Speaking as someone who used to own a share in the 1990s and 2000s, may I add a few comments? Basically, for us, it worked brilliantly, but you really do need to check your fellow owners out before buying. We had at least one "nutter" who wanted all sorts of things done to the boat that no-one else agreed with. We were able to outvote them, but there's less friction if you can avoid this. Secondly, do make certain that you really are buying a share and not timeshare. The industry is littered with companies that have gone bust, leaving the owners without the services they may have just paid for; but at least you will still own the boat in this situation. The company that ran our boat (Ownerships) went bust three years after we sold our share and it caused a lot of grief for the owners, not only in lost maintenance fees, but also with boatyards refusing to release boats until invoices were paid. In practice, the boatyards had no case in law because their contract was with the operating company and not with the boat owners. You do need to check that the operating company carries out maintenance properly too - the best way is to talk to existing owners and see how happy they are. During the eight years that we owned a share, Ownerships left us with very little to complain about and we were eventually able to sell our share for very nearly what we had originally paid. It was much cheaper than hiring with the added bonus of feeling that it was OUR boat. It's just a shame that Ownerships folded a few years later, so do your research - and enjoy!
Congratulations to the production team and Barry for this presentation on "Shared Ownership". Well covered and concise in my estimation as a fellow "co-owner" of Dawn Treader.
Your videos on ownership and the practicalities of canal boats are really superbly made, you are putting your journalistic skills to great use, they are informative and enjoyable to watch.
81 videos in having had to restart from episode 9 as my wife is now watching it. and we are both loving every minute. This series is the best narrowboat liveaboard journey on TH-cam.
I live in the usa. I had no idea what a narrow boat was but I find the idea fascinating I live in the open plains so the closest big water source I have near me is the Colorado River. I think it would be neat to give it a shot. I guess this is similar to the people that live in rvs here and travel the long open roads here in wyoming
CruisingTheCut Absolutely. Enjoying my first cup in 2 days. Ran out of Tetley and had to fix the car before I could get out and buy some. Nightmare !!!
again this is one of the best boat video series i've ever seen be it on TV or internet. You're bloody good at what you do mate, really enjoy the videos!
Having watched this video and some further research we have just purchased a share of a narrowboat from BCBM and cant wait to spend our week afloat. Thank David for the info in this video as helped us greatly with our decision
A really interesting video, thank you! I've previously said I wouldn't want the trouble of owning a boat (even if I could afford it!), but managed shared ownership is worth serious consideration.
Brilliant. What a great idea and a stepping stone to full boat ownership. Thanks to schemes like this, it makes it much more affordable and more accessible for those of us wanting enjoy the canals but who don't have the ready access to funds or a loan to buy a boat outright. Thanks for sharing.
We have a share in a BCBM managed boat, but it’s a boat on the Norfolk Broads, not the canals. So far we think it’s the best thing we’ve done. We have four weeks allocation per year (one week per season) and our annual costs are less than the equivalent of a week in summer on a hire boat. We are missing out on our May allocation because of the Covid-19 lockdown, but we did manage to get an extra week on the boat last November as another share holder decided at short notice not to take their week and offered it up to other members. In sum, syndicate ownership is something I would recommend, and we find BCBM very professional.
Hi David and Barry. Well done on another great video - what a pro! Barry, you summed up shared ownership really well. We hired, then shared, then recently bought our own boat, as we're now retired and would like to spend more time cruising. Shared ownership gave us a lot of valuable boating experience and some excellent holidays. BCBM is a great management company and the "Dawn" series are lovely boats. Enjoy your holidays, all sharers out there!
Thank you for your efforts. I find your video's strangely addicting. Perhaps since they are so honest (unlike the evening news), and so well presented. It's like having a friend show me around. I'm in the US, so it gives me great insight into life there in general, and a peek into a lifestyle that's hardly known. Again, thank you. "cheers" as you say. Please... carry on.
Never been cheering for Spring to come in the UK until I started watching your videos. Good to see you survived the winter and I look forward to watching all summer. Best wishes and smooth cruising.
I'm so very impressed with your channel. You really have a gift for film and commentary. I'm American and have visited the UK several times. We dream of owning a narrowboat and cruising full-time for a year or two. We're planning to take our first step with a two week Scotland holiday on a narrowboat on the Union and the Forth and Clyde. We want to take our time. Anyway, I love your channel and have watched every single episode. Thanks for all your hard work. Cheers.
As ever David you make what could be a fairly complex issue incredibly clear & understandable. I'm sure there's a career for you as TV reporter somewhere / some time !! Ha ha !!
I bought a share in a narrowboat last year. Best thing I ever did. No way I could afford a boat of my own. My 1/12th (4 weeks) share cost me £1500 and I pay £100 pm as my share of costs (insurance, licence etc). Compared to about £1000 pw to hire it's great value. It's amazing that although you only own a share, when you're on it, it does feel like your own boat. Great bunch of people in my syndicate which is 'self-managed'
Why do you think shares are so much cheaper than renting? Is it that rental companies are stocked for high season and have low utilization in the off season, so a few months of operating has to pay for the whole year's costs? Or that rentals are more likely to get beaten up and require more maintenance, similar to the way some people drive rental cars? Or is there some barrier to entry for rental companies that doesn't apply to a shared boat?
This sounds like a great idea especially for people maybe thinking of buying a boat in the future but don't want to shell out for a whole one for now. Sort of the next step up from having a weeks holiday on one.
Having owned two boats outright in the past, I'm an established co-owner on Dawn Treader. In my opinion there is little advantage to owning outright unless your able to cruise at least two or three months a year, or have very deep pockets. It's a chore if you sole own trudging to it regularly enough to keep the damp at bay over winter when you can't use it. A syndicate boat is more likely to be used and kept "aired". BCBM provide a service to check it and as necessary provide "trace heating" if it's not used. Boats in my experience suffer more from "standing idle " than being used by caring owners with a good maintenance provision.
It's great if you want to take the same holiday every year, on the same boat, especially if you want more than one week a year - but hiring allows you to take a bigger boat if you want to bring friends, or visit another part of the country, or another country entirely. As usual, flexibility costs extra.
Great video, really enjoyed the tour of the boat. I have a couple of questions for you: 1. Have you fixed the horn on your boat yet or are you leaving the old one? 2. Have you thought about replacing the front lamp with an led light bar to give you much better visibility? and possibly placing a few small led lights along the sides to help with tunnel guiding and nice lighting when you're moored up.
I have reinstated the original horn and yes I have replaced the old tunnel light with an LED one. I also keep a portable LED floodlight at the back now, for tunnels. Cheers.
Your videos make me want to live on a narrow boat even though I live in the USA. Early in USA history, we had a canal system for transport of goods too. Many barges were drawn by horses. Too bad they were not maintained and used like you do in the U.K. Of course, the winters are more severe in many areas where they were used. Seems like a great life. Nice video as always.
