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Lots Of Questions.....from A Newbie


stonkn

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Good morning 

May I pick the collective brains of the experienced people on here?

I have recently moved into the broads area and fancy a boat for weekends and short breaks. I have never owned a boat but I have a little experience of narrow boats, yachts and larger power  boats....the questions...

A recommendation on a boat for around £30k

Onboard or outboard? ( what are the pros and cons of each)

Given that there does not seem to be many places to get fuel in the south, petrol or diesel ?(linked to the previous question).

 

I had looked at a shetland 27, but would be grateful for any thoughts.

Thanks in advance...Marco

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Guest Jayfire
3 hours ago, stonkn said:

Onboard or outboard? ( what are the pros and cons of each)

Inboard definitely 

3 hours ago, stonkn said:

Given that there does not seem to be many places to get fuel in the south, petrol or diesel ?

I have a petrol engined Freeman, fine for me as I don't mind a long walk to a petrol station as needed, especially if I happen to find one of those...erm...what do you call them.....plubs is it, a plublic house, you know, where you can get a diet coke or cup of tea.

I would advise a diesel however, fuelling isn't really a problem on the South or North for diesel, it is a problem everywhere for petrol

Can't really advise on any particular boat as it all depends what it is you need from it but there will be plenty of advice here if you give us some ideas of your needs and desires, or if you spot a boat you'd like an opinion on

Good luck though, having your own boat on the broads is brilliant. As long as you haven't grown attached to having money that is 😉 

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Diesel , certainly , as already indicated is far more accessible, inboard shaft drive as opposed to stern drive (less maintenance) . 
First decide the style you’re after , aft cockpit , center cockpit , front steer etc etc and size .

For a weekender your proposed budget of c£30k seems reasonable and would get you a wide choice of cruisers , I would recommend steering away from boats such as Bayliners , Dorals etc as these are more suited to the ocean with their larger engines .

Make a list of must have ,and would like , when we were searching ours were 

Must have : inboard diesel, wc with holding tank, hot/cold water inc shower , fixed double berth (in separate cabin) , full cooking range(gas) , diesel heating, outside space.

would like : bow thruster , shore power , inverter , spare berth 

we searched for a couple of years in earnest until we found what we wanted , changing our budget up more than once .

recently we were very very close to changing her for a larger newer boat , to the extend of transferring monies ready to sign on the dotted line , but couldn’t let Cerise Lady go , so be warned this boating lark is like a drug and you get addicted 

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Hi Marco,

Firstly your budget is good, and there will be plenty of options available to you with that sort of money. HOWEVER, there are many questions that need to be asked before we can realistically advise.

How many people do you think will be onboard  normally?

Will you be wanting to stay on board over night?  (and again, how many people overnight)

Will you have active crew with you?

Will you be planning to go solo ?.. often, occasionally, not at all?

Asking us to recommend a boat is not unlike asking us to recommend a car, It all depends on your intended usage!

 

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9 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

Hi Marco,

Asking us to recommend a boat is not unlike asking us to recommend a car, It all depends on your intended usage!

 

Completely agree with what MM has said, I was going to say if you asked 25 forum members what is the perfect boat for the Broads, you would probably get 25 answers.

Your budget will give you a lot of choice in terms of age / style / size / condition.

A few more points to consider:

Where are you going to keep it? If you have a mooring in mind, is there a size limit that will restrict how big a boat you can buy.

How much of the Broads do you want to access, do you want to be able to get under all of the bridges, most of the bridges or not really bothered about getting under the low bridges...

What time of year will you be mostly using the boat, do you want outside space or something to keep you out of the winter chill.

Good luck with your search!

David

 

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Hi Marco As cambridge cabby said plus a bathtub type is the most practicable as regards mooring and stepping of along with flat surface no steps when moving from front to rear, may be not as good for your image as a bayliner much like a Honda Accord/mondeo compared to a Jaguar xk, and easily sold on when/if you want to up size/newer model John

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41 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

Erm point of order. 
 

‘Bathtubs’ are certainly not the easiest to stern moor or moor opposite side to the helm due to a lack of vision unless there are mirrors / cameras fitted

Griff

Point of order again. 
stern mooring? 
lean out as far as you can, shout at your other half to attract the attention of on lookers, whack engine room into energetic reverse, shoot back at rate of knots, forget your leaning out, sandwich yourself against next door boat, miss your other half shouting stop because of ringing in ears and sound of tortured BMC, rearrange capping of mooring spot, relishing the popping of fenders, have a go at other half for being too slow, turn off engine and pose at another good landing.

