advice needed!

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San Peregrino

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I am looking for a cuddy weekender to be used on the sea. budget 10-15k max

I have looked at all sorts, regals, maxum, searays, bayliners, montereys, dorals and older sealines.

I could do with a bit of advice: i would ideally like a 2 berth with hafl deent overnight facilities, so use of a fridge, cooker and obviously a head.

Could anybody recommend any models probably 19-26ft; I'm guessing for my budget.
Ideally mid to late 90s models onwards, i am fairly new to this so if anybody could point me in a good direction it would be very much appreciated!

Thankyou for the help and if there is anything i have missed please ask!!

cheers
 
San Peregrino said:
I am looking for a cuddy weekender to be used on the sea. budget 10-15k max

I have looked at all sorts, regals, maxum, searays, bayliners, montereys, dorals and older sealines.

I could do with a bit of advice: i would ideally like a 2 berth with hafl deent overnight facilities, so use of a fridge, cooker and obviously a head.

Could anybody recommend any models probably 19-26ft; I'm guessing for my budget.
Ideally mid to late 90s models onwards, i am fairly new to this so if anybody could point me in a good direction it would be very much appreciated!

Thankyou for the help and if there is anything i have missed please ask!!

cheers
Click to expand...

What about a nice year 2000, Chris Craft 215cc?
 
If you want the facilities you describe, then I'm not sure a Cuddy is for you. You might want to look at an older, although robust, Fairline Weekender, or small Sealine.

You will sleep 2/3 in comfort, and have the galley facilities and heads. I think your budget might work.

You could even look at a Falcon 22/23. Lovely boats, and with useful space.

Our first boat was a cuddy, and we kept her 3 months, and moved up to a 25 ft sports cruiser. Too big to trail, but great nonetheless.
 
rafiki_ said:
If you want the facilities you describe, then I'm not sure a Cuddy is for you. You might want to look at an older, although robust, Fairline Weekender, or small Sealine.

You will sleep 2/3 in comfort, and have the galley facilities and heads. I think your budget might work.

You could even look at a Falcon 22/23. Lovely boats, and with useful space.

Our first boat was a cuddy, and we kept her 3 months, and moved up to a 25 ft sports cruiser. Too big to trail, but great nonetheless.
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you raise some interesting points here!!

i guess i'm quite picky over what i want and obviously restricted by a budget! we will use it for generally crusing around the south coast, but want to be able to use it for skis/wakeboarding now and then.

so really we would like a sporty style boat but also a bit of extra comfort for a couple of nights now and then.

overnight use will be 2 nights max generally but obviously the use of a galley and head would make it that bit easier.

i didnt really want to jump in to deep, and figured a cuddy would be a good place to start.
 
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Where are you going to be based?
How much experience do you have?
Just how often do you want to squeeze four people (Adults/children?) into a very small space in possibly mixed weather?
You may be bang on in what you want, but you might be massively compromising the boat so 4 can sleep on it and maybe not actually that often?
I would suggest you think hard about the day part of using the boat, and be very sure you really want to sacrifice what you could do with that space, so that you can sleep on it.
If its is just occasionally, maybe a nice b+b or hotel makes a nicer w/end !
Anyway, just to challenge you !!
 
enterprise said:
A Cuddy style sports boat does indeed sound better suited for your requirements, however I have spotted a few decent starter cruisers recently.

Fairline sprint, new diesel engine (D3)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fairline-Spri...Power_Boats&hash=item2eaf12dbfc#ht_500wt_1154

And a nice Falcon 23 spc
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FALCON-23-SPC...Power_Boats&hash=item23088cb579#ht_500wt_1154
Click to expand...


thankyou for the links, i like the Fairline Sprint 21, not a bad set up. it does concern me though that i will be looking at a very early 1990s model. i was looking for something a bit newer to be honest. i have noticed a lot of people rarely recomend some of the mass produced american cuddys, is this down to build quality ???
 
gjgm said:
Where are you going to be based?
How much experience do you have?
Just how often do you want to squeeze four people (Adults/children?) into a very small space in possibly mixed weather?
You may be bang on in what you want, but you might be massively compromising the boat so 4 can sleep on it and maybe not actually that often?
I would suggest you think hard about the day part of using the boat, and be very sure you really want to sacrifice what you could do with that space, so that you can sleep on it.
If its is just occasionally, maybe a nice b+b or hotel makes a nicer w/end !
Anyway, just to challenge you !!
Click to expand...

i will be based on south coast, location is currently flexible but likely on south coast around Brighton area.

experience of been onboard is little/average, handful of times a year but experience owning = 0! which is why i was looking to start with a small cuddy.

you're right about asking how many people how often, going by past experiences it will be mainly day use and for 2-4 people occasionally 5-6

however i will be looking to stay on it for 1-2 nights, normally 2 ppl, 4 ppl now and then but comfort is not a priority for the odd weekend! it will only be weekend use as well but fairly frequently as well so staying on the boat is important!

cheers for the help, youve raised some interesting options
 
You might jsut squeeze into a 10ish year Bayliner or similar 23/25 ft sports cruiser with your budget. Cuddy's look a great compromise, but the compromise only really works if you/partner are youger than 18, and can squeeze into tight spaces, without feelling claustrophobic. You might get a chemical toilet in a cuddy, but most females will find the idea a challenge.

The small sportscruiser may be a bit older, but will allow skiing and sleeping on board.

