Changes to the website and newsletter

Hi,

If you do not already know we have redesigned the Living On Boats website and it now runs on the Wordpress blog platform.

For this reason we will be closing this Newsletter blog in the next few weeks and all newsletters will be available on the main website.

To view posts and subscribe to the RSS feed for the new website please visit:

www.livingonboats.co.uk

We hope you like the new site. Please do subscribe to the RSS feed to keep up to date with new post.

Regards

Martin

May 2007 Newsletter

Keeping Costs Down On Projects and Refits.

If you are undertaking a large project boat or even a smaller refit to your existing boat you will want to keep the costs down as much as possible.
In this months newsletter I am going to give you some tips on how to keep more of your money in your pocket and not through it in that hole in the water where your boat sits!

I have a system that seems to prove me right every time. When I want to carry out some work on my boat I hazard a guess at how long it might take and how much it may cost. Now, what I do next (my system) is I multiple the time and cost by 3.

Does that sound like a lot?

Well, it seems to work every time for me but you may be a better estimator so it could be different.

What’s interesting is a friend of mine that is renovating a narrowboat experienced the same thing, time and cost was three times his original estimate. Something to think about when planning your project.

So, how can we keep down costs on projects and general boat repairs?

Here are some hard won tips from the field.

Tip 1
Anything that has the word Marine associated with it is going to be twice the price. Buying from a chandlery is going to cost you an arm and a leg and its worth noting that much of the same things can be purchased from other non-marine places at much reduced prices.

Take for example a 12 volt water pump to run your domestic water system. Most chandlers will stock these and happily sell you one at a cost.

Can you get it cheaper?

Think about other uses the pump may be used for, maybe to run the water system on a caravan?
Go to a camping and caravan store and I bet you could find the same pump cheaper.
If you think about it boats use many of the same systems that caravans use so check out prices in these stores before you buy from a chandlers, you could be surprised at how much money you can save.


Tip 2
Some times the type of boat can have an effect on how much money you can save on a project.

Let's look at an example of refitting a galley.

We will use an example of a sailing boat first. Sailing boats can be small and have a rounded hull shape so the inside of the boat is rounded. For this reason refitting the galley would require a custom build by a carpenter or boat builder and would be expensive.

Now let's look at refitting a galley on a Dutch barge or narrowboat. These vessels have a very flat bottom hull and straight sides much like found in a house so buying kitchen units from MFI or Ikea could fit nicely and work out much cheaper.

As you can see some boat types offer savings in areas you would not expect just because of there design.


Tip 3
If you are doing a major project, lets say converting an old open barge where you need to build the superstructure and layout of the interior, you could design everything yourself and employ welders or do the welding yourself if you can.
Now I'm not saying this can't be done successfully but experience shows that this major work is best left to professional boat designers and builders. Employing these services will cost more money so how will that save you money?

Well, if you get these major things wrong then it will cost you many times more than you would have originally saved.
That lovely looking, well constructed superstructure you built on your open barge may be many hours of hard work then when you set off on your maiden voyage you find you can't get under the first bridge because you built it to high!

It happens, believe me, and the cost to put this right will be far more than employing the right people in the first place.
This is just one example and there are many others that could go wrong if you or your builders do not have marine knowledge.


Tip 4
If you are doing a complete refit inside your new or current boat you can save a great deal of money on heating costs by making sure you insulate your boat well.
This is very important on steel, ferrocement and GRP boats. Wood is a natural insulating material but you should still add more whilst you have the chance.

The best type of insulation is the spray foam, of course any insulation you use must be fire retardant or if an accident does happen you will be very warm!

You will see a large reduction in heating costs by insulating your boat well. Don't forget you will be living aboard so heating is always going to be a cost in our lovely English climate!


Tip 5
If you need to carry out work on the hull of your boat below the waterline then you may need to remove your boat from the water using a crane or dry dock. This will obviously cost you money but there are cheaper ways if the work you need to do is not a major job.

As an example lets say you want to give the hull of your steel boat a new coat of paint.
Find a slipway that dries out when the tide goes out and put your boat on the slipway at high tide. As soon as the tide goes out and the hull has dried out (a warm summer’s day is best) start painting.
The paint should be dry enough by the time the tide comes in again if you paint quickly!

