Little Venice boat & mooring may be for sale

Typical. You wait ages for London boats and moorings to come up, then they arrive in procession like, er, buses. Last week Apollo Duck listed a boat for rent at the Lisson Grove basin.

Today Apollo Duck has the rarest opportunity of all - a 50ft mooring on the most picturesque and sought-after site in the country, at Little Venice.

It's not just a mooring, of course. You don't 'buy' the moorings. These belong to BW, and there's a substantial yearly rental on top (don't expect much change from £5,000/year, plus the expense of keeping a boat afloat - probably another 2k). Instead, you buy the boat at its moorings, and there'll probably be a hefty premium for its location. British Waterways says that whatever you pay for the boat won't include the absolute right to continue mooring there, so you take a gamble.

The boat itself is a sweet but nothing-special 42ft 1979 Hancock & Lane, and the advertisement is succinct and honest:

wonderful mooring - rubbish boat.... great opportunity!

There's a charming story behind this. The owner bought the boat and mooring a little while back as a carefree single man. He 'made the mistake' (as he puts it ) of taking a group of ladies out on a 'hen party cruise' and ended up marrying one of them. Now, with two very young children in tow, a sensible family decision beckons.

Moral: Don't allow women on your boat, or you too may be forced to choose between wife and boat!

Still, as the vendor points out, a 50ft rental in Little Venice of £5k/year compares pretty favourably with a £250k 1-bedroomed flat!