Narrowboat Starcross

It occurs to me that this section has become rather lengthy over the time I’ve been writing it, so to begin with here is a very quick summary of the costs of boat ownership as I have experienced them:

• Boat Licence  2009/10 (12 months)  £602 with prompt payment discount.
• Mooring (non-residential): £1780 per year for on-line, non-towpath incl car parking and rubbish disposal with BW water point/elsan disposal nearby.
• Insurance: About £100 per annum
• Boat Safety Certificate Work: In 2006 – £560 but nothing more to pay for next four years.
• Bottom Blacking – About £400 – every 2-3 years
• River Canal Rescue – £128 (with discount for being a NABO member)
• Servicing – £150 per annum

These are the bare facts – for more information – and some additional costs – please read on!

Although I had wanted to buy a narrowboat for many years I actually had very little idea of what ownership actually involved, or how it compared with hiring or shared ownership. Having now had the experience of boat purchase and over five years’ ownership I feel I can offer a little advice and guidance to other novices. Starcross was originally fitted out – and used – as permanent accommodation, but I use her exclusively for pleasure cruising. I also have a full time job which means that my boating is confined to weekends and holidays. The following information, therefore, is presented from that particular standpoint.

1. First find your boat.

This should really be “First, find your mooring” for reasons explained below, but most people will start by choosing a boat and taking things from there.

In a way I cheated here, as I had the great fortune to have a good and trusted friend who just happened to selling a boat that I knew and liked. I knew he was a good and trusted friend because I once bought a second-hand car from him – and it did several miles before breaking down! (Luckily he had similar problems with the one I gave him in part-exchange). Seriously though, I was dreading the prospect of finding a boat from a dealer or brokerage as boats are a cross between houses and cars – with all the pitfalls of second-hand purchase of both those things combined. Of course, you may be in a position to consider buying a new boat, but if you can afford that then you don’t really need to read any further!

The price of boats varies with age and length. There appears to be little depreciation as the rising cost of new boats seems to drag the price of second-hand ones up with it. For many years the guideline for new boats was “£1,000 a foot” but this is now an underestimate. Second-hand boats do come in considerably cheaper than this and a glance at one of the many pages of advertisements in any of the waterways magazines or websites will soon give you an idea of how much your dream boat is likely to cost you. Don’t take the asking price too seriously though. There are lots of boats for sale and, like houses, sellers are usually open to offers.

2. Get a Licence

To keep your boat on the waterways you will need a licence from the relevant authority. “Starcross” is kept on the canal system, which is administered by British Waterways (BW) -  the last remaining nationalised industry (or “public corporation” as they prefer to be called). The cost of your licence will vary according to length and there are discounts for advance payment. The current rate for a 50ft boat is £630 per annum if paid in one go.Prices for other lengths are here.  Paying in installments costs more whereas payment in advance attracts a 10%  discount. However, licence fees rise annually, on 1st April each year, at a rate well above inflation. This licence allows unrestricted use of the canals, and those rivers controlled by BW – principally the Severn, the (Bristol) Avon, Yorkshire Ouse and the Trent. It does not include the River Thames, the (Warwickshire) Avon, or the East Anglian rivers controlled by the Environment Agency.

3. Get a Mooring

In order to get a licence you will need a mooring agreement. This is effectively the rental of a berth in a marina or a piece of the canal bank where you can leave your boat on a permanent basis when not in use. Both sorts of moorings are available from BW or from private operators. The mooring is perhaps the biggest single expense and the most difficult thing to come by for boaters, although the recent development of a number of large marinas has increased the supply and thus made it easier, if not cheaper, to find a place to keep your boat. Although lists of moorings are available from a variety of sources they may contain very few vacancies. Readily available moorings are likely to be either very expensive or perhaps rather undesirable, but finding one is not impossible if you persevere.

When we bought Starcross she was moored on a BW towpath mooring on the Stratford Canal. BW now auctions off its vacant moorings e-bay style and there is more information available by following this link. Private operators also provide both on and off-line moorings. You may see a boat advertised “with mooring available” but you should always check with the mooring owner (not the boat owner) whether this is the case. When we moved Starcross to our current location it was  easier than expected. We responded to an advertisement on the BW website . One piece of advice, as a result of my experience, is not to treat waiting lists too seriously. Whereas every boatyard or moorings operator may claim to have a waiting list, don’t forget that every boat in need of a mooring will appear on many lists. Operators therefore presumably get fed up with contacting people who have appeared at the top of their lists only to be told that the boater has already found another mooring and forgotten or not bothered to take their name off all other lists. They are therefore quite likely to offer a vacancy to a new enquirer provided that they can take up the offer at short notice, as we did.

The cost of a mooring for a 50ft boat can vary from £800 for an on-line towpath mooring with no facilities up to £3,000 for a top of the range marina berth with all mod-cons. Lowsonford cost us about £900pa and offered car parking, water and rubbish disposal. Norbury Junction, which is still on-line but on the more secure non-towpath side works out at about £1,800pa for similar facilities, albeit with three years “canal inflation” which is different to normal inflation! . Like licences, mooring fees rise each year well above the rate of inflation. Mine went up 10% last year.

Since moving from Lowsonford to Norbury Junction we have become aware of a number of advantages of mooring at a boatyard, and one disadvantage. The biggest benefit of being at Norbury Wharf is that there is always someone on hand to attend to problems and to undertake repair work. This became apparent at the time of the Boat Safety Certificate renewal when we found we needed the services of both an electrician and a gas fitter. At Lowsonford, we would have had to find these separately and then arranged time off work to be present when work was being done. At Norbury Wharf, Simon arranged for his staff to do the work and, as we have left him a key, he was able to get the work done without bothering us. No doubt we pay for the privilege (which is the disadvantage) but, on the other hand, we save the cost of driving 140 miles each time something needs doing as we are able to leave a set of keys with Simon, who is happy to bring the boat down from the mooring if it needs any work in the yard.. How important this is for you depends on a) how near you live to your mooring and b) how often you think you’ll need a tradesman or engineer to attend to your boat.

If you can’t get, or don’t want a mooring you will have to convince BW that you are “continuously cruising” and take advantage of the rule that allows you to moor anywhere for up to 14-days. However, under this rule you must progress around the network and can’t just shuttle between two places. This is not really an option for someone who is not able to spend the majority of their time on board.

4. Get Insurance

You’d want to do this anyway, but you’ll need it to get a licence. Its not expensive. I pay about £100pa. with full no-claims bonus.

Having got the boat, the licence, the mooring and the insurance you can, at last go cruising! However, there are a few other costs to budget for -

Boat Safety Certificate: The equivalent of an MoT for a car, although concerned more with the safety of internal systems such as gas and electrics rather than brakes and steering! You will need a new certificate every four years and without a current certificate you won’t be able to renew your licence. Your insurance company and probably your mooring provider will also want to make sure you are certified “safe”.

To get the certificate you will need a test undertaken by an appointed examiner. The test costs £95+VAT but, of course, you’d be very lucky to get away without having any work done, particularly as the requirements are often updated. Like most other boating costs this one is due to rise sharply in the near future. Starcross’ last certificate cost us £567 (but this should be taken over four years). To see what we needed to have done follow this link

Regular Maintenance: Like any machinery, your diesel engine will need a regular service – at least once a year. Expect about £150 at a boatyard assuming there’s nothing major wrong with it, although many boaters do it themselves to save money.  Every two years or so you will need the bottom blacked. The cost of this varies according to whether you do it yourself or have it done for you and whether you hire a dry dock or have the boat craned out. A boatyard will charge about £6 – £7 a foot plus the cost of the dock or the crane and, of course, “plus VAT”.  We’ve  had Starcross done twice so far, once by a boatyard using a crane which came to £600 and, more recently at Norbury Wharf at a cost of £412.50 for the blacking and £100 docking fee.

Rescue Service

My mechanical knowledge and ability is very limited and I don’t have the confidence that I could fix anything other than the most basic technical problem. I was therefore very pleased to learn about River Canal Rescue which offers a range of levels of cover similar to that provided to motorists by the likes of the AA or RAC  from £55. We have only had to call them out three times so far. Once  when we ran out of diesel, not exactly a “technical” problem but without them how, exactly, would we have brought 25 litres of diesel three miles by road from the nearest garage, without a vehicle to carry it in? The second occasion was when the engine overheated due to a coolant pipe becoming detached. I could see what had gone wrong and might have been able to successfully re-attach it, but I was very grateful for a qualified engineer to come and ensure that it was done properly and show me how to bleed the system afterwards. On the third occasion we were not so fortunate as the problem was greater than they could fix, but they were able to give us useful advice on how to get the boat back to base and what to do about the problem.

One Off Items: As all machinery ages, the cost of running it increases. Starcross is 18 years old and beginning to show its age. So far, we; needed to replace two ropes (£10 each), the pump for the domestic water system (cost not known – there was a spare on board and Hugh fitted it) the alternator (£111),and  the firebricks in the coal-fired stove (£20?). We’ve also bought a (very) small 12v fridge (£40) to replace the fitted gas fridge that wasn’t working when we bought her and a radio/cd player (£22) to replace the fitted one which we didn’t like and which used a lot of battery power. Another  problem was with the engine cold start. We needed new switches and relays and, together with a mechanical job to ensure the cabin doors could be secured the cost came to £113.

Last time I had the bottom blacked I opted to get the tunnel bands, the red and white curved areas behind the counter, repainted, which cost £85. I also needed at new bottom rudder bracket at £125 including installation and some repair work on the exhaust at £102.50. Inside the cabin, the flue pipe of the coal-fired stove needed replacing, as did the collar (where the pipe goes through the roof) which was cracked and leaking. I also asked for the stove itself to be looked at as the bolts holding the glass door in place were stripped and we were having to use fuse wire to hold the glass in. A previous owner appeared to have had a slight accident with the stove, which had resulted in scorching around an area of the ceiling and this was disguised by fitting a wooden cover and brass collar trim. The whole job on the stove, including 9 hours labour and VAT came to £443.65.  As I had had this work done at the same time as the bottom blacking, painting, exhaust and rudder repairs the total bill came to over £1200.

By 2008 the cabin paintwork was looking decidedly shabby and the rust around the windows was getting worse:it was time for a repaint. I had the job done at Canal Transport Servicesat Norton Canes on the Cannock Extension Canal. The job took them six weeks and cost about £6,500 but that did include blacking the hull, which would otherwise have had to be done the following year.

Running Costs

Most of the cost of boat ownership is “fixed cost” i.e. items such as licence, mooring etc which don’t vary with use and which you therefore incur whether or not you actually use your boat. The running costs themselves are very low, being limited to :

Fuel - this is gas oil – commonly referred to as “red diesel”. Canal boaters pay a lower rate of tax and duty on fuel as these are only levied at the full rate on fuel used to move the boat. Diesel is also used to generate electricty – and in some cases for heating – and this use is taxed at a lower rate. Its up to individual boaters to declare the different proportions when buying fuel but HM Revenue and Customs suggests that a 60/40 split is reasonable. In November 2009 the basic price for fuel at Norbury Junction was 56p a litre to which must be added about 53p a litre duty on the 60% “propulsion” element, making the actual price 86p/litre. Its all a lot more complicated than it used to be!  Boat engines are very economical and Starcross’ new engine seems to have settled down at about 1.25 hours per litre – which is tyhe usual way of measuring fuel use on the canals. Gas – This is only needed for cooking and hot water on Starcross and we get through about 3 cylinders a year at about £21 each.

Electricity – for lighting, fridge etc is provided from the batteries which are charged by the engine. Whilst there is obviously a cost here in extra fuel used I am unable to quantify it and therefore ignore it. In April 2008 the batteries that power the “domestic” systems (lighting, water pump etc, needed replacing. There are two of them and they cost £75 each. I also paid for an hour’s labour (£35) for the boatyard to fit them and dispose of the old ones, but that was just laziness on my part – its an easy enough job).

Coal – Starcross has a solid fuel fired stove which burns coal and smokeless fuel which you can get from boatyards or garages. The stove also burns wood, which you can pull out of the canal for nothing! Over time the condition of the flue and chimney deteriorates due to the gasses emitted by the fuel. There are other “consumables” to budget for including a replacement chimney from time to time (about £40) and we recently managed to break the glass in the stove door and a replacement was another £15 or so. Its important that this work is not neglected as coal fired stoves produce carbon monoxide, which can kill you if its not vented properly. I have therefore fitted a “Fire Angel” CO detector (about £25) and a smoke alarm (£12).

The only other costs involved in using the boat are those associated with getting to and from it (by car or public transport) and items such as food and drink – but you’d be buying those if you stayed at home. The ratio of fixed to variable cost is a great incentive to use the boat as often as possible and so bring down the average cost per trip by spreading the fixed costs over as many days afloat as possible.

How does it compare with hiring?

Undoubtedly, if all you want is a fortnight’s holiday on the cut every year you should stick to hiring, which will also give you a choice of boats and starting places. Just taking the licence, moorings and insurance adds up to over £2,000 per annum for which you could choose from a wide range of hire boats for a fortnight in high summer. What you can’t – or at least don’t – do without your own boat is to enjoy the ad hoc weekends or even days afloat (which can effectively cost you almost nothing) throughout the year. We also sometimes use Starcross as a “country cottage” – i.e. just using her for overnight accommodation whilst exploring the local area on foot or by bike, without actually taking her off the mooring.

In our case, we feel that these extra trips more than justify the high fixed costs and, in particular, the ability to have a boat trip at a day’s notice if we feel like it outweighs the cost.

Expect the Unexpected!

In August 2007, Starcross suffered a major engine failure. I was quoted £1500 (as a “guess”) for a repair and advsied that the engine was in a condition whereby I might like to consider a total replacement. lopted for a new Isuzu engine which, fitted and working came to £7,800 – but that did include a “Python Drive” flexible coupling, which has been fantastic in cutting down noise and eliminating vibration throughout the boat.