Would I buy a brand new narrowboat ?

One thing that cruising a distance in limited time provides is opportunity to talk. We have been fortunate to have owned three and a bit (the bit was a shared scheme) narrowboats in our boat ownership lifetime as well as hiring a few more. We got to chatting about "would we buy another boat" - no, but thats a small word for a long consideration.

I guess in life aspiration is a positive, it gives focus and milestones of achievement. It feeds ambition  and satisfaction when aspirations are achieved. So it can easily be seen as mean to challenge or question the pursuance of many peoples dreams of buying and living on a narrowboat. But we are where we are, we have got a lovely boat and we have recently had the opportunity to explore on it and refresh out view of the canals and the system in general.

... and thats why I'd not buy a six figure sum asset that is a depreciating asset but more critically is reliant on another asset that in my humble opinion is declining and more concerningly after the last three months has a poor prognosis for on going maintenance and repair.

The C&RT is still being funded by the government but in the future will be expected to stand on its own funded by boaters, commercial income and donations. All three are going to be under considerable pressure to keep delivering the ££'s which are needed to keep the system 'flowing'. Again in my opinion the C&RT does not need to have boaters on its complete system, walkers will still enjoy the towpaths as will cyclists and anglers even after the essential assets on canals (locks, bridges, dredging, vegetation etc) have failed and rendered the canal unnavigable.

Thats a pessimistic outlook but based on what we saw - especially on the Cheshire locks, and experienced with leaky gates, out of service paddles C&RT are not performing not even in the present regardless of the challenging future. Now I now there have been massive challenges when it comes to staffing around the pandemic but other organisations have managed, even prospered as it provided opportunity. The same opportunity for maybe surveying planning and getting on ( all socially distancing 'friendly')  the works needed on the system while it was in effect closed.

I get it that the world is working around different approaches and challenges but the bottom line for organisations like C&RT and assets like our canals is they are not 'essential'. So when it comes to who gets the money and how they get it C&RT are going to be in a real dog fight to get what is needed to keep the system open.

So no I'd not be buying again, I'd not discourage anyone following their dream, thats how I have my boat but I'd caution go in with eyes wide open, do the due diligence not only with respect to the asset you are buying but the asset you are relying on that in the main you have little influence  on how its is managed (other than paying the licence fee etc)