Thanks for that. This could be the ideal way of enjoying some great holidays on the canal network. Been looking for a boat we could actually own ourselves for quite a while now but “She Who Cracks the Whip” isn’t keen on the idea of buying a narrowboat. It takes 100% agreement and commitment to sell up the bricks and mortar to have a new lifestyle change. Looks like I’m going to be busy hauling through the companies who market these schemes. It’ll have to be a spanking clean, not necessarily new boat but has to be a clean and well maintained and managed boat for us. Downside could be we own a dog who we love, he would have to be part of the deal. So thanks again for posting this Vlog. It was very interesting.
Some syndicates allow dog owners some not, all the ownership boats I have seen have had a high standard of cleaniliness and repair, as the costs are shared between owners it often means that jobs are done as they are noted and hte boat constantly looks nice. so I hope you find what you are looking for
Thank you David and Barry as well. I knew this existed but knew very little about it and the key seems to be an efficient management company that attracts the right owners as in their case it all works and yes Barry hit the nail on the head the boat is well maintained and cleaned after each owner uses it.
This was such a cool video! As someone in a previous comment said, this seems like something we Americans (sadly without our own canals at home!!) could take advantage of! More personal research needed on our end for logistics. Thanks for this informative video!
Glad it was useful! Yes, it works if you know you want to take such a holiday regularly each year. Otherwise just a standard hire boat might work better. Lots of options!
Ohio had at one time a thousand miles of canals. Sadly the longest stretch left is 44 miles. It's used mostly to share water now. Very few spots left as ponds and not connected anymore. NY and PA might have tiny stretches.
Perhaps you can instigate a canal revival in the US. The reason many of our canals still exist in Britain today is because of the dedication and hard work of people to restore many of the canals that fell into ruin and disrepair after the industrial revolution.
Century22 The Erie Canal currently has approximately 350 miles of navigable waters and is part of the Great Loop, a 5,000-7,500 mile circuit extending from Florida to Canada and utilizing canals, lakes and the Intracoastal Waterway.
Hi, I live in Detroit, Michigan, USA and have recently found your vlog's on narrowboats. I have just finished watching all of your videos and have so much enjoyed them. I wonder if I could ask a question, I watched your vlog on your master plan for this summer and curious to know if you ever would have plans to go up to Wigan. My Mother was born there and it has been more than 50 years sense I was there. No doubt it has changed and would love you to do a vlog of that area. Please keep up the vlogs, I know I speak for a lot of people when I say they are so enjoyable and we all look forward and wait patiently for your next adventure.
Pretty sure Robbie Cumming did a little bit about Wigan on one of his vlogs over the winter if you are interested - think it was only a flying visit though.
This is a great way to find out if the boating life is right for you. I imagine some folks would do this share system for a while, and then decide to retire to a boat. The Dawn Treader IS a lovely boat. And I still say that England is beautiful even in dull weather.
I think this is an excellent solution for someone who can not / does not want to live aboard. Sharing something with someone less neat, tidy, meticulous, concerned with things, can surely proof to be a problem, but having mindlike shareholders on the other end can surely (as said) add to the joy of sharing and saving!
I'm seriously considering this option as I am nearing retirement. And, as Jim below has mentioned, we Americans get the boot after six months, so perhaps a two or three month share might work well for me.
Interesting and quite a thorough job of documenting both the boat and the process of sharing. Maybe one day you'll be selling boats !! Nice touch, too, getting an Irishman up on TH-cam just in time for St Patrick's Day. With my last name being Dougherty, that pleases me !
I believe this is similar to a common form of aircraft ownership, at least in the US, with the exception that they don't live on the plane for weeks on end. I don't know how the legalities or taxation are treated in the UK, but a group of people with their pilots licenses owning an airplane as a corporation allows them to split expenses and deduct depreciation.
A former work colleague of mine owned a share in a narrow boat, this was many years ago. He said it worked very well and his thoughts and comments were the same as yours and Barry's. It is something I would seriously consider as well, as like Barry we don't live in UK! I wonder what a typical number of shares there are in a boat? Sorry if I missed that detail in the video commentary.
Dawn Treader is divided into 12 x 4 week shares and one 2 week share, this leaves a two week downtime for winter maintenance to complete a 52 week year. Within this there's a agreement that no one owner can buy more than 8 weeks in order to avoid them "buying out " the whole boat.
Well, this looks quite agreeable and tempting. Even someone in the U.S. could buy a share in a narrowboat, and come over on holiday once a year. The prices mentioned seem very reasonable, especially for a two week holiday in England. Thanks for another informative, and well presented video. Cheers
What a brilliant scheme. Will definatley suit my family (we live in Poland). Thanks for all the information - we will investigate further. Super film David.
too bad the US is so far from England...I'd love to I've this a go , yet I know I'd want my own boat pretty much from the start... that's just the kind of girl I am😏 are you ready for your big upcoming trip,David? it looks to be really interesting. 👍.can't wait for the fun to begin😊
Good to know, might consider a share for myself. Since the US has fewer canals, and almost no narrow boats that I know of. Would be a lot less costly, besides I could go on holiday in a narrow boat in England! Great Idea!
For completeness I must mention you can also just hire a boat if you simply want to try it out; shares work best where you know you'll return to it over several years.
Very nice and it tells me that maybe being able to do the narrowboat experience might not be as difficult as I imagined. The price Barry paid and the maintenance dues are attractive and quite reasonable. I'd have to factor in air fare from Hawaii, but otherwise it looks like a nice way to do things.
I can top that, we are hiring for the first two weeks in April from Norbury, and we live in Australia. This will be our third and perhaps final hire as we are buying a boat next year! Great job on the vlog, We have developed a narrow boat addiction and watch your vlog as our "fix".
Shared ownership makes sense if you're going to do the same thing every year, but if you're likely to only do it occasionally, hiring is probably easier and cheaper. It's roughly £1-2000 per week, depending on the size of boat and whether you go during the school summer holiday.
Great vid as ever CTC. I totally understand why folks do this, owning a boat outright is a large investment. I'd be interested in what cost difference there is between hiring a boat for 3-4 random weeks of the year against a similar share. Hiring a boat can be reasonably inexpensive if you hunt the deals, especially out of season and compared it's a very straight forward process.
Great video & appears to be the answer to my "what to do in early retirement" question.... Whilst I suspect the answer is "depends on the rules of the syndicate", are you allowed to make your week available to friends, when not making use of your week personally?
Not usually. Most don't allow it because the other owners in the syndicate wouldn't know the friends and therefore would be uneasy about letting unknown people use it. Although ownership is shared, all the owners have invested in the boat and take great care to look after it.
