Buying a narrow boat gives you the freedom to cruise the canal network at your own pace and enjoy the UK countryside. When you have purchased a narrow boat you will meet like minded people who too our enjoying this unique life style, you will also meet holiday makers who are enjoying a canal holiday.

Many people buy a narrow boat and use it just for leisure purposes, but many others decide it’s a life style choice and they sell their homes to start a new life living on their narrow boat

Whether you use your narrow boat for leisure or as your main dwelling there are things you need to know before you buy. In this article we are going to high light some important facts for you and if you need more advice please do give us a call. In this article you will find links to other blogs you may find useful if you are considering buying a narrow boat.

What type of Narrow boat will be best for you?

Before you buy you need to ask yourself a few questions. This will help you decide on what type of narrow boat you buy.

Once you have the answers to the above questions you can start looking for your new narrow boat. At our marina and at Whilton marina we have 120 narrow boats for sale at any one time, the stock is ever changing and if we don’t currently have what you are looking for we will do our best to find it for you.

By registering your details on our website we will be able to email you narrow boats that match your requirements


Using the search option on the website you can narrow down the search results and only the narrow boats you are interested in will be displayed. You can search by boat name, boat type, length and price.

More important points you need to know about

What’s the Boat Safety Scheme?
The boat safety scheme is run by The Canal and River Trust and the Environment Agency. It is a designed to help prevent fires and explosions on boats using the UK’s inland waterways network and to protect property’s by the waterside.

Just like a car has a MOT a narrow boat needs the equivalent, this is the Boat safety certificate or Boat Safety Scheme Certificate (BSC or BSSC). Before a boat is given a Boat Safety Certificate the boat needs to meet certain requirements. When you come to buy a narrow boat you need to ask if the boat has a valid certificate and if it doesn’t we encourage you to have the boat checked before you buy.

Your boat safety examiner will check the boat and if there is any work that needs doing before he can issue the boat with a passed certificate, he will give you a list of the things that need fixing before he can sign off the boat. Once these issues have been fixed the boat safety examiner will re-inspect the canal boat, and if everything has been done, the boat safety examiner will issue a new BSSC, which is valid for four years.

Since April 2013 there has been a new look BSC. This means that all participating navigation authorities have access to the BSS online database to double check the boat’s certificate validity.

Take a look at the Boat Safety Schemes website for more information

Do I need a Boat Licence?
Yes – if you are buying a narrow boat you need to get a licence from the Canal and River Trust, unless you are mooring your canal boat offline.

Finance
There are companies you can approach for marine finance and for those choosing to borrow smaller amounts let’s say around £5,000 many people approach their local banks for a personal loan. Marine Mortgages tend to be used for purchasing boats with a value of £3,000+ and can normally be up to 70% of the value of the boat. For more information on narrowboat finance, contact Royscott Larch.

On-going Costs
We wrote an article about this already so check out this blog for more information

Moorings
You are going to need somewhere to moor your new purchase and depending on whether you need residential moorings or leisure moorings this will dictate how easy this will be to obtain. In this article we cover different types of mooring options

If you would like more information and help our marina is open 7 days a week and our experienced staff are always available to help you. Alternatively view our website for more information and the narrow boats we have for sale. Making people’s dreams come true is what we do best. Buy your narrow boat for the very best broker on the canal network.