You open the hatch.

The smell of English Oak and
a real fire climb up to welcome you.

As you step inside, relaxation floods over you. You sit, kick off your shoes, uncork that special bottle you've saved especially for this moment and pour yourself a generous measure. And why not? You deserve it.

It's your first night on board your very own boat. Not one you'll forget in a hurry.

A dream come true.

But for most of us, regrettably, that is what it will always remain - a dream. How many of us can afford to purchase and run a narrowboat of exceptional quality on our own?

If this is your dream, to be master of your own boat, to experience the true pleasures of canal cruising, to live the high life without the high price, then Carefree Cruising may just be able to make your dreams come true.

With Carefree Cruising's professionally managed shared ownership scheme you can experience all the joys of owning your own quality narrowboat, without many of the problems or the significant expense which go with being a sole owner.

So what are the pleasures and the pains of owning a boat? And why not just hire?

Let's take a look at the three main options open to you.

Hire

Offers you good availability of both boats and locations to explore with the assurance that the boat you hire has been professionally maintained, with assistance if you require it.

But it's expensive (it can cost up to £1,500 per week); hire boats are often designed to maximise the number of people that they can sleep, rather than making them welcoming, comfortable and fully functional "floating homes" and often lack the equipment of the better quality
private-owner vessels.

And, of course, it can't compare with the pride and pleasure of cruising down the cut at the helm of your own boat.

Purchase

The dream we all have, owning our own boat. On the plus side you can have it designed and built to your own specification and it will be available for you to cruise whenever you choose.

But the dream can, in reality, become a financial nightmare…

First, there's the enormous capital outlay. Then there are the annual running costs, and the organisation associated with them. For a 57 foot boat, you'll get precious little change from £4,500 by the time you've paid for maintenance, mooring, insurance, licence and servicing.

And, unless you live on board, the cost per week of use is enormous; if you used it for 4 weeks each year over 10 years, it could cost you over £3,000 PER WEEK!

Even with the lower capital cost of a second hand boat you still have all the annual running costs, perhaps higher for an older boat, which may not have been well cared for by the previous owner.

But, most importantly, high quality boats are just like any other piece of precision, expensive machinery. They look better, run better and last longer if they are used, cleaned and serviced regularly throughout the year.

Shared ownership schemes

Owning the experience but sharing the cost is how Carefree Cruising can help you realise your dream.

Shared-Ownership schemes have become very popular over the last few years. A group of like-minded co-owners is assembled, each of whom owns a share of the narrow boat, with each co-owner's entitlement to use the boat being determined by the proportion of it that they own - i.e. if you own a 1/12 share you get 1/12 (4 weeks) of the year to use it.

The advantages of shared-ownership are many, but the principal ones are

As you're only purchasing a proportion of the boat, rather than the whole, it's likely you'll be able to afford a higher quality boat, constructed to a superior specification.

You pay only a proportion of the narrow boat's annual running costs. This would typically reduce the running cost per week's ownership to around £200, making it cheaper than narrow boat hire.

Your pride and joy is not left to deteriorate at expensive moorings for much of the year, but is used, aired, serviced and cleaned regularly and professionally.

Of course, when you share the expense, you also share the use. So the usage of the boat has to be planned and booked in advance.

That's where the advantages of Carefree Cruising's professionally managed shared-ownership scheme come into their own.

At Carefree Cruising, we see to it that your cruising is just that - care free.

We ensure that your boat is delivered on-time and to specification and co-ordinate the co-owners use of the boat in an even-handed and
impartial way.

And we shoulder the considerable administration burden of arranging moorings and insurance, buying the licence and ensuring that the boat is serviced and maintained to the highest standards - all for one simple annual fee.

But it's not just Carefree Cruising's managed approach that makes us different.

We also operate a totally transparent, open, honest and professional service to care for your investment.

For example, unlike many shared ownership schemes, we only ask you for a small £250 holding deposit when you purchase a share in a boat.

Why should you shell out thousands up front to finance the build of your boat?

For the maintenance and mooring of your boat, we pass on the costs directly, without adding any administration charge or making any hidden profit of any kind. Our only vested interest is in you.

Full income and expenditure accounts are supplied to each of the members of the ownership syndicate every six months and you have the right to inspect the quotes and actual invoices relating to the running of your boat at any time.

And any money you ever pay to us is held in a ring-fenced client account, totally separate from our day-to-day business finance.

When we say Carefree we mean Care Free - on AND off the water!

But what sort of boat can you own a
Carefree share in?

Well, we apply the same philosophy to specifying our boats as we do to providing our service -
"Only the best will do".

We construct our own boats, to ensure that quality and reliability are built in as standard, especially important when you consider that our boats cruise in excess of 40 weeks each and every year! (Please see here for our current boat spec). And we don't use 'themed' names or corporate liveries - so down the cut or down the pub, everyone will know your boat is top quality and privately owned - by you!

When you buy your share in a Carefree Cruising boat, we take care of everything.

We build your boat and your syndicate of co-owners with equal care.

We make sure you're involved at all times and provide all the legal documentation of ownership, co-owners' agreements, usage schedules, licensing, mooring arrangements... and on board you’ll find binoculars, books, charts...the complete Carefree package.

You sip from the glass.

Another great day of cruising, new places, old friends.

The warm glow from the fire feeds your own glow of pride.

You rock gently as the swell from a passing cruiser laps around your boat.

All quiet now, but tomorrow holds the promise of more adventures at the helm.

Your helm. Your boat. Your dream.

You realise that, at this moment, you don't have a care in the world. Life really is Carefree.

As it should be.

Now take a look at...

How the Carefree Cruising Scheme works and which option is right for you >>>