Widebeam Canal Boat. 70 X 12 Ft. Three Bedroom Family Home

SCORPION is one of the most spacious boats on the canal network. Easily big enough for a family of four, or more. At 70 ft by 12 ft she has three bedrooms and is bigger than many flats. And she's fitted out for extensive off-grid cruising with a massive 2Kw solar array, big batteries, and deep water tanks. There is no home mooring.

She is currently moored near Hertford on the River Lea. Built by Dual Duel in 2007, Scorpion is typical of their high steelwork standards (they built rugged hire boats) and has 10/6/4 construction that has suffered no dinks or dents in 14 years. There is a Oct 2017 hull survey showing no problems and a maximum of 0.2mm metal loss from 10mm plate since new. Ownership of this survey can by transferred to the new owner for a small fee to the surveyor. The engine is a Vetus 2.6 Litre, 4 cylinder, 80HP unit which is "Bombproof", according to the engineers who service it.

There is a Vetus bow thruster to make handling a breeze. The stern gear seals were replaced in October 2017. The boat was pressure washed and bottom blacked in December 2016. Central heating and hot water are by diesel powered Eberspacher heating a calorifier and six radiators. The Eberspacher was serviced with new air and water pumps by DW Marine in October 2017.

The calorifier is also heated by the engine, and there is an electric immersion heater element if which can be run in tandem with the engine or if you have a shoreline available. Saloon heating is by an 8Kw San Remo multifuel stove which was professionally rebuilt in December 2015. It is easy to control and will stay lit indefinitely if you want it to. It has a double skinned stainless steel chimney. Lighting throughout is by high quality warm LEDs from Bedazzled.

Corridor lights switch between ultra-low power red emergency lighting and normal white light. Total power consumption of all the ceiling lights with the boat lit up like a Christmas tree is under 60W. Scorpion has a Boat Safety Scheme certificate until October 2019. From the rear. Rear deck.

Pram cover over. Lockers with full cruising inventory of lines, pins, chains, mallets etc. Engine below. Deck light. Shoreline receptacle.

Honda EU26i sine wave generator included if wanted. Engine room. Vetus M4.80 with ZF gearbox. 2.6 Litre diesel based on Hyundai/Kia truck engine. 80 horsepower.

Twin alternators. Eberspacher Hydronics central heating unit. Batteries: 1 starter. 12 x 2v traction cells as two banks of 6, total 12 volts and 960 Amp hours (installed Dec 2016). Saloon. 4.4m x 3m with laminate floors and walls.

8Kw San Remo stove. Reclining sofa and armchair, which make three extra beds for guests. Dining table. 40" LED wall mounted TV with Freesat/Freeview receiver (satellite dish/aerial on roof). Electrical cupboard.

Invertek 3Kw combi 120A charger/240v inverter with ATS. Sterling split-charge twin alternator controller. Twin Outback MP80 solar MPPT controllers 240v distribution board. 12v distribution board and fuse block. All engine room and electrical cupboard wiring was replaced April 2017.

Kitchen. 2.5m x 3m. New World five ring cooker. Shoreline 12v fridge and Shoreline 12v freezer. Panasonic washing machine. Microwave. Drinking water inline filter.

Corridor. 6.3m 0.85m. Radiator. Bedroom 3. 1.8m x 2.3m. Used as office/storage. Bedroom 2.

2m x 2.3m.Single bed and storage. Radiator. Bathroom. 2.3m x 2.3m. Walk in shower. Vetus macerator toilet with holding tank (approx 12 person/weeks). Backup cassette toilet.

Radiator. Sink. Plenty of storage. Master bedroom. 3m x 2.6m. King size bed.

Two wardrobes with storage underneath. Under bed storage. Radiator. Double doors to front deck. Front deck. Cratch cover over.

Plough anchor set; 90Kg total weight but easy to deploy and recover. Water tank below, size unknown but approx 4 person/weeks. Gas locker with two bottles. Solar array. There are 12 panels in left and right banks.

Each bank is nominally rated at 1Kw (6 x 170W) but in practice you can expect up to 800W from each side, so 1.6Kw max. That is about 100 amps on a sunny summer day. These panels are optimised for low level efficiency so in winter they perform better than others with a higher rated peak output. Even the dimmest days will see 12 amps coming in. Half of the panels are mounted on hinges to allow three of them to be angled towards the sun, which can double the output of that bank.