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DasDsm

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Hi all,

New on here and about to start seriously looking for a live-aboard to allow us to CC as we have the opportunity and set of circumstances which allow this.

It will be our first narrowboat although have had experience with yachts and are meticulous planners and researchers so are not going into this blind. :)

The one thing I've been slightly intrigued about is the apparent lack of 'private' sellers via websites like Apollo Duck as most of the listings on there are the main brokers. 

I understand why people prefer the broker route but didn't know if there was anywhere else we should be looking other than the main brokers sites?

Budget is 50-65k so looking for something that needs little/no work and has been well cared and suitable for a CC live-aboard. Ideally in the 57ft range and semi-trad or cruiser as more space for the dog.

Thanks in advance.

Duncan

 

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1 hour ago, DasDsm said:

Hi all,

New on here and about to start seriously looking for a live-aboard to allow us to CC as we have the opportunity and set of circumstances which allow this.

It will be our first narrowboat although have had experience with yachts and are meticulous planners and researchers so are not going into this blind. :)

The one thing I've been slightly intrigued about is the apparent lack of 'private' sellers via websites like Apollo Duck as most of the listings on there are the main brokers. 

I understand why people prefer the broker route but didn't know if there was anywhere else we should be looking other than the main brokers sites?

Budget is 50-65k so looking for something that needs little/no work and has been well cared and suitable for a CC live-aboard. Ideally in the 57ft range and semi-trad or cruiser as more space for the dog.

Thanks in advance.

Duncan

 

Hi Duncan

I suggest looking at all brokers and ebay gumtree and the duck etc also some bigger brokers such as Pease. Most brokers at present cannot get enough as its a sellers market ( so called ) it will change and they will be more affordable. I looked at a boat at Sawley brokerage only yesterday for a prospective purchaser and they had only four narrowboats actualy not under offer in reality that were worth looking at and had sold everything else and had a bumper year on yoghurt pots. You have a good budget. One thing unless you genuinely intend to do the Leeds and Liverpool several times and stay north east don't limit yourself to 57 feet it realy makes no sense and you get more boat for your money with 65 plus, just sayin like.

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It doesn't matter if a boat you like is for sale through a broker or privately.  The boat market is pretty hot at the minute and nice boats are selling very quickly. In hours in some cases, some don't even make it onto the for sale boards!

There is no sign of it slowing down for Christmas either. 

 

The brokerage at our marina can't get boats in quick enough!

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Thanks rusty69 and Pie Eater for the advice on where to look and I'll check those out.  Have looked at Ebay previously but not much on there usually but actually seems to be a bit more at the moment, so that's good!  Its just good to be able to look at as many different options as possible to widen the search.

Mrsmelly & Naughty Cal - Totally understand that its a sellers market at the moment and good boats sell quickly at the moment but its that horrible catch 22 situation where we have the opportunity of doing this so don't particularly want to wait on the off chance that things turn in the buyers favor when there is no guarantee this will happen.  Its always something we have wanted to do and thought about it for a while and have the opportunity so in this market just need to make sure we get a fair deal on something that works for us.

As for the old size issue we are planning to do a fair bit of travelling around the NE although its not totally fixed and if the right boat comes up over the limits then we might have to rethink that.

D

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3 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

One thing unless you genuinely intend to do the Leeds and Liverpool several times and stay north east don't limit yourself to 57 feet it realy makes no sense and you get more boat for your money with 65 plus, just sayin like.

Whenever Mr Smelly says something along these lines I feel obliged to put my opposing view!

First of all, it's worth being clear that if you buy too long a boat, you can't cross the Pennines to join the wider northern system (Aire and Calder, Selby, Ouse etc.) via any of the three canal-based routes - L&L, Rochdale/C&H, Huddersfield Narrow/Huddersfield Broad/C&H; it's the tidal Trent or nothing. You also can't get via the L&L to the Lancaster.

Secondly, IMHO you are missing out on something very special if you decide not to bother with the Pennine routes. The scenery on the L&L, Rochdale and Huddersfield Narrow is often stunning. By their nature, though, they're lock-heavy and rather hard work - I loved the Huddersfield Narrow when we cruised it a few weeks back, but I wouldn't have wanted to turn straight round and do it again because my way was blocked by the short locks on the Broad! 

Again IMHO, the idea that you're 'not missing much' by choosing a 65ft boat (say) is very far wide of the mark.

Welcome to the forum by the way, and good luck boat-hunting. We bought privately not long ago (ad was on Apollo Duck), but you're right that brokers seem to dominate the market.

