First boat and opinions on Boatshare

[Neil&Sally]

Hi Guys

It has been a dream of mine since i was 20 years old to buy my own boat. It has now come to the point where me and my wife and able to potentially afford a small speed boat. We have been looking at probably a Bayliner 185 or Maxum 1800. I was hoping to get opinions on either the two.

The problem is I work 6 days a week and only get 21 days a year holiday (two weeks of which is spent abroad). Plus I also volunteer for a local dog rescue chairty two weekends a month.

Basically I will only have around 10 days a year that i can actually use the boat. When you factor in the £8000 purchase price, plus storage/mooring and running costs (insurance, maintenance and fuel) it becomes prohibitive.

As much as my wife likes being on the water she would rather the money be spent on upgrades around the house.

A friend of mine suggest I look into a boatshare.

I was wondering if anyone here knew of any boatshare brokers in the south east.

Alternative if any YBW members would like to split the maintenance cost, mooring fees and insurance costs for 10 days a year useage of your boat (around your own scheduel obviously) id be very interested.

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

..Neil..

 

[Vern]

Hello Neil, welcome to the forum.
What part of the Thames are you intending using..and is your interest solely aimed at a speedboat?

Vernon

 

[Reverend Ludd]

I wonder if you might be better looking at a hire boat maybe ?

 

[No Regrets]

Yep, whatever you do DON'T buy a boat.

You don't have the time to use one.

 

[Gavi]

Hello Neil, welcome to the forum.
What part of the Thames are you intending using..and is your interest solely aimed at a speedboat?

Vernon

Two good questions. If the middle or upper Thames then a speedboat won't be fun anyway. I think your desire to own is understandable. Your usage will depend on your accessibility to the boat. I have similar available days to you but the boat is immediately available to me so I use her a lot. If there is a journey involved then that may not be so easy for you. Also think about total cost of ownership (including license, boat safety, service and moorings) against No Regret's point about hiring.

I have spoken to one happy person who does a boat share, but the boat is moored at the bottom of his garden. I would not rush at this option. Hiring may seem expensive but it could be cheaper than buying and not leave you with a residual problem if it does not work out.

Le Boat at Penton Hook do some nice looking boats and they might be up for a regular use deal?

 

[No Regrets]

You also have to keep the thing clean. Boats really need a lot of spare time to enjoy them most.

A rental is more flexible and handy for you. I have often been tempted!!

 

[Portland Billy]

Boat Hire

Definitely hire a boat whenever the urge takes you - its by far the cheaper option and you will have a boat large enough to spend days away.
Kris cruisers at Windsor, Le Boat, or Classic Cruisers at Windsor Marina are a few options, and I'm sure are all flexible on the length of hire from a day upwards, and can arrange hire at short notice.

 

[teddington_lock]

Remember though that we won't let hire boats onto the tideway.

We have an agreement with the rental companies. So if you were thinking of a 'speedboat' to head down to the barrier or whatever , a hire boat won't fulfill your needs.

 

[vandy]

Hiring a boat is not REALLY the cheapest option.

I have bought/sold many boats, and last week I sold a rib to a group of people who were thinking to either hire or buy a boat and really owning a boat is more fun, and sometimes cheaper.

This depends on whether you have time to enjoy it, BTW, why do you think you can only enjoy it on your holidays? weekends or evenings are often the time I go boating.

Generally, if you use your craft for about 100hrs per year (say 20 times) then you deserve a boat of your own! I am not going to bother you with the problems and costs associated with a boat as I hope you have thought about them.

My advice would be to start with something more flexible like an inflatable dinghy and a 10-15hp outboard that you can easily store in your garage. A good package like this will cost you no more than £2k new and you won't lose too much if you end up not going boating enough and decide to sell it.

Buy one! start boating, it is fun especially when you feel you are floating on the water!

I started boating with a dinghy and since then have upgraded many times and now to an Arvor fishing boat!!! But many friends have bought an expensive package as their first boat and then lost interest.

 

[dingdongs]

a powerboat level II course will get you started but no one will let a beginner loose on a boat that can have countless thousands of pounds worth of damage done and for the punter to walk away with no remorse. it is also obvious you have no time for boats and their upkeep.

 

[vjmehra]

On the Tidal Thames the hiring options are either very limited and expensive or simply non-existent, therefore we decided that buying was the only viable option. Over a 2 year period it worked out cheaper for us to buy than to rent, and thats assuming we only get out on the water 10 times a year!

I'm one of the 3 guys that bought the RIB off Vandy as it happened, so for us a boat share works out as the best option!

Happy to chat to you about what we've learnt so far if you want!