The cost of keeping a Narrowboat in a Marina.
I thought we'd get into the nitty-gritty of narrowboat life ~ now if you're a narrowboater, you'll know the nitty-gritty is actually what type of toilet you currently have onboard and which you think it's best... But for civvies, the heart of the matter comes down to two things; money and time, and how much of each are you going to need to get started, then regularly invest, before you can cruise into the sunset, serenaded by the rhythmic chug of your diesel engine.
So let's get into it, and start with the biggest issue - before you even begin looking for a boat, you should know this; leaving your boat locked up and unattended on the canals or rivers is not ideal. (And that's me attempting to be tactful.) If you have friends on the canal, perhaps on a permanent mooring, and your boat is near them and they're going to keep an eye on it for you, Brilliant and I'll step off my soapbox. But for most of us, owning a boat and living on land means marina fees. And all the time you intend to stay living on land, that fee is incurred yearly. There's also the distance element - our closest marina's are over an hour away, so we have to figure in travelling time.
So, marina costs - these are an approximate, and worked out on a 57 foot boat for 12 months. (They're correct for May 2021, and I'll leave all the links.)
Venetian Marina (Nantwich) - £2600.00
Kingfishers - £2400.00
Braunston - £3100.00
Yelvertoft - £2600.00
Frouds Bridge (Aldermaston) - £2900.00
And if you were wondering about London, short term stay is possible and affordable. But if you're looking to moor up for more than a week; yikes. Definitely chat with your marina friends, and hit the facebook groups.
Now you've got you breath back, let's whisk it away again. Boat prices have skyrocketed, I *think* (and it's all conjecture at this point,) that lockdown, not being able to go abroad, and people generally wanting to get out more have all impacted the sudden price hike. We bought our boat a couple of years ago. (Literally, May the 4th, 2 years ago; happy stars wars day to us, can I call my boat the death star etc ;) and we were looking at boats in reasonable condition, blacking up to date, with a survey, between 57 to 65 feet long at around £30-35k. I was chatting with the guys at the marina last week, and there's whispers that now, a boat with a good fit out and spec is going for a £1000 a foot! I just... there are no words.
But if you're looking to buy, most marinas have brokerage. Apollo Duck also have a narrowboat section, and then there's Facebook - just to get my disclaimer in; facebook market place has boats listed. But I would join the narrowboat groups, there are a couple, and they're active, with owners and live aboards, and they love to talk about boats - they have opinions on boats and lots of advice to give. And you'll find boats for sale there and get a feel for who's selling, where it's been and so on. Once you've decided on your floating home. Get a survey. Don't even think about not getting one. If it's had a survey in the last six months, ask for a copy, read it back to front. Check the company who surveyed it.
A survey will cost £500-700, and you have to get the boat out of the water, which is £300-500 -- okay, another disclaimer (sorry about this,) I can't be exact with these figures, because it depends on the length of the boat. Also, doing things from London and down South is more expensive (including marina fees.) Double-also, a boat can be hauled out with a tractor, buy a crane or with a dry dock, and depending what's closest to where you are sets the cost. So if you work on the top cost for everything you should finish with change in your pocket. But not much, because that's boating.
Shall we talk about insurance now? This is one of the more gentler costs, I was expecting the worst, but honestly, a well maintained boat with a pretty positive survey will set you back £200 ish a year. (I use Nautical Insurance)
Now your savings are literally begging for their lives, lets talk about your water licence. You need a licence from the CRT to be able to cruise the inland waterways. You can buy just a canal license or a canal and river license, and you can buy different lengths of time. My advice would be, initially buy the 30 days. They don't all have to be used at once, and sure, you'll get that initial rush to be out every weekend. But a weekend of bad weather, or when it's too windy, will find you lighting the log burner and staying in the marina, pottering around and doing jobs - because I promise you this; there's always jobs. Not to mention the lovely humans in your marina. We have a great bunch, and being there is just as much fun as being out on the cut.
A 30 day 'explorer' licence for a 57 foot boat will set you back about £220.00 as opposed to a year long canal & river licence (i'm on the K&A so we have to have the river part,) which is £1050.00.
Now I feel like i've hammered your wallet enough for the moment - I'll leave the little extras, like; do you need mooring pins, new ropes, were there windlass's onboard when you bought her, does the engine need a service, is she a pump out, don't forget fuel, gas and coal... ah, the list goes on. And of course all those Nicholson's Guides you're going to want. But we can cover all that later. For the minute, I hope this has given you a good starting point.
Take care,
Jo x
For more on my narrowboat galavanting, click here. or for today's thoughts on YT, the vlog is below.