Jeepster
Well-Known Member
Wow, what an active forum! Thank you everyone. I'm glad you're not too tired of advising people like me
So here's where I'm at...
There's no way in the world I can tell the wife we're getting a 4x4, not this year anyway. We've literally just taken in a brand new Mazda - that she loves.
We've been going to France for our summer holidays. This will be our 3 rd year in a row. We go for 5-7 weeks. Down to the Lot and then the Cote D'Azur.
You guys have kindly put me straight on my idea of a cuddy. Not going to happen. I'm now down to a real light weight day boat. Something like http://www.karnicboats.com/index.php?pageid=256
That's 550kg, plus trailer = approx. 850kg. Now given the absence of green slime on the med slipways (or have I got that wrong?) do you think I'd be able to dip in and out along the coast as I go? Or do I need to go even lighter?
I'm thinking spend a week or 2 in each area. Put the boat in, leave it in, tootle around the coast, use taxis to get back to the car etc.
If I rent a boat down there they are €300 a day, 10 days of non consecutive boating = £2000! Hence taking my own day boat...?
I think you appear to have been only looking at newer pricier boats...Go for something older and not only can you get something a lot more trailable but you can have the cuddy you seek too and all for less than £2000. My boat, a Marina 16 GT (which is actually nearer 16 ft 6" x 6 ft 6" beam) has a dry weight of about 450kg and although its called a 2 berth, I have slept 6 adults on it!. My trailer weighs under 200kg and my outboard (currently a Suzuki DF50, fuel injected, 3 cylinder, chain cam, four stroke) weighs just over 100kg...Add a couple of 25 litre fuel tanks, bedding, lifejackets, fenders, ropes etc, etc, and that lot probably adds another 100kg...Call it 850kg all in. The trailers MGW is 1100kg, minus its own weight makes its capacity about 900kg so its well matched for the boat. My current car is a Citroen C4 Grand Picasso 1.6 HDi. I have lots of experience with launching and recovering my boat on steep slipways on the tidal Thames which are concrete only for about 10 feet and after that they are extremely slippery wet stones, mud and gravel (Like the one down the end of the lane alongside the Budweiser brewery in Mortlake or the one opposite Eel Pie Island in Twickenham). If, like me, you have a front wheel drive car, at low tide things get very interesting on the latter slipways, especially on the one at Mortlake, because at low tide the boat is about 70-80 feet away from the top of the slipway and about 20-30 feet below it! This means reversing my car + trailer down onto the exposed muddy steeply sloping river bed. Once the boat is back on the trailer the grip on the front wheels is almost non existent as it simply throws stones and mud backwards under the car every time you lift the clutch. I found the only solution was attach a strong rope to the front of the car, hank the end of it using quick tie slip hitches to temporarily increase the diameter of the rope (making it easier to grip) and then to get several people to pull on it at the same time as you apply drive to the front wheels...I know it sounds like a right polava but its the only way I have found that works every time! Fortunately there is a pub near the top of the slipway at Mortlake so there are always a few volunteers you can rope in to help. The moral is, never go boating alone...Many hands can make the seemingly impossible boat recovery possible! Failing that, I would invest in an electric winch which can be temporarily attached to the front of your car when required, fitted with as much cable as possible (say 100 feet worth) so you can easily pull yourself out of trouble even if no one else is around to help. BTW, here is a pic of my boat/trailer combo:
Other boats of similar size and weight are available...Microplus and Shetland are two other makes to look out for.
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