Plan Z.

Rob " Do you want to come over for dinner Friday?"

Jemma " I thought you were moving Friday!?"

Rob: " Oh yeah, about that....."

Oh yeah, about that!!

The house we were going to rent which
backed onto the canal.

So, its fair to say we are all over the place with this decision of ours to buy a boat. It's not as easy as it sounds. Buying a boat isn't something you can just jump into. First off, you have to consider space and how your going to fit all those belongings you have accumulated over the span of your lovely life. Realisation 1: We are going to have to downsize, i.e toss, sell, give away most of our precious possessions. That's OK, they're just materialistic things- whats next. Right, where are you going to keep it? We went over that last blog. Next, how much can we afford? Sure, your first thought may be that a boat costs nearly half as much as a house does- cheap right-, but what you don't know is that a boat mortgage is very different than a house mortgage. With a house mortgage your allowed to borrow for anywhere up to 30 years- spreading that beauty of a debt over a long period reduces the monthly payments big time. With a boat mortgage, your payback term is 10 years max! Another jollie is that with most house mortgages you can get away with putting say 10% down, with a "marine mortgage" a meagre 25% deposit is required. YAY! But its OK, we're selling a house so we're ok there (I hope) Now, whats all this jargon about engine size, anodes, locks, cratches, battery management systems, inverters, pumpout or cassette toilets? Blimey- we're going to need to take a course before we even think about seriously buying a boat. I won't continue to bore you, but can you see what I mean? This is a BIG decision.

We were never naive to the fact that it was alot to think about, in fact we thought it was going to take longer than it did, hence the reason why we were going to rent the house on the canal for the summer while we took our time looking for a boat. We had it all planned, references checked, letting agency ready to hand over agreements- then the words" but what if.... but what if we don't rent the house on the canal and just move straight to a boat", just as I finished packing most of the kitchen up into boxes ready for our move the following week. Typical male thing to do. But I knew where this was going. While the buyer of our house was around finalising a few bits, he did subtly suggest that he would let the house to us once he bought it until we found a boat, an idea I laughed hysterically at. Rent my own house!! You lunatic. Well, look who's the lunatic now.... We decided eventually that it would make more sense to stay put until we found a boat rather than deal with all the hassle that comes with moving only to just move again very soon after. This is plan Z. No one, hardly even our selves can keep up with it all. But the decision is made, the letting agents told and the hunt for a boat in full throttle.

Sleep Hollow

So shopping... my god it's exhausting. I hadn't even had the energy to post last weekend as all of our time has been spent driving up and down the country stopping at all the marinas along the way. There have been some lovely temptations, and some that were no where near what we are after. Truth is, buying a boat is ALOT harder than buying a house. There's just so much choice out there and not one boat is alike. You create a list of what you want in a boat, but it seems you can never find a vessel that ticks all the boxes. Some may tick a few, but will miss out on that one big one. For instance, we fell in love with Sleepy Hollows rustic kitchen with dark oak counter tops, vintage old diesel cooker and a walk through bathroom (which is a preference of ours that's not always easy to find). However, she lacked in seating, storage and when we researched those diesel cookers we found they're not so favourable among fellow boaters.

When we walked aboard Dignity, the in-our-price-range wide beam, the space was superb- no compromise there! But alas, there was much work needing to be done and being at the very top of our price range, we wouldn't have the funds to give her the TLC she needs. Another favourite of mine was a dutch barge that looked like she was set up for some kind of boating interior design magazine. She was gorgeous. Picture a Manhattan apartment, but inside a boat. There was of course, one small issue. The bathroom was in fact a "wet room". For those of you who don't know what that is, a wet room is a room where there is no separate shower unit. The floor is completely even with the toilet and a drain somewhere in the middle. Yuck. Just think about this for a minute. How are you meant to feel clean when your shower has a toilet in it???! would you put a toilet in the bath with you? I just can't get on with them. Shame, she was almost perfect.

