House Boats

[Sysman]

Thanks Sysman. Good info for me to ponder. The boat is owned by a friend so I don't think I'm getting ripped off. He used to travel the canals in it but the maintenance got too much so it is now effectively 'static'.

The only caveat there is that your friend may have paid "too much"* or doesn't realise how much the recession has hit prices. Having said that, a distinct advantage of buying second hand is that it should be fully kitted out (the hidden cost of buying new) and teething problems should have been sorted out (one friend had the ballast underfloor section of his shiny new narrow boat full of bog and shower overflow on his first big trip).

* such things are subjective and dependant on how much you value them

[thunderlizard]

Going to be a lot of student parties on that boat methinks!!!

Yes but they'll be Oxford ones. Someone might drop some toast crumbs on the carpet: otherwise you'll be fine. That's unless the Bullingdon come round, in which case they'll sink the boat but won't touch your daughter.

[bogeyman]

Yes but they'll be Oxford ones. Someone might drop some toast crumbs on the carpet: otherwise you'll be fine. That's unless the Bullingdon come round, in which case they'll sink the boat but won't touch your daughter.

I think you don't know much about Oxford undergraduates.

[thunderlizard]

I was at the other place but went to a few of their parties. If we were lucky they just got drunk on 4 cans and fell asleep. On the worst occasion they actually formed into bridge 4's.

[bogeyman]

I was at the other place but went to a few of their parties. If we were lucky they just got drunk on 4 cans and fell asleep. On the worst occasion they actually formed into bridge 4's.

[SlimRick]

I lived on a boat on the Thames nr. Oxford for a few months while I was working down there. It wasn't an official residential mooring as they are extremely thin on the ground. 120k sounds ok if the mooring is included. It gets bloody cold in the winter when the water freezes.

[Churchill]

The two happiest days in boat ownership are...

The day you buy it!

The day you sell it!

[MrMark]

The two happiest days in boat ownership are...

The day you buy it!

The day you sell it!

heh! I suspect you could apply that aphorism to many things in life. For example, the two happiest days on a contract are

The day you start it!

The day you finish it!

No, that's not right. First pay day is the best

[VectraMan]

£120K for a boat seems a bit steep. No idea how that compares, but it sounds like not much less than a cheap flat with a lot of disadvatages.

I'm not sure I'd want to be walking along a tow path at night, and I'm not an 18 year old girl. There was a murder on the Oxford canal in Banbury not so long ago.

[EternalOptimist]

I have done a few narrowboat holidays, normally pay about £1200 for the week.
It strikes me as perfect while its a novelty, but could easily become a real bummer. e.g. if you are a big bloke, or the missus is a big bloke, those tiny showers can be a real problem. Plus the cooking facilities are ok for slumming around for a week, for for a permenant stay might be limiting.

Moving around I never paid any mooring, but static, I could not say.