First Boat - what size?

[Bouba]

I think I have the rest of the diseasel production in the bilge of my boat

That is the whole problem with boats....whatever you spill stays in there...and you can never get it out...fuel, black water, bolts, tools.....

 

[vas]

I just came across this article
Diesel share set to PLUMMET to 3% by 2028 as markets head for radical change – Car Dealer Magazine

couldn't stand to read all of it, seems that these guys are not up to date with what the big german and other car companies are doing and the fact they seem to be kicking the can down the road.
I wonder where all these EVs will come from, because it doesn't look like they'll be european.

 

[Alicatt]

couldn't stand to read all of it, seems that these guys are not up to date with what the big german and other car companies are doing and the fact they seem to be kicking the can down the road.
I wonder where all these EVs will come from, because it doesn't look like they'll be european.

My 25 year old son is looking for a diesel car just now, he had a petrol and did not like it, I told him it was because it's a BMW

 

[ontheplane]

I may be out on a limb here.

To get back to the boat part of this post.

Whatever boat you buy as your first boat, won't be your perfect boat.... You will sell and buy another in a few years time and that will be closer to your perfect boat, but you'll probably be on your 5th or 6th before you get it "right".

So - almost as important if not more so - than getting the first boat right, is buying a boat that's easy to sell on. Your wife will want to use it in ways you haven't thought of.... you WILL sell it in a year or so, and you will have learned a load about what you want - so in reality you want something that is easy to re-sell. Don't spend too much - but if you buy rubbish it will be hard to sell-on so don't buy junk either.

So if we assume you want a nice boat for enjoying this summer you want something a "nice" size, in demand that will suit what you want to do with it - but when you've worked out why it isn't perfect you you will want something more "suited" so you want it to "fit" others needs too.

So don't go too small - the wife will hate it and will not enjoy boating - don't go too big either. Remember big boats come with big bills - and people with 50k to spend don't want £30k a year running costs.

My suggestion is simple - spend half your budget - 30-60k will still buy you a really nice 25-35ft boat - keep the rest, you'll want a bit of running cost money, and if you need to sell out of it and lose 5% you've lost less money.

Buy a "known name" - Sealine, Windy, Cranchi, Aquador, Fairline etc etc. Buy something "modern" looking - not something from the 80's - they are getting harder to sell now (with some exceptions). UK and well known American brands sell well, rare European brands will be much harder to sell.

Diesel used to be the powertrain of choice - now Outboard is more popular.

Berthing gets pricey as it gets longer - so 25-30ft or thereabouts is ok - but go up to 50ft and berthing will be expensive.

I would "sell it" to the wife as buying a "trial" boat for a season or so to see how you get on.......

I would buy something like these - they are common, popular, fun - and most importantly, the kind of boat people know so when you decide what you want to upgrade to, you'll sell it for what you paid for it (as long as you don't pay too much).

I would go for things like this...

Sealine S23 2003 Used Boat for Sale in Boats.co.uk HQ, Essex Marina, United Kingdom

Quicksilver Activ 705 2012 Used Boat for Sale in Lymington, United Kingdom

Aquador 26 HT 1999 Used Boat for Sale in Plymouth, United Kingdom

Doral 250 SE 2001 Used Boat for Sale in Torquay, United Kingdom

These are sporty and summer'y - they are small enough to single hand and if you have a £130k budget they won't break the bank in any way. They are well known models and should be easy enough to re-sell when the time comes. it would give you a good year on the water, and you'll know if you want anything bigger / smaller faster / slower etc etc.

If you DO want to spend more - you can buy quality boats still well under budget.

Doral 250 SE 2001 Used Boat for Sale in Torquay, United Kingdom - -Windy is a good make

Gobbi 375SC 2002 Used Boat for Sale in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom

Cranchi Smeraldo 37 2000 Used Boat for Sale in Levington, United Kingdom



Something like the three above are still well below budget, and would be an amazing intro to boating (I couldn't even dream of owning something that nice and I've loved boating for years).


Not being funny - but if your wife didn't enjoy boating on any of these, she isn't going to enjoy it any more if you spend £80k , £90k or £130k......



Just my input - not everyone may agree....

 

[ontheplane]

This might also be a good one...

Quicksilver 855 Activ Weekender 2015 Used Boat for Sale in Hamble River Boat Yard, United Kingdom

 

[ashtead]

Would one want a petrol engine though as per this quicksilver?

 

[ontheplane]

There are millions of petrol boats - what's the issue?

I admit a diesel would be nice, but noisier, more expensive and slower. The point is - for a first boat you don't really know what you want so just make sure when you've done a year and DO know what you want (maybe) you can sell on the one you bought easily and without too big a loss.

