December 2006 Newsletter

Winter Issues.

As the cold weather is drawing in we thought it would be a good chance to look at some of the issues that winter brings for the liveaboard boater.

The summer months are the best for a liveaboard, those long warm days on the river and calm waters with wildlife all around can be a really magical time. But what about those not so nice winter months, what issues does the cold weather bring?

The shortage of daylight hours in the winter makes daily maintainence and chores more difficult. Maintainence will always need to be done at a weekend when you have light. The daily chores will still have to be done such as filing the water tanks and changing the gas bottle so make sure you have a good torch where it is always accessible.

You will be running your heating system much more in the winter so you will need a good supply of fuel. Unlike houses we do not have convieniate supplies of fuel so it will take effort to maintain your fuel supply. If you use gas as a heating fuel you will be changing the bottles more often, you need to carry these heavy bottles to and from the boat and may even need to drive to the store to change the bottles yourself. Carrying a heavy gas bottle down a icy moving pontoon can get challenging at times and anoying. This also goes for coal, wood and cans of diesel.

You will still need water in the winter months so filling up those water tanks will still need to be done. Its very important in winter to make sure your water is always as full as possible. This is mainly due to water stand pipes where you connect your filling hose can freeze soild in very cold weather and could stay frozen for a number of days or weeks. If this does happen you will be glad you filled your tanks up.

With storms and high winds in winter months another area to pay attention to is your mooring ropes that secure your boat. Make sure you check the security of your mooring as the last thing you want is for your boat to break free in a storm whilst you are asleep or even worst, whilst you are not there. Make sure your mooring ropes are not only secure but also in good condition.

When the winter snow and ice arrive you should be more carefull when boarding your boat. Non slip decks are good but not that good when covered in snow and ice. Its very easy to slip and the last thing you want is to end up in the icy water, I can tell you from experience when slipping off my boat leaving for work in my suit and tie and ending up unconscious in the mud! Lucky for me the tide was out!
Be extra carefull in the winter, clear snow and ice off your decks and stay safe.

Just like cars, the winter can take its toll on batteries so you should make sure batteries are well maintained. Its a good idea to give all your batteries a gasing change before winter sets in and top them up with distilled water if they are of that type.
If your lights run from your domestic battery bank the batteries will be used more as there are less daylight hours. You will have to check the condition of your batteries more often in the winter and keep them well maintained.

So now you are all thinking why would anyone what to live on a boat? Well, it's not really all that bad in the winter months if you stay organised and the summer really makes up for most of the winter hardships.

One last thing.

I wanted to wish everyone a very merry christmas and happy new year and thank you all for supporting the website and newsletter this past year.

--------------------------------------------------

© 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'
52' CLASSIC HISTORIC LAUNCH £17,000
This 1939, harbour launch is very origional,I have tried to keep her that way ,built by the admiralty at the outbreak of war she did harbour duties in Plymouth,and at some time was attached to HMS Maidstone,she then went on to be a Sea cadet H.Q.Then into private hands,I have had her for ten years and use it as a retreat,I have made a shrine of the engine room, which has the admiralty conversion engine, put in ,in about 1974,a Foden HL6 a supercharged 6 cylinder diesel .She has all mod cons on board ,Icould live on board tomorrow,and quite often do.....She is for sale as I fancy disappearing to India for a few years,and at the moment lives quite happily on the river Witham in the centre of Boston(Lincs), she could easily be re-comissioned.
£17,000

This is a good strong naval vessel that would be at home on the River or at sea and provides a good level of accommodation. These are historical vessels and may well increase in price over the years as well as provide a comfortable moveable home. At £17,000 this is good value.
I have owned and lived on one of these vessels for a number of years quite comfortably. I have also been out at sea in a force 8 gale and found they have very good sea keeping qualities.

November 2006 Newsletter

Buy or renovate?.

Buy or renovate?
In this issue we look at the options to buy a boat that is ready to move aboard or buy one that needs renovation or complete conversion.

This is going to be a very personal choice but if you are not sure which way to go we have a few pointers for both.

So let's jump straight in and look at buying a boat ready to move aboard.

If you are new to boating and are also thinking about living on a boat a vessel that is completed, in commission and fitted out as a liveaboard boat may be a good option. One thing to remember with buying a completed boat is they will always be more expensive than one that needs renovating on converting and the upside for you is less work on your part. You will always need to carry out maintenance on any boat but this is much less work than renovating or converting.

Now if you’re strapped for cash you can still buy a liveaboard boat that is fully fitted out if you look around hard enough. There are always some good deals to be had even for fully converted boats.
A good time to look is in the winter months where boats and houseboats tend to be cheaper.

Another option is to buy a recreational boat that is suitable for living aboard such as a narrowboat. Most narrowboats fitted out for the leisure industry come with most of the home comforts you would expect from a liveaboard one so this may be a good option. If you’re looking specifically for a narrowboat to live on it is surprising what you can find if you look hard enough. In the marketplace there are many thousands of vessels and if you keep your eye open you can always find a bargain.
So for the new people to boating and living aboard a fully fitted out boat ready to move on could be a good option.

