Bought a Narrowboat Today. Leveraging it for Fastlane.

[ANR]

Today I bought a narrow boat to live on with my Girlfriend.



"That's not fastlane you mung bean!" I hear you say. The boat itself, that would be correct.

How I plan to leverage it though, that could be.

The main inspiration for this leverage is the channel by Nate Murphy on Youtube. When he first started the channel he was making camper van videos and doing tours of different people's campers. He then released a guide for £9.99 telling people how to convert their own camper van. I bought it. Lot's of people bought it.

Having now gone through the process of buying the boat, I am going to write a similar guide, and use the youtube channel for the boat as the funnel to sell the guide.

Monetisation
There are other ways of monetising this as well:
- Affiliate links to products I use on the boat myself in the videos.
- Lead generation for others that want to buy one that I can sell to trusted brokers.
- Selling the boat (Again, Nate Murphy did something similar)

Breakeven
So far I am about £30,000 in. If I sell the guide for £9.99, I need to sell 3003 guides to break even.



Will keep you posted.
ANR

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Nice, we're you docking it?

 

[Itizn]

Have you considered chartering?

At this vessels size you won't be able to transport much. But thats another way to put it to use. For future.

 

[ANR]

Nice, we're you docking it?

In UK we have a licence where you can moor up anywhere and stay for two weeks as long as you move at least a mile every two weeks. Will be based in London.

Have you considered chartering?

At this vessels size you won't be able to transport much. But thats another way to put it to use. For future.

Might do holiday rental but the insurance on commercial side of the boat is fairly hefty, so think will stick to renovating it for personal use.

 

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[JamesAnnaLee]

In UK we have a licence where you can moor up anywhere and stay for two weeks as long as you move at least a mile every two weeks. Will be based in London.


Might do holiday rental but the insurance on commercial side of the boat is fairly hefty, so think will stick to renovating it for personal use.

Hello, from a fellow "continuous cruiser" down in the peak District. Nice to see there was a survey done (based on the chalk markings).

 

[Cameraman]

So far I am about £30,000 in.

Crowdfund the cost and restoration so that you're not in it for anything.

 

[LateStarter]

Today I bought a narrow boat to live on with my Girlfriend.

Breakeven
So far I am about £30,000 in. If I sell the guide for £9.99, I need to sell 3003 guides to break even.

Looks like a fun project!

Have you thought about other content you would like to create, or can create, given the differences between boat life and van life? For instance, it looks like Nate also did a series of travel/adventure videos, which is part of the reason why people find van life so appealing. Is that something you're planning to do as well with the boat as well? Or are you thinking the channel will use more of a live aboard/renovation angle and touring other liveaboards? Expanding the genre for some videos can bring in new subs but it can also screw up the algorithm. It can be a bit of a balancing act.

I admit that I've discovered the world of liveaboard/circumnavigation sailing channels on YouTube this year and I'm obsessed!

Good luck!

 

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[ANR]

Hello, from a fellow "continuous cruiser" down in the peak District. Nice to see there was a survey done (based on the chalk markings).

Nice! Survey done and immediately had 2pack epoxy blacking done. Now making it waterpoof and drying out the inside.

Crowdfund the cost and restoration so that you're not in it for anything.

Not feeling the crowdfund.

Looks like a fun project!

Have you thought about other content you would like to create, or can create, given the differences between boat life and van life? For instance, it looks like Nate also did a series of travel/adventure videos, which is part of the reason why people find van life so appealing. Is that something you're planning to do as well with the boat as well? Or are you thinking the channel will use more of a live aboard/renovation angle and touring other liveaboards? Expanding the genre for some videos can bring in new subs but it can also screw up the algorithm. It can be a bit of a balancing act.

I admit that I've discovered the world of liveaboard/circumnavigation sailing channels on YouTube this year and I'm obsessed!

Good luck!

Mostly going to be journey / DIY restoration videos as well as some Pros / Cons videos. Will see what stuff starts to stick as well as the bits I have a knack for.

 

[Roli]

Nice! Survey done and immediately had 2pack epoxy blacking done. Now making it waterpoof and drying out the inside.


Not feeling the crowdfund.


Mostly going to be journey / DIY restoration videos as well as some Pros / Cons videos. Will see what stuff starts to stick as well as the bits I have a knack for.

Nice, very interested to hear how this goes.

Is your girlfriend as enthusiastic as you?

 

[ANR]

Nice, very interested to hear how this goes.

Is your girlfriend as enthusiastic as you?

Yes - and even just before we jumped in, I got slight cold feet about the project and she swung me back around.

 

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[ANR]

Little Update.

Renovations are in full swing.


Couple of days ago was the most disgusting.

Found out that the main sewage waste tank had been leaking for a long time.

Removing it was filthy, then cleaning the area it was in was also disgusting.

Very happy that it is done now.

We also had an electrician come through and run diagnostics on the system to make sure we were not going to fry ourselves if we plug some laptops in.


Water removal from the internal bilge is going well.
First couple of days we were pulling out more than a mop bucket each time.
Now we are down to an inch or so in the bucket every couple of days.

Did some silicone on the windows and added rain gutters to direct the roof water away from the glass.


ANR

 

[Choate]

Little Update.

Renovations are in full swing.


Couple of days ago was the most disgusting.

Found out that the main sewage waste tank had been leaking for a long time.

Removing it was filthy, then cleaning the area it was in was also disgusting.

Very happy that it is done now.

We also had an electrician come through and run diagnostics on the system to make sure we were not going to fry ourselves if we plug some laptops in.


Water removal from the internal bilge is going well.
First couple of days we were pulling out more than a mop bucket each time.
Now we are down to an inch or so in the bucket every couple of days.

Did some silicone on the windows and added rain gutters to direct the roof water away from the glass.


ANR

This kind of update would be great on your YouTube channel to show the early journey and start building hype. I didn't read any updates in this thread on that front but I can't imagine it'd be too early to start the channel. Even if it's just for you to get in the habit of regularly publishing the small stuff you might skip over, as well as get into the hang of recording while going about your normal duties on the boat.