Boats Owned and Future Plans

Starting 1990

Searay 268 1yr (costa fortune to fill)
Sealine 305 6 months (rubbish boat)
Fairline Turbo 36 2 1/2yrs (super boat)
Princess 435 3 yrs (even better)
Princess 470 2 yrs
Sealine 410 1 yr (SWMBO decided to build a house)
Sealine S37 1 yr
Broom 37 1 yr
Fairline Targa 48 (SWMBO finished emptying my wallet into house)1 yr
Azimut 46 1 yr
Ferretti 46 3 yrs

Plan is to have one more planing boat (prob Ferretti 53) and then buy semi d/d boat for extended cruising. Possibly finish up with small semi d boat in our dotage before no1 kids bung us in old farts home. That's the plan. Best laid plans of mice and men etc..
 
bayliner 285 3months
jeanneau pristige 36 9months
jeanneau pristige 46 15 months
looking at pearl 60,princess 54 and waiting to see what the new pristige fly looks like and the bank balance /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
On my First boat, Bayliner 192 cuddy; been on the water these last 2 weeks but been doing her up down the driveway since last September.

Alarmed at the poor workmanship a "marine engineer" turned out and charged the PO a fortune for. Shameful. Cost a fortune in parts to redo the work.

Last winter did the RYA power boat level2 inland, then the coastal, plus did the CEVNI test, so got my ICC coastal and inland.
Plan on doing Dayskipper/ Coastalskipper next winter.

Have a vague idea about selling the house in a few years, giving up the dreary world of motor industry and health and safety management and buying something like a Bavaria 38 sailboat to live aboard in the med.

Since I'm an ex time served and qualified diesel engineer, don't think it will be too hard to find casual work in the med marinas once the floating ginpalace engineers get to know me.

That's the half baked idea anyway, i'm just not designed for grey skies and rain.
 
given that selling and buying boats is such an expensive and time consuming pastime may i recommend the following 3 stage step to happiness.
1 research and buy first boat which inevitably after a few short years wil no longer satisfy your needs. learn from your mistake and research long and hard once again, this time with the benefit of experience and then
2 buy your second and last boat. make sure it is something which will answer your needs well into the future coz because this IS your last boat you will spend a fortune getting it kitted out just how you like it, and then go boating and stop looking with envy at other folks boats.
3 cancel all boat magazines. boycott all boat shows and never join boat forums, so that you will never be tempted to stray again.
 
[ QUOTE ]
7 ages of boating, anyone

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With deepest apologies to William Shakespeare (As you like it) and Robert Conquest (Seven ages: first puking..) Here goes:

Seven volvos: first smoking and mewling,
Then very pissed off with the fueling,
Then fixes, then blames,
Then warranty claims,
Then overheating; last cooling.
 
1)Mid 80s - Seasafe Dandy - 15ft? + 9.8hp Mercury (seized on 1st trip out) - having just been serviced by dealer!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
Replaced with new engine and kept boat for a couple of years.
2) New Orkney Strikeliner with 25hp Johnson - super little boat and great fun around the estuary and out at sea. Kept for about 4 years.
3) New Bonwitco With 404 - well built, unsinkable, quick but very hard ride and I just felt rather exposed in any sort of a sea. Kept 2yrs.
4) Given the use of of a Ryds 605 with 90hp Suzi 4str. by adjacent berth holder. Cracking little boat - regularly travelled as far afield as Teignmouth - Fowey. Used it for 3-4yrs.
5) Owner of above and I decided to club together and we decided to import the 1st Ryds 23 into the country - there was no dealer in the UK and we bought it in Denmark. Unlike the later dealer imports ours had an AD32 fitted. Had a few teething probs. all paid for without complaint by Danish supplier. Kept for 18months - colleague didn't really like it 'cos it was rather noisy after smooth 4str. outboards. Sold at a profit /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
6) 2004 I persuaded him to look at a Botnia Targa 25 with 200hp engine - seatrial was awful (bottom was heavily fouled) but build quality and concept of boat superb. We found a KAD44 version 6 months later and it's been fantastic. V.unlikely to change unless forced to downsize due to fuel costs. Would love 30ft version but "pigs may fly".
If we do downsize then a used Grady White , Boston Whaler or lesser quality cuddy/cabin boat would be most likely to fit the bill.
 
My first boat was a pram dingy, I had a set of plans given to me and my father helped me construct it, I used to live in Quayside road, Southampton,I was never more than 50 metres from the water, that was 1958.
My current boat is an old (nearly 20) SS Portofino, inbetween I've lost count,but I've enjoyed every second of them, even when it got dangerous, or expensive.
boating for me is more of a culture than a hobby, a bit like women, you can't live with them, and you can't live without them /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Future, no idea, I'm not wealthy enough to go "up" but you don't know what's around the next corner.
 
