How Big ?

[Guest]

I am thinking of starting to look at Motor boats, with a mind to mooing on the southcoast and using it for trips to the French coast. Can someone please tell me what size boat would be suitable and how I get into motorboat owning. Is 24ft too small? What price do boats start at, How much sould I spend, Do I need a licence? How much is fuel? How far will a boat go on a Tank of fuel?

In short is there a an info resource that I can tap into to find out all the facts?

I Live in the Bristol area in the Uk.

Cheers

Jonathan

 

[[448]]

Re: Mooing

I would try to find a meadow somewhere near Brighton if I were you.
Cheers, Dave

 

[petem]

About 30ft is the minimum for cross channel trips. Preferably nearer 35-40ft. Possible at 24ft but a bit riskier and scarier.

Spend as much as you can afford. Some of the additional costs for say a 30 footer would be:-

£3000 p.a. mooring
£500 p.a. insurance
£1500 p.a. servocing
£1000 antifouling, lifts etc.

Plus depreciation plus repairs plus fuel, plus trips to the chandlers for the latest bit of essential kit plus finance costs.

Start by buying a boat or doing a course (something like day skipper practical) to see if you like it. Maybe smeone on the board will offer you a go on theirs.

No, you don't need a license in the UK unless you want something really big or charter out.

Fuel approx 30p a litre (diesel) 90p a litre (petrol)

A planing boat's range is typically about 200 miles.

Good luck, Pete

 

[Guest]

we have 19ft and often go o France,its comfortable, not slow, and pick the right weather not scary,know lots of people with 17 ft plus that go across, wouldn,t like much smaller,but people go across in baths and stuff

MM

 

[lanason]

A number of questions spring to mind :-
Whats your budget (ish)
How far could you travel to the boat.(france is generally closer the more East you live - Bristol best bet may be Poole or the Solent) and thats expensive.
Have you done any boating before ??? if so what and when.

If you've got money to burn then do all the courses if you havent done anything before. From Bristol try Dive Charters in Pembrokeshire www.gopdc.co.uk - They do all the Powerboat stuff and in Milford Haven (its quite safe). Only about 2 hours from Bristol and much cheaper than South Coast.




Adrian

Any jobs going ??

 

[dave36]

Re: Mooing

Don't take any notice - you do your mooing where you want - let me know if you do go over to South Wales - I have a lot to learn too! I am not 20 miles from you, my boat is in a safe mooing at present - the garden shed!

 

[Chris771]

Re: Don\'t really need big boat

Jonathan

I cannot really agree with Peter M, certainly it would be nice to have a 40ft boat that costs an awful lot of money to maintain and run, but you can have just as much fun on a lot less money.

I have always geared myself to having a boat around 24/25 ft which I can tow home and keep in the garden over the winter, snugly covered up with a heater and dehumidifier to keep it all sweet and clean smelling till the next spring.

For the last few years I have owned a Skibsplast 700 DHT (just under 24 ft) this has provided a boat with hardtop suited to our climate, yet with opening sunroof for those good days.

She was large enough for all the toys, Eberspacher Heating, pressurised H&C Water, proper toilet compartment, GPS, Chartplotter, Fishfinder, Log & Echosounder and Autopilot. The Yanmar 140 Diesel gave a maximum of just over 27 kts and easy cruising at 22/24 kts at around 3.5 gallons of diesel at a cost of about £5/per hour.

I used her on the Irish Sea and have frequently made the 76 mile open sea passage from Preston to the Isle of Man in under 4 hours, or Conway in just over 3 hours. Quite often I have set off in a force 5 which has caused me to slow to about 14 to 15 kts (just on the plane) but as soon as it is back down to force 3 or less I am back over 20 knots.

I presently have Polar Fox up for sale, not because there is anything wrong with a boat that size, simply because I now have the money available to buy a Beneteau Antares (which I get next month) which is about 3ft longer overall and 18" wider. Whilst I will enjoy the extra cabin space I will certainly miss the sunroof and also double the running costs with a fuel consumption which will go from 5 galls/hour at 18 knots to near 10 galls/hour at 25 knots.

Personally, as a professional engineer, I always keep to a straight shaft drive rather than an outdrive. The simplicity has saved me thousands over the years, but having a long shaft does intrude on cabin layout somewhat as the engine has to sit much further forward. Having said that, I still think it is a small price to pay for reliability and low running costs.

I tend to think that about 23/24 ft is about the smallest practical size of boat for long open sea passages as one needs to carry the necessary lifesaving/emergency equipment and on a boat any smaller there is not really the space to keep a dinghy or liferaft.

Also, if you cross the Channel for the weekend, you need room for a couple of people to live and sleep


Have a look at Polar Fox on www.impact-computers.net/boat/cruiser.htm and you will see what I have comfortably cruised the Irish Sea in for a few years. Also have a look at www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk for offshore cruisers for a good selection.

