Buying + refurbishing a run down boat

Hi dude, i too share your dream, i picked mine up for £2000. Heads up, on the helford river they are having a massive clearout of abandoned boats that litter the shore line, i know of at least 2 that would fit your needs and dare i say it you could probably claim some sort of salvage as the council and the duchy would be glad to see the back of them. Theres a creek just past the budock vean hotel where there are many. does this sound like it could be of some value to you?
 
Try Kanonis boatyard Aegina island Greece. Pick up odd jobs in the boatyards and work with the tradesmen to learn about boats. If you meet Wim he'll help you find a boat and there is an English RYA training school on the island who will help you get your Day skippers Certificate and international certificate of competence. You could probably pay your way by cleaning the training boats. Believe me you will be treading a well worn path.
 
hey all, thanks for the info. that hold fast documentary was a dam fine watch.

Iv been traveling with my jack russel through france for about a month now. set of with £40, which went in about 1 week. been hitchhiking and train hopping, staying with a wide variety of lovely people. i just spent a week with a rainbow family, living in a yurt. they call themsemves children of the earth. Ganja and drums around the fire.
in other words, hippies.

one night i met an enlish chap who told me of some very good work back in england, dafodil picking. from january to march in cornwall then up to scotland. he tells me you are paid for what you pick, and that starting out one would expect to make £50 to £100 a day, and an experienced picker, up to 150 a day.
the picking season is now so i will hop skip back to england. should be fun as i lost my passport a while back.

if i can get back soon enough, the dafodil picking should be a nice way to raise funds for the boat. at present, I only have £2.35 to my name :)


thanks for the info everyone, whether i buy the boat in a few months or a few years, this thread is a troumendously useful collection of information.
 
As 'cool' as this sounds....How are you going to 'hop skip' back to England with your dog, with just £2.40, and no passport?

Are you going to buy an inflatable beach dingy and row across?
 
i travel with a guitar so when i need money i find a city get the guitar out and busk. though france at this time of year is not so good because of the cold. so i willl probably go to paris, plenty of people there.

the cost to get back will be quite high though. £60 for the ferry (with dog), £30 for pre ferry vet checkup for dog, and £100 for passport. so £190 in total not to mention the beauracratic hassle of dealing with the embassy.

as it stands i might try to look for a private boat/yacht owner on the north coast of france. do you think think this is doable?

i would be happy to pay anything up to the alternative cost of £190, and help with some work on the boat before leaving/ on arrival, such as clean/ scrub under hull or some carpentry work. the dog is an 8 month old, rather small, jack russel.

how ever much the cost, determins how long i will be playing guitar in paris, and to be honest i would be delighted to meet and sail with boat owner.

does anyone know of any good spots along the north coast of france to look for any boat owners who might be up for this?

I am also a real estate photographer, so can take photos of boat for owner if he/she is looking to sell
 
pond weed said:
does anyone know of any good spots along the north coast of france to look for any boat owners who might be up for this?
Click to expand...

Hey PW, thanks for update. Shows that anybody can keep in touch even when sitting on a French country lane! Top Man.

Now. Difficult question. Wrong time of the year I fear. Wait until the summer holidays when there will be dozens of UK boats looking for an extra hand. Often the wife will have jumped ship after arguments on the outward leg and the husband needs extra help. Kids will be on board but that should be no problem as they all love dogs.

Just had a better idea! Why not hitch over to Brest for the Festival of Traditional Sail (or summat like that)! There will be loads of beardy MAB owners. Wait until they get legless and ship out with them. Hell, you will probably be half way to Falmouth before they realise you are on board. Bonus is that Falmouth is in Cornwall - where the daisies are!! In any event, the Cornlanders are amazingly welcoming and you will find yourself being fed, watered and invited to sleep in their barns - all for free, probably.

Bon chance! Keep in touch.




Edit: ****! Brest was in 2012. The next one is in either two or four years. Can you hang on that long???
 
PW,

Forgot to say; don't forget the cost of taking the dog to a French Vet for worming tablet. Needs to be done between 24 hours and 7 days of arriving in UK. The Vet will stamp the pet passport.
 
yeap the tapeworm treatment is somthing i would like to do regardless of the method of travel.

i am looking to get back to UK rather soon. the dafodil picking season in cornwall is now, so iv missed it. Iv made some phone calls and arranged to pick up in scotland mid march. so iv got 2 / 3 weeks to get back.

if i miss this picking season im in trouble with my back. student finance coming back to bite me in the arse.

the calaise / dover straight is such a short distance, im racking my brains trying to think of a way. but have only come up with rowing in and inflatable raft, and the list of possible things that can go wrong seems rather large.
 
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