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9 minutes ago, magictime said:

Whenever Mr Smelly says something along these lines I feel obliged to put my opposing view!

First of all, it's worth being clear that if you buy too long a boat, you can't cross the Pennines to join the wider northern system (Aire and Calder, Selby, Ouse etc.) via any of the three canal-based routes - L&L, Rochdale/C&H, Huddersfield Narrow/Huddersfield Broad/C&H; it's the tidal Trent or nothing. You also can't get via the L&L to the Lancaster.

Secondly, IMHO you are missing out on something very special if you decide not to bother with the Pennine routes. The scenery on the L&L, Rochdale and Huddersfield Narrow is often stunning. By their nature, though, they're lock-heavy and rather hard work - I loved the Huddersfield Narrow when we cruised it a few weeks back, but I wouldn't have wanted to turn straight round and do it again because my way was blocked by the short locks on the Broad! 

Again IMHO, the idea that you're 'not missing much' by choosing a 65ft boat (say) is very far wide of the mark.

Welcome to the forum by the way, and good luck boat-hunting. We bought privately not long ago (ad was on Apollo Duck), but you're right that brokers seem to dominate the market.

Yes quite. In my post I purposefuly stated unless going to do the little stuff several times then a tiddly boat is not worth buying. If its just a one off then just hire and buy the vastly more comfort of a longer boat. Yes if you are going to stop oop norrf then a little boat it has to be. My first boats were all short such as 56 and 57 and I did the Land L a few times but now I would not again have anything so tiny. We are at present on the T and M and next spring we are nipping down to Bristol then up to York and all in between. The tidal trent is a doddle and a nice trip on and in at Keadby and up to York. Certainly its a must buy say 57 if staying in Lancashire and Yorkshire but otherwise its a deffo no no. Or I suppose a short boat for the first ten or so years makes sense as it means like us you can do such as the L and L then buy a bigger boat for comfort as not many people stay with their first boat. We are on number eight.

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1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Yes quite. In my post I purposefuly stated unless going to do the little stuff several times then a tiddly boat is not worth buying. If its just a one off then just hire and buy the vastly more comfort of a longer boat. Yes if you are going to stop oop norrf then a little boat it has to be. My first boats were all short such as 56 and 57 and I did the Land L a few times but now I would not again have anything so tiny. We are at present on the T and M and next spring we are nipping down to Bristol then up to York and all in between. The tidal trent is a doddle and a nice trip on and in at Keadby and up to York. Certainly its a must buy say 57 if staying in Lancashire and Yorkshire but otherwise its a deffo no no. Or I suppose a short boat for the first ten or so years makes sense as it means like us you can do such as the L and L then buy a bigger boat for comfort as not many people stay with their first boat. We are on number eight.

Yeah, fair enough. It's a different calculation for us because our kids and grandkids will still be in Yorkshire even when we have 'no fixed abode' of our own. But even if that wasnt the case, I find it hard to imagine a time when we'd be happy to cut out the option of spending a month or six pootling round the Pennine routes and the Lancaster.

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10 hours ago, magictime said:

Yeah, fair enough. It's a different calculation for us because our kids and grandkids will still be in Yorkshire even when we have 'no fixed abode' of our own. But even if that wasnt the case, I find it hard to imagine a time when we'd be happy to cut out the option of spending a month or six pootling round the Pennine routes and the Lancaster.

I luv Gargrave/Skipton it takes some beating and I believe much nicer than the Welsh ditch that many rave about.

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38 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

I luv Gargrave/Skipton it takes some beating and I believe much nicer than the Welsh ditch that many rave about.

Up until a month ago I'd have told you that stretch was my favourite. Having now cruised the Huddersfield Narrow, I think that may have overtaken it! And the Rochdale was already a close competitor (along with, to be fair, the Macc and Peak Forest). Hence restricting my ability to cruise around the Pennines is not something I would do lightly. Who knows though, we might be going stir crazy after a year or three living on our 55-footer and find ourselves shopping around for longer boats...

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I'd second (or third) the comments about not limiting your options with a longer boat. We live in the Yorkshire Dales so might be biased but the L&L is a fantastic canal, as is the Lancaster, and it gives great access to other northern waterways.  Although we are not liveaboards, we do spend a lot of time on our boat and find that, with a good layout, 58' is fine for two of us plus two dogs.  As an aside, we also find that a semi trad layout is great for dogs.

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