 

seriously your right, tricky but it sits well once moored and a great fishing platform all round. 

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I am with Griff on this! I am not a big fan of the forward drive bathtub style from a mooring point of view, especially when reversing, but I completely recognise that this is my personal preference. The single level and the forward and aft entrance is very convenient and the living space superb.

I personally like to steer from a raised cockpit, because I like the all round view, I would imagine a rear cockpit boat like a Bounty 27 would be good from a mooring point of view.

if you have time, why not try hiring a few of the different styles for a short break, to see what will best suit your “mission profile” 

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Morning - everyone.   Thank you for your input.  I prefer 'the look' of the sports boats but @ 6ft 3, they can be a bit of a pain..literally.  Hence thinking that a shetland 27 type GRP boat would be a good compromise.  OK, so it needs to be diesel...inboard.  I intend to use for 2 people, 1 occationaly, to stay on for a night or two & moor in a yard on the southern areas of the broads.

Thank you again for the input.

Marco

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A Bounty 27 is a reasonable compromise, and the ones fitted out by Bounty themselves have a lot of GRP internally so still look good. You can tell by the presence (or not) of a black plaque with white writing near the helm which says 'Bounty 27AC' and then the build number - And the fact that there's a lot of GRP visible inside on the bed base and dinette.

Many people prefer a lot of wood internally, but a nice neutral fitout with a lot of fibreglass will look way better after 20+ years.

The Shetland 27's are okay, but they're a fairly narrow beam boat that are designed to be used on some of the canals too and so the internal space isn't great. A Bounty 27 was designed for Norfolk so it suits the system well.

If you want the most space for the money, perhaps look at something like an Aquafibre 38 centre cockpit. You should be able to find a decent one for £30K and the fibreglass layup is a bit (okay a lot) over-engineered so they don't give much trouble. Also, the Ocean 30 as shown above is not a bad shout at all. 

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I may be a bit biased but our Bounty 27 AC has done us well for 10 years and will continue to do so. You can see all round from the helm, although the bow does disappear under the fore cabin when mooring bows in. Dead easy to single hand with the canopy sides up and bow lines led back along the side decks.

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The boats mentioned so far are fine for a week or two never mind just a night or two, no point buying a cruiser for just weekend use.

There is no perfect boat, they are are all a comprimise especially when it comes to internal space and bridge access, I had to sacrifice a slobby comfy cabin on my old boat as I wanted better sea keeping and the engines take up the central space in my new(er) boat.

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5 hours ago, stonkn said:

Brilliant - thank you all.  Is there a prefered spot to moor beccles 'ish'?

Go see the harbour master at the yacht station, he'll advise you. Best tell him what type of boat that you are buying because Beccles bridges are a factor of some relevance.  If you want a mooring at Beccles then I would advise that you get a shunt on. 

You could consider Tingdene at Oulton Broad but rumour has it that some right dodgy characters are heading that way.

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Another relevant point imho where bathtubs are concerned.

In my experience I see more of those types of craft side swiping banks / other craft than any other.

It is also a fact that where 'B.A' is concerned she attracts them like a magnet.

Especially orange ones! :default_2gunsfiring_v1:

Griff

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2 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

Another relevant point imho where bathtubs are concerned.

In my experience I see more of those types of craft side swiping banks / other craft than any other.

It is also a fact that where 'B.A' is concerned she attracts them like a magnet.

Especially orange ones! :default_2gunsfiring_v1:

Griff

Good thing mines blue. 
I think it’s because a lot of beginners go for them due to easy mooring. 
They sit in the front and forget it is not a car and steers from the back. 
maybe more should be made of this types easy access when leaving a mooring by pushing the stern out into the river, climb on via level decks and continue to reverse into the river until you get steerage space. 
As a return barb, I was moored up at How Hill admiring and talking to the owners of a really well restored wooden boat. As he left, he never got the bow out enough. His mrs decided to fend me off with a boat hook. More lost paint. 
Am I the only one who uses a mop to do this?

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23 minutes ago, Cheesey69 said:

As he left, he never got the bow out enough. His mrs decided to fend me off with a boat hook. More lost paint. 

I wonder how he would have felt if you had taken a boathook to fend off his woodie.................😏

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1 hour ago, vanessan said:

I wonder how he would have felt if you had taken a boathook to fend off his woodie.................😏

I know, but I run a kind of boating mistakes bank account for when I mess up it’s still plenty in the black. 

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