dnks34

If you cant even guarantee the keys with the boat factor in £££ for new door locks, thats if you can find one to exactly match. Ignition barrel not such a concern. I also felt the auctioneers fee is disgraceful, I accept they need to make their buck but 20% is excessive considering these assets are seizures. Id go and take pictures and recieve bids for 5% and if theyve not even made sure the boats are locked up they are certainly not worth 20% in my opinion. If they are all wide open all sorts could be going on, people could be plundering them for spares by night, ok probably a bit extreme but still, not very good is it. As a 2nd hand purchase from a brokerage there wouldnt be any VAT to pay. Do they put VAT on used cars at auction?

Its simple economics as far as retailers are concerned. If you can afford a boat you must have plenty of cash to pay over the odds for everything you need for it. Win win for them except when dealing with the many of us who know you can always get everything cheaper than a chandler sells it if you know where to look. For example my nearest chandler sells crimp terminals at 25p each....if i wasnt so fit i might have had a heart attack (not)

We have a German Shepherd who thankfully hates the water which is lucky as I dread to think how hard it would be getting her dry and then the state she would probably get the boat into with all the crud left in her fur, mind you she has accidently gone in once with her life jacket on and its lucky we were on our way home as even after a good bath she still smelt like a dead fish for a week. Take your dog to the pub instead

Ahh right sorry Iain I was rambling about the wrong boat!

Ive just looked at a few of the old advertising pictures for Rapide, I think the front half of the superstructure would look a lot more appealing if they hadnt designed the back half to look so slab sided and with those horrible tiny windows. You must get a bigger window in a prison cell (just to be clear im not speaking from experience!) Ive also never been a fan of the stern access on them, it looks squashed together, more of an after thought. It looks like not much thought went into basic ergonomics back when some of these boats were built, on rapide for example the wheel in relation to the seat for the interior helm looks an incredibly uncomfortable position, I reckon an olympic gymnast would struggle. I do like the circular seating but I guess that was spoilt by low headroom and those sloped forward windows. The bow and nose of those boats to me have always appeared quite swan like. I imagine a lot of work goes in to the design of a new boat hull, with a bit of tweaking to that original design I think the door wedge might have turned out to be more popular. Theres one in private hands thats been moored before beccles new bridge for a number of years with a canopy over the upper helm.

Im tempted to bid £50 for one of the door wedges and if it turns out not to have an engine I will strip it out and stand it on end in my garden and call it modern art.....what do you think my chances?

I thought the same Alan! I have seen another yard fill Takeaway burger boxes with them!

Im not sure but I think the bowls might be filled with those moisture crystals Alan, they are dotted about in a few of the boats pictured.

I think they do have hurricane but unsure if the other was thunderbolt Iain.

Thunderbolt isnt listed for sale and neither is Hurricaine. These were bought by another yard already? (Please correct me if im wrong) If im right and that is the case I would think it more than likely they were cherry picked early on being in better condition possibly. Interestingly I found a boat review online for I think it was Spitfire (could have said mustang) which talked about a roof leaking (not good if its been left) and a tired interior so thats why Im thinking the two purchased early on must have been in better order. On the viewing day can each individual vessel be heard running, obviously those on land is a no, Jonzo mentioned a missing bow thruster imagine what else could be missing! Im really not trying to put anyone off but I think I would need more than a few hours to inspect anything I may be interested in. There are many people that will buy things at auction to flip as a means of income but I think this lot might even be outside of their comfort zone.

It seems like a desperate method of selling assets in my opinion but I suppose thats what comes of having your assets seized. These auction houses especially those working with officialdom seem to be on an incredibly good screw for posting up a few photographs (which are rubbish in all honesty) and taking in the bids for a 20% fee per item the proceeds of those items being in payment toward liabilities, doesnt seem right to me but someone is allowing these vultures to take their extortionate cut of someone elses misfortune. Jonzo I wouldnt have valued Vulcan or Spitfire at 30-40k myself, given what will likely need doing by any prospective purchaser and the risk of finding knackered mechanicals etc after purchase, I mean you cant even have a lift for an underwater inspection before commiting to a bid can you? Ive not seen the boats lately but all things considered, the photographs shown, known accidents/mishaps, possible lack of ongoing maintenance due to recent company finances I wouldnt really want to be paying 20-23k for Vulcan or Spitfire including those extortionate fees and possibly as much as 7 or 8k for the likes of firefly and less for some of the others. I may well be way off but it seems to me most of these boats to a private buyer would end up being a massive liabilty, costing a fortune to get into any sort of state you might hope to sell on again in the future. The existing hire yards on the other hand could bid with relative confidence on one or two of them maybe earning the purchase price and refurb costs back within 18 - 24months of being out on hire. Ive think hijacked this thread enough now sorry to the OP!

So it may not be a case of bidding for a boat but a collection of bits in a boat shaped tub quite probably with many of the important bits you need missing! What money do you think Vulcan and Spitfire might go for Jonzo?

