Greek Moody

Bellinos

Bellinos

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So my quest continues and strolling along the quayside on holiday I saw this Moody 333. I’m meeting the elderly gentleman tomorrow afternoon who hasn’t used her in many years. I am taking a deeply cynical family with me but could do with someone who may be a saint, and speaks Greek on the phone should me and the vendor get stuck. I’m under no illusion this would be a project and would need to find a local yard to at least make sure she’s safe to bring home. She is lying in Porto Cheli Porto Cheli - Wikipedia so again anyone with experience of boat yards or surveyors let me know. Thanks
 
Bellinos said:
So my quest continues and strolling along the quayside on holiday I saw this Moody 333. I’m meeting the elderly gentleman tomorrow afternoon who hasn’t used her in many years. I am taking a deeply cynical family with me but could do with someone who may be a saint, and speaks Greek on the phone should me and the vendor get stuck. I’m under no illusion this would be a project and would need to find a local yard to at least make sure she’s safe to bring home. She is lying in Porto Cheli Porto Cheli - Wikipedia so again anyone with experience of boat yards or surveyors let me know. Thanks
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If by "home" you mean UK, then no,no a thousand times no! Completely worthless - even in the UK you can buy a fully functioning 33/333 for around £15k. One that has been sitting in Greece unused will never be in a condition to sail anywhere other than the next bay without massive expenditure and work. Then bringing it back will either take you a year to sail slowly, spending much of your time fixing things that break or cost £10k for a delivery crew (if you could find one) and road. Then you will have to pay VAT on import and have it certified (which it won't pass without fitting boring things like a new engine).

If you want a boat for use in the Med by one that is suitable for the conditions, not a worn out 40 year old boat that is more at home bashing around the cold and wet UK coastal waters. Plenty of projects in the UK like this 33 essex.boatshed.com/moody_33-boat-307746.html which is functioning, but worth some upgrading and could be got for around £10k.

Sorry to sound negative, but sun and ouzo can have strange effects on some people!
 
Well I’m certainly not showing this to Mrs B ?! I do get what you’re saying and do appreciate the advice. I haven’t found a 333 (that’s what I fancy) for less than £26k. Surely it would depend what the asking price is. Don’t worry if it’s not silly I’ll walk away… but what if…. ?
 
Bellinos said:
Well I’m certainly not showing this to Mrs B ?! I do get what you’re saying and do appreciate the advice. I haven’t found a 333 (that’s what I fancy) for less than £26k. Surely it would depend what the asking price is. Don’t worry if it’s not silly I’ll walk away… but what if…. ?
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The asking price is largely irrelevant. If you want a boat for use in the UK the only thing that matters is the cost to get it sitting in your berth ready for you to use. Even £26k would not get a boat that has not been used for several years from Greece to UK - so even if it were free it would be too expensive. Just some basic costs. shipment from Athens £14k plus preparation (mast down everything stowed and cradle). Sail to SofF or Spain to get road transport - 3 weeks going easy - marina fees, fuel (do a lot of motoring) £2000. Truck to UK £6k plus £1000 minimum for mast and lifts. Then when you arrive here you will pay VAT on the boat based on how much it cost you to buy and prepare for the journey PLUS your transport costs if it comes by road or sea. Then if it comes after the end of the year according to the current rules it will have to be certified to the latest standards - cost £5-7k plus any modifications required.

These are not figures plucked out of the air, but based on my own experience of bring a boat back from Corfu to UK. In my case the boat was in excellent condition and only needed £2k or so spending on preparation (in 2010). This was of course before Brexit when boats could move freely around without any formalities or payments. I did it as part of a long term plan that was originally based on slowly sailing back over 2 years - so a long holiday, but circumstances changed at the last minute so I had a professional skipper to Spain and then truck. With food, fuel, marina fees, crew costs and air fare plus truck and handling either end total cost was £8500.

All this would come on top of refurbing the boat. I cannot imagine doing that in Greece, having spent 10 years out there with my boat running as a charter boat before bringing her back. Lovely people, lovely place and before the consequences of joining the EU really hit was a delightful cheap place to get things done. Now it makes even UK look cheap - if you can get things done at all.

Agree a top notch 333 would be £25k+ because so few were built and its replacement the 346 was in a different league and still commands around £40k. But 33s are more numerous and go for £10-15k. However most need work (as indeed will most 333s, 346s and similar age Westerlys) and not unusual to spend £10-20k on bringing them up to standard - or just using and replacing vital things while the value of the boat goes down.

The key thing to remember when buying 40 year old boats is that they change hands for anywhere between 5-20% of replacement cost and anything you need to pay for is based on 2022 prices. So try to buy a boat where most of the expensive things - engine, sails, upholstery, electronics, domestic and electrical systems are good and recent.

The boat you are going to see is highly unlikely to meet those criteria, ignoring all the cost and impracticality of getting it to the UK. perhaps drink a few glasses with the owner and get him to recall the happy times he had on the boat - but don't buy it!
 
