wellf100
Well-Known Member
Well after spending a few years reading the forum and not contributing, this year I finally decided to dip my toe in the water and buy myself a boat. I've always been interested in boating but it's only since I moved back to Guernsey 4 years ago that I started seriously looking into it. So in May I took the plunge and bought a nice little 17ft Dell Quay Marlin 520 sports fisher called Nixy-Lu. After looking at a lot of different boats of various sizes and price brackets I decided that, to start with at least, simple was best. I didn't want to commit too much financially to start with and with a young family I wanted something safe which we could jump in and go without to much faff. There's a fantastic array of cruising areas around Guernsey, Herm and Sark so plenty of options even in a small boat. At £3k including a roller coaster trailer I was very pleased.
Here she is on my mooring in St. Sampsons inner marina:
She has a bench seat for 4 at the rear plus the helm and passenger seats so plenty of seating plus the bow area. A key factor for me was the high sides and rails and wide beam giving much more peace of mind when the kids are on board (5 and 4 year old boys) than something like a Nab, Seahog or rib. I wasn't bothered about any kind of cabin or covered area as our cruising was always intended to be a few hours here or there mainly in good weather(!) so open deck space was more important.
The boat needed a little bit of work but as it was on a trailer this was easily done on my driveway. Bits of trim, new fuel filler, full polish etc etc were all pretty straight forward. I also gave the Mariner 75 outboard a full service.
The main job was the antifouling. It needed stripping off completely and redoing. Stripping it was a pig of a job crawling around under the trailer but with a good Carbide bladed scrapper it took a day or so and a few bruises. To prime and antifoul looked like it would cost around £120 with basic stuff and as I didn't fancy redoing it every year I started looking at multi season options. In the end I went for Aquacote foul release. It's been in MBY a few times and has good reports and so with an introductory discount I was able to get everything I needed for my boat size for around £140....so only a little more than the traditional antifoul. The advantage being potential multi season use. Aquacote are confident in 3 years but suggest that much longer may well be possible so we'll see. It seemed like it's super slippery foul release properties vs traditional antifoul poisoning would work well on my type of boat where I'd be driving around at a good speed (which would knock off most of the fouling) and the boat is small enough to easily swim around and be cleaned as needed. I'm happy to set up a separate thread on it if anyone is interested in how's it's performing here.
One coat of base coat and one top coat and I was very pleased with the final result:
So, how has it gone the last few months?.....absolutely brilliant!! I can honestly say it's been fantastic and thanks to the backing of a day skipper course I felt confident from day one to get out and explore. The whole family (and many friends!) have had a great time as well (which is a relief!). As I live only about 1.5 miles from the marina it's easy to pop out whenever time and weather allow and so to make the most of it so when the weather has played ball I've been out 2 or 3 times a week. The boat has performed perfectly and managed 32.9 knots on the gps on the first outing with a light load which was great. Factoring in the price, space, safety and speed the boat has been perfect for the kind of boating I'm doing which has been shooting around the north, east and south coasts of Guernsey and over to and around Herm.
So to give a bit back to the forum after all the invaluable info I've picked up quietly reading people's contributions the last few years here's a few photo's from my newbie boating season in the Bailiwick so far.....
Launch day....was interesting in a 30 knot cross wind having never driven a boat before!...
Maiden voyage took us down the Little Russel past the Ventura cruise ship (130+ cruise ship visits due in guernsey this year):
we then anchored in Fermain Bay for a while before heading home:
First trip to Herm Island. Anchored in Herm Harbour with a stern line to shore.
a wake shot of course!....with Herm on the left, Jetou on the right and Sark in the background in the middle.
Leaving the marina one evening:
Tied to a mooring boy in Herm Harbour watching the sun set over Guernsey:
Heading back across to St Sampsons on a flat calm evening:
Resting my hairy feet after my first single handed trip out. This time around the north coast to Prembroke Bay for a swim and watch the sunset:
Anchored up on Shell Beach, Herm. Was very close to shore and took a stern line to the beach. Another advantage of a small outboard powered boat...no need for a dingy for quick trips ashore (taking into account the tide of course!).
we had the beach all to ourselves!!
another Shell Beach trip:
another gorgeous evening heading home...
