This 60’ steel narrowboat is currently undergoing a bit of renovation to prepare for sale, but I figured there’s no harm in making her available now, in case anybody would like to get in early and undertake some work themselves to their own tastes! Photos, as a result, may be historical, because it’s a mess in there with work going on, but I’ll update as things get more photogenic.
Djinni has a traditional stern and a minimal well deck, absolutely maximising internal space - there’s a huge amount of room for a boat of this type. Entering through double doors at the well deck, you step down into a large saloon area with a multi-fuel burner that keeps the place toasty! It’s open-plan so furniture layout can be as you choose; there’s an armchair and a dining table with two chairs and an office chair at the moment. Aft of that is the L-shaped galley, with a gas cooker and oven with grill, and plenty of storage. Next is the heads, where there’s a free-standing separating ‘composting’ Nature’s Head toilet, and a shower. Aft of that is what’s currently the main bedroom, where a 200 litre water tank is under the bed, and I have some cheap-and-cheerful modular box storage stuff. That’s in front of the fully-enclosed engine room. The engine is a Thornycroft 80E which has been extremely reliable. This opens out to a small but comfortable rear deck with a wood-topped railing for leaning against or sitting on while steering.
I bought Djinni in 2019 in Leicestershire, where she’d been on a permanent mooring on a river for about 11 years. Life on the river seems to have caused some galvanic corrosion, which was addressed with some overplating shortly before sale; I spoke to the yard that did the work and they were proud of having done a good job, and in my time the hull has been absolutely watertight. Around the same time, a Safeshore Marine galvanic isolator was installed, and the boat was painted and hull treated with Jotun 87 epoxy two-pack which should have plenty of life in it yet. I undertook work to qualify for the Boat Safety Scheme certificate, which had not been a requirement on the prior mooring, and to make it suitable for continuous cruising, which has been happening since then on the Kennet & Avon Canal. This includes installing:
Morco Primo MP6 gas water heater
Victron Phoenix 12|250 inverter (not enough oomph to power the fridge though)
Victron Blue 30 Amp smart charger with Bluetooth phone app
Epever Tracer 30 Amp MPPT solar controller
LED lights
Handmade blackout curtains by Caroline’s Caravan Curtains (these need a wash)
Battery monitor
Solar panels are on the roof but not affixed, and damaged as a result. There are swivel mounting brackets aboard, but until new panels are purchased these can’t be fitted because it’ll depend on panel size. The boat takes four house batteries, but the current ones are knackered and won’t hold a charge (although they will last a few hours after running the engine). This is entirely my own fault due to playing lots of Sniper Elite 4 on a big television in the winter, and I don’t even regret it.
Current work has to do with some remedial stuff to pass the BSS again, cosmetic bits in the interior, and dealing with emerging rust spots on the exterior (therefore the topsides are patchy-looking as rust treatment has been applied where required, this is to be painted over when that becomes the priority). She has very smart-looking and unusual wooden hand rails along the roof sides, which are a bit sorry at the moment so to be sanded and varnished when there’s a warm, dry spell.
Djinni is ready to move into and live comfortably (well, once the house batteries are replaced), as I did myself. That said, there are generations of historical installations in there, and a motivated soul might like to strip out the tongue-&-groove panelling that’s everywhere (and tiles in the kitchen and bathroom; fine on a permanent mooring, not suited to the flexing caused by locks and other canal adventures) and renew the insulation and rewire the frankly zany electrics. This is not one of those project boats where you need to work yourself to the bone just to be able to move aboard, it’s ready to go but will benefit from undertaking any of plenty of manageable projects.
Here’s a list of current issues that I can think of, as examples:
The roof could do with repainting
A floor tile in the bathroom is loose and became loose again when I tried sticking it down
There’s some rainwater ingress sometimes; most of this ends up in the aft bilge where it’s quick to pump out, but it would be good to figure out the sources and seal them
The engine oil pressure gauge doesn’t work. I tried to investigate but the sensor is in an extremely difficult-to-reach spot, and since it’s a narrowboat with a speed limit of 4mph, not a Spitfire, I’ve been considering it low-priority
The prior owner had a sea toilet that pumped out through the hull. The toilet is gone but I would like the through-hull openings welded over, next time she’s out of the water
The alternator doesn’t initially kick in at idle on startup, it needs the revs to pass a certain (fairly low) threshold and then it’s fine. This isn’t really an issue so much as a quirk
Some rainwater has a tendency to gather under the well deck, in an area that could make good storage. I found an old bilge pump in there but it was long-dead. It would be good to wire and plumb in a new forward bilge pump
Solar panels are great and a more permanent installation would be good, with new panels, swivel mounts, and dedicated holes and a gland for cables
I got rid of the shore power stuff (apart from the galvanic isolator) and didn’t need it because I was continuously cruising, but new bits could be installed
I’m selling because I found that boat life is very doable, such that I’m in the process of moving to another boat abroad!
Builder: | Springer |
Make: | Springer |
Model: | 60 Traditional |
Constructed: | 1993 |
No. of engines: | 1 |
Engine model: | Thornycroft 80E |
Fuel type: | Diesel |
Drive type: | Shaft drive |
Length over all: | 60' |
Water capacity: | 200 Litres |
Note: Indicated location is approximate general area only.