But what if you don't have the money to spend and you are looking for a project, something that you can make your own mark on and fit out to your specification. There are many projects boats around of many different types so the first thing to decide is what type of vessel you want to live on and then go out and search for project boats that suit your needs. They are around but you may have to look hard for them but look hard enough and something suitable will always turn up.


One of the best places to look for a project boat is on the Internet, many of the boating websites have sections for project boats.
Here you will find many different types in the many different stages of conversion or renovation. Having had a quick look on some of these sites today I came across a 68’ MFV that needs converting but had a working engine and a good solid hull for £7,500. For such a large vessel this is a very good price but you must remember that you will have to spend a lot more money to finish the project and you should not underestimate the amount of time it would take to complete. Another vessel we found was a 36’ Motor Sailor that had been used as a liveaboard but needed refitting and a lot of maintenance as the vessel had been left standing unattended for many years. At £5,000 this could be a really good buy for some one that is wanting a boat to live on and use.

As you can see there are many project boats available and our advice would be to look very closely at what level of completion each boat is at. Some projects need an absolute enormous amount of work and money to complete and it would be advisable to get a Marine engineer to look at any boat first to advise you of the amount of work and money it would take to get the project finished. Of course if you are happy to estimate this yourself that would save paying a Marine engineer but sometimes a few hundred pounds paid to a Marine engineer could save you many thousands, the choice is yours.

When looking at a project boat for sale make sure you discuss with the seller whether or not the boat can be left on its current moorings and does the moorings operator allow you to do DIY maintenance on there moorings?
This can be a very important question as someone might be selling the boat because the moorings operator does not want a half finished boat on their moorings. If you have to move the boat then make sure you have secured a suitable mooring before completing purchase or arrange with the current moorings operator a time when you can move the boat to an alternative mooring. It is very important that you find a suitable mooring that will allow you to carry out maintenance and renovation on your vessel. Not all moorings allow this especially marinas so make sure you ask this question first.

Depending on the amount of work that is required on a project boat we would still advise that you have a survey carried out. This is mainly to check the condition of the hull and engine as these are the two most expensive things to repair on any boat. When looking at a project you should always ensure that the hull and engine are in sound condition. If they are not you will have to weigh up the costs of repairing these against the price of the vessel. It could still be a worthwhile project if you can pay next to nothing for the vessel but again it will be a vast amount of work and you will probably have two employ skilled labour to complete this, obviously at a cost.

It is not an easy decision to make whether to buy a project boat or a fully completed boat. Obviously your situation and level of experience may dictate which way you go. If you can find the right project at the right price you could have yourself a very nice completed vessel that is worth many times more than you paid to purchase and complete it.

On the other hand, as we said at the beginning of this article it is quite possible to get some very good bargains on completed vessels ready to move aboard. Look very hard and something will turn up.

If you are considering buying a project boat then think about the following:

1. Assess the purchase price against the amount of money you will need to spend to complete the project and then compare your total costs with a similar vessel that is already complete.

2. It is so important to make sure any project boat has a sound hull and engine. These should be your first consideration when looking for suitable boats.

3. When assessing how much time and money it will cost to complete the boat times this by three!

4. If you are going to use Marine engineers to carry out much of the conversion work then make sure you choose a company that has done similar projects before. We do not advise you to use general builders as renovating boats is a specialist job. General builders may work out cheaper but will not have the experience and knowledge so could work out more expensive in the long run.

If you plan to do much of the conversion work yourself, this will save you a great deal of money in labour costs and in my experience you will learn a lot and get the satisfaction of knowing that you have done a good job.

Project boats can be a very good option and we would like to provide you with some more detailed information with regards to project boats in another edition of the newsletter. But for now we will finish here and we hope you have enjoyed reading the newsletter.

Please feel free to comment on this article. All comments are of real interest to us so feel free to tell us what you think.

--------------------------------------------------

© 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'
68ft MFV Project £7,500

Harold John. RnEx Bette Ruby built around 1942 Danish anchor driftnet fishing boat designed to fish North of the Arctic circle, thus she is an extremely substantial vessel with oak timbers and a hull which is oak on oak and 3 inches thick. She was withdrawn from fishing service in 1992 to be used as a charter boat and then in 1999 as a family livaboard. She is 68ft long, has a beam of approx 16ft, and a loaded draft of 10ft. Not used as a livaboard since 2002. Engine has not run for 6 years but all components present, Hundestad 2 cylinder 2 stroke air start diesel. Accommodation is split into four cabins plus a shower and head down below. On deck a large saloon, which includes the galley, the forward crew quarters are at present empty but would make a delightful master suite. The deck cabin was separately built and placed onto the deck thus not compromising the original deck structures, could easily be removed or extended. If the engine and tanks were removed this would double the accommodation below deck. The boat could be reinstated as a family livaboard without too much effort. She is presently kept at a mud berth in Gosport, Hants, England. During her re-fit in 2000 all her caulking was raked out and she was re-caulked with okam. Present berth fees £200 per month, continuation of berthing to be negotiated.

So keeping along the same lines as the article this month we found this MFV project as an example of what can be found. With a lot of work this vessel could be renovated and converted to a great liveaboard boat that if done well could resell for somewhere between £40,000 - £60,000. For a purchase price of £7,500 you could spend £20,000 on the conversion and still have a good liveaboard asset.