Boat purchase

Marty87

Marty87

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Good afternoon

I am in the process of buying a princess 415 1987 it has twin Volvo Penta 61a (306 hp) on 4 blade props I have two options sail it from Plymouth to inveclyde in scotland or use transport so my question is what would I expect for fuel cost to sail and what would transport cost expected to be.

Regards
Marty
 
If there is a good weather window, why not sail anyway?

I will have a go at estimating, just to give others a chance to disagree!!

Sail: 500nm trip at 2 litres per mile and 50p per litre fuel £500

Transport: 800 kms at £1/km £800

Lifting onto and off transport may also cost, so cheaper to sail.
 
East Cardinal said:
If there is a good weather window, why not sail anyway?

I will have a go at estimating, just to give others a chance to disagree!!

Sail: 500nm trip at 2 litres per mile and 50p per litre fuel £500

Transport: 800 kms at £1/km £800

Lifting onto and off transport may also cost, so cheaper to sail.
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Two litres per mile will only be doable at displacement speeds and it is a long trip at 6 knots. Fifty pence a litre also sounds a little on the low side....?

With an older boat such as this that I don’t know I would want to be very happy that she has been well maintained and that the fuel tanks aren’t full of sludge that an extended passage might disturb.
 
Err think we mean closer to 7 litres per mile ? and at around £ 1.00 per litre. ?
Plus over night stops and weather window problems and its winter along some blimming challenging bits of coasts in an unknown quantity 30 year old boat.

I would be spending about 2K getting that boat home by truck including the lift each end.

In the last 18 months or so about 6 boats have made there way from all over the UK to here on the Medway, not single one did not have issues discovered either on the sea trip round or which appeared after being trucked and launched down here.
This despite the brokers / owners claiming the boats to be in ready to go condition.....and lest we forget most with extensive surveys as well.
This was stuff which could have given rise to real issues if off Lands End or Beachy Head.
Impeller/ pump seal cooling problems and non functioning Nav Gear seems to be the most problematic with a single instance of blocked filters
 
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You will use about 1 gal per Nm at planing speeds, but I am not sure about the distance. Costs of trucking versus boating is about the same, but until you are confident in the boat, my choice would be to truck it.

By the way, congratulations on your boat. How about some pics?
 
oldgit said:
Err think we mean closer to 7 litres per mile ? and at around £ 1.00 per litre. ?
Plus over night stops and weather window problems and its winter along some blimming challenging bits of coasts in an unknown quantity 30 year old boat.

I would be spending about 2K getting that boat home by truck including the lift each end.

In the last 18 months or so about 6 boats have made there way from all over the UK to here on the Medway, not single one did not have issues discovered either on the sea trip round or which appeared after being trucked and launched down here.
This despite the brokers / owners claiming the boats to be in ready to go condition.....and lest we forget most with extensive surveys as well.
This was stuff which could have given rise to real issues if off Lands End or Beachy Head.
Impeller/ pump seal cooling problems and non functioning Nav Gear seems to be the most problematic with a single instance of blocked filters
Click to expand...

£1/ltr!! and 7 litres per nm..............................Order the truck!

That is a surprising amount of fuel, didn't realise these motorboats were so thirsty.
 
Hey lads thank you for all your input as some of you says there could be many problems that I could run into as I don’t know the boat but the good thing is I’ve had a quote today from John shepherd transport and they can transport it for £1750 plus vat so think to be on the safe side that’s the better option and cheaper option.
 
Marty87 said:
Hey lads thank you for all your input as some of you says there could be many problems that I could run into as I don’t know the boat but the good thing is I’ve had a quote today from John shepherd transport and they can transport it for £1750 plus vat so think to be on the safe side that’s the better option and cheaper option.
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Not as cheap as the rate quoted by East Cardinal though so maybe he has another source which would merit enquiry ?
 
Road transport figure I gave is pretty standard cost for hgv transport. Specialist boat transport company may have extra costs for loading unloading and maybe a night out for the driver as 800 kms in one day is about maximum.
You may be able to reduce the £1750 cost if they can backload another vessel., ie move another vessel on the outward/return journey (depending on where they are based.

800 km at £1/km is £800 so I think you may be able to get some discount on £1750 with a bit of negotiation and some flexibility on delivery day.

