i want to buy a boat please gimme a few tips!

[KevB]

If I were in your shoes I'd buy a yacht. Definitely the way to go for long term cruising. You get a lot more space for equal length when compared to a mobo.

If you intend on going to the med through the canals then speed isn't going to be an issue and yachts are a lot cheaper to run even if you never actually use the sails.

A couple of good web sites for information and insight into canal and med cruising are

syfuga

For live aboard experience

and

michaelbriant

For lots of details on the French canals.

Best of luck and I hope it you actually get to 'live the dream'

 

[Tranona]

what do you mean annual birth could cost are what!!!?
is this just for parking it as ive got some prices in marinas in the uk and they are about 400 to 1000 per year.and by birthing costs do you mean living costs ie fuel food and launderette?i visited a marina/lock the other day and he said the first 3 days are free and £2 a night there after which work out £8 a week =400 a year if im roaming around.are prices more expensive to mooring in the med than the uk?im cofused as to birthing costs wth ! 5 thousand pounds!!
when i started to look into this the idea was that i dont pay this government or any other another penny a bit like a gypsie and i was happy to be a gypsie (kinda) but im not if im paying anything to this system.

You are on a very steep learning curve! Think the prices you have are more likely per metre length. So 37ft is roughly 11 metres times 400 comes to 4400pa - lower end of the range for South Coast. Can easily be 50-100% more. Short term costs are even higher at £30-40 a night. My berth in Corfu for 11 metres was just over £4k this year. Then you have haulout charges - £500 typically a year. insurance value related so £1000 pa. and so on. It would be easy to eat up £10k a year just on the boat without going anywhere special. A reasonable budget for a year cruising the Eastern Med would be £20k, but I know people who do it for less than half that on an old sailboat lying to anchor most of the summer and holing up in a remote boatyard for the winter.

Living on board in this country is much more difficult as few marinas allow it and the weather is against you.

 

[SeaDave]

what do you mean annual birth could cost are what!!!?
is this just for parking it as ive got some prices in marinas in the uk and they are about 400 to 1000 per year.and by birthing costs do you mean living costs ie fuel food and launderette?i visited a marina/lock the other day and he said the first 3 days are free and £2 a night there after which work out £8 a week =400 a year if im roaming around.are prices more expensive to mooring in the med than the uk?im cofused as to birthing costs wth ! 5 thousand pounds!!
when i started to look into this the idea was that i dont pay this government or any other another penny a bit like a gypsie and i was happy to be a gypsie (kinda) but im not if im paying anything to this system.

I can't see you doing this based on my perception of you.

 

[cook]

thank you for the advice dave although my perceptions of living on a boat are more informed than your perceptions on me

 

[cook]

Quite.

For our F37 (so the same length as the S37), we pay £5500/year to park in Ocean Village in Southampton. If we went to Berthon in Lymington or Salterns in Poole, I guess we'd be paying £7000/year. That doesn't include electricity; over winter, with heaters and a dehumidifier set to low, we pay about £30/month for leccy, so as a liveaboard running heating and an immersion heater, I'd expect maybe £500/year in electricity.

If we visit another marina on the south coast, then we'd expect to pay maybe £30-40 a night.

You only have a small fridge, so a lot of food will have to be bought in small, uneconomical size packs, or it will go to waste.

There's a launderette on site, but that's coin operated so you have to pay up or stink, as there's realistically no room to wash and dry clothes on board.

Insurance costs me around £1000/year, and engine servicing and general repairs would cost around £2000-2500/year. An annual lift out and antifoul on a boat that size is going to cost you £500 if you do the work yourself, more if you pay someone to do it.

Cruising, the boat does around 1.2mpg, so that's about £3/mile. How far were you planning on going?

well at least you lot are helpful enough to inform me of the costs which seem on par with running a house !which is a lot more than i want to spend,i imagined running this would be virtually omg !!free but after speaking to you lot and my friend just on the phone hes suggested a dutch cruiser/canal boat as the costs are nothing but this takes the fun out of it when you cant cross the channel and do things yourself

 

[blueglass]

If I were in your shoes I'd buy a yacht. Definitely the way to go for long term cruising. You get a lot more space for equal length when compared to a mobo.
'

No way. Not sure what kind of mobos you've been on but I have been on several 45 ft plus yachts with way less accomodation than our 38 ft mobo. Also very dark and gloomy down there and as for cockpit space and usability, mobos again every time. Cheaper to run I accept.

