27-30 ft, single engine, river cruiser? ideas?

Last edited:
Choice to make.... pontoon I or C at Bray Marina?... I am sure a few of you have longer term experience of which is the easiest to live with and where the friendly crowd is?? :-)
 
hembuck said:
Choice to make.... pontoon I or C at Bray Marina?... I am sure a few of you have longer term experience of which is the easiest to live with and where the friendly crowd is?? :-)
Click to expand...

C means you have to carry all your stuff over the bridge and can't really use a trolley, that would be enough of a reason for me to pick "I"
 
We are on I pontoon.... very convenient for getting the gear onto the boat. Well done on finding a diesel Birchwood 25... they are comparatively rare ( in fact up to now I only knew of two.... Carli which was our old boat, and Kingfisher VIII.

Sheridan Marine are good for spares and info. Beware of the shaft coupling which can fail. We had the more modern clamp type installed on Carli as a modification because the original kept parting. We subsequently had the same problem on our Birchwood 33.
 
Ramage said:
We are on I pontoon.... very convenient for getting the gear onto the boat. Well done on finding a diesel Birchwood 25... they are comparatively rare ( in fact up to now I only knew of two.... Carli which was our old boat, and Kingfisher VIII.

Sheridan Marine are good for spares and info. Beware of the shaft coupling which can fail. We had the more modern clamp type installed on Carli as a modification because the original kept parting. We subsequently had the same problem on our Birchwood 33.
Click to expand...
And use very little diesel eh Paul fnar fnar!!
 
What about your previous boat to Carli that was a petrol outboard and resulted in me towing you from Penton Hook weir piles back to Old Windsor with Kingfisher VIII !
Would either of us do THAT tow again?
In the winter, dark before we even made Staines, only std nav lights no front spot light, fast rising river flow (red boards when lockies came on duty next day) it defiantly woke me up when I almost made it back under Saxon moorings bridge I had about 12" clearance on the way out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
What a night! bringing Freeman back from Marlow yesterday and she starts running poorly, checked her out to find five inches of water in the bottom.. The pipe on the top of the engine that takes the used and now rather warn river water out to the exhaust has broken free and is pouring a fair bit, but not all the water all over the engine as she runs... So spent a rather damp carpeted night in maidenhead.. Time to work out how to fix her now, or run and bail her as I go, back to Bray to sort in better conditions.. Is it because we put a deposit (subject to survey) on a different Boat :-)
 
hembuck said:
its on hard standing already. What is the ball park price of a survey on such a cruiser? and do we have any local conatcts? and when i get it done what should i avoid if it appears... spoke to someone about a boat i looked at recently and he said it had a tiny bit of osmosis on the hull but not a problem... its only a problem when it becomes large blisters... true or false?
Click to expand...

It WILL have Osmotic blistering. Ignore it.
 
All old boats have it. Best thing is learn to ignore Osmotic blisters entirely, and concentrate on hull integrity.... :)
 
I guess that you really should complete the advice

If the blisters are the size of 10P's and there are not hundreds of them clustered together you can ignore them for some time (although I would be tempted to treat them while its out of the water :) )
If on the other hand they are the size on dinner plates then you need to involve a professional
 
prof pat pending said:
I guess that you really should complete the advice

If the blisters are the size of 10P's and there are not hundreds of them clustered together you can ignore them for some time (although I would be tempted to treat them while its out of the water :) )
If on the other hand they are the size on dinner plates then you need to involve a professional
Click to expand...

Simon Kidd/surveyor carrying out checks this week so we can make an informed decision... hope its all good because its the right move for us... if not then we know the boat we want just need to find another :-) Freeman on market asap too.. spread the word :-)
Really appreciate all the super advice from you all on here it is all given in great spirit and received with warm thanks...
 
hembuck said:
Simon Kidd/surveyor carrying out checks this week so we can make an informed decision... hope its all good because its the right move for us... if not then we know the boat we want just need to find another :-) Freeman on market asap too.. spread the word :-)
Really appreciate all the super advice from you all on here it is all given in great spirit and received with warm thanks...
Click to expand...

Do say Hello to Simon from me: he did a very thorough job 3 years ago for me and saved me several thousands as a result in the negotiating process....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top