If your boat will not stand up on a slipway you should let the boat dry out against the slip wall if there is one and then paint one side of the hull on one tide, move the boat around and paint the next side of the hull on the next tide.
The same applies to say a harbour wall.

Other situations where you could use this technique is replacing anodes or changing a through hull fitting such as a seacock.

You could save yourself a lot of money paying for cranes or dry docks as use of a slipway is cheap and using a harbour wall or riverbank can be free.


Finally...
These are just a few ways to save money on projects and refits and I hope these are of use to you and save you some of your hard earned money.

Do you have any money saving tips?

If so please share them by commenting below.

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© 2005. Living On Boats.
www.livingonboats.co.uk

Martin Chinery has lived on boats for over 7 years. He writes articles for and runs the Living On Boats website.

** Attn Ezine editors / Site owners **
Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine, blog, autoresponder, or on your site so long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include this resource box.
If you do use the material please send us a note so we can take a look. Thanks.
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'Bargain Basement'

I often look around for boats that are for sale at a reasonable price and could make a suitable liveaboard boat. It is surprising what you can find so I thought I would feature one vessel in each edition of the newsletter to show what can be found. I'll call this 'Bargain Basement' and see what little jems we can come up with.

This months 'Bargain Basement'
Houseboat & Freehold Land/Mooring with Swimming Pool!! £250,000




Beautiful site in Kent, comprising of static thames lighter barge converted houseboat with freehold land and own moorings.

Houseboat consists 2 levels; first level, porch, fully equipped kitchen, dining room leads out onto decked area, second level, living room, 3 bedrooms, study, bathroom with shower. Double glazed and central heating throughout, plus huge log burner approx 23 x 6.8m. Plenty of room to moor another cruising boat alongside also.

Large garden, with lawn and flowerbeds, gravel drive, 3 large outbuildings with electric, swimming pool with covered poly tunnel, land area approx 16,900.00 sqft.

This could be a very good investment for both a houseboat and freehold land and mooring. You would need to check out the legal status carefully so you know exactly what is being sold but this could be a free mooring for life! A very hard thing to come by these days.
I would suggest that this will increase in value also as moorings become harder to find.

I found this on Apollo Duck website with Ad ID: 56563

April 2007 Newsletter

Getting Your Postal Mail Aboard Boats

This month I am going to explain about receiving postal mail as a liveaboard together with some of the legal issues with regards to your home address.

OK, living in a house is easy when you need to receive post, every house in the UK has a post code and most are easy to find for the postman. Living aboard a boat can be more difficult but it really does depend on where you are moored and to some extent what type of boat you liveaboard.

If your boat can be reached easily from the canal or river bank and the mooring is a permanent residential mooring then you may find the postman will deliver directly to your boat. Many owners assist the postman by erecting a post box on the canal or river bank for mail to be placed into, a bit like the ones you see in the USA. Doing this makes sure the postman doesn't have to climb onto your boat, and of course many postmen won't due to safety and insurance issues.
An address like this may have a post code and if recognized as a permanent residential mooring you can use this on legal documentation such as passports and driving licenses. One sure way of finding out if your mooring is recognized as a permanent address is to check it out on the electoral role, if it's listed that’s great, if not you could have it added.

Having a recognized permanent address as above can make legal issues much easier such as bank accounts, schools and any other of the mountain of burocarasy we have to go through.

Now on to other situations you may encounter.
We have covered bank side canal and river moorings but what if your mooring is within a marina or boatyard?

Generally, if you are moored in a marina or boatyard the postman will not venture down the pontoon or jetty to deliver your post. The usual way this is handled is that the marina will take all post and you collect your post from the marina office. Some marinas may have a collection point for each residential boat, this could be something as simple as a pigeon hole system.
Post is normally addressed to the boat name followed by the marinas address.

This form of address is generally acceptable for legal documents but if you have problems you could still register the boat name and marina address on the electoral role.

If you live in a marina or boatyard that doesn't have permanent residential status but allows liveaboards on a casual basis then you may find that you can not use the marinas address for post.
In this situation you will need to make other arrangements.

So what other alternatives are available to receive your post?

PO Box

You could pay for and use a PO Box. Your address is a post office box that is located as close to your mooring as possible.
The disadvantage of this is that you will have to physically go out and collect your post and legal documents could be a problem as a PO Box is not really a permanent physical home address.

