What will it cost to make your dream of living aboard come true - is it a cheap ‘housing’ option? Jane Hendy-Jones looks back on her experiences and gives a rough tally of what you might expect.

This is an example of the type of general enjoyment, life & style feature you will be able to find regularly in Canals & Rivers magazine's LIFE & STYLE SECTION

‘Lucky old you - no nasty household bills. It’s a cheap way of life, isn’t it?’

All liveaboards will have heard this. We even say it to each other, a reassuring mantra – but what’s the truth? What’s the real cost?

Costs clock up from the moment you get over-excited at the thought of living on and owning a boat and realise you can just about afford it, since boats can be found for virtually any price you care to pay. You could get a second-hand one of a sort for a couple of thousand but check that they have useful things such as engines, or indeed any fittings or guarantees at all. (By the way, ‘pre-owned’ boats tend to cost more than ‘second-hand’, since it’s a trendy phrase!). You would probably need to be slightly insane to consider one of these rock-bottom bargains to live on.

As a rule of thumb, to live aboard, allow at least 45ft of boat and less than 70ft.  Don’t jump into a wide-beam boat or one of over 70ft unless you want to limit the waterways you can navigate. 10ft width into a 6ft 6in wide lock will not fit however hard you try (and please don’t).

Look at the adverts
Look at the ads in magazines and on line for pricing. A brief look at one web site found ready-to-go-boats such as £23,000 for a 1980 40ft cruiser; £39,000 for a historic 1928 boat (shortened and modernised in the sixties) through to £89,950 for a 45ft x 10ft ex-exhibition wide beam inclusive of delivery. Prices vary widely according to the style, condition and type of vessel, just as house prices do. Research, research and research again to narrow the search down to something you feel happy with.

In reality, you will rush to the nearest brokerage and see several craft well within your budget. You will then proceed to buy a totally different boat costing twice what you can sensibly afford and thereby commit yourself to slave labour for fifty years to pay off the debt.

Let’s pretend that you’ve gone for 60ft – it seems to be a popular choice. Its purchase price: £60,000. Cost so far: £60,000.

Surveys
Sound as a pound? Maybe not. Time to get a survey. You could just rely on the safety survey certificate (it has one, hasn’t it?) but that won’t tell you a huge deal. Like a house survey, a full survey will tell you stuff you may not give a damn about (peeling varnish on one window frame etc.) but it could reveal something of much more importance such as a severe thinning of metal on the underside. Survey costs will be in the region of £300 plus around £200 if you are lifting her out of the water. Cost so far £60,500.

Insurance
Before you disappear into the great blue yonder with your purchase, you need to get it insured, just in case (and in order to get a licence, you can’t get one without cover in place). Note that some insurance companies will insist on an out-of-water survey. Expect to pay about £175 or more for a 60ft for comprehensive cover and third party liability. Contents are a separate issue. Add on a possible £100 a year for them. (An odd aside: Saga will cover your boat or your contents but not both together...) Cost so far: £60,975.

Licences
If you intend to use the British Waterways extensive network, you will need one of their licences. Expect to pay about £600 for a 60ft boat (12-month licence). Other waterways and the rivers will have their own licence costs and you must pay for each that you intend to use – some do provide short-term usage licences. Cost so far: £61,575.

Moorings
Unless cruising continuously around the waterways, you will need a mooring. No, you cannot just leave it on the canal bank. There are strict regulations about how long you can stay anywhere. You may have a private arrangement with a philanthropic landowner who likes a boat to be at the end of his farm to look pretty – but you still have to pay BW if you are on their network. This will be around £20 a metre (BW have gone modern and obey the European directives). That’s about £6.10p a foot, £365.85pa for the 60ft of water you are displacing. (A pound a day in your piggy bank will save up for next year!).
Quite likely, you’ll opt for a marina mooring for a base. Roughly speaking, the closer you are to London, the higher the mooring fees (and the scarcer).