Little Mel

Then there was Little Mel. Something about this boat just felt like home when you walked on board. Her paint was spotless and a classy dark blue. Walking in from the bow you entered the lounge which was fitted out with a custom made L shaped sofa. Now I must admit, there's not much room for furniture on boats and some that we have seen are just terrible. No comfort just stiff upright cushions and if anyone has come to our house before, they will know we currently have one of THE most comfortable couches on earth. No joke. Memory foam cushions, a down pillow scatter back and a depth that  just consumes you. It's heavenly to say the least. So when it comes to sitting areas, Rob and I find it a little hard to find something suitable. Little Mel however.. they got something right, her sofa was just perfect. Moving on from the sofa was the dinette booth. We love the built in booth which are raised up so you can look out the windows at the ducks while eating your dinner. Then there was the kitchen, which was nice. Nothing exciting but tidy, clean and not lacking in storage. The bedroom had a cross bed which we have decided is a MUST on our check list. Most boats have a fixed bed that is smaller than a standard double. Now - we struggle for space as is in our queen bed. I can only imagine the bedtime wars that would go on in a 3/4 bed. No way. Sleep is uncompromisable. So Little Mel ticket that box too. In fact, she ticked alot of boxes.

After seeing Little Mel, nothing we saw after compared. She was the right price, and the right fit out. We decided... lets make an offer!! Oh the excitement, oh the stress! I knew she wouldn't stick around for long. We weren't the only hunters roaming the marina grounds that weekend and every one of them had their eye on the same prey as we did. Competition was high, and in the end a cash buyer claimed the prize. But... our spirits weren't dampened too much. We knew that our boat was out there somewhere, we just have to keep looking.

And look no further we must! Friday we drove up north to Doncaster and to http://www.nationwidenarrowboatsales.com/ where we were greeted by a lively chap called Stan. He was a funny man, cracking jokes from the onset. He showed us to the boat that brought us up that way initially and left us to the owners for a tour. I know boat owners are proud people, but they were really really proud of this boat. You almost felt guilty looking, not wanting to give the impression that you didn't absolutely love their boat and that it wasn't just perfect for you. It wasn't, but we did admire their passion and we got to hear some pretty interesting canal stories from their trip around the system.

Patricia

After we kindly said our goodbyes to the owners we headed back to the boat shed office and back to the jolly man called Stan. Stan was in no rush to sell us a boat. One thing we have learnt along this journey is that boat sales people are different from any other sales people out there. Not once did we ever feel like we were being "sold" anything, just simply shown to a boat and guided around. Stan in particular is a very different sales person. We spent more time just having general banter than we did scrutinising the boats. He showed us some average boats, some new but too expensive for us boats, a boat with a very tempting price but in need of lots of TLC, and then he showed us Patricia. He casually took us aboard as if we wouldn't be at all partial. So I was almost confused when I absolutely loved it! Maybe it was the paintwork that made him think we would be put off? She is painted in maroon- which any boater will tell you is a BIG mistake. Maroon paint has a certain pigment that rapidly fades in the sun. This three year old boat looks at least 10 years old. However, the inside, the inside is another story. Everything on this boat more than suites our taste, and the price suited our budget. We had a good tour through, then had one last viewing of some others and headed over to the pub for lunch and to talk business. I already knew from Rob's face that this was going to  be our boat. I let him get on scribbling away all the costs, questions and concerns he had to discuss with Stan.

After lunch, we headed back to the office and Rob went over his scrap paper notes with Stan. We asked him what offer he would go in with and he wrote down a figure that pretty much matched our thoughts. We decided to try our luck and offer £43,000.00, hey you never know. She's going for £47,950.00 so it was a fair call when he declined the offer. Stan told us to ride the wave and call back tomorrow with another offer. I was a little nervous now as we had already lost a boat from right under our noses last weekend, and Patricia had really won my heart, but something about Stan made me feel comfortable that he was really on our side and when he smiled and said- don't loose no sleep over it Amy, I knew she was going to be our boat. The next morning, we put in an offer for £44,000.00 and negotiated to £44,200.00. She was OURS!  My neighbours must have thought I was mad by the way I was dancing in the garden.

 Wow, so we have ourselves a boat! We are just beyond excited and with summer almost hear, we hope to be enjoying her in the sunshine come July. Now to get ready. We need to book a helmsman course so we know how to actually handle the 20 tons of steel. An EBay account has been set up and our furniture up for sale. Car boot boxes have been sorted and charity shops, friends and family can have the rest. Soo much to do, but such a glorious cause. Watch this space!