What a good arrangement for people who cannot live full time on a boat but still want to enjoy the life or get their feet wet so to speak about narrow boat living. Looks like lovely weather on the canals. We just had a blizzard. Arrgh😒
That was a well put together bit of information 👍. For Barry - of course everything is a compromise but......do you not find it a bit limiting to be restricted to a small area of the network - essentially 2 weeks away from base?
got a couple of questions, David. 1) do the current shareholders have any oversight into who is trying to buy in when a share comes up for sale? 2) what happens if a current shareholder defaults on the monthly maintenance fees?
Hi Ron. There is a syndicate agreement to which the new owners have to agree and sign up to. The monthly accounts are sent to all syndicate members so everybody is aware of any non payments.
Nifty how the maritime flag signals spell BCBM on top of the roof. Might be an idea for your own boat. Yours would spell CTC, obviously. Great vid as always.
I didn't see anyone else ask this, so here it goes: if a shareholder can bring guests along, is there anything stopping him/her from recouping some or most of his/her cost by charging guests for the experience? That owner would still be there to skipper the boat around the canals. I'm picturing it like a Bed & Breakfast operation on a Narrow Boat! Loving the videos; there is great creativity of topics and wonderful production values! I can't wait for the next one. When will you be contracted by BBC America for a whole onging program series?! Cheers!
There would be a Canal and River Trust licence issue, there would also be an insurance issue and I suspect the share contract would also prohibit charging guests. There are boat B&Bs but not operating like this. Cheers!
Hello Gents, great informative videos David, thanks. Wrt moving about, what is the 'norm' for shared ownership? I would think one of the most enjoyable aspects of canal boating is exploring so how is this managed and who has 'the last word'? Are you locked into one canal or radius or do owners agree a cruising schedule and if so, how? Thanks
At the AGM the syndicate members decide where on the canal system they would like to move to and then vote on it. The management company provide a list of marinas that they have agreements with. Hope this answers your question.
Does the boat have to be returned to the 'Home' marina after each time it's taken out? If so does this mean you end up cruising the same stretch of canal each time? Another great vlog by the way.
I love the fact that the co-owners are all in communications with each other. A kind of community of sorts. I suspect there are the occasional stresses between some people, hopefully things that can be worked around. I would have loved to get involved with something like this, if flying from western Canada wasn't so badly expensive in itself. Though, now I wonder if there is quite a few people from outside the UK that get involved with shared ownership.
Watching again 6 months later. Was about to make the same comment about the “sinking fund” - for want of a better way of putting it. I’m so predictable 😳 Predictably funny 🤣🤣 🙂🐿🌈❤️
As a citizen of the USA, the elimination of the UK’s special “retirement visa” made stays of more than six months virtually impossible, so Narrowboat ownership has also diminished in practicality. I expect ongoing changes in your immigration and visa arrangements with former EU partners is causing headaches for closer neighbors who’d like to invest in a liveaboard boat on your canals as well. Perhaps this is a solution. Are there any shared boats with, say, two owners only... with the allocated shares divided into 6 month blocks, matching the UK’s current visa limits? Obviously the initial shared cost of the boat and the monthly maintenance fees would need to be a lot higher, but the longer periods of use would permit much wider travel on the network and a Narrowboat experience more like being a sole owner.
You never drive the boat fast even when you're experienced (or shouldn't). Life on the canal is all about taking it slow. The 4mph limit is rarely reached. 2-3 is more typical.
What about "un-sold shares"...? can you rent a week or ad an extra week to what you've already been allocated or picked out of the hat, as it were. so if you already have a week, as a share owner, can you get additional weeks from the hat from un-sold portions/leftovers...?
Dawn Treader is fully owned so there are no "unallocated weeks". If an owner is unable to use a week they have then it is offered to other members on a "first come first served " basis. ( 'though I believe BCBM do keep an eye to things to avoid anyone taking unfair advantage on the syndicates behalf.) Therefore there's a potential to get "free weeks", with only the "turnaround " charges to pay. It's my understanding that our boat insurance prohibits use by "non-owners ", so hiring is not possible.
This is correct from Harry, if an owner is unable to use a week it is offered out to the rest of the syndicate. With regards to the weeks which are unsold in the new boats, we uses these for promotional opportunities. Each syndicate has a syndicate agreement in this it stipulates it can not be rented out for financial gain, this also invalidates the insurance. A shared ownership boat is purely for the use of the owners. Thank you
Well isnt this just #@$@#$ peachy...... I stumble across this channel, get completely hooked, run through 81 vlogs in about 5 days............... and now there are none left to view. GAH! Now I have to wait!
Haha, and worse still, the next one won't be until a few days after I start cruising later this week so you've got at least a week's wait, probably more. Watch 'em all again!
I do want to go back and watch a few to bookmark them for future reference. It has been a real pleasure thus far. Enjoying prepping for the summer, will there be a spring shakedown cruise? Oh, and one other question. Humidity on the boat, I know you have spoken about condensation from time to time, but how do you manage it normally?
I open the windows as much as possible and use extraction fan above the stove. Yes, I start cruising later this week so loads of vlogs will follow very soon!
I love all your videos. I sub again because I have a new phone. but i am so happy to be watching. I live in upstate NY USA. I am trying to move overseas. can you recommend a paper or website for listening in a decent community or land. How much is a pound compared to the US dollar.
I discovered your channel about two months ago and have now seen all of your episodes. I very much enjoy them particularly Christmas dinner. After about ten of them I wanted to follow along so I went to Google earth and selected the Waterways to view but hard to see since you have to zoom in quite a bit. Then a week ago I saw you hand draw a map of your planned tours for 2017 which was almost clear so I went online and found this website www.waterexplorer.co.uk, which shows the entire UK waterway network and which allows you to enter an origin and destination then calculate the route. It also provides distances between points, the number of bridges and locks between each and the distances in miles. I thought it would make a great visual for your videos to visualize better than the pencil maps.
i have a 20 foot cabin cruiser in the rep of ireland and i would love to get a narrowboat but there are many around over here if i was to go to england how much would i have to be prepared to pay to buy a basic narrowboat .
great idea, it flings out more options for people with an interest in canal boating. me, however prefers the hiring out at the local hiring company as its close by to where i live. i just completed a weeks hire for first time, had a few bumps and scraps and didnt get as far as i planned, but i thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to do same next year. oh, i also bumped into some private boats that were parked in a designated turning point near bingley....and people have a go at us hire boaters lol....by the waterways bylaws, they shouldnt have been moored up in the winding hole.....according to google earth and street view, they have been moored like that for some years......so its my turn lol.....humph....private owners ;)
It's infuriating when people moor in or across the winding holes, I agree. Bizarre that they've been there for years. Did you have a word with them? (can be dodgy doing that sometimes, depending on the people of course...)
no we didnt bother exchanging words, we had already been told to move on by another private boater with him claiming we was too close to his boat....we was over 50 - 100ft away from his boat.....we was losing light fast and all way down rest of area was all shallow throughout to and passed the winding hole. so as we'd had to turn around that night as we had to get passed micklethwaite road bridge, then moor up close by but not on the bridge mooring point, making sure we was still in deep enough water but making sure we left room for boaters using bridge. i did however tell the hire company of it all, and they even agreed that it was their fault for mooring up in the winding hole.
