First Boat, advice please...

[BotleyBuoy]

I've been sailing for a number of years and am now thinking about breaking the Golden Rule, ie if it flys, floats (and something else I can't remember), rent it. I'll be using the boat primarily on the Thames and in the Estuary, with an idea of possibly taking it across the Channel in fine weather. Would a Colvic Northerner fit the bill? It's fitted with a 41hp Perkins which the owner says hasn't been run for a few months and needs a new exhaust hose and possibly a new circulation pump and impeller housing. How available are parts for these old engines? It's an attractive price but .......

All advice and suggestions appreciated. Thanks in advance. :encouragement:

 

[ashtonmarineservices]

Hi

The Colvic Northerner is a great boat but will be v slow as they are heavy but handling is good and they are a lot of boat for the money. It all comes down to what you top must have list is ie space , how many it should sleep in comfort and at a squeeze, speed, budget , how much work you want to do on it, how often you will use it , how long you plan to keep it, etc.

I personally like the draco boats but they might not meet your spec so if you can tell us a bit more I can give a better reply

 

[superheat6k]

For river and sheltered estuary waters 41 HP is fine in what I assume will be a 25-30' boat, but if you go into open water and meet any sort of sea on the bow, even a F3 nose on especially wind over tide, then 41HP will struggle to get the boat even to say 3 or 4 knots, which is when having a powerful engine really matters. Hull speed for a displacement hull should always be attainable even in a chop - that is 1.34 X Sq Rt of the waterline length, or for 25ft waterline ~ 6.5kn.

I am not familiar with the Colvic Northerner, but assuming it is 25' I would want for displacement work at least 60 - 70 HP. 41 HP suggests it was intended for river use only, where on flat water it would easily attain hull speed.

 

[BotleyBuoy]

Thanks for the replies.

My intended use is primarily chugging up and down the Thames, but an ambition is to cross the Chanel to access the French canal system and head for the the Med.

As for accommodation; the boat I'm looking at is currently fitted out to sleep 4 but I'd be refitting that to sleep two in comfort and make room for a shower and chemical toilet to make live-aboard possible.

The length is quoted at 26' with a beam of 9'. and weighs in at 7250kgs She is currently on hard standing on the South Coast and has been used at sea, apparently.
As for time, well I'm now retired which means I'm time rich but cash poor.

The boat seems cheap enough but there are transport costs to factor in on top of the work required to repair the stated faults ie cracked exhaust hose and leaks from the
circulation pump & impeller housing.

Unfortunately with me being in Buckinghamshire and the boat in Devon it's not going to be a simple matter of popping into the boat yard for a check-over.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Flynnbarr]

Good boats,well built had a reputation as a good sea boat that would always get you home just slowly
Some were yard built,some home completed.It would be fine to do what you are suggesting,just use the tides to your advantage as you probably know having sailed.Some came with bilge keels,ideal to dry out in the estuary mud,even seen a couple done as motor sailers.
A lot had Perkins,spares are plentiful.Thousands of boats,canal boats etc have them.
Good luck.

 

[lenten]

my very heavily built scottish fishing boat had a 30 hp engine ---bad sea conditions didn t slow it ----it was never fast but very comfortable---41 hp should be fine

 

[oldgit]

The Colvic Northener is a tough little boat and was very popular in its day,unless been updated over the years,it would have to be very competitively priced indeed to make any sense compared to lots of other boats out there on the market.
Fit out would be variable as many were sold for home completion
Not really a boat for any channel crossing,far more at home on an estuary. The speed for the top of the range "powerful" 50hp Perkins was quoted as 7-8 knots ,when new. Fine on the Thames but if you are punching a 2-3knot tide you are not going anywhere fast. Even on the Thames,in the inevitable Grande Prix between locks, you will be breathing fumes from just about everything else.
Very popular down here on the Medway and the other eastern coastal rivers.
The market is completely overwhelmed at the moment with secondhand boats in all sections of the market.You will be able to pick and choose at your leisure,beware old heaps that have been lying idle for years,even if super cheap.
You may also want to look outside the closed world of the Thames for your boat, prices tend to to be lower elsewhere.

 

[simonfraser]

engines run better when used on a regular basis.
if you are not familiar with that particular type look for something which is in regualr use and with a good maintenance record.

 

[Flynnbarr]

The Colvic Northener is a tough little boat and was very popular in its day,unless been updated over the years,it would have to be very competitively priced indeed to make any sense compared to lots of other boats out there on the market.
Fit out would be variable as many were sold for home completion
Not really a boat for any channel crossing,far more at home on an estuary. The speed for the top of the range "powerful" 50hp Perkins was quoted as 7-8 knots ,when new. Fine on the Thames but if you are punching a 2-3knot tide you are not going anywhere fast. Even on the Thames,in the inevitable Grande Prix between locks, you will be breathing fumes from just about everything else.
Very popular down here on the Medway and the other eastern coastal rivers.
The market is completely overwhelmed at the moment with secondhand boats in all sections of the market.You will be able to pick and choose at your leisure,beware old heaps that have been lying idle for years,even if super cheap.
You may also want to look outside the closed world of the Thames for your boat, prices tend to to be lower elsewhere.

Last time I looked Devon was outside the closed world of The Thames.......On your upcoming trip you do know to turn left before the monty not right.....

 

[BotleyBuoy]

Chaps; many thanks for all your helpful advice and suggestions. Please keep them coming.

........On your upcoming trip you do know to turn left before the monty not right.....

Hardly "upcoming", more what politicians call an "ambition" Advice duly note though...thank you.

 

[Flynnbarr]

Chaps; many thanks for all your helpful advice and suggestions. Please keep them coming.



Hardly "upcoming", more what politicians call an "ambition" Advice duly note though...thank you.

Does nobody read the damn posts
That was for Mr OldGit......aka confused of Medway

 

[oldgit]

Chaps; many thanks for all your helpful advice and suggestions.

Worry not Botley Boy, Finnbarr is merely getting a bit excited at the prospect of 20 or more Medway boaters coming round to the la la land of the Thames.
The comment was aimed in my direction
"My intended use is primarily chugging up and down the Thames"

.

 

[Flynnbarr]

Worry not Botley Boy, Finnbarr is merely getting a bit excited at the prospect of 20 or more Medway boaters coming round to the la la land of the Thames.
The comment was aimed in my direction
"My intended use is primarily chugging up and down the Thames"

.

20....20.....there isn't room for 20.....I'll help make room by going the other way....good like that me

 

[andrewbarker]

As has been said, a tough boat but many "idiosyncratic" fit outs.

A few years back, MBM did a cross-channel cruise in company and, among all the posh boats was a Colvic Northerner. Always last in, but always made it safely. I think the skip was a woman, and she said the boat went everywhere at about 6 knots. She wasn't in any rush and wasn't at all afraid of the Channel or North Sea.