Boat to motorhome

Bouba said:
Absolutely, the people who buy motor homes are just like the people who buy boats. Just keep trading up until you learn what is right for you.
One point I’d like to make, with the advent of all these new battery personal transport it gives you far more options to your use of a motor home. You can now park a distance away without having to tow a car. A couple of electric scooters or bikes will do the job!
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We tow a smart car which you really don't notice,over Shao and Beattock summitems in top gear last week.
 
Years ago I was camped with the family, in three little tents on a beach in the Hebrides. The wind had shifted, and we were getting really beat up but it was late and we had to stick it out. About 10 pm I walked up off the beach to the road where there was a tap, and a loo. The wind was gusting, rain was horizontal. I was soaked, the tents and kids were soaked and a long miserable night lay ahead.
Next to the little building with the amenities a motor caravan was parked. As I went past I looked in the window. A couple were sitting having dinner, facing each other across a nicely laid table, with a lamp and a bottle of wine
I think I did actually cry a little bit on the way back to my tent
 
We have a Sealine S24 Several Smaller Boats, A Caravan and during lockdown I converted an old Toyota Previa into a campervan.

We prefer a caravan over a Motor Home.... Reasons. Caravan needs no MOT and is simple. Caravan can be left at the site and go out in tow car with far better access to places to visit. It is quite easy to take a small (ours is 3.8m) blow up boat with you with a caravan and enjoy boating at the places to visit. The right blow up SIB is CAT C and is very sea worthy. A good blow up canoe is also a must have

A Motor home can of course tow a boat but not that brill on a slip way.

This is why I converted the Previa. It can tow a bigger boat and is OK on a reasonable slipway. We also bought a 'drive away' blow up awning 3m x 3 m which is simplicity its self to erect and of course can be left on the site when you go off visiting.

There are some very nice camp sites to visit many near water of various sorts.

My view is that I buy older boats, cars and Caravans that cost relatively small amounts. That way you feel ok if you have several and don't use some of them many times as the feeling that it owes you is not there. To be honest Caravans have changed very little in the last 20 years and the inside and spec of one say 15 years old (cost £3-£5,000) is very similar to a new one at £30,000. Sort of the same with Boats I feel.

Also if you buy at the lower cost end (older) you can hopefully afford to have both.

Second hand motor homes however hold value very well and are very expensive in my view.

My final thought is what ever you do always have some sort of boat.... If you dont you will miss it like crazy especially when you visit a marina, port or similar.

Boating grabs you........ It also grabs your money unfortunately
 
My rationale for getting a motor home is that I was tired of towing. I have towed boats, and trailers packed with holiday gear. We always had fun but towing is always a pain. That is why I never even contemplated towing anything with the motor home, it would be defeating the purpose
 
Bouba said:
My rationale for getting a motor home is that I was tired of towing. I have towed boats, and trailers packed with holiday gear. We always had fun but towing is always a pain. That is why I never even contemplated towing anything with the motor home, it would be defeating the purpose
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So what do you do when you get to your site and are set up and you fancy a jaunt into the next village
 
Bigplumbs said:
So what do you do when you get to your site and are set up and you fancy a jaunt into the next village
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Well, for a start we either drove the van, it was seven meters long and I always prided myself that I could put it anywhere I could put a car (if I had headroom). Then there were bicycles, we are walkers, several miles a day is normal. I had often thought of getting a battery operated transport and now I think the technology has matured to where scooters etc are useful.
 
Oscar24 said:
I was going to buy a motorhome a few years back, but decided to hire one instead. Was very pleased i did tbh.
On paper the 'van' had it all, was new, well equipped and 'ticked all the box's' for what i thought i needed. I was wrong.
It was obviously designed with a recently retired couple in mind, Was 4 berth but realistically only 2, No real space for food prep, awful drivers seat. The engine was gutless making joining a motorway scary. Parking it anywhere other than a designated campsite was a problem.
Wasn't all bad news thou, the toilet cassette system worked well as did the large storage space at the back. The built in solar panel was handy and the LED lighting was excellent. But this was a 7Mtr van costing £50k ?
As with anything, until you've try it you wont know.
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Interestingly, for the same price as a motor home you can often buy a decent large car and a towing caravan. The caravan often has more space and less compromise than a motor home layout. And the car is typically more powerful, more comfortable - and more flexible than the van based motor home cab. And the car can be used all year round, avoiding the extra costs and depreciation of the motor home road mechanics.
It feels like a motor home towing a small car is the worst of both worlds - compared to say a BMW X5 towing a touring caravan.
But each to their own.
 
I find this an interesting thread reading the various views on what is the best approach. It seems a Landrover camper has got to be the best solution, many conversions to choose from, go anywhere and ideal to tow a large boat and do slipway work to still get your boating fix.
 
Scubadoo said:
I find this an interesting thread reading the various views on what is the best approach. It seems a Landrover camper has got to be the best solution, many conversions to choose from, go anywhere and ideal to tow a large boat and do slipway work to still get your boating fix.
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Sorry but there is no "best solution" All of life is a compromise. He who seeks perfection is doomed to be disappointed.
I came down to the Algarve (having previously sailed here) in 1980 in a motorcaravan (not so posh as a MotorHome) and it was very convenient until I became a liveaboard. However the situation today is rather different - motorhomes are a plague and regarded here (justifiably in a vast number of cases) as "travelers" . Wild camping is illegal and subject not only to disaprobation but also to financiaI penalties. I have no idea about the situation in the UK but be advised that you may not always be welcome everywhere.
 
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dunedin said:
Interestingly, for the same price as a motor home you can often buy a decent large car and a towing caravan. The caravan often has more space and less compromise than a motor home layout. And the car is typically more powerful, more comfortable - and more flexible than the van based motor home cab. And the car can be used all year round, avoiding the extra costs and depreciation of the motor home road mechanics.
It feels like a motor home towing a small car is the worst of both worlds - compared to say a BMW X5 towing a touring caravan.
But each to their own.
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That is completly how I feel and have always been bemused by the Popularity of Motor Homes
 
gordmac said:
On the other hand if you have a motorhome you can have a decent car rather than some huge big horrible planet killer!
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I think the Motor home might also be considered a Big planet killer... So you would have a motor home and a car That is 2 engines instead of a car and a caravan which is one engine
 
25931 said:
Sorry but there is no "best solution" All of life is a compromise. He who seeks perfection is doomed to be disappointed.
I came down to the Algarve (having previously sailed here) in 1980 in a motorcaravan (not so posh as a MotorHome) and it was very convenient until I became a liveaboard. However the situation today is rather different - motorhomes are a plague and regarded here (justifiably in a vast number of cases) as "travelers" . Wild camping is illegal and subject not only to disaprobation but also to financiaI penalties. I have no idea about the situation in the UK but be advised that you may not always be welcome everywhere.
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Very sad when countries seek to outlaw Wild Camping and similar. Our good friends over the Border in Scotland have very good rules in this regard and allow people access to land. We must always remember that the Planet owns its land and has owned it for Billions or years. People who think they own land are fooling themselves. There timeline in the life of the earth is so small it could not be represented on any scale as owning what can never be theirs
 
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