Crikey, I'm not sure I'd have moved on. Outrageous! Unless he was likely to cause aggro of course. What a shame your time aboard was spoiled by idiots.
them minor bits didnt really spoil it at all, all in all it was very good and educating to say the least. at first handling was a struggle, specially with strong currents and drifting. we got grounded a few times & drifted to point our boat made a bridge across the canal lol....but we pursued onwards and having a few pints after the long days as our reward. its good to have a 'holiday' where your actually doing things and putting muscles to work that you hardly work before......definitely doing it again next year. :)
Suggesting a follow up to this video. As an Australian who can only stay 6months of the year on a visit visa, renting a boat for 6 months sounds appealing but very expensive. I have seen companies online that manage boats and rent them long term cheaper than hiring. However there are dodgy companies making suggestions to get around canal regulations and some who appear good firms providing such services. I know you are very busy at the moment, I thought this would make a very interesting video for your oversees viewers like me who would one day like to tour the canals over an extended time. ps. I know some suggest just buying a boat and selling it, but that has its own issues too.
Hi. You're absolutely right about there being people and companies who are hiring boats without the correct insurance, safety and licences etc though I believe there's a bit more of an effort to crack down on them now (to what success I don't know)
As a fellow Australian I know he curse of sitting on the opposite side of the world and wishing for this life. Especially since we don't don't have any canals that I know of.
What happens when it's your turn with the boat but the person before you leaves it in the devils armpit of nowhere? Is there an agreement that you vacate the boat in a pre-agreed area of the country? Or is it a case of "oh,we're in Shropshire this week then"
The boat has an agreed, required ( by CRT ) and significantly expensive base mooring. This is where the boat must be returned to for turn around maintenance and cleaning at the end of your week (s). If as occasionally has happened, ( eg. due an accident or sudden change in availability, ) BCBM have a network of highly capable boaters who can be called on to assist . Part of the AGM is a vote on where the boat will be based for the following year. ( This allows for a change of cruising routes when desired.)
Robin Bennett Yes with prior agreement remote hand overs can be arranged. It may even be possible at associated marinas where turnaround maintenance can be easily accommodated. The biggest difficulty with this is probably arranging transport for owners back to collect vehicles and luggage.
Oh dear, that is quite confronting... I spend much more on a GRP sailboat from the 80ties and spend a few weeks on the water and worked a whole lot longer the past 4 years. Just my marina / Shed fee is 3 times as much.... Ouch.
People do shared ownership of sailing boats too, although usually only 4-6 owners for boats in the UK. Seems like a great way to sail a bigger boat than you could normally afford.
Speaking as someone who used to own a share in the 1990s and 2000s, may I add a few comments? Basically, for us, it worked brilliantly, but you really do need to check your fellow owners out before buying. We had at least one "nutter" who wanted all sorts of things done to the boat that no-one else agreed with. We were able to outvote them, but there's less friction if you can avoid this. Secondly, do make certain that you really are buying a share and not timeshare. The industry is littered with companies that have gone bust, leaving the owners without the services they may have just paid for; but at least you will still own the boat in this situation. The company that ran our boat (Ownerships) went bust three years after we sold our share and it caused a lot of grief for the owners, not only in lost maintenance fees, but also with boatyards refusing to release boats until invoices were paid. In practice, the boatyards had no case in law because their contract was with the operating company and not with the boat owners. You do need to check that the operating company carries out maintenance properly too - the best way is to talk to existing owners and see how happy they are. During the eight years that we owned a share, Ownerships left us with very little to complain about and we were eventually able to sell our share for very nearly what we had originally paid. It was much cheaper than hiring with the added bonus of feeling that it was OUR boat. It's just a shame that Ownerships folded a few years later, so do your research - and enjoy!
Excellent advice, thank you!
Congratulations to the production team and Barry for this presentation on "Shared Ownership". Well covered and concise in my estimation as a fellow "co-owner" of Dawn Treader.
Haha, "production team" - aka me! Glad you liked it. Lovely boat :-)
Well done Dave very professional job.
Your videos on ownership and the practicalities of canal boats are really superbly made, you are putting your journalistic skills to great use, they are informative and enjoyable to watch.
Thank you :-)
Right Guest + Right Interviewer = Cracking Good Vlog. (In the States but picking up a few phrases - although this one from Wallace and Gromit.)
81 videos in having had to restart from episode 9 as my wife is now watching it. and we are both loving every minute. This series is the best narrowboat liveaboard journey on TH-cam.
That's extremely kind and I'm glad you're both enjoying the videos 😀
Great info here David...thanks for taking the time..Jack
I live in the usa. I had no idea what a narrow boat was but I find the idea fascinating I live in the open plains so the closest big water source I have near me is the Colorado River. I think it would be neat to give it a shot. I guess this is similar to the people that live in rvs here and travel the long open roads here in wyoming
Another brilliant vlog!
Cheers
Very good vlog David. This method would certainly help people decide if they should go onto full ownership.
"Emergency cup of tea" haha, so British :)
Great vlog m8.
A mere lack of tea is practically an emergency in itself!
CruisingTheCut Absolutely. Enjoying my first cup in 2 days. Ran out of Tetley and had to fix the car before I could get out and buy some. Nightmare !!!
again this is one of the best boat video series i've ever seen be it on TV or internet. You're bloody good at what you do mate, really enjoy the videos!
Awww, thanks
Having watched this video and some further research we have just purchased a share of a narrowboat from BCBM and cant wait to spend our week afloat. Thank David for the info in this video as helped us greatly with our decision
A really interesting video, thank you! I've previously said I wouldn't want the trouble of owning a boat (even if I could afford it!), but managed shared ownership is worth serious consideration.
This is very exciting. I will have to show my husband this video. A few weeks on a narrow boat would do us good!
Haha, that's it - you're going to do it, aren't you?! :-)
Carol it's a great holiday.
Lovely as always and beautifully presented. I always look forward to your latest vlog.
Ta
very interesting vlog. food for thought. think i will look into it abit more.
Brilliant. What a great idea and a stepping stone to full boat ownership. Thanks to schemes like this, it makes it much more affordable and more accessible for those of us wanting enjoy the canals but who don't have the ready access to funds or a loan to buy a boat outright.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers Nick
We have a share in a BCBM managed boat, but it’s a boat on the Norfolk Broads, not the canals. So far we think it’s the best thing we’ve done. We have four weeks allocation per year (one week per season) and our annual costs are less than the equivalent of a week in summer on a hire boat. We are missing out on our May allocation because of the Covid-19 lockdown, but we did manage to get an extra week on the boat last November as another share holder decided at short notice not to take their week and offered it up to other members.
In sum, syndicate ownership is something I would recommend, and we find BCBM very professional.
Unbelievably helpful along with the WiFi episode. Thank you David. Took over my 12th Share in Minuet today
Fantastic!
Giving this some serious consideration as it is cheaper than saying in a hotel, plus love the idea.
Hi David and Barry. Well done on another great video - what a pro! Barry, you summed up shared ownership really well. We hired, then shared, then recently bought our own boat, as we're now retired and would like to spend more time cruising. Shared ownership gave us a lot of valuable boating experience and some excellent holidays. BCBM is a great management company and the "Dawn" series are lovely boats. Enjoy your holidays, all sharers out there!
Cheers Julie
Thank you Julie.
Thank you for your efforts. I find your video's strangely addicting. Perhaps since they are so honest (unlike the evening news), and so well presented. It's like having a friend show me around. I'm in the US, so it gives me great insight into life there in general, and a peek into a lifestyle that's hardly known. Again, thank you. "cheers" as you say. Please... carry on.
I shall! Thanks for watching :-)
Never been cheering for Spring to come in the UK until I started watching your videos. Good to see you survived the winter and I look forward to watching all summer. Best wishes and smooth cruising.
Cheers Bill
I'm so very impressed with your channel. You really have a gift for film and commentary. I'm American and have visited the UK several times. We dream of owning a narrowboat and cruising full-time for a year or two. We're planning to take our first step with a two week Scotland holiday on a narrowboat on the Union and the Forth and Clyde. We want to take our time. Anyway, I love your channel and have watched every single episode. Thanks for all your hard work. Cheers.
Thank you for watching and those kind words, much appreciated. I hope you have an amazing time in Scotland. Cheers
As ever David you make what could be a fairly complex issue incredibly clear & understandable. I'm sure there's a career for you as TV reporter somewhere / some time !! Ha ha !!
I bought a share in a narrowboat last year. Best thing I ever did. No way I could afford a boat of my own. My 1/12th (4 weeks) share cost me £1500 and I pay £100 pm as my share of costs (insurance, licence etc). Compared to about £1000 pw to hire it's great value. It's amazing that although you only own a share, when you're on it, it does feel like your own boat. Great bunch of people in my syndicate which is 'self-managed'
Excellent! Nice to hear another happy co-owner story. Cheers
Why do you think shares are so much cheaper than renting? Is it that rental companies are stocked for high season and have low utilization in the off season, so a few months of operating has to pay for the whole year's costs? Or that rentals are more likely to get beaten up and require more maintenance, similar to the way some people drive rental cars? Or is there some barrier to entry for rental companies that doesn't apply to a shared boat?
Sadly I have come to the end of watching your current 81 blogs, keep up the good work
More soon! Cheers
This sounds like a great idea especially for people maybe thinking of buying a boat in the future but don't want to shell out for a whole one for now. Sort of the next step up from having a weeks holiday on one.
Having owned two boats outright in the past, I'm an established co-owner on Dawn Treader. In my opinion there is little advantage to owning outright unless your able to cruise at least two or three months a year, or have very deep pockets. It's a chore if you sole own trudging to it regularly enough to keep the damp at bay over winter when you can't use it. A syndicate boat is more likely to be used and kept "aired". BCBM provide a service to check it and as necessary provide "trace heating" if it's not used. Boats in my experience suffer more from "standing idle " than being used by caring owners with a good maintenance provision.
It's great if you want to take the same holiday every year, on the same boat, especially if you want more than one week a year - but hiring allows you to take a bigger boat if you want to bring friends, or visit another part of the country, or another country entirely. As usual, flexibility costs extra.
Lovely video! Keep it up, want to see you out and about on your boat this summer!
Coming soon! Just hope this lovely weather holds :-)
Well done & informative as always
Thanks Ken
My favorite channel. Thanks for posting such great content!
Thank you!
Great video, really enjoyed the tour of the boat. I have a couple of questions for you: 1. Have you fixed the horn on your boat yet or are you leaving the old one? 2. Have you thought about replacing the front lamp with an led light bar to give you much better visibility? and possibly placing a few small led lights along the sides to help with tunnel guiding and nice lighting when you're moored up.
I have reinstated the original horn and yes I have replaced the old tunnel light with an LED one. I also keep a portable LED floodlight at the back now, for tunnels. Cheers.
Your videos make me want to live on a narrow boat even though I live in the USA. Early in USA history, we had a canal system for transport of goods too. Many barges were drawn by horses. Too bad they were not maintained and used like you do in the U.K. Of course, the winters are more severe in many areas where they were used. Seems like a great life. Nice video as always.
It is a lovely life, especially now the sun's started shining again. Cheers!
We have buyoues in Louisiana where boats can travel.
Thanks for that. This could be the ideal way of enjoying some great holidays on the canal network. Been looking for a boat we could actually own ourselves for quite a while now but “She Who Cracks the Whip” isn’t keen on the idea of buying a narrowboat. It takes 100% agreement and commitment to sell up the bricks and mortar to have a new lifestyle change. Looks like I’m going to be busy hauling through the companies who market these schemes. It’ll have to be a spanking clean, not necessarily new boat but has to be a clean and well maintained and managed boat for us. Downside could be we own a dog who we love, he would have to be part of the deal. So thanks again for posting this Vlog. It was very interesting.
Some syndicates allow dog owners some not, all the ownership boats I have seen have had a high standard of cleaniliness and repair, as the costs are shared between owners it often means that jobs are done as they are noted and hte boat constantly looks nice. so I hope you find what you are looking for
I am envious of your video skills well done
Thank you!
Thank you David and Barry as well. I knew this existed but knew very little about it and the key seems to be an efficient management company that attracts the right owners as in their case it all works and yes Barry hit the nail on the head the boat is well maintained and cleaned after each owner uses it.
Another good, informative vlog. I like your style of interviewing/reporting.
This was such a cool video! As someone in a previous comment said, this seems like something we Americans (sadly without our own canals at home!!) could take advantage of! More personal research needed on our end for logistics. Thanks for this informative video!
Glad it was useful! Yes, it works if you know you want to take such a holiday regularly each year. Otherwise just a standard hire boat might work better. Lots of options!
Ohio had at one time a thousand miles of canals. Sadly the longest stretch left is 44 miles. It's used mostly to share water now.
Very few spots left as ponds and not connected anymore. NY and PA might have tiny stretches.
So sad that we don't have more canals! Thanks for the info!
Perhaps you can instigate a canal revival in the US. The reason many of our canals still exist in Britain today is because of the dedication and hard work of people to restore many of the canals that fell into ruin and disrepair after the industrial revolution.
Century22 The Erie Canal currently has approximately 350 miles of navigable waters and is part of the Great Loop, a 5,000-7,500 mile circuit extending from Florida to Canada and utilizing canals, lakes and the Intracoastal Waterway.
