First time buyer advise - Motorboat

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baffles77

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Hi,

I am currently researching what boat to purchase for my family, ideally a day or weekend boat for trips out of Essex to Norfolk, Solent etc. I had a lot of yachting experience when I was younger but now my mind life crisis is taking effect I am thinking of getting back on the water. The issue is really where to start, how much to spend and should I go for an old boat as the first one. My budget could be upto £50k (my saving!) but I am just trying to work out annual running costs as well. The types of boats I like are:
Quick Silver 855 Weekender
Atlanic Marine 780 Adventure
Arba 850
Antares 7.80, 8 or 9

All these are outboard's as I thought they may be cheaper to service but again the debate of out VS in, I realise inboard diesel's are cheaper to run and probably more reliable but it is so confusing. I would really welcome your advise and thoughts. I went the London Boat Show this year which was help and have already booked my day skippers course in preparation, VHF and engine course complete.

Thank you.

Regards

Keith
Read more at http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...me-buyer-advise-Motorboat#6xCA4hRPjWqlzmw1.99
 
baffles77 said:
Hi,

I am currently researching what boat to purchase for my family, ideally a day or weekend boat for trips out of Essex to Norfolk, Solent etc. I had a lot of yachting experience when I was younger but now my mind life crisis is taking effect I am thinking of getting back on the water. The issue is really where to start, how much to spend and should I go for an old boat as the first one. My budget could be upto £50k (my saving!) but I am just trying to work out annual running costs as well. The types of boats I like are:
Quick Silver 855 Weekender
Atlanic Marine 780 Adventure
Arba 850
Antares 7.80, 8 or 9

All these are outboard's as I thought they may be cheaper to service but again the debate of out VS in, I realise inboard diesel's are cheaper to run and probably more reliable but it is so confusing. I would really welcome your advise and thoughts. I went the London Boat Show this year which was help and have already booked my day skippers course in preparation, VHF and engine course complete.

Thank you.

Regards

Keith
Read more at http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...me-buyer-advise-Motorboat#6xCA4hRPjWqlzmw1.99
Click to expand...


I would suggest a look through the forum as this question in one form or another has been asked many times.

Your costs ( in approximate order of hi to low) will be

- berthing - biggest cost
- maintenance ( both scheduled and stuff that goes wrong take the scheduled cost and double it and you wont be a million miles out)
- fuel
- insurance ( to give yo an idea a £300k boat in mallorca is £1200 - and the premium is roughly in line with the boats value)

I would start with finding local berth prices.

The running costs between boats of a similar size will near as be the same for budgeting purposes.

Buy as big as you can - first time buyers tree up quickly - and this costs time and brokers commission.

On top of that is depreciation which is probably tight up there in terms of costs.

You fuel cost compared to the rest will be small - it only gets attention as it is really the only controllable cost.
 
Thank you for this, I have researching at the moment and found a Marina in Essex which seems reasonably priced. The more I talk to people the more they are pushing me down the semi-displacement route to keep the lph fuel costs down but I agree on the running costs.

Maintenance is the unknown at the moment as I am not sure on what servicing, anti fouling etc is needed and whether to pull the boat out of the water in Winter.

Thanks for the heads up.
 
baffles77 said:
Thank you for this, I have researching at the moment and found a Marina in Essex which seems reasonably priced. The more I talk to people the more they are pushing me down the semi-displacement route to keep the lph fuel costs down but I agree on the running costs.

Maintenance is the unknown at the moment as I am not sure on what servicing, anti fouling etc is needed and whether to pull the boat out of the water in Winter.

Thanks for the heads up.
Click to expand...
If you leave your boat in the water you will need to antifoul every year. If you dry stack or tow, then a good wash down when hauled out means no antifoul. An outboard will use more fuel, but is much cheaper to service than an inboard powertrain. A displacement boat will be more economical, but your family might find the motion unpleasant.
 
jrudge said:
I would suggest a look through the forum as this question in one form or another has been asked many times.