Herm harbour again..taking it easy..
sweet!!
That's about it for now.
Cheers!
Rich.
Here she is on my mooring in St. Sampsons inner marina:
She has a bench seat for 4 at the rear plus the helm and passenger seats so plenty of seating plus the bow area. A key factor for me was the high sides and rails and wide beam giving much more peace of mind when the kids are on board (5 and 4 year old boys) than something like a Nab, Seahog or rib. I wasn't bothered about any kind of cabin or covered area as our cruising was always intended to be a few hours here or there mainly in good weather(!) so open deck space was more important.
The boat needed a little bit of work but as it was on a trailer this was easily done on my driveway. Bits of trim, new fuel filler, full polish etc etc were all pretty straight forward. I also gave the Mariner 75 outboard a full service.
The main job was the antifouling. It needed stripping off completely and redoing. Stripping it was a pig of a job crawling around under the trailer but with a good Carbide bladed scrapper it took a day or so and a few bruises. To prime and antifoul looked like it would cost around £120 with basic stuff and as I didn't fancy redoing it every year I started looking at multi season options. In the end I went for Aquacote foul release. It's been in MBY a few times and has good reports and so with an introductory discount I was able to get everything I needed for my boat size for around £140....so only a little more than the traditional antifoul. The advantage being potential multi season use. Aquacote are confident in 3 years but suggest that much longer may well be possible so we'll see. It seemed like it's super slippery foul release properties vs traditional antifoul poisoning would work well on my type of boat where I'd be driving around at a good speed (which would knock off most of the fouling) and the boat is small enough to easily swim around and be cleaned as needed. I'm happy to set up a separate thread on it if anyone is interested in how's it's performing here.
One coat of base coat and one top coat and I was very pleased with the final result:
So, how has it gone the last few months?.....absolutely brilliant!! I can honestly say it's been fantastic and thanks to the backing of a day skipper course I felt confident from day one to get out and explore. The whole family (and many friends!) have had a great time as well (which is a relief!). As I live only about 1.5 miles from the marina it's easy to pop out whenever time and weather allow and so to make the most of it so when the weather has played ball I've been out 2 or 3 times a week. The boat has performed perfectly and managed 32.9 knots on the gps on the first outing with a light load which was great. Factoring in the price, space, safety and speed the boat has been perfect for the kind of boating I'm doing which has been shooting around the north, east and south coasts of Guernsey and over to and around Herm.
So to give a bit back to the forum after all the invaluable info I've picked up quietly reading people's contributions the last few years here's a few photo's from my newbie boating season in the Bailiwick so far.....
Launch day....was interesting in a 30 knot cross wind having never driven a boat before!...
Maiden voyage took us down the Little Russel past the Ventura cruise ship (130+ cruise ship visits due in guernsey this year):
we then anchored in Fermain Bay for a while before heading home:
First trip to Herm Island. Anchored in Herm Harbour with a stern line to shore.
a wake shot of course!....with Herm on the left, Jetou on the right and Sark in the background in the middle.
Leaving the marina one evening:
Tied to a mooring boy in Herm Harbour watching the sun set over Guernsey:
Heading back across to St Sampsons on a flat calm evening:
Resting my hairy feet after my first single handed trip out. This time around the north coast to Prembroke Bay for a swim and watch the sunset:
Anchored up on Shell Beach, Herm. Was very close to shore and took a stern line to the beach. Another advantage of a small outboard powered boat...no need for a dingy for quick trips ashore (taking into account the tide of course!).
we had the beach all to ourselves!!
another Shell Beach trip:
another gorgeous evening heading home...
Herm harbour again..taking it easy..
sweet!!
That's about it for now.
Cheers!
Rich.
Last edited:
