First Boat - Help Needed - I Think I Want This....

[oldgit]

I was in Chatham last month for three weeks (by car not boat)…and I do like it a lot. Of course it’s not the only ‘Med’…there’s the Welsh Med…and the one I’m on right now

Yea Yea.................
This is the proper "Med" and no need either to spend 4 hours sharing various coughs and colds with people you would probably not want to live next door to in a metal tube with your 24 " knees wedged in the 20" seat space in front of you , while paying a fortune for a tiny weeny sample of alcohol and something dry amusingly referred too as a "sandwich" . .

 

[Greg2]

That looks like mighty craic Greg2 - must say the glens are exerting a terrible pull... as are Redbay, though I wonder if the two currently for sale might be a bit too old? They really ate exactly my sort of thing,

Age in itself isn’t the major issue, it is more about condition and maintenance. Diesel engines like to be used and whilst many inappropriately equate engine hours on a boat with miles on a car the reality is that a used and maintained diesel engine is sometimes a better bet than one with light hours and little maintenance. The situation with outdrives is a little different - they can be more problematic than shafts and the older they are the more important the service record is.

One thing to be aware of is that the engines and drives are Yamaha, which means that parts can be a tad pricey. Also, whilst the outdrives are excellent and far better than many other makes, Yamaha stopped producing them quite a few years ago so worth checking on the situation with parts availability.

 

[z1ppy]

Ahoy there!

I've lurked here for the last three years whilst I've been trying to find my first boat and trying to learn from the various posts. Like a few I'm in the 'if not now, when?' position with dodgy knees, devil foot, and many of the post 60 embug*erances

In an ideal world I'd be donating my inheritance to Windy or Paragon, but with a child still in education for the next three years....

Then I saw this:

Carson Interceptor 850 2019 Used Boat for Sale in Crinan, Argyll, United Kingdom

All that the current owners do my husband and I wish to do, save can't get up to the West Coast too frequently. Keen wildlife photographer and want to do coastal cetacean survey.

Would be very, very grateful for some help/thoughts/things I should consider (and may not have done- am prepared to empty portapotty and throw good money out the back as I scud along).

PS Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Interesting looking boat that, i have only very limited experience of Carson Interceptors but that was a similar sized jet drive boat many years ago.

Pretty well go through anything that and the outboards are about right but i am not convinced that is going to hit 40 Kts with twin 200 HP outboards. if speed isnt the be all and end all then its no issue but my guess is that will look to cruise most "efficiently" at somewhere around 22 - 26 kts at best? that said, pretty sure it will go through ANYTHING at that speed..

add a porta loo, some decent helm seats, a webasto heater and some aft covers to enclose and you have a serious all weather weapon!!

good luck and us posted.

 

[|Argonaughty]

Yea Yea.................
This is the proper "Med" and no need either to spend 4 hours sharing various coughs and colds with people you would probably not want to live next door to in a metal tube with your 24 " knees wedged in the 20" seat space in front of you , while paying a fortune for a tiny weeny sample of alcohol and something dry amusingly referred too as a "sandwich" . .

Who needs the pillars of Hercules... when you have...No.1 The Thames to guard yer approaches. Living the dream OG

 

[|Argonaughty]

Interesting looking boat that, i have only very limited experience of Carson Interceptors but that was a similar sized jet drive boat many years ago.

Pretty well go through anything that and the outboards are about right but i am not convinced that is going to hit 40 Kts with twin 200 HP outboards. if speed isnt the be all and end all then its no issue but my guess is that will look to cruise most "efficiently" at somewhere around 22 - 26 kts at best? that said, pretty sure it will go through ANYTHING at that speed..

add a porta loo, some decent helm seats, a webasto heater and some aft covers to enclose and you have a serious all weather weapon!!

good luck and us posted.

Bless you Z1ppy - it gives me a bit of confidence when the more experienced members suggest the things your think it needs too! Especially the helm seats lol - my back cannae stand a pounding. Speed isn't an issue - wanted a bit of poke, but 22knts is more than enough for us Have the say Greg2 has us looking very hard at the Redbays too....

 

[z1ppy]

Redbays are great boats! less common that the "pretty" ribs but they have a market and they are very good, just look at some of the boats they have produced and how they are used..