Finally, I would echo a couple of the other replies and get some training and learn some navigation before venturing out on the sea. As someone who has spent a number of years working at sea in a variety of jobs (the last 20 years in the oil industry) I think that I can safely say that the sea is a wonderful place to be in good conditions, but can rapidly become frightening and dangerous to the inexperienced. I suppose that I am lucky in having had employers pay for me to do a number of Offshore Survival Courses around the world which include simulated helicopter immersions & capsizes and deploying and righting and boarding liferafts in big waves (not as easy as it sounds). All these immersions and escapings from inverted helicopters a few feet underwater have taught me to have respect for the sea. It takes away the fright element and helps focus the mind on self rescue. That is the most important part of surviving a casualty at sea - knowing that the only person you can rely upon to rescue you when you need it - is yourself. All other help comes later, the most important time in any danger situation is making the correct decisions in the first few minutes and setting the rescue operation into motion, then you only have to wait for help.

Don't be put off by the above, hopefully, along with most other boaters you will never have any kind of serious incident, but it is nice to know that you have all the necessary skills and equipment to deal with it if an incident should arise. The better prepared you are, the less likely you are to have an incident.

Buy a boat and have some fun.............;-))

Chris

 

[Guest]

Great post Chris

Well done, I really got someting out of it keep them coming!.
paul js.

 

[Guest]

Re: Don\'t really need big boat

Many Thanks for all the info, I take your points with interest. I like the option of towing the boat on a trailer. Could save a lot of winter money. What is the largest boat I could tow? (vehicle permitting) Could I tow 30-34 ft?

A Question, as an Outsider is this sport/pasttime hard to break into. Have you got to be a multi millionaire with 600K boats, or are the majority of boaters real people! Is it thought of as a sin to buy secondhand and if you do have secondhand, do people look down their nose at you?

Is it possible to buy Kit boats- like you buy and build kit Cars? and if so do they look homemade?

Engines - I assume Diesel is the way to go judging by the fuel costs. Is it possible to do your own servicing, and what sort of service intervals do they require.

sorry for all the questions, but it may be a big step.

Cheers for now

Jonathan

 

[Guest]

Re: Don\'t really need big boat

There are loads of regs regarding towing a trailer/boat.

In a nutshell the 2 main ones which limit the size of boat you can tow are width and weight.

The max weight you can tow in the UK with suitable 4x4 (LandRover,Landcruiser or Grand Jeep) is 3500kg.

The max width of trailer is 7'6". You can have upto 6" overhanging either side. With wide load markings you can have 12" overhang either side.

In reallity this means that the largest boat you can tow is upto 28' long, 8'6" wide and has a weight of approx 2600kg max (This allows weight for trailer and gear.)

Please be carefull though, while I believe that trailing a boat gives me unlimited cruising grounds, towing this size rig with no experience would be nearly as silly as the guy who rowed across the Pacific.

A point on the diesel vs petrol debate, at this size (with the notable exception of the Sealine s24) most of the sports cruisers you will see only have petrol as a sensible option. The diesels are too big/heavy/underpowered/expensive to be a realistic choice.

 

[hlb]

Re: Don\'t really need big boat

The regulations are mind boggeling. But between the rules and sence. Two tons and about 8ft 6 wide and about 24 ft long is as much as you want to handle on the back of a 4x4. If you want an argument about that. I took 100 tons down to Saudia Arabia for five years. The problem is not so much about going. It's stopping!! The police have no more clue than you have on these issues. Main thing is to have some thing that lookes right!! So no old land rover and new boat. I got caught on that one. So to carry on. If you have the experience of a hgv Saudia Arabian background. Towing an 8ft 6 in. beam boat behind a 3 litre Trooper s no problem. If your thinking of sticking it behind your fiesta. With the experience of London trafic. Forget it. Like most things in life. It's easy if you know how.

No one can force me to come here-----------
----- I'm a Volunteer!!!

Haydn

 

[sjnewport]

Re: Don\'t really need big boat

Jonathan,
Have been towing Sealine 218 with a Shogun for the last 18 months after having bigger boats for the previous 15 yaers.
It was a good move,OK lost space but have gained flexibility in cruising ground.
Still have shower,cooker fridge etc but obviously more cramped than on previuos 29 foot boat!!!.
we live in Bristol and have towed so far to Thames [3 times!!],Poole, solent Dartmouth and K and A canal at Devizes!!! Hopefully Scotland for this years hols,weather permitting.
I have often towed boat when hubby has a few too many beers to drive!!not as scary as I thought.
Hoping to go to Ireland and Europe in future[by ferry though!!!] made enquiries about taking across car,boat and trailer this year £400 return in August.Not too bad,a caravan in Severn Beach could cost that for 2 weeks!!![local joke].
Think seriously about towing,much more flexible and no mooring bills if you can store at home for the winter.Also easier to maintain when right outside back door.
Cindy.

 

[Guest]

Re: Don\'t really need big boat

Not looking for an argument, he asked for maximum size and thats what I gave him.

I've never had HGV experience but I did have a summer job as a kid Launching boats on a Windermere caravan park- you have to learn pretty quick. People tend to get upset f you scratch there pride and joy (I could'nt see the problem it was one of them sticky things anyway !!)

For some one whos never towed anything before I would say even a 20ft cuddy would require a pretty steep learning curve.

 

[jfm]

Re: That trip to Ireland

Let me know if you need suggestions for slipways etc for SW Coast of Ireland, it's my manor.

 

[sjnewport]

Re: That trip to Ireland

Thanks!!
Will contact you next year when planning trip