Your costs ( in approximate order of hi to low) will be

- berthing - biggest cost
- maintenance ( both scheduled and stuff that goes wrong take the scheduled cost and double it and you wont be a million miles out)
- fuel
- insurance ( to give yo an idea a £300k boat in mallorca is £1200 - and the premium is roughly in line with the boats value)

I would start with finding local berth prices.

The running costs between boats of a similar size will near as be the same for budgeting purposes.

Buy as big as you can - first time buyers tree up quickly - and this costs time and brokers commission.

On top of that is depreciation which is probably tight up there in terms of costs.

You fuel cost compared to the rest will be small - it only gets attention as it is really the only controllable cost.
Click to expand...

My experience is:-

Berthing £2,000
Fuel £1,200
Maintenance £600
Insurance £180

This is for a 7 metre sports cruiser with 200 hp verado berthed on pontoon berth with annual haulnout to service engine clean and antifoul.

Fuel costs are variable but if you aren't burning fuel then you are not using your boat enough!!
 
Hi,
Thank you so much for this the marina I have in mind (Fambridge) offers free dry storage so looks like that is the best option, I thought as much on the outboard side roughly how much cheaper would it? I thought a displacement boat would not move around so much shows how much I know!! Yes my family are very new and nervous, I however not so much being in the Navy, Sea Cadgets and growing up on sailing boats.

umm... looks like I will stay with my original list of boats.
 
baffles77 said:
Hi,

I am currently researching what boat to purchase for my family, ideally a day or weekend boat for trips out of Essex to Norfolk, Solent etc. I had a lot of yachting experience when I was younger but now my mind life crisis is taking effect I am thinking of getting back on the water. The issue is really where to start, how much to spend and should I go for an old boat as the first one. My budget could be upto £50k (my saving!) but I am just trying to work out annual running costs as well. The types of boats I like are:
Quick Silver 855 Weekender
Atlanic Marine 780 Adventure
Arba 850
Antares 7.80, 8 or 9

All these are outboard's as I thought they may be cheaper to service but again the debate of out VS in, I realise inboard diesel's are cheaper to run and probably more reliable but it is so confusing. I would really welcome your advise and thoughts. I went the London Boat Show this year which was help and have already booked my day skippers course in preparation, VHF and engine course complete.

Thank you.

Regards

Keith
Read more at http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...me-buyer-advise-Motorboat#6xCA4hRPjWqlzmw1.99
Click to expand...

Hi Buffles,
I had almost exactly the same list as you do now 6 months ago. I was thinking about Merry Fisher 895.
I ended up with a Quicksilver 855 weekend and am still waiting for delivery now.

May I ask why "Merry Fisher" is not in your list?
 
peterjaw said:
Hi Buffles,
I had almost exactly the same list as you do now 6 months ago. I was thinking about Merry Fisher 895.
I ended up with a Quicksilver 855 weekend and am still waiting for delivery now.

May I ask why "Merry Fisher" is not in your list?
Click to expand...
I was wondering if you had got your boat yet. Still waiting? Waiting for a new boat is always agonizingly long:)
 
peterjaw said:
Hi Buffles,
I had almost exactly the same list as you do now 6 months ago. I was thinking about Merry Fisher 895.
I ended up with a Quicksilver 855 weekend and am still waiting for delivery now.

May I ask why "Merry Fisher" is not in your list?
Click to expand...
Peter

Hi when I looked at the boatshow both the Merry and in fact the Parker looked quite small but I do like them and was hoping to see the Merry Fisher 1095. My favourite is still the 855 just thought it was over my budget but it did tick all the boxes I would like to see one on the water.

When are you getting yours? What options and outboard did you go for?

Would love to hear your opinions when you get it.

Thanks

Keith
 
baffles77 said:
Peter

Hi when I looked at the boatshow both the Merry and in fact the Parker looked quite small but I do like them and was hoping to see the Merry Fisher 1095. My favourite is still the 855 just thought it was over my budget but it did tick all the boxes I would like to see one on the water.

When are you getting yours? What options and outboard did you go for?

Would love to hear your opinions when you get it.

Thanks

Keith
Click to expand...
Hi Keith,
Thank you very much for sharing.