If I had bought the boat , I would definitely go by sea.
Do a day shakedown in Plymouth, if all goes well then take a few days over transport. The boat should be able to manage such a passage quite easily if you plan a decent weather window
After all that is why you bought it?
 
Yes but no, no, no! Setting off on a 30 year old unproven boat to do those sort of miles is not something one undertakes without a great deal of faith and ignorance.
 
Couldn’t find anything online for east cardinal to see about a quote could you give me contact details please.

Regards
Marty
 
BruceK said:
Yes but no, no, no! Setting off on a 30 year old unproven boat to do those sort of miles is not something one undertakes without a great deal of faith and ignorance.
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Really not much point in buying a boat if it can't go to sea!
Assuming the pre purchase survey is fine and service spares and tools are carried, a sea trip should be ok. A good shakedown before setting off would reveal any major snags.
I think the buyer would be missing out on a fantastic experience if the opportunity to sail the boat is missed.

If you bought a car and didn't think it could manage the drive home so had to be transported, wouldn't you think that was odd?
 
East Cardinal said:
Road transport figure I gave is pretty standard cost for hgv transport. Specialist boat transport company may have extra costs for loading unloading and maybe a night out for the driver as 800 kms in one day is about maximum.
You may be able to reduce the £1750 cost if they can backload another vessel., ie move another vessel on the outward/return journey (depending on where they are based.

800 km at £1/km is £800 so I think you may be able to get some discount on £1750 with a bit of negotiation and some flexibility on delivery day.

If I had bought the boat , I would definitely go by sea.
Do a day shakedown in Plymouth, if all goes well then take a few days over transport. The boat should be able to manage such a passage quite easily if you plan a decent weather window
After all that is why you bought it?
Click to expand...

I'm in the transport business & if you know someone who runs artics up there for £800 give me their number. think you will find that's a scheduled rate for which they will have guaranteed back loads.
 
What would you charge then?
We ran a 44tonne artic up until 2015 So maybe my figures are a bit dated. But £1750 +vat is a lot for a 13tonne load.

I replied to the o.p .to get the ball rolling, and he has a better idea now of costs.

As I said, I would go by sea.
 
East Cardinal said:
Really not much point in buying a boat if it can't go to sea!
Assuming the pre purchase survey is fine and service spares and tools are carried, a sea trip should be ok. A good shakedown before setting off would reveal any major snags.
I think the buyer would be missing out on a fantastic experience if the opportunity to sail the boat is missed.

If you bought a car and didn't think it could manage the drive home so had to be transported, wouldn't you think that was odd?
Click to expand...

If I bought a 30 year old classic car 800 plus miles away, yes I wouldn't presume to get in it and load the engine to 80% capacity in a charge to get it back. You're full of blue skies and rainbows you are. :encouragement:
 
Yes but your sense of adventure can become somebody else's problem. Responsibility first then adventure.
If this boat had a demonstrable and proven capacity for such cruising up until the point of sale then I'd take that as proven and would be less abrupt, however it would be a very rare beast indeed then as 30 year old power boats are old boats and generally come with all the faults and expectations one would expect of an old boat. I'm not being snobbish about this. I have an old boat. I maintain it meticulously with no expense spared. Doesn't change the fact she is old and a 800 mile trip I'd not attempt without some serious consideration. In so saying I happily eat up that amount in a year of short cruises. But then I'm not stranded in no mans land when something should go awry.
Not adventurous? You clearly dont know me yet, but hopefully soon when you take possession of your own boat. :D
 
Congrats on the new purchase

There are a few of us in here running 61a so feel free to shout up if you have any questions. Volvopaul is the expert of course!

I’ve had a similar age boat 18 months now. Although I have had no major issues, I’ve had plenty of niggles, all of which have been resolved as I’ve gone along. Started out with an hours run, come back, check everything, clean up diesel, find the leak.....go out again, bit of vibration, realign the shafts etc.... My last trip was 100 mile return and the boat was spot on. I think with any boat, it’s good sense to build up to a trip like that. Do you know every inch of every system and how to get to it for example.

It would be a great trip that’s for sure but perhaps in the summer, with a support boat....containing Volvopaul :):);)
 
Agree BruceK.
I was assuming Marty87 was happy to sail the boat since he was asking about option of sail or transport by road.

BruceK, our of interest what type of boat do you have?
I have just acquired a 20ft RIB and look forward to getting back to sea next year. Maybe even get to Conwy:encouragement:
 
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