Running costs

I will attempt to estimate the running costs of a boat like the Queue-E-Too. I read somewhere that when working out the running costs of a boat you should take your best estimate and double it! This probably is very true.

When buying the boat I really never took account of things like the Mooring fees or the Craft Licence. The craft licence is a bit like the road tax on a car. It allows you to use British Waterways navigations and all the locks, bridges and facilities on them. You are supplied with a key that fits all electrically operated locks bridges and other facilities. The current charges can be obtain from Britishwaterways.

British Waterways, Willow Grange, Church Road, Watford, WD17 4QA
Telephone 01923 201 120
enquiries.hq@britishwaterways.co.uk

The charges are based on the length of the boat, for the Queue-E-Too at 40' the current cost (2001) is £387.96 if paid up front and £419 if done over 10 instalments. I expected that any boat I bought would have some licence left on it so that I'd not have to worry for a while. This was not the case as the previous owner paid by instalments so I had to take over the payments from day 1.

Mooring fees vary enormously depending on where the mooring is. Marinas are more expensive than canal side moorings. So it is really up to the individual how much they are willing to spend. Marinas will offer more services such as shore hook up electricity. There are generally other boat related services available at Marinas such as boatyard, gas, diesel, clubhouse, etc.

The British Waterways mooring at Bramwith for the Queue-E-Too is £582 per year (2001). There are no services available whatsoever except a tap. Again the previous owner paid by instalments so I had to take over this from day 1.

Moorings can be difficult to come by so a bit of research on the availability locally would be time well spent. In my case as the boat was sold from the mooring I was able to take over the mooring too.

However these things I did not expect to have to find money for immediately so were not budgeted for. The residue of the charges until renewal for QE2 was £503.

So if we assume 1 pull out a year with blacking and service the fixed costs for QE2 for 2001 would be:

Item

Cost (£)

Insurance

TOTAL

Consumables must be added to this such as diesel, gas, ropes, fenders, repairs and renewals etc. These will vary from boat to boat. This is a significant amount of money and does bear consideration before embarking on buying a boat.

So having done all this you are now ready to cruise!

I will be adding any information I can find on actually using a boat on the canals as I come across it. Like navigating locks, swing bridges, etc. Plus how to avoid the mistakes I am about to make!