The yard behind AB was (& may still be) run by an Austrian called Christian, I think Clancy Moped might mean Neil who used to live on the hook in the bay on a super steel boat (Pop Jobbles) he built himself, I saw her up for sale a few years ago now. There was also a Steve who lived on his Colvic Victor, he sold and came back to UK I think, and a Dave who worked there, all top blokes. I had a boat based there for a few years, fond memories...
 
V1701 said:
The yard behind AB was (& may still be) run by an Austrian called Christian, I think Clancy Moped might mean Neil who used to live on the hook in the bay on a super steel boat (Pop Jobbles) he built himself, I saw her up for sale a few years ago now. There was also a Steve who lived on his Colvic Victor, he sold and came back to UK I think, and a Dave who worked there, all top blokes. I had a boat based there for a few years, fond memories...
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Your memory is much better than mine?
 
Clancy Moped said:
Your memory is much better than mine?
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I dunno about that but did end up spending quite a lot of time there working on my boat in that yard in the winter/spring time and several times a year to go & sail, had a (private & technically illegal) mooring there as did others. All gone a lot more commercial there now I believe. I think part of Christian's grumpiness was from him needing to make it work commercially, before he took over the yard was more a load of people who pretty much all did all their own work & restos there...
 
Tranona said:
The asking price is largely irrelevant. If you want a boat for use in the UK the only thing that matters is the cost to get it sitting in your berth ready for you to use. Even £26k would not get a boat that has not been used for several years from Greece to UK - so even if it were free it would be too expensive. Just some basic costs. shipment from Athens £14k plus preparation (mast down everything stowed and cradle). Sail to SofF or Spain to get road transport - 3 weeks going easy - marina fees, fuel (do a lot of motoring) £2000. Truck to UK £6k plus £1000 minimum for mast and lifts. Then when you arrive here you will pay VAT on the boat based on how much it cost you to buy and prepare for the journey PLUS your transport costs if it comes by road or sea. Then if it comes after the end of the year according to the current rules it will have to be certified to the latest standards - cost £5-7k plus any modifications required.

These are not figures plucked out of the air, but based on my own experience of bring a boat back from Corfu to UK. In my case the boat was in excellent condition and only needed £2k or so spending on preparation (in 2010). This was of course before Brexit when boats could move freely around without any formalities or payments. I did it as part of a long term plan that was originally based on slowly sailing back over 2 years - so a long holiday, but circumstances changed at the last minute so I had a professional skipper to Spain and then truck. With food, fuel, marina fees, crew costs and air fare plus truck and handling either end total cost was £8500.

All this would come on top of refurbing the boat. I cannot imagine doing that in Greece, having spent 10 years out there with my boat running as a charter boat before bringing her back. Lovely people, lovely place and before the consequences of joining the EU really hit was a delightful cheap place to get things done. Now it makes even UK look cheap - if you can get things done at all.

Agree a top notch 333 would be £25k+ because so few were built and its replacement the 346 was in a different league and still commands around £40k. But 33s are more numerous and go for £10-15k. However most need work (as indeed will most 333s, 346s and similar age Westerlys) and not unusual to spend £10-20k on bringing them up to standard - or just using and replacing vital things while the value of the boat goes down.

The key thing to remember when buying 40 year old boats is that they change hands for anywhere between 5-20% of replacement cost and anything you need to pay for is based on 2022 prices. So try to buy a boat where most of the expensive things - engine, sails, upholstery, electronics, domestic and electrical systems are good and recent.

The boat you are going to see is highly unlikely to meet those criteria, ignoring all the cost and impracticality of getting it to the UK. perhaps drink a few glasses with the owner and get him to recall the happy times he had on the boat - but don't buy it!
Click to expand...
Well a few drinks doesn’t sound bad thanks for the advice a very gentle civil slap of “get a hold of yourself” which is better than I’d get tomorrow if I did put an offer in- Kit Kat in the post!
Bellinos said:
So my quest continues and strolling along the quayside on holiday I saw this Moody 333. I’m meeting the elderly gentleman tomorrow afternoon who hasn’t used her in many years. I am taking a deeply cynical family with me but could do with someone who may be a saint, and speaks Greek on the phone should me and the vendor get stuck. I’m under no illusion this would be a project and would need to find a local yard to at least make sure she’s safe to bring home. She is lying in Porto Cheli Porto Cheli - Wikipedia so again anyone with experience of boat yards or surveyors let me know. Thanks
Click to expand...
thanks for the advice folks I went today and embarrassed to say it’s a Moody 39. Mast and rigging pretty good, new enourmous 75hp engine just a bit scruffy and in need of Labour on my amateur assessmen. I loved it but 39 for me right now won’t be practical. Alfie is open to offers but it’s up for €28000. Three years greek cruising licence paid for too!
 
Thanks for the update.

£25k would be a good price for a scruffy but functioning 39 in the UK - but its not in the UK!. Typical leftover from the hordes of Brits that went off to the Med 20 odd years ago in search of the good life when a full dinner in the Greek islands was maybe £4 (we used to budget £60 a head a week for food and drink in the early 2000s) in boats more suitable for the UK but not ideal for the new environment. Now come to the end of their useful life (owners often as well as boats) and no new dreamers coming along. Dreams killed by high EU costs and and loss of freedom of movement.
 
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