Use a family or friends address

This can be a simple option if your family or friend does not mind. You simply have all post sent to their address and then you collect it. This should be no problem for legal documents either but do remember if you are classed as "living" there make sure it doesn't have an effect on them. As an example if your friend or family member lives on their own they may get a 25% reduction in council tax and if you are registered at that address they will have to pay full price.

Accommodation Address

There are companies that operate an accommodation address service where they receive your post and forward it on to a different address that you supply them. This could be your local post office if you want.

You have to pay for the service and it may not be that suitable for legal documents. Ask the individual companies about having there address on passports, driving licenses and bank accounts.

So that has covered the main options for receiving post as a liveaboard boater. There could be other options I haven't covered so if you have any suggestions or do something different that works well please leave a comment.

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© 2005. Living On Boats.
www.livingonboats.co.uk

Martin Chinery has lived on boats for over 7 years. He writes articles for and runs the Living On Boats website.

** Attn Ezine editors / Site owners **
Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine, blog, autoresponder, or on your site so long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include this resource box.
If you do use the material please send us a note so we can take a look. Thanks.
-------------------------------------------------

'Bargain Basement'

I often look around for boats that are for sale at a reasonable price and could make a suitable liveaboard boat. It is surprising what you can find so I thought I would feature one vessel in each edition of the newsletter to show what can be found. I'll call this 'Bargain Basement' and see what little jems we can come up with.

This months 'Bargain Basement'
31' PROUT RANGER Multi Hull £8,795

Early 70's catamaran, solid dry boat. 9.9 yamaha outboard- electric start and charging coil. Various sails. Marine toilet. 4 berth plus possible saloon conversion. Needs much work but a solid base. Mooring in lowestoft possible. £8,795

If you are looking for a sail boat that has some liveaboard space then this 31 foot multi hull could be a good investment for someone that is prepared to do some work.

It looks like it is a solid vessel but needs much work to bring her up to a suitable standard but at the price I think it is a good bargain.
The same vessel in good condition would fetch around £17,000 - £20,000. Not a bad price in my book!

If you are interested I found this vessel on the Boat Shop 24 website under Boat Ref: fwo7837712

March 2007 Newsletter

Houseboat Project Mistakes

I don't know if anyone watched a program called Grand Designs on Wednesday 14th March but if you did you will know that it was about a couple that purchased an old Thames lighter to convert into a houseboat.
The program was very interesting for me to watch because I could see them making one mistake after another, I almost found myself wanting to shout at them through the television!

Well, I thought I would talk about some of the mistakes they made so anyone that is starting or thinking of starting a project like this can be more aware of potential problems.

Now, this couple had a buget of around £50,000 to complete the houseboat project. They were eco-friendly and had decided that they wanted to build the houseboat completely of scrap and secondhand materials. This would also keep the cost down.
The Thames Lighter was moored at the boat builder’s yard ready for the start of the project.
The first mistake was the fact they had not found a permanent residential mooring for the boat before starting the project. As we know moorings are difficult to find and when the builder has finished the job he will want the boat moved so he can start on his next job. Having no mooring will be a problem at this point.

The next mistake was that they did not have a proper contract with the boat builder. The owners would give the builder some money and when it had run out would give him more.
The reason given by the owners was because they were not going to have any formal plan or design and take the project forward based on what they wanted and what scrap and materials are available.
The owners came up with a design for the superstructure that was very unusal and very high! The houseboat was going to look very different to a normal one which could cause problems getting a mooring.
Work started on the superstructure with the steel frame being built and the cladding was going to be some aluminum curved sheets of scrap.
The next mistake they made was deciding to use scrap and secondhand materials. The problem is you can never guarantee it’s available in the quantities you need. Of course, they ran out and found it difficult to find more of the cladding. Fortunately more cladding was found but at a cost of time, travel and money.
The owners found some secondhand windows and had them delivered to the site. Again as no plan or design was in place the windows were to large and the boat builder had to cut the structural steel frame to get the windows to fit. More time and more money spent.

As you can image with no plan the boat builder could not keep up with the amount of changes and the owners were getting tight on money. The relationship broke down and the boat builder pulled out of the project.

Fortunately, the boat builder allowed the owners to keep the boat on the mooring and the owner employed two unskilled guys to continue with the work.
Another mistake made here was using unskilled labor on a project of this size. Work continued very slowly costing more money and final the owners realized their mistake and brought in a new skilled boat builder.

