Advice for a Newbie

[EmmaH]

Hello everyone.

I always wanted to own a boat and finally I think I have enough to buy myself a small motor boat. I would like some advice on what kind of boat I should look at and how much it will cost me to run.

My ideal would be a 20-30 foot weekend cruiser for around £30K. I live in Southampton and would like to use it mostly for pottering around the Solent and Isle of Wight, with the occasional weekend away – maybe even cross-channel once I have a few courses and a lot more experience. I don’t want to go particularly fast, but I don’t want to crawl either, so I suppose I would be looking at something that could do 15 – 20 knots but I am willing to compromise.

The thing is I have a fairly average job and I am really worried about running costs. Could anyone give me any idea of how much it costs to berth, fuel, insure and maintain this kind of boat? Or is this one of those “If you have to ask you can’t afford it” kind of scenarios.

Any help gratefully received

 

[Talbot]

you are right to worry about running costs as these are normally the straw that broke the camels back. Unfortunately you need to get rather more specific to be able to put numbers on the costs for example:

boat size
number of engines
engine type
mariner berth (good or slightly less expensive) or
drying berth or
buoy.
location
intended cruising range (hence insurance costs)
intended winterisation (remain in water + 1 scrub/antifoul, or pull out at boatyard for winter)
Maintenance yourself or by experts
amount of gear that you expect to add to boat!!! (purchase plus fitting costs)

etc.!

A full analysis of this type should be an essential part of purchase assessment.

 

[Nautorius]

Hi Emma,

It is the running costs that will hurt. However around Southampton there are cheaper berths up the Itchen. To keep costs down I would buy a single petrol engined US spec sportscruiser. Chapparal 240, Bayliner 265, Monterey 250, or even a Sealine S25. Being in the solent these boats will have no issues and there is plenty of Petrol to be had.

Also considef Dry Racking it...cheaper and lower running costs!

Cheers

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[gravygraham]

If cost could be an issue for you try thinking about something trailable - I know this means having a vehicle with a towbar and somewhere to store the trailer and boat. I'm at Ramsgate which I believe is a tad cheaper than the South coast but my marina fees are about £250 per metre per year and being kept in the water all year round means lifting out, scrubbing and antifouling the bottom of the boat at least once a year (about £300 inc the crane for my 33' boat). Dry stacking could also be another option - this is where boats are loaded onto (big) racks with a (big) forklift and taken into the water at your request. I've no idea about cost on this one though.

Good luck!

 

[Chris_d]

First thing I would do before getting into different boats etc... is decide where your going to keep it, this will have a big effect on the type of boat you end up buying. For the solent you could be looking at anywhere between a £1000pa for an inaccessable swinging mooring, to £5000pa for a marina. Mooring is buy far the biggest cost in the Solent.

 

[gjgm]

somewhere to start would be 24ft USA pocket cruisers. MBM magazine reviews the Regal 242 this month.. get a copy and see if thats the sort of thing.
Still, Solent is about the most expensive stretch of water to keep a boat, and you may decide dropping down to 21ft means a trailer is viable. Have a look through boatsandoutboards.co.uk for some ideas.
Solent has a famously sharp wave form that can really jar and slam a smaller boat, so the sharper V the hull, the better. Some USA boats have quite flat hulls (just ask on here),which can give more room for less power, but can mean you bang about when the chop gets up. You arent going to sink, but it can be a bit uncomfy.
You have lots of Marinas nearby. A w/end looking at whats kept there will give you a good idea of what people are using- and just as importantly-what they are not.
Just keep asking those questions.

 

[EmmaH]

Thanks for the advice so far. I really like the idea of dry stacking, that looks like a brilliant idea.

My next biggest concern is fuel costs. I was having a surf around some of the boat sites and one of the boats I like the look of (in a Oooooh it's pretty, uneducated kind of way) is a Chaparral 260. Looking at the fuel economy it looks like I would be lucky to get 1 mile per gallon. Thanks to our beloved chancellor that would mean it would cost me nearly £100 per hour just to fuel. Does that seem right? Two hours of boating a week would cost £800 a month in fuel alone? Unless I re-write the wills of several generations of my family and arrange for unfortunate accidents I couldn’t afford that.

 

[andrewa]

I run the 260 Chaparral Signature, funily enough based in Southampton and dry stacked, fuel consumption isn't £100 an hour, budget on 40-50 ltrs an hour the after planehull is pretty efficient and I do 24-26 knots at 3000rpm which is pretty relaxed for the motor and quick enough for me. Its not my boat your looking at is it at SDS on the Itchen?

 

[ontheplane]

Not sure how you worked it out... but here's my thinking...

I had a 28' Rinker with a 5.7 V8 CARB Mercruiser (this is very relevant)

it burned around 10-12 GALLONS per hour of cruising

i.e. at todays prices, around £80-100 per hour of cruising.

However of course we used to cruise a bit, stop for a bit, cruise for a bit....

Ended up using about £2000 of fuel a season.

I converted to LPG when there were plenty of filling points - if you are in the Solent there are still plenty but elsewhere there aren't.

so if it's a Carb V8 then yes, on a 26-28' 2500KG boat, you're about right

a 4.3 V6 will use less

an injected V8 (look for MPI or EFI on the engine) will use a little bit less

The Multi-point Injected engines use a bit less again....

it's very complicated though as every boat is different.

Also don't think going diesel will save you, as that's going to be well over £1 per litre in the marinas soon as well - although the engine will of course burn less of the stuff.

How about a smaller boat? A 21' cuddy with a modern injected V6 will be (relatively) economical - or a 4-stroke or ultra modern direct-injection 2 stroke outboard will all be a bit better.

 

[DAVIDO]

Was never very good at maths but isnt that £8.00/gallon /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[blueglass]

if you are on a tight budget and worried about fuel costs which will only rise inexorably I wonder if you could bear the thought of a displacement hulled slower boat. The difference in fuel economy is quite staggering. You are right in your thinking that 1mpg is probably unattainable, but an 8 knot boat of your kind of size with a single engine I reckon could give you 10mpg upwards. Speed comes very expensive in boats.
Another factor which may concern you is maintenance and repairs. I remember in my early boating days these bills were always the ones that nearly broke me. Boat repairs are VERY expensive and on an older boat they do come thick and fast. Not trying to put you off but do factor in a wide margin to cover you for this.