 

[Dazzer2]

I may be out on a limb here.

To get back to the boat part of this post.

Whatever boat you buy as your first boat, won't be your perfect boat.... You will sell and buy another in a few years time and that will be closer to your perfect boat, but you'll probably be on your 5th or 6th before you get it "right".

So - almost as important if not more so - than getting the first boat right, is buying a boat that's easy to sell on. Your wife will want to use it in ways you haven't thought of.... you WILL sell it in a year or so, and you will have learned a load about what you want - so in reality you want something that is easy to re-sell. Don't spend too much - but if you buy rubbish it will be hard to sell-on so don't buy junk either.

So if we assume you want a nice boat for enjoying this summer you want something a "nice" size, in demand that will suit what you want to do with it - but when you've worked out why it isn't perfect you you will want something more "suited" so you want it to "fit" others needs too.

So don't go too small - the wife will hate it and will not enjoy boating - don't go too big either. Remember big boats come with big bills - and people with 50k to spend don't want £30k a year running costs.

My suggestion is simple - spend half your budget - 30-60k will still buy you a really nice 25-35ft boat - keep the rest, you'll want a bit of running cost money, and if you need to sell out of it and lose 5% you've lost less money.

Buy a "known name" - Sealine, Windy, Cranchi, Aquador, Fairline etc etc. Buy something "modern" looking - not something from the 80's - they are getting harder to sell now (with some exceptions). UK and well known American brands sell well, rare European brands will be much harder to sell.

Diesel used to be the powertrain of choice - now Outboard is more popular.

Berthing gets pricey as it gets longer - so 25-30ft or thereabouts is ok - but go up to 50ft and berthing will be expensive.

I would "sell it" to the wife as buying a "trial" boat for a season or so to see how you get on.......

I would buy something like these - they are common, popular, fun - and most importantly, the kind of boat people know so when you decide what you want to upgrade to, you'll sell it for what you paid for it (as long as you don't pay too much).

I would go for things like this...

Sealine S23 2003 Used Boat for Sale in Boats.co.uk HQ, Essex Marina, United Kingdom

Quicksilver Activ 705 2012 Used Boat for Sale in Lymington, United Kingdom

Aquador 26 HT 1999 Used Boat for Sale in Plymouth, United Kingdom

Doral 250 SE 2001 Used Boat for Sale in Torquay, United Kingdom

These are sporty and summer'y - they are small enough to single hand and if you have a £130k budget they won't break the bank in any way. They are well known models and should be easy enough to re-sell when the time comes. it would give you a good year on the water, and you'll know if you want anything bigger / smaller faster / slower etc etc.

If you DO want to spend more - you can buy quality boats still well under budget.

Doral 250 SE 2001 Used Boat for Sale in Torquay, United Kingdom - -Windy is a good make

Gobbi 375SC 2002 Used Boat for Sale in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom

Cranchi Smeraldo 37 2000 Used Boat for Sale in Levington, United Kingdom



Something like the three above are still well below budget, and would be an amazing intro to boating (I couldn't even dream of owning something that nice and I've loved boating for years).


Not being funny - but if your wife didn't enjoy boating on any of these, she isn't going to enjoy it any more if you spend £80k , £90k or £130k......



Just my input - not everyone may agree....

Thanks, I’m decided I’m going to see lots of boats after all these suggestions and try and draw up a short list

 

[Dazzer2]

I haven’t heard anything about quicksilver, gobbi, doral or acquador, these are unknown to me, I’ve Heard about sealine, windy cranchi, bavaria, fairline, sunseeker

 

[PaulRainbow]

There are millions of petrol boats - what's the issue?

I admit a diesel would be nice, but noisier, more expensive and slower. The point is - for a first boat you don't really know what you want so just make sure when you've done a year and DO know what you want (maybe) you can sell on the one you bought easily and without too big a loss.

You might change your mind after year, but why would you start off by buying a boat that you definitely do not want ?

OP is looking at 37/38ft twin engine diesel, a petrol Quicksilver is about as far away from that as you can get. How would spending a year on a that teach you what you really would like, unless it reinforces your desire for the 37/38ft twin engine diesel sports boat.