The new boat builder had much to put right after the unskilled labor had left but he also made one mistake that would change everything.
The boat builder moved the boat and someone else’s boat on the mooring without the permission of the boatyard owner. This really is not acceptable so make sure you never do this yourself. If something happens you will be liable, a big risk to take.
Because of this the boatyard owner asked them to leave the mooring and the boat was still not finished.

The owners had to tow the boat to a new temporary mooring where the boat could be completed.

By now the project was over budget and the owners decided to cut down on the fitting out of the interior to save money.

Whilst the boat builder continued working the owners went out to look for a permanent residential mooring.
Now here's the kicker, because the houseboat looked so unusual with its high superstructure, strange cladding and ugly windows many residential mooring owners turned them down for a mooring. Nothing like making it difficult for yourself!
You can do some great conversations but make sure your boat still looks like a boat.

The owners did finally find a residential mooring but to get the boat on the mooring required a very high spring tide and they would have about half an hour to get the boat in or be stranded in the River for 3 months before the next spring tide!

A hired tug boat got them onto their new mooring OK and the owners moved aboard the boat with no heating, plumbing or electrics but made the best of it.

So as you can see they made some mistakes along the way, spent around £80,000 and the boat was still not finished.

Not content with that they made one final mistake. They did not protect the boat from the poonton mooring and the boat badly damaged the pontoon. Because of this the owners were evicted from the mooring and a court case brought between the two parties. The lesson here is always secure your boat and protect your boat and the mooring with fenders. It’s your responsibility as the owner of your boat.

The program ended at this point with the court case pending and the owners looking for another mooring. The owners were evicted from the mooring so could not live on the boat so had to find other accommodation. The owners were confident they would find another mooring and get the boat finished and I am sure they will.

The lessons they learned along the way were valuable ones if not expensive ones.
If you are embarking on a similar project then make sure you have a solid plan for completing it on time and within budget.

To recap on some of the points.

1. Always locate and secure your residential mooring before starting your project.

2. Have a design plan and a contract with your boat builder.

3. Make sure materials can be sourced easily in the quantities you need.

4. Use skilled labor for a large conversion project.

5. Never move other people’s boats without their permission or the permission of the mooring owner.

6. Try not to make your boat look to wildly different or you may have problems finding a mooring.

7. Always protect your boat and the mooring from damage with fenders.

I hope you have found this interesting and you do not make the same mistakes.
If you have any comments please do comment below as I am always interested in what people think.

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© 2005. Living On Boats.
www.livingonboats.co.uk

Martin Chinery has lived on boats for over 7 years. He writes articles for and runs the Living On Boats website.

** Attn Ezine editors / Site owners **
Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine, blog, autoresponder, or on your site so long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include this resource box.
If you do use the material please send us a note so we can take a look. Thanks.
-------------------------------------------------

'Bargain Basement'

I often look around for boats that are for sale at a reasonable price and could make a suitable liveaboard boat. It is surprising what you can find so I thought I would feature one vessel in each edition of the newsletter to show what can be found. I'll call this 'Bargain Basement' and see what little jems we can come up with.

This months 'Bargain Basement'
Lighter to convert 78 - 90' £9,000




In keeping with the theme of this months newsletter if you are looking for a large project you could check out one of these barges.

Various lighters to convert from 78' to approx. 90' long ranging from thames lighters to river lee lighters. These are very popular conversion objects as they can be made into an attractive spacious home with all mod-cons on a realistic budget.

Come along and choose one, then you can reserve it for a ten percent deposit, it will be cleaned, any holes repaired and thin spots reinforced. it will be painted with red oxide paint and you can then pay the balance, all included in the the quoted price of £9000. A real bargain home. Hurry, they always sell soon after we advertise them

If you are interested I found this vessel on the Apollo Duck website under Advert ID: 20848

February 2007 Newsletter

How much is a residential mooring worth?

I've been helping a friend this week, he has been looking for a boat on a residential mooring in the city of Oxford for a few months now. Last week he found a suitable vessel so we both went to have a look at it. The boat has not been lived on for many years so is a bit rundown but on first inspection the Hull and Superstructure seemed in good order although the interior could probably do with a new refit. The boat was on a residential mooring on the Oxford Canal and this residential mooring is operated by British waterways.

