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Boardsnowboarder

Boardsnowboarder

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Hello.

soon to be newbee looking for advice/help.

I'm looking for some kind of course/lessons to be a responsible boater. I'd like to sort get into it before spending serious cash

Having mucked around in mountains for ages I'm looking for a new UK based weekend activity. I eventually like a boat with a couple of berths that I can wake board/Ski behind throw a fishing line over the side when that bets boring and for general mucking about.

I now live near Manchester and have good access to north Wales.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Nick
 
hi there BSB

boatie "dave_snelson" is probably a good contact hereabouts, he's NWales as well.

The skiing is excellent background for boating: - a mix of hell and heaven pastime whilst foolishly risking life and limb, in often crappy weather and usually dressed in idiotic-looking and bad-tastee clothiong, frequently getting ripped off by the locals for everything, all followed by lots of ridiculously expensive drinks. Then doing it all again the next day for some inexplicable reason.

Have fun!

For exact boat info you need to say about how much you want to spend.

I would have a look at the actual marina where you'd like to be - Phwheli (sp?) is out there and if you buy a boat there then thay have to sort it if things go wrong. Or at least, it's more likely.

powerboat level 2 i think the likely thing you should aim for - the RYA lot at the marina will sort if for you.
 
Sweet - I'm glad we're all on the same wave length. Thanks for your relpy TCM - Barmouth - Abbersoch - Phwheli and all good for me. Max spend would be circa 20k would allow a couple of grand for annual maintenance.
If anyone could point me in a direction of a good marina where I'll get good advice it would be appreacited.

Again, Thanks,

Nick
 
Pwthelli??? Is probably the best location, though probably full, less you keep it on a trailer. Abersoc is close by as are St Tudwall Isles. Dont hit the half tide rock, as may other folk have in the past.
 
Hello back! and Welcome to the Forum and Hello Boyo bach and Welcome to Wales! Agood place to base yourself and boat is The Menai Straits not just cos that,s where I am but cos there are good access points to the dwr (water) you can get afloat in all weathers to Ski,fish and generally muck about on the water. 20k ish will get you a tidy (well there,s tidy isn,t it) boat to fish and ski. That subject is a whole thread on it,s own. There are Marinas at Conwy, Deganwy, Port Dinorwic ,Caernarfon, Pwllheli and now a new developement in Portmadoc with pontoon availability, very new addition. Also new last season is a "Park and float" facility in Downtown Menai Bridge. Boats can be "parked up" and launched from a good slipway right in the town centre, tractor launching and the boat can be stored there for the season. Deisel also available on sight and you have sheltered waters to play on. There are training facilities at Plas Menai (Water sports centre for Wales) I think it,s termed, plus Sea Schools out of Conwy and Port Dinorwic. As for courses like tcm said" Power boat level 2" is good and "Day Skipper" or Dazed Kipper as Forumites have knicknamed it Is also a good introduction to things briny . Mor in Cymraeg See you can even get a Welsh lesson by ere isn,t it look you! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Take a drive down your only a couple of hours away as you say. There some super boating areas by year some beautiful anchorages around the Lleyn Penisular and round to Portmadoc (Where that Dave Snelson bloke is ) /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gifwhoever he is! Pwllheli way, Abersoch ( only one B IN Abersoch let you off for now) /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gifas I say The Straits, around Anglesey, Traeth Bychan (popular ski area). I forgot obviously a Marina in Holyhead. So if you want info about things boaty in North Wales keep posting or send me a PM or Cpn Snelson for in detail info about the Posh Gits in Abersoch or the Skinters in Portmadoc and Welcome again The MORE THE MERRIER! Oh and by the way lookyou if you come to Menai Bridge I can take a few quid off you in my Pizza takeaway! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
"Listen up" flag salesman there,s more water in the Straits than there is in my whiskey right now , is that why I can,t stay awake after 2100hrs.Missed the second half of the Middlesborough Cup Game last night starting to feel wobbly now already this £6.87 Tescos wHISKEY IS GIVING ME FIGHTING TALK Oh sorry didn,t mean to SHOUT! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Hi Nick

We did similiar to what you are chatting about. I had a ski boat we initially had on park and ride in Anglesey, so when the weather was nice the boat would be dropped in the water, and we would be off ski-ing . Our favourite area was Trearddur Bay which has a good park and ride facility, great beaches, and plenty of places to anchor up and fish.

