Closer to owning our Narrowboat!!!

A list of surveyors was included in the purchase pack by the broker, but they stated that we did not necessarily need to choose from that list. We had already decided that we would choose by recommendation from people on the cut. 

Online responses were huge, and processing those had one name appear more often than any other. So the selection was made, and it was a name on the list from the broker, but now with recommendations we felt happy moving forward. We made contact with him the next day, and he was able to offer two dates, the following day of a few weeks later, so we chose the offer of 'Tomorrow', which was my husband's birthday, which felt like another sign. 

That evening we received an email stating that it was a good survey, but that the boiler needed servicing, and the full report would follow. 

The report on initial reading was a little scary, but once we had the call with the surveyor to go through his survey, he advised that most of them were items required either for the B.S.C. (Boat Safety Certificate) and insurance, which meant the broker would need to fix these items in order to finalise the sale.  The one item on there that neither of us had really thought about, is that the cabin sides outside, as in anything above water, were very rusty in parts, which were of course quite visible to us, but a boat won't sink from rust above the water line, and also we didn't need our boat to be pretty and shiny.. but the surveyor said that taking the paint back to bear metal to remove all the rust, and full repaint, would cost in the region of 5000, and that we needed to bear that in mind. 

Ultimately what we did was send the survey report to the broker, including a letter with everything we required to be done to move forward with the purchase.  We did not include the outside paintwork, but stated that we were already aware of this other substantial cost, so money we would need to now find on top of the purchase price.  The reasoning being, that they would be more likely to complete the other requirements in order to finalise the sale. 

We did receive and email response, with everything highlighted that they would do, we did talk to them about one item, which was re-rusting and painting the water tank,  which was not essential for the B.S.C. or insurance, but they did not have the facility to do that at their marina. So we decided to let that go, as something that we would need to do later at some point.

Next was discussing a timeframe for when the work would be finished, which meant adding the work on our boat to the end of a list of other boats that are getting work done to complete sales, and were given a ball park date of 20th April, 2018. 

We are away over Easter participating in our other life, English Civil War reenactment with the Sealed Knot, with our regiment in Basingstoke, at Old Basing, which happens to be where we got married many moons ago. We are then travelling to Bognor Regis for a birthday celebration with hubby's Mum and stepdad for a few days. Then we are travelling north 3 hours so that we can view our narrowboat again, and go to the marina which will be our new home base, and finally to tour around the area and get familiar with it. 

And this is She!!

So this is where we are in our new home story. 

This Owning a Narrowboat is beginning to feel real!!!

We have now received the paperwork to sign, and will be calling the broker to go through the small print.

We have to choose a surveyor, so busy asking for recommendations online, so we finally go with one that will not be swayed by the broker. These are coming in thick and fast, glad to see certain names occurring more than most, which will help our decision.

Also once the monies are paid in full, that will be the time that we need to have insurance in place, so have been asking for recommendations for those too. There seem to be a few names, again some occurring more than most, which will make it easier.

We have been told the whole process will take 6-8 weeks, so a lot of work to be done in a short time, including moving the boat in due course, sorting out work in the new location, and moving aboard.

Our narrowboat search has come to an end!!!

Two weeks ago we travelled to Northampton area, and viewed eight boats in total.  There were some good contenders but with discussion we dithered and doubted, so came home again to plan our next trip.

We had thought the next trip was weeks away, and then we suddenly realised that this past weekend was doable. However, the weather could have been an issue with 'The Beast from the East' and 'Storm Emma' meeting over the U.K., but we made it again to a marina near Nottingham this time.  We saw two 70 footers, both Cruiser Stern, and the first one, we thought would be great for us, there was work to be done, to put our mark on her, which would be great. We then had to travel to see the other one, which was over budget, but possible with negotiation. It was beautifully fitted out, the owner was still living aboard, so it was very cosy, and you have to be wary of buying just for that reason.  It's fault was not having 240v, and no fridge, and an amazingly tiny galley, although beautiful, had no storage to speak of.

We discussed both later, and we both agreed the second one was now out of the picture, and we would ponder onwards on the first one.

On Sunday we decided to head over to a marina we had been to the previous excursion, to specifically look at a boat that we had not noticed the prior visit, or it may have been new in.