The interesting thing with this vessel is that nearly 70% of its cost was a premium for the residential mooring. In places like Oxford residential moorings are few and far between so boats are normally sold on residential moorings and the price of these boats can be very high.
This boat my friend was looking at was not a particularly well fitted out vessel but it was on the market for quite a high price, like I say about 70% of the cost of the vessel was a premium for the residential mooring. Premiums on these moorings were running in at approximately £10,000 to £15,000 just for the mooring alone but you could not buy the mooring alone, you would have to buy the vessel that was moored there and then transfer the mooring agreement over to the new purchaser.

My friend really wanted to live in Oxford and also works there so the location and status of the mooring was very important. The vessel itself can be renovated and will make a very nice home. It's worth bearing in mind that if you come across a boat that is rundown and does need renovating on a very desirable mooring you should not discount this as you could purchase the rundown boat on the mooring and then put a new boat on the mooring at any time you wish. The important bit is that you have the rights for that residential mooring. In places like London and other major cities where people really want to live and residential moorings are very hard to find this could be a real option if you can find a project boat up for sale.

A fully fitted out vessel on a desirable residential mooring could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds but a similar vessel that is rundown on the same mooring could be half or even a quarter of that price. The art here is to find those vessels on the good moorings.

If you are looking for a mooring in a particular area and you really want to stay in the area then the only way to find these moorings is to go out and look at the local boat yards, marinas and moorings on the tow path and find out whether these residential moorings are. You should speak to people and find out if there are any boats for sale. If residential moorings are within marinas and boatyards and you could always leave your name and telephone number with the marina office and get them to contact you if any suitable vessels come up for sale. Again it does not matter if it's a rundown vessel that needs lots of work because you can always purchase another suitable vessel and move it to your mooring and sell the old vessel for a cheap price.

It's really interesting to see how much premium there is on residential moorings. As residential moorings are getting so few and far between particularly in the sought-after and desirable areas then purchasing a project boat on a suitable mooring could be a real option. Once you have rights to that mooring then you can move the old boat off and a new boat on.

I guess what I'm trying to say is don't discount a project boat if it's on a very sought-after mooring, you could end up getting a real bargain and then move a suitable vessel on that mooring.

So if you really want to live in one particular area go out and find those residential moorings. Don't think about the type of boats, think about how you're going to get your hands on this desirable residential mooring at the cheapest possible price. Again purchasing a project boat on a desirable mooring can be a real option to secure those very hard to find residential moorings.

Of course please don't forget that if you can find a residential mooring available without a boat already on it then you will not pay a premium for the mooring. It is more common to find this type of mooring in a Marina or boat yard that is licensed for residential use so this could be a good place to start looking. If you already have sourced your mooring then you would only pay the market price for the boat you are looking for.

Happy Hunting

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© 2005. Living On Boats.
www.livingonboats.co.uk

Martin Chinery has lived on boats for over 7 years. He writes articles for and runs the Living On Boats website.

** Attn Ezine editors / Site owners **
Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine, blog, autoresponder, or on your site so long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include this resource box.
If you do use the material please send us a note so we can take a look. Thanks.
-------------------------------------------------

'Bargain Basement'

I often look around for boats that are for sale at a reasonable price and could make a suitable liveaboard boat. It is surprising what you can find so I thought I would feature one vessel in each edition of the newsletter to show what can be found. I'll call this 'Bargain Basement' and see what little jems we can come up with.

This months 'Bargain Basement'
Beautiful 78' Thames Barge £130,000




Beautiful 1905 Braby and Son's Thames lighter converted and restored in 1995. Moored at High Line Yachting Northolt Narrative and Photographic account of all resoration work plus we still have the original 101 year old workbook listing everything that has ever been done to her. 40' Open plan Living / Dining / Kitchen space. Large bathroom with cast iron bath. 1 Large double cabin. 1 Further cabin at stern. Solid fuel stove powering central heating throughout. Lenght 78' Beam 13' 6" Displacement: 40 tonnes. Located at Northolt Greater London UK.

This looks like a great Thames Barge and if the mooring is a suitable residential one then you would be close enough to London for an easy commute. There would be lots of space in a boat of this size for comfortable living. At the price I would say this barge is a good buy subject to a survey.

If you are interested I found this vessel on the Apollo Duck website under Advert ID: 52693