Best place to store yacht while selling in The Solent area.

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Hi all,

I have a Bavaria 49 in Chichester which I am thinking of putting on the market. My annual berthing ends at the end of March and I either need to sign up for a new year contract (£9,200.00 ish) or move it somewhere else, possibly out of the water so I can put it on the market. I want to avoid the year contact and want to avoid a short monthly contract which will be over £1,000.00

Needs to be somewhere which is presentable and good value.

Any bright ideas?

Regards
 
Hi Dave, no I have not served in the Armed Forces. I am a member of a forces sailing club at Thorney, but the club has a long waiting list for moorings.
Kind regards
 
The thing that might stop you from using some of the smaller yards, is that they won't have a big enough hoist.
 
I don't think you will save much on short term contracts, as we are getting to the start of the sailing season and you are likely to find that 3 or 4 months on a short term contract is little less than the annual.

Best place to store a boat while trying to sell is on an easily accessible marina berth. Keep the boat looking as if it is in service. I don't think you will find many places in the area for a boat that size that are cheaper than Chichester.

Why not find the broker you want to sell it through and ask them - many brokers prefer to have it on their doorstep so it is easier to show people around.
 
As a rule of thumb marinas and yard storage are more expensive in the Solent than anywhere else because of the sheer number of boats, but worth checking the Chichester price with Solent prices.
 
prv said:
Or ashore in a yard with all extraneous contents removed? Worked for us.

Pete
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I think a boat is a lot less inviting under those circumstances, although you certainly need to make sure it is clean and tidy. Either way it needs regular visits to keep it clean and fresh - I know just how depressing our boat can feel after it has been on the hard for a few weeks.
 
You don't "store" a boat while trying to sell it. You should promote and present a boat to sell it.

This is a high value asset, put it in the hands of the pro's who know their job = out of the water in a cradle in a highly accessable location where lots of other boats are for sale on walk around staging at Hamble Point.
 
Allergy said:
+1 for Wicor & good access from the M27
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=1
tel: 01329 237112
http://www.wicormarine.co.uk/
Bav 49 = approx. 11,000kg
So check the weight limitations ......the lift out is limited to less than 12 Tons.
Good hard standing for viewing and an agent has an office in the yard
Certainly good value and easy access as said above.
We had our boat s there over a 10yr period until we moved to Spain last summer, and found it best value on the Solent for us.

S.
 
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bedouin said:
I think a boat is a lot less inviting under those circumstances, although you certainly need to make sure it is clean and tidy. Either way it needs regular visits to keep it clean and fresh - I know just how depressing our boat can feel after it has been on the hard for a few weeks.
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Definitely agree with the need for regular cleaning and airing - when we had KS up for sale I was working on Ariam in the same yard every weekend, and about every other visit I'd give her a brief check over and sometimes a quick wash of the deck etc. Whereas there used to be a small steel boat opposite the Bursledon Force 4 that was quite smart when I first started going there, but looked like a ragged wreck after three years unsold and apparently abandoned.

Cold, damp laid-up boats with the cushions etc removed are depressing, but if the boat's for sale then you don't do things like a normal winter lay-up. With Kindred Spirit we took the sails off and stowed them neatly folded and labeled in the forepeak locker, but otherwise left everything in place. By removing "extraneous contents" I meant personal kit and any gear that won't be included in the sale. There's no reason for a boat to be depressing just because it has concrete under its keel rather than water. Especially inside, where there should be no discernible difference except the lack of motion.

If selling ashore didn't work, the brokers' boardwalks at Hamble Point, Berthon, etc wouldn't exist.

Pete
 
prv said:
If selling ashore didn't work, the brokers' boardwalks at Hamble Point, Berthon, etc wouldn't exist.

Pete
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Clearly boats do sell like that - but I think as a rule the initial experience for the potential buyer is better with the boat afloat. Most boats look better in the water than on the hard and clambering up a ladder can be a bit precarious. In a buyers' market (as it is now for most boats) you need to do everything you can to attract the buyer to your boat. Since buying a boat is primarily an emotional rather than rational decision getting the initial impressions right can make all the difference.
 
bedouin said:
Clearly boats do sell like that - but I think as a rule the initial experience for the potential buyer is better with the boat afloat. Most boats look better in the water than on the hard and clambering up a ladder can be a bit precarious. In a buyers' market (as it is now for most boats) you need to do everything you can to attract the buyer to your boat. Since buying a boat is primarily an emotional rather than rational decision getting the initial impressions right can make all the difference.
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With a commodity design such as a Bavaria I think the emotional connection will have been established through internet clicks and YouTube videos.

A serious buyer wants accessability, the chance to walk around playing the light off the topsides looking for evidence of repairs or dings, a hands-on waggle of the rudder for bearing play and the option to get a surveyor around without liftout costs.
 
Another option could be a month by month river temporary mooring on the Hamble, if they have any available. IIRC the cost would be about £400/m. Aside from the cost saving, the boat is then in a good place for selling and some of the brokers serving the Hamble have a RIB there for taking prospective purchasers out to the boat.

jryachts.com - Jonic on this forum - sold my last boat whilst it was on a Hamble river mooring and he has a RIB on the river.
 
bedouin said:
In a buyers' market (as it is now for most boats) you need to do everything you can to attract the buyer to your boat.
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Definitely - as well as keeping everything clean and tidy, we also arranged with the yard to put her just inside the main gate, and I made up a nice "For Sale" sign to hang from the bowsprit right next to the road. We did the boot-top and put on a coat of antifoul, even though it would probably need re-doing before launch, because the fresh paint always made her look really smart. The jib was stowed away, but I hoisted a light warp to trace its normal line from bowsprit end to masthead to keep the rig looking balanced. I bought a small solar panel to keep the batteries topped up, so that everything would immediately flick into life when tested. Serviced the engine, greased all the leatherwork. I wrote up all the work I'd done, a complete inventory, diagrams of the fuel system, electrics, etc and types of paint and varnish used on the various surfaces. Also a guide to rigging and sailing the boat, to reassure anyone who might be concerned about moving to gaff rig. I left these displayed on the chart table, with spare copies so that everyone who viewed could take one away with them. Everything included in the sale was on board, and nothing that wasn't. The one exception was the dinghy, which we noted on paper but deliberately stored elsewhere so as not to emphasise the lack of a decent place to stow it on board :D

She was a slightly non-mainstream boat, so it took three or four months before we got a serious potential buyer, but the first one to view her cancelled his appointment with another and said yes the same day. Presentation counts, but I don't think being on the water is important to a serious buyer.

Pete
 
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