You say your not concerned too much about speed but be careful in being underpowered. A boat like that, you are likely to find yourself out in less than ideal conditions and you need the grunt in the engines to help you lift the bow in following seas and prevent stuffing the nose into the trough in front. its unlikely that boat is every going to be a 40 / 50 kt cruiser but having power in reserve is important for good seakeeping.

One of my early ribs was a 6 meter coastline with a 115 hp engine, the hull was amazing and still one of the softest riding boats i have ever had but it was on the edge power wise, particularly when it was rough and you were climbing waves.

 

[|Argonaughty]

A compromise between a rib and a Seaward would be a large Redbay Stormforce RIB. Built in Northern Ireland for that area of the Irish Sea. Enclosed cabin, diesel engines and a sea toilet.

Used Redbay For Sale | Used Cars NI

Used 2009 Redbay Stormforce 11 For Sale | Used Cars NI

Would be very very grateful for guidance on which of the two Redbays looks the better boat - heads spinning a bit now - it took me so long to consider the Interceptor. My leaning is towards Aislinn (The Salty Blonde) who will swiftly be renamed Latharna if she comes into my care

 

[ari]

It's good to see someone choosing a boat based on their real needs.

I'm curious, what do you choose your boat based on, if not your real needs?

 

[ari]

On the Carson Interceptor, certainly looks rock solid! I'd wonder whether something so specialist might be a tough sell in future.

The Redbays look good but do some research on Yamaha diesels, specifically parts availability and pricing.

 

[|Argonaughty]

On the Carson Interceptor, certainly looks rock solid! I'd wonder whether something so specialist might be a tough sell in future.

The Redbays look good but do some research on Yamaha diesels, specifically parts availability and pricing.

That's what I was worried about ari and it has sat on the market for a long time... thank you so much for responding

 

[stelican]

So please remind me where is the boat going to be based and how will it be used/ your expectations.

 

[Greg2]

Would be very very grateful for guidance on which of the two Redbays looks the better boat - heads spinning a bit now - it took me so long to consider the Interceptor. My leaning is towards Aislinn (The Salty Blonde) who will swiftly be renamed Latharna if she comes into my care

Both listed with Redbay here

Similar age but the cheaper one with larger engines and it says low hours and well specified. AIslinn is listed at £120k but if you look in the text it is £150k so may have been reduced. She looks to have been a coded boat so may have been used commercially. As already mentioned, engine hours, maintenance records and general history are well worth looking into.

Worth giving Gary at Redbay a call if you want to know more.

It is worth saying that with a RIB, no matter how good the seakeeping is said to be, you will take a pounding in a seaway. Suspension seats are a must as the issue of whole body vibration has largely been overlooked, although awareness has increased over recent years. I too suffer with a bad back at times and learning to let the suspension seat take the strain is very important. When we sea trialled the Stormforce we had built (with Hamilton jet drives) we went on the Redbay annual customer day across to Islay in quite lively conditions and to say we put the boat through its paces would be an understatement!
.

 

[|Argonaughty]

So please remind me where is the boat going to be based and how will it be used/ your expectations.

Thank you Stelican - initially we'll be Medway based (to get the most use we can currently) I'm a keen wildlife photographer and interested in cetacean survey. Want to be on the water as much as possible - hence looking a something all weather ish. The Dash(first boat I linked to) looked a real possibility and it is reassuring that the issues more knowledgeable people have raised are the ones we considered ourselves. Thank you so much for your time in replying

 

[Bouba]

Ok...this is controversial...but...if you are a wildlife photographer, would an electric boat be more useful ?

 

[SC35]

Ok...this is controversial...but...if you are a wildlife photographer, would an electric boat be more useful ?

No.

 

[dunedin]

Both listed with Redbay here

Similar age but the cheaper one with larger engines and it says low hours and well specified. AIslinn is listed at £120k but if you look in the text it is £150k so may have been reduced. She looks to have been a coded boat so may have been used commercially. As already mentioned, engine hours, maintenance records and general history are well worth looking into.

Worth giving Gary at Redbay a call if you want to know more.

It is worth saying that with a RIB, no matter how good the seakeeping is said to be, you will take a pounding in a seaway. Suspension seats are a must as the issue of whole body vibration has largely been overlooked, although awareness has increased over recent years. I too suffer with a bad back at times and learning to let the suspension seat take the strain is very important. When we sea trialled the Stormforce we had built (with Hamilton jet drives) we went on the Redbay annual customer day across to Islay in quite lively conditions and to say we put the boat through its paces would be an understatement!
.