Hi, I live in Detroit, Michigan, USA and have recently found your vlog's on narrowboats. I have just finished watching all of your videos and have so much enjoyed them. I wonder if I could ask a question, I watched your vlog on your master plan for this summer and curious to know if you ever would have plans to go up to Wigan. My Mother was born there and it has been more than 50 years sense I was there. No doubt it has changed and would love you to do a vlog of that area. Please keep up the vlogs, I know I speak for a lot of people when I say they are so enjoyable and we all look forward and wait patiently for your next adventure.
Thank you! I don't have any plan to get to Wigan this year (at least I don't think so; I must confess I'm not entirely sure where it is!), sorry.
Pretty sure Robbie Cumming did a little bit about Wigan on one of his vlogs over the winter if you are interested - think it was only a flying visit though.
This is a great way to find out if the boating life is right for you. I imagine some folks would do this share system for a while, and then decide to retire to a boat. The Dawn Treader IS a lovely boat. And I still say that England is beautiful even in dull weather.
:-)
I think this is an excellent solution for someone who can not / does not want to live aboard. Sharing something with someone less neat, tidy, meticulous, concerned with things, can surely proof to be a problem, but having mindlike shareholders on the other end can surely (as said) add to the joy of sharing and saving!
Nice video. Really informative! Keep up the good work!
:-)
Interesting video David and a lovely boat. Btw I watched all of an enthralling 1 minute 45 second car advert first so that's perhaps a tea bag on me.
Haha, well done!
This was really interesting and Barry seems like such a nice guy
He and his family were lovely!
Ooh I have a question! Do they allow pets?
That is a good question! Don't know.
Also can they sub-let?
CruisingTheCut yes boats do allow pets. check out www.bcbm.co.uk for all details.
I really like the layout of the share boat featured
I'm seriously considering this option as I am nearing retirement. And, as Jim below has mentioned, we Americans get the boot after six months, so perhaps a two or three month share might work well for me.
Good objective reporting, love it.
Interesting and quite a thorough job of documenting both the boat and the process of sharing. Maybe one day you'll be selling boats !! Nice touch, too, getting an Irishman up on TH-cam just in time for St Patrick's Day. With my last name being Dougherty, that pleases me !
Haha, excellent! I've been toying with offering a video boat-selling service through my channel...
:-)
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
Great solution for many.
Yep never thought of shares. might well look into this as well. Good vid 👍
:-)
Yes very good we have the same thing here on the broads , not something i would like to do but it works for those who do thanks David ...
166 thousand subscribers...good job Dave..
"Sinking Fund" is an unfortunate name.
Nice to see another video :-) Hope you good mate..
Did my back in a week ago lifting the anchor very awkwardly but otherwise fine!
Ouch!...Know how that feels..
where do you anchor your boat on a canal? i know about tying it to metal rods.
You don't anchor, you tie up to the side using ropes, chains and mooring pins.
I believe this is similar to a common form of aircraft ownership, at least in the US, with the exception that they don't live on the plane for weeks on end. I don't know how the legalities or taxation are treated in the UK, but a group of people with their pilots licenses owning an airplane as a corporation allows them to split expenses and deduct depreciation.
I think it's similar over here
A former work colleague of mine owned a share in a narrow boat, this was many years ago. He said it worked very well and his thoughts and comments were the same as yours and Barry's. It is something I would seriously consider as well, as like Barry we don't live in UK!
I wonder what a typical number of shares there are in a boat? Sorry if I missed that detail in the video commentary.
You didn't miss it - appparently there's all kinds of different ways it can be divided up, I don't think there is a "standard" number of shares.
OK many thanks, a great video as always.
Dawn Treader is divided into 12 x 4 week shares and one 2 week share, this leaves a two week downtime for winter maintenance to complete a 52 week year. Within this there's a agreement that no one owner can buy more than 8 weeks in order to avoid them "buying out " the whole boat.
Thank you for that information
Well, this looks quite agreeable and tempting. Even someone in the U.S. could buy a share in a narrowboat, and come over on holiday once a year. The prices mentioned seem very reasonable, especially for a two week holiday in England.
Thanks for another informative, and well presented video.
Cheers
Food for thought!
They also do this with airplanes in general aviation.
What a brilliant scheme. Will definatley suit my family (we live in Poland). Thanks for all the information - we will investigate further. Super film David.
too bad the US is so far from England...I'd love to I've this a go , yet I know I'd want my own boat pretty much from the start... that's just the kind of girl I am😏 are you ready for your big upcoming trip,David? it looks to be really interesting. 👍.can't wait for the fun to begin😊
It's not that far! They've invented these terrific things called aeroplanes, you know... ;-)
Good to know, might consider a share for myself. Since the US has fewer canals, and almost no narrow boats that I know of. Would be a lot less costly, besides I could go on holiday in a narrow boat in England! Great Idea!
For completeness I must mention you can also just hire a boat if you simply want to try it out; shares work best where you know you'll return to it over several years.
Good point. Yes I think I would love to maybe try it for a good while, but you're right, maybe a hire first... Cheers and God bless
Thanks!
I love the Tag line "Live Life In The Past Lane" HA great line!
Very nice and it tells me that maybe being able to do the narrowboat experience might not be as difficult as I imagined. The price Barry paid and the maintenance dues are attractive and quite reasonable. I'd have to factor in air fare from Hawaii, but otherwise it looks like a nice way to do things.
Crikey, that's some journey!!
I can top that, we are hiring for the first two weeks in April from Norbury, and we live in Australia. This will be our third and perhaps final hire as we are buying a boat next year! Great job on the vlog, We have developed a narrow boat addiction and watch your vlog as our "fix".
Shared ownership makes sense if you're going to do the same thing every year, but if you're likely to only do it occasionally, hiring is probably easier and cheaper. It's roughly £1-2000 per week, depending on the size of boat and whether you go during the school summer holiday.
Congratulations on your impending purchase!
Great vid as ever CTC. I totally understand why folks do this, owning a boat outright is a large investment. I'd be interested in what cost difference there is between hiring a boat for 3-4 random weeks of the year against a similar share. Hiring a boat can be reasonably inexpensive if you hunt the deals, especially out of season and compared it's a very straight forward process.
I think it would very much depend on the time, as you say, and how many weeks etc. There's a point where each method works best for that level of use.
Great video & appears to be the answer to my "what to do in early retirement" question.... Whilst I suspect the answer is "depends on the rules of the syndicate", are you allowed to make your week available to friends, when not making use of your week personally?
It would, as you, say, depend on their rules. Without checking, I'd guess it's unlikely.
Not usually. Most don't allow it because the other owners in the syndicate wouldn't know the friends and therefore would be uneasy about letting unknown people use it. Although ownership is shared, all the owners have invested in the boat and take great care to look after it.