Started in 1990, friend bought a Picton 166, mariner 200, with a company windfall, the first time he took it out I was there, he scared himself half to death & vowed to sell it on return from the weekend.

Trouble was there were about 16 of us & he wouldn't take them out for a ride, so I did the only decent thing & took them all, in turn on his behalf.

By the time I had taken the last ride I was hooked, I bought half on our return promising my friend it would get better with time.(PS I forgot to mention the 50% purchase to swimbo for 4 years)

After 7 years we eventualy sold it, split the money & went our separate ways.

After some serious saving 3 years later me & my long suffering wife managed to buy a 1994 Bayliner 2255 ciera,merc 4.3L owned it for 3 years
We will never ever forget this boat as it was the first we owned outright & probably the most fun both me & swimbo had but allas she was getting on & after some mechanical alterations (new engine) we like others wanted a bit more reliability.

Up untill now the boats had been trailed, so a new agenda was to get a berth, along came our next boat a sealine s240 complete with an available berth again we owned her for 3 years.
It turned out to be a bit high maintenance but thouroughly enjoyed every second of ownership, she was perfect when we sold her & had adjusted to the berth costs & general ownership costs involved with leaving a boat 180 miles away from home.

So that just about gets us to our current boat, with each boat we have put together a wish list, as we find more of what we like the boats change to reflect our ambitions.

Current boat 1996 Fairline Targa 28, more to do with finnances than anything but it really did tick all those boxes on our next boat wish list, only owned for 6 months but as soon as the useage starts so will our next list.
Looking at our list here a trend has emerged, 3 years.......all but our first which we only owned 50%.

So I will let you know in 2 1/2 years time, again though finnances will be the deciding factor.
As for my friend, all these years on he still comes for a ride occasionally, after all I have a lot to thank him for. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
First boat was a Princess 32 - it was more than we wanted to spend but that set the trend that many will be familiar with. Great first boat and we had her for two seasons.

Second boat was a Broom Ocean 37 - way more than we could afford but a lovely boat. Real quality and bags of space. Got into sea cruising but 10-12 knots wasn't as fast as we liked. Again two seasons.

Thisd (current) boat Fairline Targa 35 - complete change from the Broom. Loads of comfy cokpit space and adequate accomodation below but not spacious by comparison. Love this boat and circumstances mean it will stay for a while. Done lots to spruce her up (some may have seen my engine overhaul post last month).

The future is probably back to semi-displacement and lots of pottering around the coast, French waterways and maybe the Med. Like Jez I like the idea of a Nordhaven but it will probably be beyond my budget.
 
First boat was a Sealine S37. Really liked it but the mercruisers were really unreliable.

Three months into it I decided to build my own boat. 9 years (and 400k) later and I'm still doing it!

Circumstances have changed so much that I'd rather have a 25' fishing boat but I've got a three quarters finished 57' steel boat instead.
 
I'm still on the first boat.
Had her for three years now and although I often think about upgrading to a Fairline Targa 37, the SeaRay 260 does everything I want for a 'whiz around the bay dayboat'. The wife doesn't do camping and I can't afford anything she'd be happy to sleep on. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
My boat history from 2001:
2001 - Nordkapp 730 Premiere
2003 - Skilso 33 Flybridge
2007 - Fairline Targa 40 (2005-mod.)
What's next......? The Fairline is fantastic.............!
 
In chronological order:

Shetland 535
33' Wooden Cutter
Fisher 30
Francis 26
Macwester Rowan
Atlanta 32
Hurley 22
Fisher 25
45' Cutter (brought over from Caribbean)
Fisher 25 (another one!)
40 Marine Trader Trawler (brought over from Florida)

That's about it so far!

Aspirations / day dreaming - Fleming 50/55 or Nordhavn 47
 
We bought our first boat in 2001 which we had converted to run on LPG (It seems it's up for sale. Great boat). Had it for 6 months then part ex'd it for a new boat which we took delivery of in Feb 2002 and we've still got it.

No plans to change although we were seriously considering it a couple of years ago but due to the diesel issue decided against it. Thank God.
 
Looking at the link to my old boat - we bought it with only 36 hours on the clock and sold it with around 150 hours. The ad says it's now done 200 hours. That's only eight and a half hours per years since we sold it!!!

It had an interesting history in that it was brought over from the US for the 1991 SIBS. The guys who imported it had a disagreement and fell out so the boat was put into dry storage till 2000 when the previous owner bought it with only 6 hours on the clocks.
 
Hello and thank you!
My Nordkapp was almost new when it was bought in 2001. Nordkapp is a very popular Norwegian boat with long history. They produce boats up to 28', which is Nordkapp Vitesse 830.
My 730 Premiere was a 23' daycruiser. The boat worked well, and was perfect for a day at sea.
There are a lot of Nordkapp dealers in Norway.

Some facts of my example:
Engine: Mercruiser 5,0 MPI - 260
Speed: Cruising 28-30 knots, flat out: 42 knots
 
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