Planning
Making your narrowboat dream become a reality takes a lot of discussion, and plenty of planning. There are often many questions (some questions are new to the builders themselves). Coupled with a long lead time (approx. 12 months), there are many options to choose from as well as planning the layout of your boat.
If you're working to a budget make sure there's some headroom just in case you see something you like along the way!
TIP: Look around at several dealers and boat builders. The relationship you build with them is key to making your dream a reality. Its not just about the finished product and its not always a smooth ride, as we experienced!
The Wish List
This is our original list of "must have" items:
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No shorter than 57 feet long
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Reverse layout (bedroom at the front)
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Cruiser Stern (large rear deck)
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Solar panels
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Extra leisure batteries
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Water and Fuel gauges
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Bow thruster (helps you move the front of the boat)
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Cross bed (sleep across the width of the boat)
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Navigation Lights (requirement for river / night cruising)
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Internet connected
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Internet connected TV's (saloon & bedroom)
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Media server (DVD's, music, etc.)
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Full shower
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On-board toilet
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Fridge freezer
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Eye level oven/grill and separate hob
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Microwave
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Ample room for a sofa (preferably a sofa bed)
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White Walls
New & Used Boat Company advised us on the options we could choose and sent some sample pictures across from previous builds.
Refining the Plan
New & Used Boat Company helped us understand boating terminology so we could best address our requirements inside the budget we'd set ourselves.
From our "original wish list", we quickly realised that we could exceed our budget very quickly. So after some rational we decided we no longer needed a bow thruster.. This was additional expense that could be utilised in other areas.
However during the planning phase, we visited some boats that were built by Collingwood Boat Builders, and we fell in love with a wrap around stern. This would give us additional outdoor seating at the rear of the boat as well as extra storage. It also meant we would have a better driving position. So we incorporated this into our designs/budget.
The Final Plan
The finished plan completed by New & Used Boat Company.
This plan is supplied to Collingwood Boat Builders who have built "Spirit of Discovery" according to this specification.
Click to download our "Boat Plan" :
We also produced a "Requirements Document" to assist with the build of our boat.
Click to download our
"Requirements Document":
