The boat is “split up” into shares. Each share is a week of time on the boat. Each week starts at mid-day on a Saturday and runs to mid-day the following Saturday, although by prior arranagement with the owner of the adjacent share to you, it is possible to arrange a different handover day or time – flexibility is what we want to achieve, to benefit all owners!
When you buy a share, you are buying a part ownership in the boat. You pay a one off purchase price for your share. You then own that share for life, or until you sell it on, which you are free to do at any time and at any price you choose.
Boats are expensive things to run. That’s why shared ownership is so popular – you are sharing all those expensive running costs between several other like-minded people.
Each share will vary in price, depending what time of the year it falls in. The summer period being the most expensive and the winter months being the cheapest. Whichever shares you buy, you can always request a swap with another owner, or even offer to “buy” another persons time, by paying their running costs for the period you want to use.
The only other expenditure is the running cost of the boat. This is totalled for the year and you pay your percentage of this for each share you buy. So, if you bought a month, you would pay 1/12th of the annual running costs. As these costs potentially change each year, the fee and payment arrangements are agreed each year at the shareholder’s AGM.
The following are all included in the annual running costs:
- British Waterways licence;
- Fully comprehensive insurance;
- Engine servicing;
- Maintenance of all onboard systems;
- Gas for cooking;
- Contingency fund for future repairs;
- Management fee.
This means that when you go on holiday all you need to pay for is your food and your diesel – you must return the boat with the fuel tank full for the next person, that way you only pay for what you use.
Each boat comes with almost everything you will need for your holiday, including:
- Pots, pans and coooking implements;
- Crockery, knives, forks, spoons, etc;
- Mop & bucket, dusters, cloths, etc;
- Pillows, duvets, extra blankets;
- Road and Canal maps;
- A few books and other “general” reading material;
- Radio;
- CD Player;
- Television;
- Gas stove and oven;
- Microwave;
- Fridge/Freezer;
- Washing machine.
All you need to bring are:
- Food;
- Clothes;
- Your own sheets, pillowcases and duvet covers.