The other route is to forget the accommodation, and go for a sports boat with a bigger cockpit, or bowrider. Much more day accommodation. However, nowhere to sleep/cook/pass anything.
 
My pennyworth

We've had a 1989 Sealine 218 for a couple of years now, berthed on the Clyde. My experience of other boats is minimal (this is our first - won't be our last). But I'd heartily recommend the 218. If you can find a slightly later model even better. I can't fault the build quality. We've got an AQ205A petrol - which gives us plenty of whoosh if we need to get out of problems. It's also pretty straightforward for a duffer like me to work on. She handles pretty well in anything up to a force four. I have to confess I haven't had her out in anything bigger (I'm reliably told the boat can handle it, but I probably couldn't).

Oh and, as has been mentioned several times before in these forums, try to avoid getting one with a smaller engine (I think it's an AQ145). Other forumites say it's not strong enough to get the boat onto the plane.

Good luck in finding something!
 
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robmatheson said:
We've had a 1989 Sealine 218 for a couple of years now, berthed on the Clyde. My experience of other boats is minimal (this is our first - won't be our last). But I'd heartily recommend the 218. If you can find a slightly later model even better. I can't fault the build quality. We've got an AQ205A petrol - which gives us plenty of whoosh if we need to get out of problems. It's also pretty straightforward for a duffer like me to work on. She handles pretty well in anything up to a force four. I have to confess I haven't had her out in anything bigger (I'm reliably told the boat can handle it, but I probably couldn't).

Oh and, as has been mentioned several times before in these forums, try to avoid getting one with a smaller engine (I think it's an AQ145). Other forumites say it's not strong enough to get the boat onto the plane.

Good luck in finding something!
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i really like the 218!! with a few mod cons it could be spruced up quite nicely i think, would you recomend it as a godo start boat then? it seems to tick a lot of boxes and with the right engine spec it can also perfrom pretty well
 
Hi, I started boating last year and bought a rinker 212. I still have the rinker and i love it, great boat and with the full canopy we have on it plenty of room for myself, gf and 2 kids every weekend just having fun out at sea or having lunch etc . . . yes its a cuddy cabin but how often will you stay overnight and more to the point when you do stay overnight you have the outside (under canopy) to chill in and surely you only need the cabin to sleep in, so it being small doesnt matter as long as there is a double bed in there and enough room to sleep ? Food and toilet facilities werent an issue for me as we moor the boat at Brighton Marina so can use the facilities there for toilets/showering/food but the portaloo works fine when needed ;)
All the boats mentioned are great, like the look of the sealine 218 also but i would definately recommend just going around and looking at a few more boats, you will know when the right one comes along. Good luck
 
redfreddie said:
Hi, I started boating last year and bought a rinker 212. I still have the rinker and i love it, great boat and with the full canopy we have on it plenty of room for myself, gf and 2 kids every weekend just having fun out at sea or having lunch etc . . . yes its a cuddy cabin but how often will you stay overnight and more to the point when you do stay overnight you have the outside (under canopy) to chill in and surely you only need the cabin to sleep in, so it being small doesnt matter as long as there is a double bed in there and enough room to sleep ? Food and toilet facilities werent an issue for me as we moor the boat at Brighton Marina so can use the facilities there for toilets/showering/food but the portaloo works fine when needed ;)
All the boats mentioned are great, like the look of the sealine 218 also but i would definately recommend just going around and looking at a few more boats, you will know when the right one comes along. Good luck
Click to expand...

thankyou for the comments! i had looked at the rinker 212, as well as many others of a similar type. the 218, although a little older appears to offer than extra bit of room!

ironically i am looking at brighton marina as its close to London so the train after work on a friday is ideal! having the etra room to stay with a couple of friends is a big attraction and will be one of the main uses, this is why i have started to overlook some of the smaller cabin cuddy style boats.

i do need to get to a yard and look around one. trying to match everything to a budget is obviously quite tricky!!
 
sealine 218

The 218 is often sold as a four-berth. You can certainly get two well-acquainted folk on the bed-conversion (by dropping the table and putting in the cushion inserts), but the mid berth is really a single.

If you find one, check for gelcoat crazing and dings, especially around the rubbing strake. These are sturdy wee boats but they do get used well. A guy who runs powerboat courses up here said the 218 was made when Sealine was still experimenting with its GRP moulding process. As a result, the GRP is said to be a bit thicker than necessary. I can't vouch for that - but our Sealine seems pretty solid. I would check the supports on the swim platform too.

The 218 is an easy boat to adapt. So successive owners will probably have made additions and workarounds (usually to the electrics).

Forgive me for saying the obvious - but a seatrial would be a recommendation :)

She's a planing boat, which means she skids around a little at the rear. But the front vee is pretty deep so she's got decent seakeeping.

The 218 has a 'proper' little positively-pressured sea toilet (no portapotty here) in a separate compartment, which also includes a small sink with an extendable tap/showerhead.

The main cabin has a sink and gas cooker with two rings (usually).

By the way, Brian at kddpowercentre.com is a good guy to know. His firm built the distribution and control panels for the 218 (and others). He refurbished the panels on mine and it wasn't terribly expensive - and worth doing.

Also VolvoPaul on this forum is generous with advice and time for Volvo engines.

Good luck! I'd sell you mine, but I'm not QUITE ready to move on yet :) Maybe next spring.
 
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