Vlog 77: Going for Broke(r)
What’s it like to go out shopping for a second-hand narrowboat at a brokerage? In this video I accompany a viewer, Paul Bush, on his journey to ABNB at Crick (where I bought my boat) and chat with him as he looks over two possible canal boats.
See also Paul’s YouTube channel – “Let’s Explore”
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMPKsycGQ3sFbfAXpbrXhWQ
ABNB website
http://www.abnb.co.uk
Hello David…I’m a new viewer, but over the past 25 years, my wife and I have had several several narrowboat holidays. My advice to Paul–and I assume that by now (2026) he has taken the plunge and bought a boat–and to any other prospective buyers who don’t know what life on the Cut is like, I would suggest that they hire a boat for a couple of weeks ang give it a go. We have hired from several renters, and have had mostly good results. I have to admit that I have been (mostly) a lurker on a Canals email list, which resulted in making several friends most of whom are still in touch.
Our cruises were mostly of the ‘Ring’ variety. the first was the Warwickshire Ring, in a clockwise direction, so the Hatton flight was known about, but well worked up to. We started in Warwick, where the rental firm supplied a person to show us the ropes, and how to work a lock. he then kissed us goodbye, and left us to it. A bit of a disclaimer: I am a retired Navigation Officer in the Canadian Coast Guard, and relatively experienced in the handling of relatively small craft, so I wasn’t worried about steering, and I can vouch for the value of the advice I received from my friends on the Canals List. The boats we hired were a variety of lengths, and our cruises were usually about 2 weeks in length, and around a 100 miles or so, with the exception of a one-month cruise from Stockton top Lock on the GU, down to London into Limehouse Basin thence on to the Thames all the way to Lechlade, back to Oxford, then up the South Oxford to the GU and thence back to Stockton. Most of this was done by my wife and I, but we were joined from time to time by my cousin and his wife who were still working at the time. Our shortest cruise was of one week, from Falkirk Wheel to Edinburgh and return. this was done with another couple.
Sorry to have rattled on so long.
Phil
PS we live on the East coast of Canada
Hi Phil, thanks for the comment. Yes, Paul bought a boat and then later sold it and bought another but I haven’t kept in touch with him unfortunately so I don’t know where he is now. Your advice about hiring first is spot-on. Cheers, David
Hi David, just one question on the 230 v fridge, when out cruising would that use a lot of battery power? and are you looking at doing a detailed vlog on electrics?
Modern 230V fridges can be more energy efficient than the boaty 12V ones but because they’re mains voltage you have to run them through an inverter and inverters not only draw a little power themselves, they are also inefficient (about 85-95% efficiency). Hence they will draw more power than the 12V versions.
Just curious, what was the asking price for each boat?
I can’t remember but the boats are listed on the broker’s website, the link for which is in the video description.
very good! that pub was closed when we called in to ABNB, so stopped at motorway services on route to Dtoitwich Spa. Nice to hear the Lister engine at the beginning of your films again David :)
Motorway services?! Oh dear! The Moorings is very pleasant.
Interesting!!
David, having had your boat for a while now and gone through the seasons, would you do anything different, or is there anything missing on your boat you would have liked from day one etc…? Different design/age/layout etc??
Yes – but too much to mention here :-) I’m intending to do a vlog about it at some point, where I design my “ideal” boat based on what I’ve learned…