So come on, where are the pictures?

[Bones]

good lord! Well done!!!!!!

[Chris J W]

Whoo Hooo!!!!

[tomsk]

Good Show!!!!

[Scotty]

That's a great price, well done

I'm looking for a cheap boat myself, so i've been following your adventure with interest!

 

 

Does it need much work before you move on board?

[BlueStringPudding]

Excellent news

 

Well done you

 

So come on, where are the pictures?

 

These are just some of the pictures from the original advert...

 

 

Galley:

 

 

Dinig Area (Looking from galley towards bow)

 

 

Nothing exciting, admittedly, but there's a lot of potential there and we're certainly happy bunnies!

 

I've more photos on my home pc which I'll upload later this week if I can. There's a spectacular close-up of the cat hair in the oven (we've toyed with the idea of renaming the boat Pussy Pie or Kitty Casserole ) but other than that there's no horror pictures like I usually manage to take. Shame! Although we did find a mushroom growing out of the carpet under one of the beds (which we're ripping out, incidentally) which looked like a human ear. Nice. But that's coming from the area of floor which we want ripped up and replaced in the stern cabin and I didn't photgraph it properly. A missed opportunity, methinks.

 

[RichardH]

Well done. Awesome price. Which is the marina - it looks like an excert from Lord of the Rings and the armies of CanalTime boats are about to charge.........!

 

Proves the point as you say that the bargains are out there.

[BlueStringPudding]

That's a great price, well done

I'm looking for a cheap boat myself, so i've been following your adventure with interest!

Does it need much work before you move on board?

 

The Eberspacher needs servicing, there's a couple of leaking windows, the fridge works only intermittently (so will be chucked) and the back step needs its drainage sorting out; but other than that, it's just the spongey floor at the back that needs gutting (and mushrooms harvested!). But that's a big job and we need to find someone who can do the carpentry.

 

Cosmetically there's lots to do, but that's what we wanted. We can make it our own bit by bit.

[Chris J W]

we decided to go to a marina and look at all their brokerage boats, just to pass the time really.

 

Would it be a bit cheeky to ask which Marina? Nice to know that some are definitely prepared to haggle!

[Moley]

Nothing exciting, admittedly, but there's a lot of potential there and we're certainly happy bunnies!

 

In time you will move things around, rip stuff out, put new stuff in, impose your own character, but hey, it floats, it's usable, and it's yours.

 

[Alec Gatherer]

Great news; many congratulations.

Good idea about renaming. Nice to reflect some of the boat's history in the name, so in view of the previous owner's attachment to pussy, and the large amount of hair you found, how about.........no, maybe not.

[BlueStringPudding]

Great news; many congratulations.

Good idea about renaming. Nice to reflect some of the boat's history in the name, so in view of the previous owner's attachment to pussy, and the large amount of hair you found, how about.........no, maybe not.

 

 

... how about Mirkin ?!?!?!

[Keeping Up]

... how about Mirkin ?!?!?!

Excellent idea.

 

But check the spelling before you paint it on the boat.

[tomsk]

... how about Mirkin ?!?!?!

 

I was just about to post in an effort to dissuade you from using the first name postulated for your new aquisition, and still maintain my distaste of such a crass 'handle'...... However, I wish to offer my full support for the 'MERKIN' option... DO IT!!

[bottle]

Absolutely bloomin marvellous.

 

 

Have a look here No Problem, Sue a member of this forum has been re-arranging/fitting her ex Black Prince from about Christmas if I remember correctly.

[Chris J W]

I was just about to post in an effort to dissuade you from using the first name postulated for your new aquisition, and still maintain my distaste of such a crass 'handle'...... However, I wish to offer my full support for the 'MERKIN' option... DO IT!!

 

Or (and I'll start to put my coat on now ...) how about Blue String Merkin ...

[BlueStringPudding]

Excellent idea.

 

But check the spelling before you paint it on the boat.

 

Can I just point out my concern and worry for the trichological health of all boaters, judging by the fact that so many of you seem experienced enough in the subject of nether-wiggery to know how to spell merkin!???!??!!

 

Blue String Merkin ...

 

 

[Moley]

how about Merkin ?!?!?!

 

Well, it would be unique. I've just checked at Jim Shead.

 

Sorry, off topic, but I always read down whatever page I'm checking, and why would anyone call a boat Mesothelioma?

 

Try to find something original though, for example there are altogether too many Merlins, and a lot of people who thought Meander (or me and 'er) would be clever.

 

There's one other Latin name, meles meles, (the badger iirc).

[BlueStringPudding]

Absolutely bloomin marvellous.

Have a look here No Problem, Sue a member of this forum has been re-arranging/fitting her ex Black Prince from about Christmas if I remember correctly.

 

Thanks for that - I'll check it out.

[carlt]

Can I just point out my concern and worry for the trichological health of all boaters, judging by the fact that so many of you seem experienced enough in the subject of nether-wiggery to know how to spell merkin!???!??!!

 

I think you'll find we all Googled it to see what on earth you were talking about. "Did BSP mean Merkin?" was what the illustrious search engine asked me. Apparently, according to wikipedia, you don't have to spell it to wear it.

[Scotty]

Google quite helpfully pointed me to www.merkinworld.com and all was revealed!!

 

I've just checked at Jim Shead............

There's one other Latin name, meles meles, (the badger iirc).

Not Beaver?

Edited May 8, 2007 by Scotty

[carlt]

Sorry, off topic, but I always read down whatever page I'm checking, and why would anyone call a boat Mesothelioma?

Perhaps they bought the boat with the compensation cheque? Or maybe it was a lineout using very dodgy materials.

[BlueStringPudding]

Well, it would be unique. I've just checked at Jim Shead.

 

Sorry, off topic, but I always read down whatever page I'm checking, and why would anyone call a boat Mesothelioma?

 

Try to find something original though, for example there are altogether too many Merlins, and a lot of people who thought Meander (or me and 'er) would be clever.

 

There's one other Latin name, meles meles, (the badger iirc).

 

We've got a whole bunch of names...

 

Mabel Stark; Life of Pi; Bring Me Sunshine; Fork Handles; Prince Of Humbug; Plantagenet; Pismonuncers Unanimous; Charity Barnum; to name but a few.

 

The Ronnie Barker ones are my favourites. Kev foolishly seems to think that calling it Michael Crawford is A. a good idea and B. won't lead to me keel hauling him at the first lock.

 

We both like Mabel Stark (tiger tamer of a century ago and a right feisty lass (and subject of a novel of the same name)). The boat was originally called Lacewing, which we both quite like, but it does sound a bit like a hire boat name. But the next owner changed it to Danny Boy and the last one to Most Game.

 

I quite like Gertie... but I call everything Gertie at the moment. It all started with a white duck on the Avon which looked like a Gertie The Duck...

 

you don't have to spell it to wear it.

 

Excellent!

 

www.merkinworld.com

 

Aye Carumba!

 

Or there's Make Way For The Mushrooms from the old advert from eighties and relevant to what we found in the cabin carpet on Sunday!

 

... or Nether-Wiggery