First post in the Thames forum, and first boat. Need advice.

Thanks so much for that. Definately looking to enjoy life now the children are older. I still do the shopping so can minimize the fridge raiding while we are gone. :D

Everyone on here has been so helpful, and we have found everyone at the marinas friendly.

I have to say I did end up confused over the Marina and club preference. Once we are near boat handover we will make our decision I think.

This will give certain members on here time to advertise their clubs/marina as the best a little longer anyway. :D

I have learnt a lot in only a few weeks. Having met a couple of women in person at some marinas now, I am a little concerned I may seem odd, due to wanting to learn about engine maintenance etc. It's all a mystery to me right now, but I would like to have the ability to know what to do if I took the boat out with the kids and no hubby.

I am a still a softy girlie though. ;)
 
HONEYMOMMY said:
Another visit to the boat to show Father-in-law today. It was great to see it with the sun shining rather than in the rain.

The salesman has gone through the sales process with us, we have recommendations for the survey. Just waiting on a couple of other boring paperwork bits and have to be patient now.

We have had a look at both Windsor and Bray marinas. Windsor is the favourite. Our problem is that they only have a larger berth available which we obviously have to pay more for till a smaller one becomes available.

I had been advised not to take a shore berth by someone and to stick to the pontoon. The nicest berth available is against the shore, so fixed concrete. They did say it would'nt be a problem because someone goes round morning and evening to check the moorings. Any opinions?
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Hi HM We are in Windsor marina on J pontoon I think you will find it easier to get on and off the boat if you are reversed in to one of the floating pontoons, The shore berths over our side of the marina are not so good as they are near the trees and the boat ends up getting covered with tree debris. also when it rains the side of the boat will get mucky with dirt spashing up from the concrete.

Good luck with the purchase take a look at the Sealine forum which is great if you have any questions about the boat http://sealineforum.motion-forum.net/

Chill
 
Hi Honey. Certainly a good one for the money and seems to be well kept. The extra goodies such as new headlining with downlights etc are a bonus. Check the radar arch can fold, if your are going upriver, or that you can get under Cookham lock cut bridge if it doesn't. You might have to get it hinged so that it folds. It looks pretty high. Don't forget that servicing costs will have to include two outdrives on top of the two engine services. You'll have fun and welcome to the river
 
Chill said:
Hi HM We are in Windsor marina on J pontoon I think you will find it easier to get on and off the boat if you are reversed in to one of the floating pontoons, The shore berths over our side of the marina are not so good as they are near the trees and the boat ends up getting covered with tree debris. also when it rains the side of the boat will get mucky with dirt spashing up from the concrete.

Good luck with the purchase take a look at the Sealine forum which is great if you have any questions about the boat http://sealineforum.motion-forum.net/

Chill
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Hello. :)

The only berths available are shore berths, but we have been told we can move as soon as another becomes available. Those berths are longer than we require apparently, therefore more expensive, so when we move we get credited for the cheaper mooring for next year.

I have been to the sealine forum, it is very informative thanks.

I am getting quite excited now. :)
 
Cashbuyer said:
Hi Honey. Certainly a good one for the money and seems to be well kept. The extra goodies such as new headlining with downlights etc are a bonus. Check the radar arch can fold, if your are going upriver, or that you can get under Cookham lock cut bridge if it doesn't. You might have to get it hinged so that it folds. It looks pretty high. Don't forget that servicing costs will have to include two outdrives on top of the two engine services. You'll have fun and welcome to the river
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The interior of the boat looks nice. The survey will highlight any issues. I believe there are no issues over height, but will double check.

Servicing was done late last year including outdrives.. Need to check on when next due and costs. Also not sure about antifoul yet.

There's so much to learn in such a short time.:eek:
 
" Also not sure about antifoul yet."

Antifouling is not that great an issue on boats which live in freshwater.Basically merely a layer of paint in various pretty colours with chemicals in it which discourage (allegedly :)) marine growth.The paint is normally applied to the bottom of the boat when it comes out of the water for regular mantaince.Marine life regards the bottom of your boat as neat place to set up home and will firmly attach itself if given the chance,this results in extra drag which makes the boat very hard to "push" through the water resulting in poor fuel economy.
Normally removed with one of those jet wash thingies,sometimes with help from a scraper of somesort.
It is a far worst problem on saltwater,many freshwater boats going for several years with the same coat of anti foul.
 
HONEYMOMMY said:
I am a little concerned I may seem odd, due to wanting to learn about engine maintenance etc. It's all a mystery to me right now, but I would like to have the ability to know what to do if I took the boat out with the kids and no hubby.
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As a starting point you could do worse than picking up the current, and next 5 issues of MBM. We have just started a new engine series, which will give you an overview of how it all works and some step by step maintenance/servicing jobs.
 
