Advice for a novice prospective boat owner.

[Alicatt]

We have an old 37ft Ocean 37, twin 145hp engines on shafts, no bow or stern thrusters and find she is very manoeuvrable, yes I can see when a bow thruster would be handy, but so far after a year of use not needed one.

My wife and I did a Powerboat level 2 course in Oct 2023 when we bought our first boat, a 7.5m single engine river boat, I learned some and my wife who is totally new to boating learned a lot. Conclusion was that we needed a bigger boat so we bought the Ocean 37, it is a semi displacement in that she has a 3/4 length keel. With less power she would be great on the inland waterways, as it is she is a compromise with a minimum speed of about 4.4kn at idle and a top speed of about 17kn, and only really comes alive when we get the opportunity to open up the throttles, at 7kn she is comfortable, pushing against the flow of the Maas she felt really good.

Just done my day skipper theory, and then doing the practical at the end of September when we return to Scotland,

 

[ingenious]

How about something locally built ?
https://www.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/westwood-a35-for-sale/772421

 

[Tranona]

How about something locally built ?
https://www.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/westwood-a35-for-sale/772421

The OP is in Ireland so choice of boat rather more restricted

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Westwood was/is an Ennsikillen based builder.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Hi folks

Looking for general advice. We have decided to throw caution to the winds and buy our first boat (both mid fifties with no clue).
We plan to use it in the lakes initially (Enniskillen) and hopefully get to grips with the basics before heading any further.
We have looked at Sealine F37 and S42 both beautiful but have been out off a bit buy one of the marina owners who feels the S42 is a bad choice for newbies.
We don’t plan to be out at sea any time soon if ever and want to do something we can enjoy together as hubby and missus.
Any advice at all very very welcome as we have zero clue!!!

Ta in advance

@Lola69 my two penn'orth is as follows, not necessarily 100% in agreement with others but a common theme is there...

FYI I went sail -> power a few years ago. Now on my second motor boat.

1. Either of these will be great. But they are very different, both technically (ie shafts vs stern drives), but also layout (flybridge vs sports cruiser). Only you will know which is best for you, but IMHO if you live where it rains a lot the sports cruiser and its canvasses will rapidly be for sale.
2. Bigger and heavier is easier. Counterintuitive maybe but the bigger boats sit planted in the water and don't get blown around so easily. My wife and I easily handle our 48' flybridge and we'd happily go bigger if we needed / wanted to. I don't agree with your broker ref the S42; it well may be suitable for newbies, but it may not be suitable for you. It's a great boat.
3. No reason why couldn't start at 42' or even bigger. What berth do you have available? That will limit you, worth getting quotes and availability for berths lined up
4. It's highly likely that you'll want to sell your first boat and change after a few seasons. You won't really know what you like till you have a benchmark. So buy something you can sell easily where you and the boat live, that means a mainstream manufacturer. Sealine 100% ok.
5. Unless you're very keen on DIY, buy a boat with engines that are supported by a local service agent, independent or vendor.
6. Own-boat training is absolutely essential. OK to learn the ropes on another boat but there's nothing like getting trained how to do things on your own boat, your way. Worth every penny.
7. Get radio headsets so that you and your partner can talk through what you're doing, even when separated by 12m of boat and a gale. Transformational.

Best of luck!

 

[Meagain]

@Lola69 , some great advice here for you re boat and training so I won’t repeat. My few pennies is “cost of running a boat”. Be careful not to get too carried away with the dream, while boating is great and memorable so costs can be disproportionately high. Make sure you understand these, from berthing to fuel to maintaining and absolutely budget for things breaking. Joking apart every engine issue will be £1000 increments and with twins always x 2 as if it breaks on one the other isn’t far behind ! I budget £10k for replacements/repairs (not regular maintenance) over a 5 year period and it seems to go !!! Sounds silly but at least you are prepared and you can focus on the enjoyment and not on how much it costs to run.

 

[Lola69]

Folks what can I say. I’m blown away with all the responses and advice. I cannot thank all of you enough. It’s been really really helpful and has certainly made us think about what is actually realistic for us to be considering especially given our changeable climate here!!
We will hopefully now be able to narrow things down a bit and go across to mainland view a few options. (Not much we’ve seen so far here in Ireland ) Next big bill will be working out the cost of transporting her over to N. Ireland.
Honestly was worried no one would answer a newbie and my daft questions - but such a fantastic forum.
Will definitely be asking more stupid questions as things go on so apologies in advance - but thanks again everyone. What a great bunch

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Yup. Good idea to view a lot of boats, including those that are maybe out of reach financially now. Aspiration is a motivator.

