My first boat - buying tomorrow fingers crossed (advice pls)

[Hangie]

View attachment 129096
Ok, got home... albeit the tyre appears a little flat, shouldn't the delivery guy have put the circle yellow part of the clamp flush with the wheel? Or is it the wrong size clamp ? (13 to 17)

 

[PMJD]

Lots of advice. Make sure to use a standard RYA approved sale contract. Must be subject to survey, engine examination by a professional etc. You will spend money here but its worth it, I would also insist on a sea trial where you can actually run the engine through its paces.

 

[limecc]

Lots of advice. Make sure to use a standard RYA approved sale contract. Must be subject to survey, engine examination by a professional etc. You will spend money here but its worth it, I would also insist on a sea trial where you can actually run the engine through its paces.

This was an eBay sale

 

[Bigplumbs]

Lots of advice. Make sure to use a standard RYA approved sale contract. Must be subject to survey, engine examination by a professional etc. You will spend money here but its worth it, I would also insist on a sea trial where you can actually run the engine through its paces.

I think someone is a little behind the thread here. Also none of that really applies at this value of purchase and in the current climate

 

[colhel]

Hi all,

Tony here and a newbie to this forum site. I don't know much about boats yet apart from I have wanted one for very a long time. My birthday is coming up so wifey is being a little generous We are buying a Sea Ray tomorrow fingers crossed it goes well. It is used and I don't have time to go see it but on paper and the pics it looks good. I live in Berkshire, Wokingham and appreciate any advice on where I can use the boat, what things I need to do (from a quick google I think a test & license, register it with gov and get insurance as as a minimum.. not sure if I need mooring?) My driveway is large-ish so can keep it on their when not in use but was hoping to go out on the last Sunday of every month with my wife and 3 daughters.

Cheers,

Tony

 

[TonyBerkshire]

Lots of advice. Make sure to use a standard RYA approved sale contract. Must be subject to survey, engine examination by a professional etc. You will spend money here but its worth it, I would also insist on a sea trial where you can actually run the engine through its paces.

Ive bought her now and been delivered... Have a detailed bill of sale amd this shall suffice... but yes had a professional who gave it a survey and engine examination... saved me a bit of £££ too in negotiations ... not had time for a sea trial but have a money back guarantee ?

 

[TonyBerkshire]

Ha great song... can't wait for memories with my daughters... get them into boating early

 

[Sneds]

Congrats Tony, have enjoyed this thread!
Now enjoy your boat, bet you’ll be looking for a bigger one next year

 

[TonyBerkshire]

Congrats Tony, have enjoyed this thread!
Now enjoy your boat, bet you’ll be looking for a bigger one next year

Thanks. I feel a few of you on here are going to be a bad influence on my spending habits ... but that's what I always tell my wife money is for...just a tool for having fun, creating memories and helping people.

 

[TonyBerkshire]

Urm.... 1) Anyone know where I can get this key? Boat won't start ?



Spoke to sea monkey and he said there wasn't one so he bypassed by connecting these two terminals up when he tested. (#1 in pic below)



2) also just found this cable (pic below) connected to nothing. Red wire with a black sleeve amd a sticker with 103 on it. Any ideas? It leads into #2 in the previous photo above.

 

[nrcoyle]

likely to be something like this

Pair Of Battery 100amp Cut Off/Kill/Isolator Switch Spare Keys Car/Boat/Rally : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

 

[Nito]

Something like this is what you need...

Spare Key For Battery Isolator Switch 100A 12v Cut Off Power Kill Isolator Key | eBay

As for the wire, it probably came off the battery isolator so the circuit becomes live when you throw the switch. You'd need to trace that wire back or see what isn't working to find out what it was for. It might have been for something that has been removed in which case you wont want to liven it up!

Edit: I see the answer has already been posted above!

 

[Croftie]

Red wire possibly was going to battery +ve but your pic does not quite show that terminal to see if there has been something connected. Really need to see where it goes to, possibly the same cable to the right of "2" in pic 2?

 

[TonyBerkshire]

likely to be something like this

Pair Of Battery 100amp Cut Off/Kill/Isolator Switch Spare Keys Car/Boat/Rally : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

Something like this is what you need...

Spare Key For Battery Isolator Switch 100A 12v Cut Off Power Kill Isolator Key | eBay

As for the wire, it probably came off the battery isolator so the circuit becomes live when you throw the switch. You'd need to trace that wire back or see what isn't working to find out what it was for. It might have been for something that has been removed in which case you wont want to liven it up!

Edit: I see the answer has already been posted above!

Thank you both. Are they all standard sizes?

 

[Nito]

They’re generally pretty generic. I’ve only ever seen one size.

You see the same thing on rally cars/track cars and they’re usually fairly interchangeable.

 

[Bigplumbs]

Yes standard battery isolater key as has been described and the red thin wire will just be to some piece of equipment possibly now removed. Or once you have the red key see what does not work. Have you a depth finder, fish finder or chart plotter on the boat

 

[Bigplumbs]

It is common on boats of this age to have redundant wires in them

 

[TonyBerkshire]

Yes standard battery isolater key as has been described and the red thin wire will just be to some piece of equipment possibly now removed. Or once you have the red key see what does not work. Have you a depth finder, fish finder or chart plotter on the boat

Oh ok... Any good brands / models recommended?

 

[snowbird30ds]

That red wire if it goes straight to the battery could be for a bilge pump or radio memory, whatever it is for it should have a fuse inline if not taken from the isolator switch output side.
It looks like it has just corroded off, see what don't work to start with and if it starts working when dabbed on the battery +, if a bilge pump it will likely have a float switch somewhere close to the pump so won't do anything unless there's water in the hull (or lifted with a finger to test), if the stereo won't hold a radio station when powered off and back on that will be the memory feed.
An isolator key is just that, brand is pretty irrelevant but the ones with a brass pin are less likely to break than a plastic pin, keep a spare on board hidden somewhere.

 

[limecc]

Yes standard battery isolater key as has been described and the red thin wire will just be to some piece of equipment possibly now removed.

Advice from the inexperienced here..

Normally a main battery isolator isolates everything but the bilge pump unless there's more than one. Useful extra hurdle for the opportunistic boat thief.

If it's not got one I'd fit one. That one must have been for something fairly heavy current draw.