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Hello – What Is The Perfect Broads Boat?

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boatsboatsboats

boatsboatsboats

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yes thanks @Matthew12you have identified many of the boats we have been looking at!  Same with Serene Gem @oldgregg - I've been thinking about her too.  As mentioned above, presumably they will have been well-maintained albeit having had a fairly hard hire-life (I'm hoping the smaller boats might have a more sensible and sedate clientele?!)  

I know things are selling quickly at the moment and don't need to jump for the first boat we see - we can take our time if need be and wait till things are a bit calmer. That seems like the sensible thing to do if we decide to go for a Hampton, for example.  Serene Gem and any end-of-season ex-hires are a different proposition of course.    

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boatsboatsboats
boatsboatsboats

Hello all,  I promised to update this thread when we found a boat so I am delighted to say that we are buying the Broom 30 that @OldBerkshireBoy mentioned above.  We went to see her, fell for her

JanetAnne
JanetAnne

"As for the perfect boat...."               Ok, ok... I know...  

JennyMorgan
JennyMorgan

What is one man's perfect boat may not be another man's idea of the 'best Broads boat'. Personally I'd insist on sails, a mast in a tabernacle, three foot six of keel and no bow thruster!  

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annv

annv

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Hi I would suggest that a bed that was big enough and seating that is comfortable is more important we had a Princess lovely boat but as we got older the fixed seats where terrible the next boat we brought was because it had armchairs and a household sized bed among other things unless you like camping.John

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oldgregg

oldgregg

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4 hours ago, boatsboatsboats said:

I know things are selling quickly at the moment and don't need to jump for the first boat we see - we can take our time if need be and wait till things are a bit calmer. That seems like the sensible thing to do if we decide to go for a Hampton, for example.  Serene Gem and any end-of-season ex-hires are a different proposition of course.    

Yeah, I wouldn't wait around too long if you are looking for one of the boats from Ricko's.

An ex-hire won't ever be perfect but often they're in a better state than private sellers like to think theirs are (other than maybe some minor cosmetic stuff).

Interior refits are expensive to do yourself, so to my mind a boat which has been in hire and had the work done to keep it decent is always a plus.

The bed and shower room are a really good size on a Calypso, hence the suggestion. A Safari 25 is not for people over 6ft!

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boatsboatsboats

boatsboatsboats

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8 minutes ago, oldgregg said:

Yeah, I wouldn't wait around too long if you are looking for one of the boats from Ricko's.

An ex-hire won't ever be perfect but often they're in a better state than private sellers like to think theirs are (other than maybe some minor cosmetic stuff).

Interior refits are expensive to do yourself, so to my mind a boat which has been in hire and had the work done to keep it decent is always a plus.

The bed and shower room are a really good size on a Calypso, hence the suggestion. A Safari 25 is not for people over 6ft!

Serene Gem may actually have gone already, I know there was someone seriously interested in it last weekend. 

That's pretty much my way of thinking at the moment - better to have a boat that has been professionally maintained even if driven/treated badly by crews than one that has been bodged but pampered.

We are both well short of 6ft so a Safari would be a tight squeeze but it wouldn't be torture!  Add in two lively spaniels and a lot of clutter and it might not be a wise choice though.... 

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boatsboatsboats

boatsboatsboats

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Should add, of course there are other options between professional maintenance and bodging!  That would be the ideal - a boat in my budget, preferred layout, kept for many years by a private owner with professional skills (or budget to pay for it).  And the Unicorn stable that someone mentioned above... 

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Cal

Cal

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We managed to almost double our budget when fate led us the way of Naughty-Cal many moons ago.

We were on our way to place an order on a brand new Viking 20 for about £20k and called in at a marina for a quick coffee break about half way there. Said marina was having a used boat show and we suddenly ended up putting a deposit on a £38k Naughty-Cal instead :default_rolleyes:

Funny how these things happen :default_laugh:

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boatsboatsboats

boatsboatsboats

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2 minutes ago, Cheesey69 said:

Just bought a bermuda 34, ex hire and flat. open plan good for the dog, well up front, full size shower/toilet and a great canvas for improvement. 

That sounds great, I've thought about those, would like something a little smaller but there's certainly lots of space and potential.  Hope you enjoy it! 

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OldBerkshireBoy

OldBerkshireBoy

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1 hour ago, Cheesey69 said:

Just bought a bermuda 34, ex hire and flat. open plan good for the dog, well up front, full size shower/toilet and a great canvas for improvement. 

Just finishing off mine, new full size shower, new kitchen, carpets, curtains and heating.

Couldn't find anything that grabbed me so brought cheap and spent heavily. Hopefully I'm in the one boat for life club lol.

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OldBerkshireBoy

OldBerkshireBoy

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1 minute ago, Ray said:

Good to hear you're nearly there OBB, seems ages ago we were talking about your plans 👍

Thanks Ray, you are right there mate, around 12 months give or take. Mostly my fault for being a bugger making final decisions not that the lockdown helped of course.

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Cal

Cal

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16 hours ago, boatsboatsboats said:

Don't say that! We've already almost doubled our budget so definitely no more budget busting allowed here. :default_eusa_naughty: 

But you've kept Naughty-Cal all those years, so it was probably worthwhile.  Would you have kept the Viking for so long? [and thus begins the slippery slope.....]

We have both said that we would have probably got fed up with the Viking and sold it within a couple of years. Naughty-Cal has enabled us to do far more and go far further than we ever thought we would by boat. She is far from ideal for some of the cruising we do though.

We are planning a trip up the river Soar later in the year which involves a fair amount of canal cruising and she it rubbish at that. Our slowest speed in tick over is 4mph!

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boatsboatsboats

boatsboatsboats

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Hello all, 

I promised to update this thread when we found a boat so I am delighted to say that we are buying the Broom 30 that @OldBerkshireBoy mentioned above.  We went to see her, fell for her and decided that bridge clearance wasn't a deal-breaker after all.... We've not completed the sale yet so I hope this update isn't premature, but we have had the survey and it seems to be full diesel ahead, certainly from our side. 

It's a weird time to be starting our adventure in boat ownership but we are really thrilled with the boat and excited to spend much more time on the Broads.  I don't want to post the boat name or pictures just yet - I'm not sure how identifiable I want to be on this public forum!  But I know many of you know the boat or will figure out which one I am talking about so please do give us a wave and come and say hello if you see us out and about.  

For now, a huge thanks to OBB for bringing the boat to our attention and to everyone else who responded with their thoughts and suggestions about what to look for in a boat for the broads. Our decision to buy turned out to be basically an emotional one - we saw her, loved her and both wanted to spend more time with her. But there was a lot of rational decision making underpinning that, a significant part of which was thinking through the various advantages and compromises mentioned by people here. We did view another 10+ boats but hadn't really anticipated buying quite so quickly. But we decided that this boat had so much going for it that we would regret not jumping for it when we had the chance.  So we have decided to test the theory that it is better to regret the things you've done than those you haven't :default_biggrin:  

Once again, many thanks everyone for your advice and look forward to seeing you on the rivers! 

 

   

 

 

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Ray

Ray

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1 hour ago, boatsboatsboats said:

So we have decided to test the theory that it is better to regret the things you've done than those you haven't :default_biggrin:  

Well said and congratulations! Wishing you many happy voyages 👍

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