This narrowboat was 58ft, as opposed to 70ft, so having said that 55ft Trad was the minimum, this was in the right frame, and I will say right up front that I was not impressed with the photos, but without looking you don't know truly.

We didn't know until we were on her... this was it, conversation stopped and measurements were taken along with photos, and we were not on her that long. We noticed a cat flap, and being cat-less right now, it felt like a sign. We returned the key,and said we were very keen, and would go on to our next appointment: which was to confirm our spot in the marina we have chosen to be based.

As we left we looked back down over the marina, and there was a Swan preening next to the boat, a guy  was there with a high visibility coat went passed and the swan stuck with preening next to the boat, so we felt it was another sign... an initial sign was that the boat is built by Nene Narrowboat Builders, and we plan to be living  on a Nene Marina: so we had lots of signs, and we felt she chose us.

Having then finalised our spot on the marina, we got in the car to head for home in Wales, and we were well into Wales when the Landrover temp-gauge was fluctuating badly, and we pulled in. This seemed the perfect time to call the broker to tell them we had made our decision, details were taken and the deposit paid for what will be our new home.

We now have to wait for the paperwork to arrive, choose a surveyor, and decisions on any work that needs doing. She will become NB Ceridwen while out of the water for the survey.

Our return Home and some initial specification decisions !

It has been a very long time since my first post, and so much has happened, and I almost feel I should have started a brand new blog, but it makes sense to pick up here, if anything it shows that life does take over quite often.

We returned home at the end of 2016, complete with our menagerie: Loki our cat, Branwen our Siberian Husky, and Oliver our English Setter..  My mother who had Alzheimers for some 5 years, and we made the decision to move back to Wales to be near to her for regular visits.  Sadly she passed away at the end of October 2017, prior to this, Loki passed away in June at almost 19, and Branwen passed away suddenly in November, it has truly been our 'Annus orribilis'!

There is now nothing to hold us in Wales any longer, and thus our search for a Narrowboat is on in earnest and in reality finally.

We now have to consider the distance to my in-laws on the south coast, which makes Northampton a practical option. Also, something I have yet to mention, is that we have rejoined our Sealed Knot Regiment, which are located in Basingstoke, and Northampton becomes even more our primary choice.

Since we both will still need to work, we believe that we cannot be continuous cruisers as originally thought, and thus we are also looking for a Residential mooring on a marina. Currently focussed on Northampton, although work may pull us further north to Nottingham, but in many ways that would make it harder to get to the south coast.

So our discussions continue about our future narrowboat.  I thought this was a good time to summarise those decisions, as something to refer to as we look at narrowboats for sale.

Re the design of the Stern of the Narrowboat, we decided early on that a semi-trad or trad, was our best option, but now realise for a live-aboard that we must focus on a traditional stern to save living space.

As to length, we have always said the longer the better and were focussing on close to 70 foot, but now we realise that this may not truly be feasible, so that is now 50 foot up to 62 foot which will be more practical. If it is 50 foot then we could not have a separate engine room, but closer to 62 foot then that would be possible, and be somewhere for storage and drying of clothes.

We are also learning about options for heating and hot water  for the narrowboat, and what would work best for us. As much as I miss the woodstove in our homes in Nova Scotia, I also remember the work involved in carrying and moving said wood. Consideration must be given though, if we end up with a diesel stove, what those costs might be when comparing them to wood.  If we do buy a boat that has a multi-fuel stove, then coal would be more practical, and there are working boats that can deliver to your boat.

Will update as our search for our new home progresses !

NB Ceridwen, the name of our Dream NarrowBoat !

Here we are living in Canada, with not a canal in sight, looking at narrowboats again. More than twenty years ago, we were looking at buying a narrowboat to live aboard, but subsequently went the safe sensible route of buying a house. Our love of narrowboats was put into the very occasional vacation.  But here we are hankering to finally reach our dream, and we are again looking for a narrowboat, and the first one that caught our eye was this one pictured, we called her our Stealth Boat: 

We are spending our time reading up on all we will need to know about living aboard, and travelling the British Canals, in terms of boat specifications and costs. 

When we eventually return to the UK and find our perfect liveaboard, she will be named Ceridwen, hence the name of the Blog. 

I hope to post here as we make decisions about what we will want in our new home.