Most of the Alpha boats on the auction website do look a bit dire I agree but cant all be completely beyond help. I am very suprised that Vulcan, Spitfire and Mustang didnt get put back to use in another fleet, maybe that will come with the result of the auction. Knowing that Mustang got stuck under the railway bridge which so im told caused the roof supporting in the grp some serious harm, a private individual putting in a bid in on that one may be buying one hell of a wasps nest, to much of a risk for me. But Vulcan or Spitfire, are they really that bad given the relatively young age. They could be on their original engines which may be a concern, but aslong as there is no serious interior water damage, exterior grp damage, headling rips missing glass etc then flooring, woodwork new foams/upholstery isnt beyond the realm of possibility if they go for a good price. I was quite suprised to see the Auction fees are 20% buyers premium plus 20% VAT if im correct. Thats going to keep bids down in my opinion. When buying my own ex hire direct from a yard there was no VAT on the purchase price and I was given a VAT paid certificate. Why would an auction be different. I thought the VAT only became an issue if you were planning to export. I would be interested to find out what sells and how much for.

Im sure they used to smoke when connoiseur/le boat had them :-P

In our case we have an anchor light or all round white light but due to our canopy if our boat is stern to anything approaching theres a good chance it wont be visible. I have always intended to mudweight over night on the broads but never got around to it. In view of this unfortunate event I would probably leave all my nav lights on now just to ensure our safety but on the broads it really shouldnt be necessary in my opinion.

We have an ex hire with a 50hp Nanni, engine was allegedly fitted to the boat in 2006 replacing an Isuzu so I was told. The engine still runs and feels as though its brand spanking, under my care its had oil and filters once a year. Going back to what Viking mentioned about running an engine with no load. It was interesting to read the tech specs for this engine are 3020rpm WOT no load and 2800rpm with load. I think it said the optimum running range is 2240-2520 rpm. At 2520rpm i would be doing about 8-9knts with the tide. We might be able to criticise some folk for speeding but at least we cant acuse them of not looking after thier engines.

If you do look at the link to the auction I would probably avoid buying Mustang if I were you. From what I was told the saloon roof came off pretty badly. Blenheim might be tempting but I would want a thoroughly good look at it first.

The damage pictured is severe and a prime example of the damage a boat in inexperienced hands can do to some one elses pride and joy, it must have felt gut wrenching when it happened. As others have said, if it was in a perfect state of repair beforehand then in my mind thats how it should be once more, no patches or make do bodges, make sure whoever is responsible for paying for it (insurance or hire yard) pays through the nose for it to be done properly. Accidents are accidents but what I would be most anoid about is the innapropriate use of throttle which if im reading correctly has only made this worse. Theres nothing worse than someone trying to rectify a mistake with another huge mistake. When will people learn, if collision is immenant cut the bloody power. I hope its all sorted out for you soon but I do fear it may well turn out to be much worse than even the picture shows.

It may be easier and cheaper to remove the broken fitting, fill the holes with gelcoat filler and source something new that will fit the pole. we use this maxview pole mount/clamp as it fits well to the side of the boat and its easy to slide the pole out and put away when we are not there. https://www.sky4caravans.co.uk/product?pid=77 cheap to, its lasted 5 years so far and it holds a 6ft pole!

Didnt sound grumpy to me Vaughan. Did anyone else notice the collosal cock up with the on screen text introducing the barnes brinkcraft lady when she was stood talking about them fitting detectors? text said:. Brink Barnescraft massive sign in background alonside river bure said.....Barnes Brinkcraft!

Hi Vaughan, it lights with an ignition switch connected to the 12v so a spark. Im not going to mess about with it, can anyone recommend a qualified person south broads before I start the google trawl!!

Hi Alan thanks for the advice, I will take a quick look at the grill flames quickly next time im there and see what colour they are. In the meantime we have bought an electric toaster but we dont have a generator fitted so will rely on shore power to use it, fine when we are on our home mooring at least.

The grill burner on our twin cavity gas cooker triggered our carbon monoxide alarm the other week and its been playing on my mind ever since. The carbon monoxide alarm has a digital display which showed between 200-300 ppm when it activated. We obviously switched the grill off sharpish and opened all the windows and all went outside till the alarm stopped. There is fixed ventilation in 3 areas of the saloon/galley and the cockpit hatch was also open along with another window and the canopy sides were out because it was very hot outside so in my opinion there was masses of ventilation at that time. This doesnt seem to happen with the hob or oven even with just the fixed ventilation at play and other windows / hatches closed. When we use the oven a fan comes on after a while and stays on till the oven cools, i dont think it comes on for the grill. Is there something wrong with the grill that ought to be looked at by someone qualified? We dont use the grill very often could that have anything to do with it?

I remember viewing this boat when it was for sale in 2012 at NBS in wroxham (i think its the same boat appologies if not) I remember it as it had a bath in the aft cabin which was a bit strange especially as it had a single berth adjacent to it. The teak and holly flooring looks good if done proffesionally which isnt easy as Andy says, we have it on our boat in the saloon/galley and whilst we are happy with it we do have to be very careful not to chip the corners of any hatches that lift open as it damages at the edges easily, the face of it is pretty tough but had our boat not come with it fitted its not something we would be looking to install ourselves because of the cost of it. Our cabins were fitted with flotex carpet which is hard wearing and easy to fit/clean etc ideal for its previous life as a hire boat but that stuff costs a small fortune to so as ours had seen better days that came out for a thick deep carpet we picked up cheap as a remnant and we laid that with some underlay, its soft under foot and a may help insulate slightly. We also got the piece for the bow cabin whipped by a guy in Thorpe in Norwich as the bow cabin floor is moulded with no square edges for the carpet to fit to, the results of that were very good and it didnt cost a great deal either.

I knew I should have said Kessingland!