What Boat Would You Choose?

[Matt]

I'm a fan of one of these:

http://www.nya.co.uk/sovereign-34-for-sale-21.html

We never use the inside steering position on Thunder and so it is a waste of space so why bother having it?!

I think Haines do a similar 35 footer but it's probably twice the price...... :-)


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[Stationerystill]

Chose aft cockpit or centre cockpit and you will get a better view above the reed fringed river banks because you are higher up.Broom Skipper, Ocean 30 or Woods Delight on the Aquafibre 30 hull all handle well. There are some real bargains in Elysian and Freemans. The Freemans are old but with nice interiors. If you chose a level  deck front cockpit boat it is difficult to see what is behind you, especially if you are single handed.

[TheQ]

Another vote for the Elysian 27 Here, well again I'm biased, ours is a  centre cockpit, Which in it's hire days was a 5 berth (crowded!!!)  it has the advantage of when there are 4 on board they are well separated at night!!

 If we are going out as a couple or me as a single, the forward cabin becomes the bedroom, the after cabin the living room / kitchen.

As for single handed I regularly do so, if I'm coming into a awkward mooring I take the mooring ropes and lead them both back / forward to the centre cockpit well before trying to moor and step off with both in my hands.

We've had no bother taking her through Potter or Wroxham bridges.

Bow thrusters, I won't be going to the expense of fitting one  , but if we had one I'd use it, certainly not how "Forth Bridge" was using hers yesterday... steering by bow thruster...

 

[Springsong]

Jonzo you just beat me to it.

I really like this boat, the sheer is what attracts me I think.

Does it have a rear entrance?

[smellyloo]

I'm not sure if thinking of getting a boat is more exciting than getting one.

I think i'm fairly convinced on rear cockpit for ease of mooring & outside space.

Based on armchair browsing my thoughts have nestled on:

Shadow 26 (there seem to be some in my price bracket).

Broom 29 (I would need to keep saving but they look very nice.

Sheerline (sadly I think most 26foot +) are beyond my price range but they look an ideal match.

As the boat will be shared with younger family members I think the older style boats, whilst great value, would be less appealing to them.

As most boats in my price bracket are pretty old what cost might I incur re: replacement engines, rewiring & replacement batteries.

Worst case senario, but assuming the hull is sound, I envisage the above items might raise their heads above the parapit.

cheers

[VetChugger]

Another Elysian to introduce to the mix! Not so many around but I think they show some of the best use of available space on boats of this size. Which one I hear you ask? The Elysian 34. Back in the mid 70's we had one of these for two weeks in January. Yes, it snowed as well. But we were toasty warm and had planty of space. Didn't seem to struggle to find mooring spots either!

 

[Timbo]

7 hours ago, smellyloo said:

As the boat will be shared with younger family members I think the older style boats, whilst great value, would be less appealing to them.

Don't listen to them, Loo! Get the best boat you can be it old or new.

With having Royal Tudor, a proper Broads boat if you will, I recently hired Belmore from Barnes and was really disappointed with the layout of these modern boats. Two-thirds of the boat was space wasted on deck lounging space...and that again was wasted for the want of a canopy. Don't get me started on trying to cram myself into the 'heads' compartment. For boats of nearly identical size Royal Tudor sleeps 5, 4 comfortably. Belmore was listed for 12? sleeps 4 but only 1 person comfortably.

[LondonRascal]

Brinks Belmore is another good example of a boat not intended for inland river use not only finding its ways on them but in hire - the mould being a Princess 30 and should have a couple of larger diesels and many had a small flybridge.  Great for a couple and some friends to spend a day in the summer eating out in the rear cokpit before a fast dash to sea for an hour before heading back to Harbour - does not work so well on a hire boat, but for me I still love the maneuverability and clear separated areas verses the Broom 29 of similar size which does feel more pokey inside.

Older boats are easy to deal with, because they are so much more basic.   It is usually better to get something that has not been through a bunch of private owners who have all had their take on how to do things and tinker about.  While it might work in their home, messing about in a boat inevitably causes issues and when you inherit the issues and take it to a professional who takes one look at the spaghetti of wiring and lets our a tut and scratches their head you know you in for a big bill.

Hire boats can be 'bodged' too,  but in the main they have to work to earn their keep and keep customers happy. If something like a starter motor plays up, or a fridge, or a water pump there is no point in keeping it going it is pulled out and a new unit put in.  But as a private owner you might say 'well a new fridge is going to cost £500.00 so I think we will just learn to live with the fact it does not get as cold as used to'. Same for engine servicing -  boatyards will keep their engines in tip top condition with regular oil changes etc and while many owners will do the same, a good number will not until there is a problem perhaps with the impeller that sucks thew river water in to cool the engine, or longer times between oil changes. 

No Survey will cover things like what state the engine is in, or what the batteries are like - it is about the important aspects of the structure, hull and safety of things like gas pipes and storage of the cylinders and sea cocks etc. So regardless of boat these all have to be considered and a working knowledge of what looks ok and not is helpful - especially when looking at a boat you are interested in may effect the offer you put in based upon obvious remedial work that may be needed for critical systems.

When I post on here ideas about what you can do with boats and how life can be made easier or more convenient on board these are often options that cost many many thousands of pounds to achieve but that does not mean a humble 35ft ex hire boat cannot make the best 'home from home' for you.  The biggest thing to accept with boat ownership is to know that things will go wrong and you won't be able to just call the boatyard engineer out and fix it while you wait. f your batteries are weak, and your boat has one for starting, and 2 for domestics, you are looking at close on £300.00 to replace for a basic set of replacements. A water pump would come in at over £100.00.

Now those that know me personally may well be aware I am boat hunting too - but in a very different arena and with no rush required but It makes it no easier between a 55ft to 60ft motorboats  with perhaps 1,400HP of power or a 40HP single engined ex-hire boat.  You will need to fix and change out things, so you will need to have a a fair sized fund after purchase to sort these things out. So, it is no good having a top line budget of £35,000 and spending it on a boat that costs £34,950 being over the moon and then not having the money to sort out the batteries, buy a new fridge, re-upholster the seating and put in new gas lines to pass the BSS.

So there is no need to rush into things - indeed, the looking, wondering, pondering, researching, going over and over things, beginning over again, and so on is all part of the process and very much exciting. The worse thing to do is jump in too fast and regret a choice as unlike a hire boat you can't take it back at the end of the week.

[Broadsword]

On 27/08/2017 at 11:41, smellyloo said:

Oh yer .... a mobo.

Oh well... if you must...

 

[Polly]

3 minutes ago, Broadsword said:

Oh well... if you must...

 

Sad when you could have a flappy thing. 

[Broadsword]

Just now, Polly said:

Sad when you could have a flappy thing. 

Plenty of single handed flappies about - I could sail mine alone, but SWMBO won't let me...  Our last boat, the Prelude, was a dream to handle one up... like a dinghy.  

[Polly]

I could single hand Rondonay, Brilliant is more of an ask and I wouldn't single hand her. We were four up on Bootlegger last week, Team Brilliant, and that was so relaxing as we know what everyone is happy working on.

[CambridgeCabby]

Kate and I have been delighted with our Ocean 30 , yes twin engines but very easy to manoeuvre, downside with ours is stern access but can be sorted , some excellent ones online many with smaller single engines and rear access sorted