So how often would we need to antifoul our boat? Do we lift it out every year to jet wash it? I think I heard we can leave it up to 3 years if the survey shows it is all good. Correct me if I am wrong. :)

My thinking is that when it is lifted for the survey and all is well, we don't need to do anything till perhaps the following year. The issue is when to get the outdrives serviced again as well as the engine. This would be the time to antifoul I presume.???? I am also not sure about when/if to leave it out over the winter. Does this save money in some way? Questions questions. Lol
 
Hi HM,

Don't worry about being a woman and wanting to know about the mechanics and how everything works, we have the same on our boat, everyone knows how things work. I find sometimes being a woman and asking questions of surveyors, sellers, mechanics etc I get a lot more help!
 
HONEYMOMMY said:
So how often would we need to antifoul our boat? Do we lift it out every year to jet wash it? I think I heard we can leave it up to 3 years if the survey shows it is all good. Correct me if I am wrong. :)

My thinking is that when it is lifted for the survey and all is well, we don't need to do anything till perhaps the following year. The issue is when to get the outdrives serviced again as well as the engine. This would be the time to antifoul I presume.???? I am also not sure about when/if to leave it out over the winter. Does this save money in some way? Questions questions. Lol
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I'm not an expert on the subject (having a WSOB where the approach is slightly different).

Being a confirmed cynic, I think the antifoul is there to cover up all the chips and scratches left by the pressure washer....

In freshwater most of the marine growth is weed which very quickly reasserts itself.

Many boats are lifted out at the end of the season, but I don't fully understand why (assuming that the owners don't need to lift it for any other purpose).

It's said to be due to avoid osmosis. OTOH osmosis (composite hulls can absorb water) is said not to be an issue in freshwater :confused: :confused:

I shouldn't complain, it gives me a better winter mooring.

You will (quickly) have to weigh up whether to antifoul or not - depending on its condition when you lift for the survey. The lift is usually a significant part of the cost. Some yards reduce the cost of the process in the summer as it's a quiet time for that sort of work (well Shepperton do).

DO consider winter boating, even if it's your first season, and it's quiet September to April. January to March can be foul with high river flows, but the other months can be very pleasant indeed.
 
HONEYMOMMY said:
So how often would we need to antifoul our boat? Do we lift it out every year to jet wash it? I think I heard we can leave it up to 3 years if the survey shows it is all good. Correct me if I am wrong. :)

My thinking is that when it is lifted for the survey and all is well, we don't need to do anything till perhaps the following year. The issue is when to get the outdrives serviced again as well as the engine. This would be the time to antifoul I presume.???? I am also not sure about when/if to leave it out over the winter. Does this save money in some way? Questions questions. Lol
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This is all a matter of personal preference. We lift our boat every spring to give her an annual spruce up which includes a polish and wax and antifoul.We use our boat a lot (300 ish hours per year) so a one season antifoul really doesnt last us through the season. The stuff we use now (premier paints) is really very good but a different colour to the stuff we had on before so towards the end of the winter she starts to look a little patchy!!

We also change the anodes every year, better safe than sorry on that score and service the outdrives giving them at the very least new oil seals, oil and anodes. The engine we service in the water every 100 hours so not neccesarily at the same time as the drive.

We have NC out for one or two weeks depending on how quickly we work at the weekends, we dont see the point in having her out any longer than necessary. We bought her to use not store ashore.
 
Welcome to the forum.

We have a lift every couple of years and plan to have a few days ashore next Easter. Our club has lifting facilities for up to 6.5 tonnes which is a major bonus for members, each way and a few days on the slip is under £100 with all the serious petrol powered pressure washer you can eat. I will reapply anitfouling then, using whatever is on a cheap deal from Compass at the time!

Enjoy the river, be warned, some of the boaters you may encounter are prone to taking a little refreshment of an evening and may well induct you into this practice:-)
 
With regard to Osmositic Blisters, Servicing and anodes:

Osmosis is a very slow process you can't reverse, only slow down by lifting the GRP boat out of the water. It has never been the cause of a holed vessel as far as I'm aware, and a much over-lauded issue.
Ignore it, but be prepared to get a few blisters popped as and when they are noticed.

Anodes really should last three years. Feel free to check them annually or every two years, but they are pretty hefty for Freshwater use!

Anti-Fouling: Annually?? Really? Ours looks fine after 18 months, and if you're upriver it is unlikely to make much odds at 5mph. A trip to St Kats will probably kill most of the freshwater stuff!

Servicing: Every engine has it's requirements, but I change oil every 100 odd hours, and consider coolant etc at 2 year intervals. Impellers easily do three or four years, so two to three years is wise, or at least have a look at them annually to be on the safe side, especially if you have no warning system, or have a good tidal trip planned.

Fact is, non-tidal stuff is very gentle on a boat. Tidal is different, when you consider the higher power settings used, and the risks!
 
