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Horace42

By Horace42
in General Boating

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Horace42 Rising Star

Horace42Donate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Where do old boats go when they die? - don't say 'to the bottom of the canal' - but that is likely if neglected. They leak and sink. Then CRT are stuck with the problem of moving it and charging the owner, if known.

What does CRT do with a wreck - sell it? - then what does the new owner do with it .

How long can a boat be kept going - and at what stage does it become uneconomical to maintain it? - then back to the first question - where do boats go when they die? 

Underlying this question is concern for the remaining life of my boat - it is 40 years old and rusty and completely watertight (bone dry in the bilge, not a drop of water  anywhere) - but I assume it needs serious work on the hull due to rusting  - at least blacking - and maybe plating - but to what extent ?

I am planning to take it to a boatyard for a hull survey - but that will only tell me it needs work - but to what extent ?

I would like some help in assessing effectiveness of different types of remedial work and how they reflect in estimated life of a boat and the sales value - with a view to selling it.

 

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MtB Veteran II

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Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, Horace42 said:

Where do old boats go when they die?

 

They never die. Someone is always willing to pay *something* to buy one, no matter how much of a wreck it is. 

I know of a couple out on the bank that are total basket cases and colanders yet they are still up for sale for £3k each. 

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X Alan W Rising Star

X Alan W

Posted
Posted

If your boat is only 40years old it's hardly run in compared to some of the ex working craft the  "josher"I had from 58 to72 was built in 1914 & there is a good number of boats built around that time period still going strong with the requisite care. Is your boat worth spending the amount required on it only you can decide what its worth to you But if you jump ship as it were I am sure someone will buy it & bring it back to working order For some the only way to get afloat is a craft requiring work making the initial purchase price modest.

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Arthur Marshall Veteran II

Arthur Marshall

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Canal321 said:

There is always someone who will buy an old project boat, patch it up and keep it going.

Is it possible to over-plate an already over-plated boat? Or is it really time to scrap when a boat gets to this stage?

Mine's just been plated for the 2nd time, sides and bottom. It's about fifty years old I think. Would hate to scrap the dear old thing after all  these years! 

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magictime Experienced

magictime

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Horace42 said:

I am planning to take it to a boatyard for a hull survey ...

I would like some help in assessing effectiveness of different types of remedial work and how they reflect in estimated life of a boat and the sales value - with a view to selling it.

My hunch (and I'm not claiming any great experience here) is that the cost of that survey plus any recommended work on the hull is quite likely to exceed the value you add to the boat by doing that work. I'm not at all sure that the perceived value of an 40-year-old boat that's had £5000 of overplating, say, is £5000 higher than the perceived value of a 40-year-old boat that's never had a known problem with the hull.

Maybe you should talk to some brokers to get some valuations and some advice on the wisdom of identifying and carrying out necessary repairs rather than leaving them for a future buyer to worry about? My hunch, FWIW again, is that you're probably best off pricing the boat as if its only issues are cosmetic, and being prepared to knock a few grand off if a negative survey comes back, rather than go looking for problems yourself.

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Arthur Marshall Veteran II

Arthur Marshall

Posted
Posted

My replating cost nine grand. Worth it for me as I am not going to sell it till have to, and it was cheaper than buying a new boat. It wouldn't have been worth it otherwise - I'd have scrapped it or sold it to one of those "we buy any boat" people,although as it had started leaking, I wouldn't have got much for it! 

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koukouvagia Influencer

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Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Canal321 said:

There is always someone who will buy an old project boat, patch it up and keep it going.

Is it possible to over-plate an already over-plated boat? Or is it really time to scrap when a boat gets to this stage?

Our 105 year-old butty had overplating three layers thick in parts!

However, the time came recently when something like 70% of the back end had to be taken off and rebuilt.  No one in their right mind would be willing to shell out large sums for this very skilled work unless the boat were special and deserved to be saved for the next generation.

 

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

Posted
Posted
41 minutes ago, koukouvagia said:

 No one in their right mind would be willing to shell out large sums for this very skilled work unless the boat were special and deserved to be saved for the next generation.

Let me correct that for you.........

Quote

Nobody in their right mind would own or take on any old working boat 80 to 100 or more years old!

(Let alone two !!!!!)

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Captain Pegg Veteran

Captain Pegg

Posted
Posted
Just now, WotEver said:

Yeah, Nuneaton :)

Who are you kidding?

I was thinking the answer was probably Exhall. Ash Green end rather than the Hawkesbury area that boaters might think of as Exhall. I don't even know where Hawkesbury is on land.

JP

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WotEver Veteran II

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Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

I was thinking the answer was probably Exhall

You gotta be joking? Exhall is a dump. 

6 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

I don't even know where Hawkesbury is on land.

It's in Exhall. It's a dump. 

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Captain Pegg Veteran

Captain Pegg

Posted
Posted (edited)
22 minutes ago, WotEver said:

You gotta be joking? Exhall is a dump. 

It's in Exhall. It's a dump. 

My granddad was once the organist at Hawkesbury church. Any idea where that was?

ETA - I have done a bit of research and found it was in Lenton's Lane which is in Coventry so I have reclaimed Hawkesbury.

It was a serious question as all my close family including me lived on the Coventry/Exhall border for about 100 years (on the right side I hasten to add) and I never heard anyone ever refer to an actual existing place called Hawkesbury.

 

Edited by Captain Pegg
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