I live in Taiwan and the ocean environment/weather is quite different from most European countries. Therefore, my
option might be wierd to you. It is easier to list what I DON'T have, they are generator, air conditioner, refrigerator, micro wave stove,
aft cockpit table. For simplifying the maintenance, I use only one Verado 300.

This is my first boat so I need some learning curves about what I do/don't need. Taiwan is surrounded by ocean, big ocean, so I won't
be able to go far anyway. It is very similar to the UK. -- English channel -- Europe. Due to the political conflict, we are not allowed to
sail westward directly to China and there is nothing but water if we sail eastward. All the boating activities are just coastal, or within 30 nm.

Merry Fisher 895 was on top of my list, Quicksivler 855 was on the second. Due to the dealers sales policies, the MF 895 is almost 60%
more expensive than QC855 here. Parker just set up their dealer a few weeks ago (after I signed the contract) so I did not have chance to
learn about their products.

To my understand, many people here say Merry Fisher is slightly better than Quicksilver, but with the 60% more on selling price, I
finally picked the Quicksilver 855.

The dealer said my boat will arrive at Taiwan in the end of June. I definitely will share my opinions here.
 
Last edited:
I was on a Merry Fisher 1095 at a boat show last week. I really liked it, I had a small MF a couple of boats ago and it would have been the boat I would have aspired to. Three cabins is quite an achievement but two are for sleeping only, very low head room, also no place for a dingy. But she is sleek, roomy and attractive.
I’ve been on the Quicksilver 855, in fact I neary bought their first model. I can honestly say there is no premium on the Merry Fisher. Both are fine boats and if I had to choose I would do what Peter did and buy the one with the best deal.
 
Bouba said:
I was on a Merry Fisher 1095 at a boat show last week. I really liked it, I had a small MF a couple of boats ago and it would have been the boat I would have aspired to. Three cabins is quite an achievement but two are for sleeping only, very low head room, also no place for a dingy. But she is sleek, roomy and attractive.
I’ve been on the Quicksilver 855, in fact I neary bought their first model. I can honestly say there is no premium on the Merry Fisher. Both are fine boats and if I had to choose I would do what Peter did and buy the one with the best deal.
Click to expand...

For some unknown reasons, Merry Fisher just looks sleeker than Quciksilver, even they have very similar dimensions. That was why I put
MF on top of QC.

As regarding to the MF1095, I don't have chance to see the real boat but Bouba just proved my guessstimation. The additional cabin
probably is just better than a hammock. I would rather to have a big complete cabin instead of 2 separated squeezying ones.
But, yes, MF 1095 looks really sleek and attarctive to me.
 
peterjaw said:
Hi Keith,
Thank you very much for sharing.

I live in Taiwan and the ocean environment/weather is quite different from most European countries. Therefore, my
option might be wierd to you. It is easier to list what I DON'T have, they are generator, air conditioner, refrigerator, micro wave stove,
aft cockpit table. For simplifying the maintenance, I use only one Verado 300.

This is my first boat so I need some learning curves about what I do/don't need. Taiwan is surrounded by ocean, big ocean, so I won't
be able to go far anyway. It is very similar to the UK. -- English channel -- Europe. Due to the political conflict, we are not allowed to
sail westward directly to China and there is nothing but water if we sail eastward. All the boating activities are just coastal, or within 30 nm.

Merry Fisher 895 was on top of my list, Quicksivler 855 was on the second. Due to the dealers sales policies, the MF 895 is almost 60%
more expensive than QC855 here. Parker just set up their dealer a few weeks ago (after I signed the contract) so I did not have chance to
learn about their products.

To my understand, many people here say Merry Fisher is slightly better than Quicksilver, but with the 60% more on selling price, I
finally picked the Quicksilver 855.

The dealer said my boat will arrive at Taiwan in the end of June. I definitely will share my opinions here.
Click to expand...

Peter

Thank you for this and agree on your choice I think the QS are still very good value for money, in fact a lot of croatian made boats are good been looking at these as well - http://www.arbanautika.co.uk/

I am just doing my training and courses at the moment.

Thanks

Keith
 
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