Beginners Guide To Boating.

[Malc]

Hi everybody,

Can anybody recommend a good book about buying, driving and keeping a boat. I am a complete novice who is moving to Norfolk to a house with a mooring. I am planning on buying a boat. I will be happy to take some courses when the move is complete but I thought that I could at least get the foundations under my belt now. At first I will be getting some kind of day boat as I don't envisage us sleeping on the boat although I am keen to take up angling again.

Any help much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Malc.

[Vaughan]

I suggest you hire a boat for week's holiday. That's how most people here started!

Meantime a warm welcome to the forum and we will be glad to help if and when we can.

[scaniaman]

hi malc,if you look on richardsons hire site they have some good starter vlogs.Also plenty on you tube.

paul.

[Gracie]

51 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

I suggest you hire a boat for week's holiday. That's how most people here started!

Meantime a warm welcome to the forum and we will be glad to help if and when we can.

Excellent advise to hire before you spend all your pennies on buying a boat, even for just a long weekend, test the waters as it were

I guarantee you will fall in love with boats and the rivers just like us lot on here, if you don't I'll send my Aunt round (the one who hates boats) She would get great delight from telling you how all of us on here are quite mad and would be much better off sunning ourselves in Spain

A very warm welcome board the forum from me

Grace

[stumpy]

Haynes (the car workshop manual people) do quite a good general guide to motor boats and boating, but as above, have a few days hire and grill the guy doing the handover - it's what he's there for.

[vanessan]

If you don’t plan on sleeping on the boat, I would suggest hiring a day boat for a few days so you get an idea of what you might want. Can I ask where your house is? As you have a mooring you will have no problem in mooring overnight and you could explore direct from home. You may eventually find that a small cruiser would be a better bet so you could explore further afield and stay out on the rivers for a night or two. 

Welcome to the forum anyway. 

[Paul]

you could hire a day boat for a few days but at about a hundred pounds a day I wonder if it's worth it. Driving a boat is not difficult although some people make it look like rocket science. If your main need for the boat is angling you might want to look at something like this: https://www.boatshed.com/aquastar_20-boat-246003.html/. Plenty of room for fishing, good shelter from the weather if it turns inclement or you want to fish overnight and a couple of sleeping berths if you want to go exploring. If you decide a few months down the line that you want something different you would not lose much if anything selling something like this on.

[SwanR]

Welcome to the forum Malc. Hope your move goes well. I'm sure that everyone here will enjoy hearing how things go. :)

 

[Liberty]

As for driving it, go and do the RYA powerboat level 2.  It's a great introduction and will teach you the basics of boat handling.  Really worthwhile,

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Malc,

It is good to see you posting again after you joined the forum last year and that your plan is coming together.

As others have said hire a couple of boats to see what best suits your future needs.

Regards

Alan

[Chelsea14Ian]

Most people have said hire a few boats,I would agree.As Liberty has said there are a number of courses ran by RYA.I would suggest  to try a few boats not just day boats,because all boats are different.I like many gained experience over time.Give it a go then if you wish book a course.

Welcome to the forum Ian

[Malc]

Thanks for all your replies people. I was planning to do an introductory course of some sort but thought I could get some basics from a book. I need to know about types of boat, registering a boat, where I can use it and lots more. The house is near Littleport on the River Great Ouse. I know this is not the Norfolk Broads although I still remain a fan of the Broads. There are a few options for exploring the river around here, especially to the south towards Cambridge, Bedford, St Ives etc. so maybe a river cruiser later.

Thanks again for advice.

Malc.

[Bexs]

The RYA used to do a book that covered the legal aspects of buying a boat, but I have just looked on Amazon and it's currently unavailable. But you might be able to source it elsewhere. 

It would give you some background info on the procedures involved and the paperwork you should expect.  Incorrect/incomplete title docs used to be one of the biggest mistakes people made. Admittedly not such an issue on smaller craft though. 

[Malc]

Thanks Bexs

I have looked on Amazon and found lots of books aimed at the likes of me, but, a lot of the best ones seem to be American. An American book will not cover the legal matters relating to boats in the UK e.g. registration, insurance and Environment Agency rules etc. The book you mention should be available from the RYA, I'll have a butchers.

Thanks.

[Malc]

Hi Bexs

Got it, found a second hand one on Amazon, RYA Power Boating. They have the others too, "advanced" etc.

Thanks.

[Chelsea14Ian]

I would suggest you hire a few times.If you use a good adgeny they will give you all the information you require when buying a boat.

[Smoggy]

To register you need to look up environment agency anglian region as they are the nav authority for the gt.ouse, don't expect anything more than blind incompetence though as they make the BA look professional

You will need a boat safety certificate for the boat ( they last 4 years), it's worth joining goba.org.uk for local info and advice and they have some good members only moorings, I would suggest a cruiser you can do a few nights on comfortably as you are on the ugliest part of the river where you are (no offence but it's just a big straight ditch), the best is from earith upstream through to barford, at least your end of the river rarely floods.

Quite a few of the bits in the haynes book mentioned are done on the gt.ouse.

Goba have a quiet but useful forum for members. (great ouse boating association)

[Bexs]

29 minutes ago, Malc said:

Hi Bexs

Got it, found a second hand one on Amazon, RYA Power Boating. They have the others too, "advanced" etc.

Thanks.

Hope you find it of use. The RYA are a brilliant resource.