What a good arrangement for people who cannot live full time on a boat but still want to enjoy the life or get their feet wet so to speak about narrow boat living. Looks like lovely weather on the canals. We just had a blizzard. Arrgh😒
Glorious sunshine here today ;-)
I am green with envy. Just in time for St. Patrick's day. Ha!
I nearly bought an ice cream, it's that nice ;-)
Your killing me 😵😭😲 Full snow gear just to take the kids to school this morning!
That was a well put together bit of information 👍. For Barry - of course everything is a compromise but......do you not find it a bit limiting to be restricted to a small area of the network - essentially 2 weeks away from base?
Hi Norman it's what's works for us.
got a couple of questions, David. 1) do the current shareholders have any oversight into who is trying to buy in when a share comes up for sale? 2) what happens if a current shareholder defaults on the monthly maintenance fees?
Good questions to which I don't know the answer. I hope Barry might step in here at some point.
Hi Ron. There is a syndicate agreement to which the new owners have to agree and sign up to. The monthly accounts are sent to all syndicate members so everybody is aware of any non payments.
Nifty how the maritime flag signals spell BCBM on top of the roof. Might be an idea for your own boat. Yours would spell CTC, obviously. Great vid as always.
I like that idea!!
A sinking Fund, how very apt. lol
I did chuckle too
interesting.... would be a pain to unload your stuff when switching
Yeah, treat it like a holiday home and just pack clothes / toothbrush I suppose!
Another great video. I was please to see a bow thruster.
Thank you.
I didn't see anyone else ask this, so here it goes: if a shareholder can bring guests along, is there anything stopping him/her from recouping some or most of his/her cost by charging guests for the experience? That owner would still be there to skipper the boat around the canals. I'm picturing it like a Bed & Breakfast operation on a Narrow Boat!
Loving the videos; there is great creativity of topics and wonderful production values! I can't wait for the next one. When will you be contracted by BBC America for a whole onging program series?!
Cheers!
There would be a Canal and River Trust licence issue, there would also be an insurance issue and I suspect the share contract would also prohibit charging guests. There are boat B&Bs but not operating like this. Cheers!
I don't think your suggestion would be suitable to shared ownership.
Hello Gents, great informative videos David, thanks. Wrt moving about, what is the 'norm' for shared ownership? I would think one of the most enjoyable aspects of canal boating is exploring so how is this managed and who has 'the last word'? Are you locked into one canal or radius or do owners agree a cruising schedule and if so, how? Thanks
I'll wait for Barry to chip in on this one, I think...
At the AGM the syndicate members decide where on the canal system they would like to move to and then vote on it. The management company provide a list of marinas that they have agreements with. Hope this answers your question.
Yes, thanks.
Where has your boat been in the last few years, Barry? Just roughly.
Based in Nantwich Cheshire and then Down south to Wigrams Turn and now back to Audlem.
I always wondered how these worked!
Very interesting.
Please do a video on Crusiper GRP boats as they fit more people budget :) thank you and love the videos
I do have a plan to do a GRP video but it'll have to wait until I've finished cruising now.
Does the boat have to be returned to the 'Home' marina after each time it's taken out? If so does this mean you end up cruising the same stretch of canal each time? Another great vlog by the way.
Yes, however a shared boat owner our syndicate moves the boat every 1-2 years to ensure we have a new canals or routes to to visit
Not on all boat schemes
If we had known you were at crick we would of waved lol
Great video and interesting to see different ways of ownership :)
I'll be coming past again soon, wave next time!
CruisingTheCut we sure will :) we're facing the cut :)
how do you know which boat mr cc is in?
I'll be on the back, steering!!!
very interesting
This is what I'm thinking of doing
I love the fact that the co-owners are all in communications with each other. A kind of community of sorts. I suspect there are the occasional stresses between some people, hopefully things that can be worked around. I would have loved to get involved with something like this, if flying from western Canada wasn't so badly expensive in itself. Though, now I wonder if there is quite a few people from outside the UK that get involved with shared ownership.
The sooner someone invents teleporting, the better...
Heh, ya but if star trek is anything to go by, think we'd be willing to live with the associated problems that come with such a thing? :)
We once sold a share to a Canadian couple who used to fly over for three weeks every year in March.
:-)
How many weeks depends on how big a share you buy. Cheers
Watching again 6 months later.
Was about to make the same comment about the “sinking fund” - for want of a better way of putting it.
I’m so predictable 😳
Predictably funny 🤣🤣
🙂🐿🌈❤️
As a citizen of the USA, the elimination of the UK’s special “retirement visa” made stays of more than six months virtually impossible, so Narrowboat ownership has also diminished in practicality. I expect ongoing changes in your immigration and visa arrangements with former EU partners is causing headaches for closer neighbors who’d like to invest in a liveaboard boat on your canals as well. Perhaps this is a solution. Are there any shared boats with, say, two owners only... with the allocated shares divided into 6 month blocks, matching the UK’s current visa limits? Obviously the initial shared cost of the boat and the monthly maintenance fees would need to be a lot higher, but the longer periods of use would permit much wider travel on the network and a Narrowboat experience more like being a sole owner.
Interesting idea but sadly I don't know of any.
Along those lines, if a boat is launched with ten equal shares, say, is there anything stopping someone from buying more than one of them?
@Steven Rix No, it's generally allowable and then that owner gets a proportional extra time on the boat each year.
That looks like a great thing that's offered over there. It's be interesting. Do they have anyone to teach you how to run the boats in the canals?
There are a handful of training companies, yes. Many people just get on and have a go though (to varying degrees of success, alas)
they probably start by driving the boat slowly.
You never drive the boat fast even when you're experienced (or shouldn't). Life on the canal is all about taking it slow. The 4mph limit is rarely reached. 2-3 is more typical.
What about "un-sold shares"...? can you rent a week or ad an extra week to what you've already been allocated or picked out of the hat, as it were.
so if you already have a week, as a share owner, can you get additional weeks from the hat from un-sold portions/leftovers...?
Apparently, yes.
Dawn Treader is fully owned so there are no "unallocated weeks". If an owner is unable to use a week they have then it is offered to other members on a "first come first served " basis. ( 'though I believe BCBM do keep an eye to things to avoid anyone taking unfair advantage on the syndicates behalf.) Therefore there's a potential to get "free weeks", with only the "turnaround " charges to pay. It's my understanding that our boat insurance prohibits use by "non-owners ", so hiring is not possible.
This is correct from Harry, if an owner is unable to use a week it is offered out to the rest of the syndicate. With regards to the weeks which are unsold in the new boats, we uses these for promotional opportunities. Each syndicate has a syndicate agreement in this it stipulates it can not be rented out for financial gain, this also invalidates the insurance. A shared ownership boat is purely for the use of the owners. Thank you
What a fascinating video, very informative. Regarding the canal fee..is a yearly pass fee split among the shareholders?
I think that gets covered as part of their monthly fees
@@CruisingTheCut All part of the annual contingency fund as Dave says.
