Help out a newbie to the boatworld

Welcome to the world of boating. Suggest that you put this question onto the mobo forum as more people with that type of boat will see it.
 
MBC is the more suited forum. beware, bowriders are despised on that forum !! I ll PM you (you ll see a flashing flag)
 
The reason bowriders are 'despised' is that they are designed for the calm water of the gulf off Florida or for lake use.

In UK coastal waters they can be a liability as they will ship water in seas, especially in wind over tide conditions.

Last year I watched a bowrider trying to get out of Fort Belan at the West end of the Menai Strait in North Wales on a relatively calm day, but the wind over tide brought a sharp sea at the entrance and swamped the bowrider several times. Occupants were bailing furiously before driver turned to come back in. Once he had turned, he felt safe again and stupidy turned around again.

There was a lot of shouting and more bailing before he headed back to Ronnies, recovered the boat and went home to dry clothes etc. I watched the entire episode tied up to a mooring buoy whilst feeding the local fish - I don't catch much - but was ready to go to their rescue as it looked touh and go at one point and their day boating lasted no more than 55 minutes.

Bowriders look good, but in my opinion I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole if you want to use one in the sea outside a protected area.

All UK based sea boats will bury their bows into water at some time or other, so buy a boat with a foredeck, unless you like to sit in sea water.
 
depends on the size of the boat and the conditions, and commonly bowriders are 18ft over here, I ll agree.Would I like one for boating off Brighton.. no. Would I like one for dayboating around Mylor... absolutely. I dont agree with the blanket "no use in uk" approach often taken. Just depends what when and where you want to do with your boat. Plenty of fun to be had with them; they have their + and -. People have canoes, rowing boats,tiny dinghies,walkabouts, cuddies,bowriders,walkarounds,cathedrals and all use them in in different ways that suit them. Its absolutely right to point out the limitations of a particular boat, but they may not be an issue for a particular boater. there again, they may indeed be!
 
Thanks for the help. I'll check out the other forum this is just the first one I found when I did a search on that boat type. Seems like it'll work for me being that I only want it for lakes and rivers.

Thanks again
 
[ QUOTE ]
Seems like it'll work for me being that I only want it for lakes and rivers.

[/ QUOTE ]

Job sorted then.

All you need is some sun to go with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top