In the Midlands, look to pay about £30 a year per foot: for a 60 footer, that’s £1800. (Check you can live at the marina). Residential mooring is often defined as being on board more than four days a week on average. Cost so far (assuming a marina mooring): £63,375. You may have also to pay for parking a vehicle or an extra vehicle. This could cost about £20 a month, £240 a year. Cost so far: £64,775. We haven’t even floated your boat yet and it’s costing about £4500 above the basic cost of the vessel already. Still keen?

General running costs
Chugging on a bit, let’s take a notional look at a year’s running costs. You’ll need to repeat the licence, insurance, mooring and parking fees. Annual so far: £2,915. Out on the cut, you’ll need diesel. Aah! Big sigh of relief, it’s cheap diesel (no, you can’t put it in your car). Price varies, but will be around 54p a litre. To fill a narrow boat tank up will set you back £120 or more. Ouch – but it’ll seem to last for ever. Let’s say 6 months if you’re running your engine a lot. So twice that for a year: £240. Annual so far: £3,155.

For warmth in winter, gather logs for a woodburner (cost around £400 plus depending on size). Invest in a battery bank (cost £100 each for really good long-lasting ones) and inverter (look at £1000 to cope with most eventualities). You’ll probably fall back onto electricity if you are in a marina, if not for heat then for washing or drying. So let us say your electricity costs will be £10 per month for the hook-up and your usage about £10 a month. Annual so far: £3,395.

There should be little difference in your food bills. You may buy more fresh food or smaller packs if you have limited chill and freeze facilities. (Average size freezer about £500 for a boat). You could invest in a diesel cooker (£expensive). If, like many you use gas (rules on its use and storage are tightening up all the time), expect to pay about £15 a 13/15kg bottle. If you use bottled gas to create your hot water, you’ll probably get through a large cylinder every 2 weeks. Annual so far: £3,785.
However you cook your food, it’ll create two lots of waste. Bagged rubbish is straightforward and free to dispose of. Your personal waste may not be. For a pump-out, you’ll pay about £10 to £15 once every fortnight. – let’s say £350 a year. Annual so far: £4,135. Water at present is free – though that may not continue. And don’t lose your British Waterways key – you’ll need it to unlock the water points on your travels as well as BW pump out stations and so on.

Engine servicing
Another annual charge will be the servicing of your engine unless you’re a clever clogs who can do it themselves. Expect around £130 or so for this, plus any parts needed. Dry docking (£150 at least as you can’t get it all done in a day, and a pressure wash for about £40) and reblacking (do it yourself, about three large tins of head-swimming bitumen paint from £6 a pot) will need doing every two or three years. At that time, you may well need new sacrificial anodes. (Not a burnt offering to placate your marina boss, but protection for your hull). Your boat may need four at a cost of about £30 and with a £40 charge for fitting them. Average cost per year so far: £4,368.

Safety certificate
Every four years it’s safety certificate time. This is like an MOT for a car only more expensive and covering more items. (It does not cover mechanical fitness - your boat could be as safe as houses but break down the next day). The immensely variable cost of this certification could be about £75 or the rough equivalent of the national debt! A surveyor who can suggest safe acceptable alternatives to buying expensive safety solutions is worth his or her weight in gold – or should that be brass? Let’s say it will average out to £200. Average cost per year so far: £4,418. Diesel engines are not as awkward or as prone to breakdown as flighty petrol engines, but if they do, it can be costly. It could be cheaper to get a new engine for an old boat (unless you are attempting to preserve a classic engine). Pay around £5,000 for that and a new gearbox - we’ll just hope this one never happens to you. All told, it’s true that the bills don’t come through my door every month. They arrive at the Sorting Office instead! (Cost: £54.00 a year and my shoe leather). At a total cost of £4,472, or about £375 a month, just don’t forget the old adage- a boat is a hole in the water that you throw money at!

RESOURCES
· Browsing for boats; www.apolloduck.co.uk
· British Waterways information@ www.britishwaterways.co.uk
· Recreational information: www.waterscape.com
· Boat Safety information: www.boatsafetyscheme.com
· Insurance: Saga. Get a quote on: 0845 302 0210
· Engine: Thornycroft.: www.thornycroftengines.co.uk