Well isnt this just #@$@#$ peachy...... I stumble across this channel, get completely hooked, run through 81 vlogs in about 5 days............... and now there are none left to view. GAH! Now I have to wait!
Haha, and worse still, the next one won't be until a few days after I start cruising later this week so you've got at least a week's wait, probably more. Watch 'em all again!
I do want to go back and watch a few to bookmark them for future reference. It has been a real pleasure thus far. Enjoying prepping for the summer, will there be a spring shakedown cruise? Oh, and one other question. Humidity on the boat, I know you have spoken about condensation from time to time, but how do you manage it normally?
I open the windows as much as possible and use extraction fan above the stove. Yes, I start cruising later this week so loads of vlogs will follow very soon!
there are lodes of narrow boat channels , i just made a play list of the ones i've missed this last month and had 50 videos!
I haven't see you actually open a window yet. :/ Was wonder how they operate. Some look like sliders, others appear to tilt out.
Very Interesting. in terms of layout, I prefer yours….
I love all your videos. I sub again because I have a new phone. but i am so happy to be watching. I live in upstate NY USA. I am trying to move overseas. can you recommend a paper or website for listening in a decent community or land. How much is a pound compared to the US dollar.
I discovered your channel about two months ago and have now seen all of your episodes. I very much enjoy them particularly Christmas dinner. After about ten of them I wanted to follow along so I went to Google earth and selected the Waterways to view but hard to see since you have to zoom in quite a bit.
Then a week ago I saw you hand draw a map of your planned tours for 2017 which was almost clear so I went online and found this website www.waterexplorer.co.uk, which shows the entire UK waterway network and which allows you to enter an origin and destination then calculate the route. It also provides distances between points, the number of bridges and locks between each and the distances in miles. I thought it would make a great visual for your videos to visualize better than the pencil maps.
i did that with the yelvertoft marina.
great video . i myself live in itrland and am looking to buy a share in a narrow boat what is the best way for me to go about this . thanks
Peter go onto www.bcbm.co.UK and have a look at shares for sale.
i have a 20 foot cabin cruiser in the rep of ireland and i would love to get a narrowboat but there are many around over here if i was to go to england how much would i have to be prepared to pay to buy a basic narrowboat .
Best if you watch these three videos in sequence: th-cam.com/play/PLa9px3O5n5hBuRMvBaiPeBW0ANApuL7Bg.html
thank you i will do when i get time cheers happy saint patricks day .
Many Happy returns Peter.
great idea, it flings out more options for people with an interest in canal boating.
me, however prefers the hiring out at the local hiring company as its close by to where i live. i just completed a weeks hire for first time, had a few bumps and scraps and didnt get as far as i planned, but i thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to do same next year.
oh, i also bumped into some private boats that were parked in a designated turning point near bingley....and people have a go at us hire boaters lol....by the waterways bylaws, they shouldnt have been moored up in the winding hole.....according to google earth and street view, they have been moored like that for some years......so its my turn lol.....humph....private owners ;)
It's infuriating when people moor in or across the winding holes, I agree. Bizarre that they've been there for years. Did you have a word with them? (can be dodgy doing that sometimes, depending on the people of course...)
no we didnt bother exchanging words, we had already been told to move on by another private boater with him claiming we was too close to his boat....we was over 50 - 100ft away from his boat.....we was losing light fast and all way down rest of area was all shallow throughout to and passed the winding hole. so as we'd had to turn around that night as we had to get passed micklethwaite road bridge, then moor up close by but not on the bridge mooring point, making sure we was still in deep enough water but making sure we left room for boaters using bridge.
i did however tell the hire company of it all, and they even agreed that it was their fault for mooring up in the winding hole.
Crikey, I'm not sure I'd have moved on. Outrageous! Unless he was likely to cause aggro of course. What a shame your time aboard was spoiled by idiots.
them minor bits didnt really spoil it at all, all in all it was very good and educating to say the least.
at first handling was a struggle, specially with strong currents and drifting. we got grounded a few times & drifted to point our boat made a bridge across the canal lol....but we pursued onwards and having a few pints after the long days as our reward.
its good to have a 'holiday' where your actually doing things and putting muscles to work that you hardly work before......definitely doing it again next year. :)
Excellent!
That just answered some of my questions.🇦🇺🇦🇺👍👍
:)
Interesting, thank you......
:)
Suggesting a follow up to this video. As an Australian who can only stay 6months of the year on a visit visa, renting a boat for 6 months sounds appealing but very expensive. I have seen companies online that manage boats and rent them long term cheaper than hiring. However there are dodgy companies making suggestions to get around canal regulations and some who appear good firms providing such services. I know you are very busy at the moment, I thought this would make a very interesting video for your oversees viewers like me who would one day like to tour the canals over an extended time.
ps. I know some suggest just buying a boat and selling it, but that has its own issues too.
Hi. You're absolutely right about there being people and companies who are hiring boats without the correct insurance, safety and licences etc though I believe there's a bit more of an effort to crack down on them now (to what success I don't know)
As a fellow Australian I know he curse of sitting on the opposite side of the world and wishing for this life. Especially since we don't don't have any canals that I know of.
@@bsmith2053 Your not the only one lol
What happens when it's your turn with the boat but the person before you leaves it in the devils armpit of nowhere? Is there an agreement that you vacate the boat in a pre-agreed area of the country? Or is it a case of "oh,we're in Shropshire this week then"
It has a home mooring so I presume it gets returned there.
The boat has an agreed, required ( by CRT ) and significantly expensive base mooring. This is where the boat must be returned to for turn around maintenance and cleaning at the end of your week (s). If as occasionally has happened, ( eg. due an accident or sudden change in availability, ) BCBM have a network of highly capable boaters who can be called on to assist . Part of the AGM is a vote on where the boat will be based for the following year. ( This allows for a change of cruising routes when desired.)
Do the owners ever agree to hand over in other locations, to extend their touring range?
Robin Bennett Yes with prior agreement remote hand overs can be arranged. It may even be possible at associated marinas where turnaround maintenance can be easily accommodated. The biggest difficulty with this is probably arranging transport for owners back to collect vehicles and luggage.
Hi Barry, have you cruised the Irish canals? How do they compare?
Hi Robin. yes we have extensively cruised the the Irish canals and the River Shannon. Hence we are now in the UK.
I wonder, could you do a survey or investigation to find out or make a list of the most reliable engines for these boats? Thanks in advance, Steve.
Not sure about most reliable (and it will depend on proper servicing of course) but Betamarine seem almost to be the default choice these days.
Oh dear, that is quite confronting... I spend much more on a GRP sailboat from the 80ties and spend a few weeks on the water and worked a whole lot longer the past 4 years. Just my marina / Shed fee is 3 times as much.... Ouch.
:-)
People do shared ownership of sailing boats too, although usually only 4-6 owners for boats in the UK. Seems like a great way to sail a bigger boat than you could normally afford.