 

[Dazzer2]

The cost of keeping a boat can be crippling...and remember, some years you may barely get on the water. I’m lucky that I can boat year round....and I have great places to visit on my doorstep....do your sums carefully and bear in mind, man maths is your worst enemy All in all it’s a great hobby, and a forty footer as a first boat ?...I envy you

Thanks after researching I’ve checked out costs and know it’s an expensive hobby I’m only 30 mins the the coast so lots of choice on marinas with different fees etc

 

[ontheplane]

I haven’t heard anything about quicksilver, gobbi, doral or acquador, these are unknown to me, I’ve Heard about sealine, windy cranchi, bavaria, fairline, sunseeker


Quicksilver are good value - but not "premium£
Doral are (I think) Canadian - mid range, decent quality I believe
Aquador - Scandinavian - good quality - a bit more expensive.

I wasn't meaning buy those boats - what I was driving at was buy a boat that can be easily sold as your first boat is more likely to be a learning curve than your "forever boat"

 

[Nito]

We went for a 40ft Sunseeker as a first boat, twin diesel Caterpillars on shafts. I would say I could berth her solo in fair conditions. Our boat journey was probably similar to many, you start out with all the questions, do you spend too much on a first boat, is it too much boat, can you handle a larger one, what about costs etc etc. Long story short, we overstretched on budget, helped by the fact that that it took so long to find a good one that we were able to save more and finally I sold my 'toy' car to stretch the budget further.

The thought of twin 7200cc 420bhp Caterpillars seemed outrageous. I have to say though, we're getting the same economy that those on 200hp sterndrives were quoting. Pushing a 40ft boat it seems that a bigger engine is effortless. We are on the plane by 12 knots and it really is effortless. We can happily get by on our local cruise to a nice bay and back where we potter out at around 14 knots using 33L/hr in total. I would never have believed that. On a proper cruise at 19-22 knots we are using 76 litres/hr total. If we go full throttle would be around 165 litres/hr going off the engine manufacturers data which has proven to be correct and you'd be doing about 32 knots. I made up a whole spreadsheet on it to find the most efficient rpm points which for us the sweetspot is approx 14 knots or 1600rpm and 2200rpm which is 19-22 knots. I spent a lot of time fretting pre purchase about fuel economy and it has been the least of our costs for how we use it.

Much more of an issue has been finding the time and more importantly the weather (and at a weekend as we both work full time) to use it. It's like the stars need to align. When they do, you get some tremendous high days.

In hindsight, I'm so glad we did go to 40ft, it's such a comfortable size, whilst I researched so much on outdrives and servicing them, again props have been great and so much less to worry about. We take it out the water annually for anodes and antifoul and have it turned around in a couple of days.

If you want to read about our journey of boat buying from the start, I keep a boring blog just so I can keep track of what I've done. Sunseeker Portofino 400

You have a decent budget there, the on cost is the next thing to think about. We were bang on with our budgeting allowances. For one reason or another, we have used it less each year it seems, mainly as the kids are grown up now, life gets in the way and the weather hasn't been great (certainly at weekends) for the last couple of years, to the point that we are having a wobble and even contemplating selling, though it's a wrench after all the effort that went into it all. Key is to get the use out of it otherwise it's an expensive hobby that can get hard to justify. When you're drifting in the water, just off your favourite spot, in a calm sea with the sun glistening off the surface and the water gently lapping at the hull, while the kids orbit the boat with their paddle boards and you enjoy some lunch with friends, it's an amazing experience and a real escape from the daily grind.

Enjoy the journey!

 

[huruta]

To the original poster's question, our first boat ever bought 2 years ago in our early 50s was a Nordic Tug 32 (which is actually 34 feet). We are in the Salish Sea (Pacific Northwest in the US). It has been a steep learning curve but it has been doable. It has a pilot house with doors on both sides which would be critical for single handing. We didn't want to buy/sell/buy/sell our way up so jumped to what would be feasible for going to Alaska. We are not particularly handy but are learning. We had 3 days of private instruction and I took a 3 day course with other women in the San Juans to learn. Taken a weather course (8 weeks online) and a 2-day diesel course. All very useful.

 

[[199490]]

Aquador - Scandinavian - good quality - a bit more expensive.

I went with Aquador ( 32) primarily because it has side doors which I envisaged being very useful when solo docking and it has proven so in our first couple of weeks although also have remote control for my thrusters which is a huge benefit.
Similar build quality and style are Nimbus and I looked at a 280, 320 and a 350. The latter was too tall for my intended use in canals and rivers but may suit you.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I went with Aquador ( 32) primarily because it has side doors which I envisaged being very useful when solo docking and it has proven so in our first couple of weeks although also have remote control for my thrusters which is a huge benefit.
Similar build quality and style are Nimbus and I looked at a 280, 320 and a 350. The latter was too tall for my intended use in canals and rivers but may suit you.

Think @Farmer Piles also has an Aquador 32.