Useful Advice

Useful information for Boat Buyers

The New and Used Boat Co are one of the countries most established and experienced retailers of both new and pre-owned narrowboats, widebeams and Dutch barges. Originally set up with the intention of providing a contemporary retail experience to narrowboat and widebeam buyers, we are now able to offer the same level of service to Dutch barge customers. If you are looking to buy a narrowboat, widebeam or Dutch barge the New and Used Boat Co should be your first port of call, with offices at Blisworth, Northampton and Willington, Derby we are ideally placed to service the needs of our customers wherever they are based. Each office carries an extensive range of new narrowboat and widebeam demonstrators together with a selection of specially specified stock boats available for immediate delivery. The Dutch barge demonstrator is currently located at Willington.

The New and Used Boat Co is proud to offer an extensive range of Narrowboats and widebeams from Aqualine marine and the Hanbury Range, available as fully fitted narrowboats, fully fitted widebeams and as sailaway narrowboats and widebeams for completion by the purchaser. The sailaway narrowboats and widebeams are available in various stages from a basic weather tight hull with engine, insulation and windows fitted, through to lined out sailaways and onto “sailaway additions” which include inverters, bulkheads, central heating, plumbing and electrical tails etc and can be either fully painted or just primed. All in all a really cost effective way for the competent DIYer to get a narrowboat or widebeam on the water. For more information on the ranges that we carry please click here; www.newandusedboat.co.uk/new-boats-narrowbeam.php

If you are looking for a pre-owned narrowboat or widebeam the New and Used Boat Co carries an extensive selection both at the main sales offices but also some are available from the home moorings at various locations around the country to see more details of the current selection available click here; www.newandusedboat.co.uk/used-boats.php

The New and Used Boat Co offers a professional brokerage solution to both buyers and sellers of narrowboats and widebeams. Selling a narrowboat or widebeam is a major undertaking and using a professional narrowboat or widebeam brokerage service can pay dividends both in terms of the price achieved and also the speed with which it sells and anyone considering selling a narrowboat or widebeam on brokerage would be well advised to contact Richard Scowen on 01604 859376 or richard@newandusedboat.co.uk to discuss the options New and Used Boat Co can offer.

Of course a good retailer not only sells you a narrowboat or widebeam but is also there to support you both through the buying process and beyond and this where the New and Used Boat Co has an enviable reputation. With its own in house warranty and engineering department we are able to offer a solution to most problems whether they be minor warranty repairs on a new narrowboat or service requirements on a brokerage boat we can either sort it out or on the rare occasion we cannot we can put you in contact with someone who can restore your narrowboat or widebeam to fully functioning condition. You may be interested to know that there is a breakdown service for narrowboat provided by River Canal Rescue which is best likened to the AA for narrowboats, click here for more information; www.rivercanalrescue.co.uk

For purchasers new to narrowboats a short training course may be helpful and we have found over the years that the RYA accredited courses offered by Terry at TR Boat Handling and Ray at Trent Boat Handling seem to meet the needs of most of our customers, more info can be found here; www.trentboathandling.co.uk and www.trboathandling.com

Once you have taken the plunge into narrowboat or widebeam ownership you will need to consider things such as insurance and there is no better company to speak to for narrowboat insurance than Collidge and Partners, a long established family owned insurance company that understands, narrowboats, widebeams and Dutch barge insurance requirements inside out, click here to find out more and get a free no-obligation quote with the added benefit of a 10% discount on your premium and free RCR membership, what better way to protect your new narrowboat.

In order to legally navigate the inland waterways you will need to licence your narrowboat or widebeam with the relevant authority, normally this would be British Waterways but there are a few other licensing bodies such as The Environment Agency and private entities such as The Lower Avon Navigation Trust. You can find licensing details from the two main narrowboat licencing authorities here; www.waterscape.com/things-to-do/boating/licensing or here; www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/recreation/129910.aspx

You will need to consider where you are going to keep your narrowboat or widebeam and we are always able to help source a mooring for a narrowboat or widebeam bought from us, we can provide both narrowbeam and widebeam moorings through our outlets at Blisworth and Mercia details of which can be seen here;  www.blisworthmarina.co.uk and here; www.merciamarina.co.uk
Alternatively we have a network of contacts throughout the inland waterways network and can also help with moorings in many other locations, for more information on moorings for your narrowboat or widebeam try looking here; www.waterscape.com/things-to-do/boating/moorings

Maintenance of you narrowboat or widebeam is vital to ensure enjoyable and trouble free cruising, for advice or assistance with any matters of this type please contact our Engineering Manager Ralph Davidson on 01283 707357 or Ralph@newandusedboat.co.uk  who will be pleased to advise you on anything connected to narrowboat or widebeam maintenance. For spare parts, accessories and chandlery for your narrowboat or widebeam you should look at our online chandlery store at www.bayswatertrading.co.uk for an outstanding choice of boating equipment and chandlery at competitive prices. Once a narrowboat or widebeam is four years old it will require a Boat Safety Scheme Certificate, details of the scheme can be seen here; www.waterscape.com/things-to-do/boating/boat-safety if you would like to talk to somebody about the Boat Safety Scheme Chris Williams of Ovation Boat Services is definitely a friendly face and a mine of information, he is also Gas Safe registered, www.ovationboatservices.co.uk

Need to try before you buy, your new narrowboat or widebeam, we are pleased to be able to offer demonstration cruises on all the narrowboats and widebeams we offer for sale, just call the offices on either 01604 859376 or 01283 707357 to make arrangements. For those who would like to try a widebeam for a longer period The Puddlings is a young hire company operating a boat supplied by us. Owned and operated by a lovely couple Rob and Brigitte who will be pleased to discuss what they can offer, contact them here www.puddling.co.uk

If you want to discuss any aspect of buying or selling a narrowboat, widebeam or Dutch barge, please do not hesitate to contact us; www.newandusedboat.co.uk/contact-us.php