Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 8:55pm

Hi Ive seen there is an ex hire narrowboat on eBay, its 54', just the right length for us! What are peoples views on ex hire boats? I would think they'd have been looked after and maintained pretty well, at regular intervals too I suppose.......any advice gratefully received!!!

Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:05am

Without reference to the Ebay add it is hard to comment.Would it be Chirk Castle?. In general ex-hire boats from a REPUTABLE fleet will be as you say and indeed my own boat is an ex hire boat BUT! You will have to expect the interior will be tired and perhaps knocked about a bit with dents and scratches in the wood. My boat was 10 years old when we bought it, this one is 21 years old and after 21 years in hire use and with no knowledge of how well the hull has been looked after OR its original specification (funny that - no hull spec in add - draw your own conclusion) you could easily be looking at a having the hull replated. It is good reason that many insurance companies require a hull survey when the boat reaches 20 years old - could this one have failed the survey? I am very wary of anything on Ebay so please take great care. You MUST get a survey done on the boat and I do not see how you can do that when the boat is in an auction unless you survey it before sale and risk being outbid thus wasting perhaps 400 to 600 pounds. Normally you would agree the sale and pay a deposit "subject to survey" so you can back out of the survey finds major problems or negotiate a reduced price. I have no idea about your financial circumstances but I think you must plan on having at least another 11000 pounds available to have the hull over-plated if necessary but only survey can tell for sure. Take great care, there is a reason its on Ebay and that reason is not likely to be in the buyer's best interest. It is vital that you visit the boat before making a bid. Tony Brooks