Giving in to the dark side.... maybe

[NickTrevethan]

SWMBO and I are back in the UK after 7 years in Singapore and looking to liveaboard again in old cold London town. The berth is all sorted out, but not the boat. We used to live on an old Sole Bay 44 ketch – Great for our purposes, with its vast aft cabin, light and airy pilothouse and enough headroom to accommodate my 6’5” frame, mostly.
This time round we are looking at the stinkboat route. We have seen some Pedros, but the steel scares me – well the bubbling paint and water leaking in scares me. Saw an Akerboom 46. Pretty but leaky and the side ddecks were very narrow.
We also saw a Broom Ocean, which Catherine hated. Reminded her of some kind of cocaine dealer’s lair from the late 1970s, a Princess of around 37 feet , with the huge patio door from the aft deck, which was OK.
I am trying to get her to see sense and buy another sailboat – a Heard 35 was on the list, but just too cramped, but I reckon it will be a motorboat. We saw a Seatrader cutter, which I thought was ideal. Big, nice aft cabin, headroom and in the right price range but I think she missed the expanse of sky you get from a pilothouse.
Our budget is around 50k. Next on the list of boats to see are a Broom 37 Crown with the 145hp perkins, which ticks many boxes on paper and a norseman 38. The norse only carries a couple of hundred lites of water – seems swfully small tankage. I imagine adding more wouldn’t pose an issue. It’s more salty looking than the broom, but slower. That said having only managed 8 knots on the old boat, not sure speed is that big a deal!
We’ll be playing on the Thames – tidal mostly.
So what does the panel think of either. And any other suggestions?

 

[sharpness]

For your budget of £50K it's surprising what boats are now available (all would be 25+ years old mind) in the size bracket you would need for a liveaboard, although VGC versions of these still appear to command a price tag higher than 50K, but you never know

Fairline Turbo 36 (Great boat and massive aft cabin, older style appear in budget)
Fairline Sedan 36 (Aft cockpit version of the Turbo, older versions close to budget)
Fairline 40
Princess 37 (appear to be about £30k)
Princess 38
Princess 385 (you may get in budget)
Princess 414
Broom Ocean 37
Broom Crown 37
C-kip 38 (Displacement trawler type boat)
Powles 38
Powles 41
Freeman 41
Birchwood TS37 and TS37 Supersports (appear to be in budget)

All of the above could be suitable, and with anything 25+ years old it will require certain maintenace / upgrades, but so long as you have a full survey and a mechanical inspection of the engines, you should end up with a lot of boat for your money when you find the right one.

 

[kashurst]

Have a look at this -http://www.farndonmarina.co.uk/index.php/brokerage/boat-listings/item/72-princess-414

 

[Flynnbarr]

Haha!

I wouldn't post that bit about a broom ocean on the thames forum,some of our older generation swear by them.
Made me smile though

 

[NickTrevethan]

Thanks guys. The last boat was a sixties vintage thing. So understand the maintenance issues. And given the lack of proper propulsion system - the big sticks and flappy things you motor boaters may glimpse as you roar past those slow boats, and instead rely on an infernal combustion engine, means you have to pay attention to the engine.

I remember oldgit used to go on about brooms and net curtains. Is he still around?

 

[superheat6k]

i must state a bias for the Turbo 36 and if you want to know more I have some articles on my blogsite below, as well as extensive story of my own experiences with OB. If your Hamble way and want to take a look PM me, but mine is not for sale. £50 k will buy an early to mid 80s model. They remain very popular and selling on shouldn't be an issue.

But also Corvette 32, Aquastar Ocean Ranger 38 or possibly 33. Your budget is a little light for Sealine F43 or its earlier variants with aft cabin. For a liveaboard the aft cabin becomes a must have.

 

[NickTrevethan]

Cheers. Like the look at the turbo. Checked out a corvette. Not enough headroom.

We could stretch for the right boat,a nauticat 38 or bigger, but we are also building a house in Vancouver so most of the money is going there.

 

[Wavey]

I wouldn't post that bit about a broom ocean on the thames forum,some of our older generation swear by them.

Broom Oceans are not to be sniffed at. I hear Nigella speaks very highly of them.

 

[Greg2]

Given that you are going to live aboard I would have thought that an aft cabin boat is a must as it will provide the best bang for your buck in terms of accommodation. Brooms are probably the best in this segment of the boat market (but I am probably biased) due to their excellent build quality. They are also better than a flybridge with an aft cabin IMHO as you also have another all weather sitting area in the cockpit whereas a flybridge is only any good in decent weather.

The Broom Crown is one of three models built on the same hull, the other two being the Ocean and the Continental. The Crown is the only one with an island double berth in the aft cabin and has the benefit of a separate shower compartment whereas the Ocean and the Continental both had, in the main, single berths in both the fore and aft cabins and the head/shower is combined. I understand what SWMBO says about the interior of the 42 but you won't get much better in terms of accommodation but you might also struggle to get one for £50k.

Not sure that the Princess would suit you as the standing room is a bit restricted IIRC. I am 6' 5" too and when we looked at one (possibly a 41 as opposed to a 414) years ago it was uncomfortably low for me.

 

[NickTrevethan]

Nigella bait? Hmmmm. Could be an idea...

 

[oceanfroggie]

Haha!

I wouldn't post that bit about a broom ocean on the thames forum,some of our older generation swear by them.
Made me smile though

I agree with the OP, of the Broom 37s of that era the Ocean had an awful layout. IMHO the older Continental had a better layout, and the Crown a step up again, but never liked the older aquafibre Ocean 37. The early 90s Broom 37 was massive inside compared to the three older 37s. It had 4.1m beam, would make a great liveaboard and had an aft cabin many 50ft boats would envy.

 

[NickTrevethan]

Went over to penton hook to see a few boats. The water is insanely high. Anyway, checked out about a dozen mobos.

The three we liked were the broom crown, the fairline turbo, and very surprisingly, our favourite was a sealine 365. Less practical but lots of fun and with a great cockpit.

Looking at another broom crown tomorrow and a Bourne 43.

So far it's a toss up between fun in the sealine, or placidity in the broom.

The turbo was good, but just a bit too pricey.

Thanks for the advice thus far.

 

[Greg2]

The Sealine 365 gives great accommodation, both below and in the cockpit but with your height it is cramped in the berths and standing in the saloon. We looked very closely at buying one previously and it was one of the main things that put me off. Also worth bearing in mind that the standard twin AD41 200hp engines aren't really up to it when planing at sea.

For live aboard it would probably be the Crown for me between the two......

 

[BlueSkyNick]

this might be of interest ...

http://www.berthon.co.uk/yacht-sales-and-brokerage/boat-details.php?BoatID=4302175&currency=GBP