BOATERS BEWARE

Comprehensive research and a eye for detail may help you avoid the pitfalls when purchasing a boat but buyers will still face challenges, says liveaboard Emma

Winter is often a good time to start looking at boats, if you are considering buying one. The canals are quiet and most of the holidaymakers are waiting for spring.

We started looking for our narrowboat for many months before we bought it. We looked at online adverts and visited various marinas. In that time my mum and I did a lot of research to help us decide what boat to buy. There are often different issues to consider if you are looking to buy a boat to live aboard or whether you are considering buying a boat for leisure use.

But the one thing everyone has in common when they buy a boat is that it is only time before something goes wrong. The saying can be summed up with BOAT, or break out another thousand. I am not saying this to be negative about boat life but to illustrate that you need to have a robust attitude if you intend to buy a boat.

Most owners will rave about how great their boat is and how beautiful the canals are, but when pushed a bit further will also be able to tell you about the breakdowns, inverter and battery failures and fouled weed hatches.

So I thought I would tell you about some of our times things went wrong, how we overcame them and the amazing people who have helped us survive our time on our boat.

Our first experience of things going wrong happened early on in our boating life. We looked at a boat that we really liked, put a deposit down on it and arranged to have it taken out of the water to be surveyed.

We then discovered a number of problems with the boat, many of them because it hadn’t been maintained very well. After many discussions between the surveyor and our broker we decided to pull out of the deal, due to the many outstanding issues. This is why it is important to get a survey done before buying a boat.