I am no expert, but believe the RedBay cabin RIBS are used for many of the passenger ferries amongst the Scottish isles - eg the Jura passenger ferry and some of the trip boats that bash out to St Kilda with passengers. They are pretty tough craft taking Thea weather that can be thrown at them, without wrecking their passengers.

 

[|Argonaughty]

Ok...this is controversial...but...if you are a wildlife photographer, would an electric boat be more useful ?

Not to over-egg..I have a camera that I enjoy pointing at flappy & finned things; but want to get better at it. The cetacean survey is my passion and I'd noticed a lot of the good companies around the world use ribs. The Dash is at the very top of our budget & my husband would really like to be 20K less that that inc. VAT It's a good thought Bouba - but aren't electric still range challenged and way out of my budget?

 

[jfm]

A few thoughts, recognising that it has many strong features and is a head turning purposeful looking boat:

1. Not worth £119k; not easy to sell on
2. Pointlessly heavy build (too much plywood sheathed in GRP, giving you no benefit but adding weight). 2700kg displacement is 4-500kg too heavy.
3. Underpowered. It won't do 40 knots. To cruise at low 20's knots those engines will be screaming at something like 4000rpm. You should think about whether you're ok with that noise for long passages. (They're good reliable engines of course, and very low hours, just underpowered/not a great choice. A pair of Yam 300hp would have been perfect)
4. Rough interior will make it hard to sell on. Finish of the kitchen units is raw GRP chopped strand mat over plywood, with painted grey GRP resin, with all the lumps and bumps showing - that will be a deal breaker when you come to sell it, so drive the price down now.
5. As already noted, needs 2 x new chairs
6. Anchor = 9kg - that's some kind of joke.
7. Let's be honest: the inflatable tubes are doing nothing whatsoever
8. The foredeck pulpit rail is a shocker. Mitred welded corners. Has a real home made feel, corner cutting, not made by proper boar builders. Many amateurs do much better work than this. This will add to its difficulty to sell on, so get the price down. Similar, foredeck cleats are unpolished and appear held on by 2 M8 maybe M10 screws - awful
9. Decent size fuel tank - 500 litres
10. Hull shape (wave piercing type) looks good in choppy weather. The hull steps are pointless at the slow speeds this will run at, but harmless, so no need to worry about them.

So in my mind, if you can live with some compromises, and all boats have compromises, it's a good boat, but at £85-90k to reflect that the potential buyer demand for this boat is 2 or 3 people in the whole country if you're lucky .

 

[Alicatt]

I am no expert, but believe the RedBay cabin RIBS are used for many of the passenger ferries amongst the Scottish isles - eg the Jura passenger ferry and some of the trip boats that bash out to St Kilda with passengers. They are pretty tough craft taking Thea weather that can be thrown at them, without wrecking their passengers.

The ferry I have seen operating out round the isles like Eigg has been an ex RNLI Tyne class lifeboat

Coming in to Armadale on Skye to pick up the doctor to go out to Eigg, while in the pic it looks fairly calm, it was blowing hard and the car ferry was cancelled for it being too rough.

 

[oldgit]

A few thoughts, recognising that it has many strong features and is a head turning purposeful looking boat:


So in my mind, if you can live with some compromises, and all boats have compromises, it's a good boat, but at £85-90k to reflect that the potential buyer demand for this boat is 2 or 3 people in the whole country if you're lucky .

For most of us the boat we regard as the one ideal to fulfill our dreams is rarely the one we actually need.
A lack of funding usually brings most of us up with "a sharp round turn", into the real world and be prevented from making some really expensive mistakes.
Those with limited funding can look forward to making a lot of slighty less expensive mistakes instead as we climb up the boating ladder.
At some point, after five or six goes you will probably end up with what any really rational person should have bought in the first place. ?
The awful alternatives are worth considering, you may at some point give up and pack it all in ,cheerfully give any money you have left in the boat to some broker and go back to golf or caravaning.

A trip out on the boat of your dreams is advised, it is usually sufficent to bring most of us firmly back to earth, just getting on and off might be enough.