Around Trearddur there are plenty of good fishing spots, and we would regularly catch and cook Mackeral and other oddities.

With the help of Kawasaki we also moved to Port Dinorwic in the menai, and it is a fantastic ski/wakeboard area, as it is very sheltered (wind goes over the top) and like a giant lake. It is a bit hairy through the straights but once you have been shown the route, its pretty easy.

Fishing is pretty good as well there.

Waters are a lot less crowded than Abersoch, but it depends on what you are looking for, as less people equals less facilities.

One more thing to bear in mind, whilst on park and ride they towed the boat to the pumps and filled up with petrol ok, but once on the marina there is only deisel, and trying to lug great big petrol cans around and fill up in the marina was pretty close to a nightmare! especially when your sports boat sucks petrol like its going out of fashion!

We also had a cuddy boat, a maxum 2100sc, and the combination of speed flexibility and cuddy worked really well.

Best of luck and let us know where you end up!

Martyn
 
Well nobody can top the welcome and intro from Kawasaki can they! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Anyway Nick, welcome aboard and to answer two questions, Professional Powerboat Training with Jonno Garton is a top establishment for quality learning.

I'm based in Porthmadog, and it will depnd on which boat you buy as to where you will keep / launch it. If you are after a boat on a trailer, then an annual lauch pass is the one for you m'boy! About £80 a year allows you to launch from any municipal slipway / beach in the whole of Gwynedd county, so you can try different areas.

When you go looking for boats, post up on here what you are thinking of buying and why and you will be bombarded with advice - good luck!

Dave
 
I heard boaters were good folk - They were right.
Thanks for all your help/advice.
Martyn replyed to your PM. - Thanks.
Kawasaki & Dave you sound like the people to know - I'm coming over in a few weeks any chance we could hook up for a brew/pint? on me of course.

Cheers,

Nick
 
We set out to buy a boat in excatly the same situation as you, ie. a snowboarder looking for a boat to mess around in but also good for wakeboarding. We bought a 20' cuddy boat, which was ideal for the purpose (never the quality of wake you get with a competition boat, but these are unsuitable for use at sea).

What's interesting is that we then decided to stay overnight on the boat, then we decided to cruise to a different harbour and stay overnight on the boat. We then decided it would be really nice to have a cooker, shower and room for friends so we got a bigger boat. We then decided it would be nice to go cross channel (or in your case to Ireland) so we bought a bigger twin engined boat.

So my advice is if you only want day trips and lots of wakeboarding the 20' cuddy is best. If you think you may want to use it for cruising miss out the first step and look for a 24-26' sport cruiser. Both are available within your budget.
 
houghn,
I've spent the last 8 years saving all summer and boarding all winter. I now have a wife and kids on the way I'm looking to reverse my habbits and live for the summer. I want to start with something like a 20' cuddy and upgrade year on year. My parents live on the Isle of Arran and my wifes parents live on the isle of wight so I expect to be crusing to see them in the next couple of years. This is a life style change as much as anything.

Cheers,

Nick
 
Hello again. Pint on you is it? Just thought of the most expensive Pub in North Wales /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif PM Sent /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
If you have a wife, and a baby on the way, I would urge you to consider a sport cruiser rather than a cuddy. They are so much more useable 'cos you have somewhere to cook, sit, eat, shower, a fridge and a seperate toilet cubicle etc. A cuddy will only have a flat area to sleep on and if you're lucky a portaloo.

We ended up changing the cuddy after a few weeks 'cos we saw how much more you get with a sport cruiser. You would get a nice condition 24' American petrol boat a few years old for your budget. Opinions vary but I would target 15% off the usual asking price of such boats. If you wanted to keep the running costs down then I know that Blue Water Marine have a storage yard with launch and recovery service which would be much cheaper than a marina berth.
 
I intend to start small and work up. I need to do a whole load of tire kicking see a few different boats.

I'm over in N.wales weekend after next. I'll be tapping a few of you up.
 
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