 

[Tranona]

Deleted

 

[Howardplant]

Hi folks

Looking for general advice. We have decided to throw caution to the winds and buy our first boat (both mid fifties with no clue).
We plan to use it in the lakes initially (Enniskillen) and hopefully get to grips with the basics before heading any further.
We have looked at Sealine F37 and S42 both beautiful but have been out off a bit buy one of the marina owners who feels the S42 is a bad choice for newbies.
We don’t plan to be out at sea any time soon if ever and want to do something we can enjoy together as hubby and missus.
Any advice at all very very welcome as we have zero clue!!!

Ta in advance

I would go for shaft drive with electonic controls (not cable) and a bonus if it has a bow thruster. I would then get some form of tuition on your boat, I say on your boat because its good to see what your boat capable of in the right hands and you want be blaiming the boat and looking to change it or alter it.

 

[Lola69]

I would go for shaft drive with electonic controls (not cable) and a bonus if it has a bow thruster. I would then get some form of tuition on your boat, I say on your boat because its good to see what your boat capable of in the right hands and you want be blaiming the boat and looking to change it or alter it.

Thanks Howardplant - currently looking at a few F37’s in Conwy - we have to fly over plus car hire and then work out potential boat transport costs back to Carrickfergus so trying to make sure it’s worthwhile making the trip over. Just looking at hours engine service etc. totally new world for us both - so glad I found this forum for advice

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Need to budget for a lift and survey. In your position I'd suggest that's absolutely essential.

 

[Tranona]

Thanks Howardplant - currently looking at a few F37’s in Conwy - we have to fly over plus car hire and then work out potential boat transport costs back to Carrickfergus so trying to make sure it’s worthwhile making the trip over. Just looking at hours engine service etc. totally new world for us both - so glad I found this forum for advice

Consider sea delivery. Well within the capability of a well prepared boat of that type. Also good experience for you if you join the delivery as crew. would not be surprised if road including lifts either end came to well over £5k or twice what a professional skipper plus fuel would cost. The broker should be able to help you with delivery options. Good that both are with the same broker.

 

[Howardplant]

Thanks Howardplant - currently looking at a few F37’s in Conwy - we have to fly over plus car hire and then work out potential boat transport costs back to Carrickfergus so trying to make sure it’s worthwhile making the trip over. Just looking at hours engine service etc. totally new world for us both - so glad I found this forum for advice

Our boat is across the river from Conwy Marina at Deganwy, you could look into getting it delivered by sea to Carrick ?

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Consider sea delivery. Well within the capability of a well prepared boat of that type. Also good experience for you if you join the delivery as crew. would not be surprised if road including lifts either end came to well over £5k or twice what a professional skipper plus fuel would cost. The broker should be able to help you with delivery options. Good that both are with the same broker.

Was wondering that. It's fair way, about 320 miles according to my rough passage plan, so 3-5 days would be comfortable, plenty of overnight opportunities on the way. You'd need to be confident of the boat's technical / maintenance condition.

 

[Lola69]

Hi folks yes we will definitely be getting a survey done plus we did consider sea delivery but as both of us are complete novices it would have to be a professional skipper. We have also looked in Scotland which is obviously much closer to us and potentially could be a lot quicker by sea depending on where we look but just can’t see many F37’s up for sale there at the moment.
We’re looking for something early 2000’s in good nick but I know that could be hard as they seem to be really popular.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

@Lola69 you might also want to join the dedicated Sealine Forum:

Sealine Forum

 

[Sticky Fingers]

... We have also looked in Scotland which is obviously much closer to us and potentially could be a lot quicker by sea depending on where we look but just can’t see many F37’s up for sale there at the moment.
We’re looking for something early 2000’s in good nick but I know that could be hard as they seem to be really popular.

One in Scotland here

https://uk.boats.com/power-boats/2000-sealine-f37-9682447/

 

[Lola69]

One in Scotland here

https://uk.boats.com/power-boats/2000-sealine-f37-9682447/

Thanks so much - will join the forum and gave actually seen that one which we really like but there is a slightly younger one in Conwy that is nice although a bit more money.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Remember these are asking prices. You might expect to buy the boat for a bit less. Cheeky offers sometimes succeed.