No Regrets said:
With regard to Osmositic Blisters, Servicing and anodes:

Osmosis is a very slow process you can't reverse, only slow down by lifting the GRP boat out of the water. It has never been the cause of a holed vessel as far as I'm aware, and a much over-lauded issue.
Ignore it, but be prepared to get a few blisters popped as and when they are noticed.

Anodes really should last three years. Feel free to check them annually or every two years, but they are pretty hefty for Freshwater use!

Anti-Fouling: Annually?? Really? Ours looks fine after 18 months, and if you're upriver it is unlikely to make much odds at 5mph. A trip to St Kats will probably kill most of the freshwater stuff!

Servicing: Every engine has it's requirements, but I change oil every 100 odd hours, and consider coolant etc at 2 year intervals. Impellers easily do three or four years, so two to three years is wise, or at least have a look at them annually to be on the safe side, especially if you have no warning system, or have a good tidal trip planned.

Fact is, non-tidal stuff is very gentle on a boat. Tidal is different, when you consider the higher power settings used, and the risks![/QUOTE

Thats just what I needed to hear thanks. I can get my head round it now and plan future work. I can also ask the seller when those things were last done to get a timeline.

I took a day off from boaty stuff today, only to find a pile of laundry from my four teens needing attention. I want to be back in my happy place of planning.. :D
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No Regrets said:
With regard to Osmositic Blisters, Servicing and anodes:

Osmosis is a very slow process you can't reverse, only slow down by lifting the GRP boat out of the water. It has never been the cause of a holed vessel as far as I'm aware, and a much over-lauded issue.
Ignore it, but be prepared to get a few blisters popped as and when they are noticed.

Anodes really should last three years. Feel free to check them annually or every two years, but they are pretty hefty for Freshwater use!

Anti-Fouling: Annually?? Really? Ours looks fine after 18 months, and if you're upriver it is unlikely to make much odds at 5mph. A trip to St Kats will probably kill most of the freshwater stuff!

Servicing: Every engine has it's requirements, but I change oil every 100 odd hours, and consider coolant etc at 2 year intervals. Impellers easily do three or four years, so two to three years is wise, or at least have a look at them annually to be on the safe side, especially if you have no warning system, or have a good tidal trip planned.

Fact is, non-tidal stuff is very gentle on a boat. Tidal is different, when you consider the higher power settings used, and the risks!
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As you say a lot will depend on how you use your boat. We are lucky that we can use NC to her full potential and at high speed for quite a high percentage of the time even though we are based inland we have easy access to open water. This has the effect of scrubing the antifoul from the bow area, so yes we do need to antifoul annually. If you only ever do more sedate cruising then your antifoul should last much longer. Ours still works after 12 months but looks a mess with the different colour showing through.

We dont worry about osmosis. Our boat is far too young for it to be of concern just yet. I agree it is much overhyped and the odd blister isnt going to be of major concern until it is time to sell. A lot of buyers for whatever reason wont touch a boat with osmosis.

Anode wear again will depend on where you are moored. Our marina is fairly bad for anode wear and ours dont last 18 months. We tried it once but they didnt last. 12 months is our limit but again £70 every 12 months versus £4k for a new stern drive, its a no brainer really.

Engine sevicing is a matter of personal preference but as we tend to do a lot of high speed high stress cruising we stick to the Volvo Penta schedule which may be OTT but we would rather not risk it. We like to know our engine is in A1 condition. Impellors we go through at least 2 a year sometimes more. Its luck of the draw. If we pick something up on the water intake and dont notice right away the impellor is scrap.

It will be horses for course and very much will depend on the boat you buy and how much money you are prepared to throw at her.:D
 
"We dont worry about osmosis. Our boat is far too young for it to be of concern just yet. "

The age of the boat is no real guide.Many very old boats have virtually no sign of osmosis.
If the boat is going to get the dreaded fibrepox it will probably show signs fairly early in its life.The materials used create the problem,not age,for some reason worse in hot climates,judging by american websites.
The general opinion(ie. the interweb) is that freshwater is better at creating osmosis than salt.
 
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oldgit said:
"We dont worry about osmosis. Our boat is far too young for it to be of concern just yet. "

The age of the boat is no real guide.Many very old boats have virtually no sign of osmosis.
If the boat is going to get the dreaded fibrepox it will probably show signs fairly early in its life.The materials used create the problem,not age,for some reason worse in hot climates,judging by american websites.
The general opinion(ie. the interweb) is that freshwater is better at creating osmosis than salt.
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This is true the process can start as soon as the hull is removed from the mould, its not unknown for 1 year old boats to have osmosis and freshwater is worse by miles.
 
I shall reword my response then shall I.

As we have no signs of osmosis, and believe that our hull is well constructesd we dont worry about osmosis.

Better?
 
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