 

[cook]

hual up remote boatyard? anchor up? christ almighty is it that expesive to float a boat in the water ?omg this sounds like signing my soul off to captain hook !! thanks for the help you lot are dowsing the dream pretty darn quick and you havent even mentioned sharks submarines or davey bloody jones!!

 

[nonitoo]

Not dowsing the dream, Cook, just letting you know the realities of running a boat.

Tom

 

[Canopy Locked]

hual up remote boatyard? anchor up? christ almighty is it that expesive to float a boat in the water ?omg this sounds like signing my soul off to captain hook !! thanks for the help you lot are dowsing the dream pretty darn quick and you havent even mentioned sharks submarines or davey bloody jones!!

Then of course there's pirates!!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

just a note on aircon ( iam in the med without and quite happy) My 6kw gennie averages about £1.00 and hour in diesel (all white of course in Europe) under load. So even with the aircon on only say 12 hours a day that makes £4,380 a year. Bit steep for somebody on a budget. Not to mention the servicing costs on the genny alone. At 200 hour service intervals thats about 11 services costing another £2 -3K if done professionally. IMHO aircon only worth considering if you intend long term shorepower hook up.
However, without aircon and only using gennie for normal battery charging, hot water etc I reckon I could liveaboard in Greece incredibly cheaply totally without mooring fees - there's plenty of free harbours and anchorages around here - but usually no electricity.

Yeah but you dont need aircon all year round, maybe July thru Sept and then not 12 hrs per day. Often I use the aircon for just a couple of hours in the evening just to cool the cabins before going to sleep. Then when you're in a marina, you're hooked up to the shorepower anyway

 

[KevB]

No way. Not sure what kind of mobos you've been on but I have been on several 45 ft plus yachts with way less accomodation than our 38 ft mobo. Also very dark and gloomy down there and as for cockpit space and usability, mobos again every time. Cheaper to run I accept.

No big engines eating up all that space space, nice rounded hull rather than a deep V. I've been on LOTS of mobo's and a few sail boats (sail boats at boat shows) and size for size yachts are cavernous compared to a mobo. imho anyway.

 

[blueglass]

No big engines eating up all that space space, nice rounded hull rather than a deep V. I've been on LOTS of mobo's and a few sail boats (sail boats at boat shows) and size for size yachts are cavernous compared to a mobo. imho anyway.

Yes but a mobo has much more boat above deck level. most sailboats have nothing above guardrail level and certainly no flybridge level. its almost like having an extra 2 stories.

we have many aquaintances in the yachting fraternity with 38 - 42 ft boats and all are amazed at the accomodation on our 38ft mobo when its our turn to do the beers. (and of course vice versa but we are to well brought up to mention it !) Mind you we don't have a deep V sportsboat, its an aft cabin s/d

 

[jimg]

I have to agree that Mobo's have far more space than sail boats. The sides of a mobo tend to be near vertical and the deep V has nothing to do with it.
I have always been amazed how cramped yachts feel for any particular length.

 

[tinkicker0]

hual up remote boatyard? anchor up? christ almighty is it that expesive to float a boat in the water ?omg this sounds like signing my soul off to captain hook !! thanks for the help you lot are dowsing the dream pretty darn quick and you havent even mentioned sharks submarines or davey bloody jones!!

Boating is extremely expensive. I keep a 20 foot pocket sportscruiser (speedboat with a tiny two berth cabin) on the River Ouse in Yorkshire at a marina.

It costs £1000 a year mooring, £250 a year for a BW licence, another £250 a year for lift out and in, £100 a year for insurance and more than I care to admit to the missus for maintenance (probably in excess of £3k over two years to get the boat to my satisfaction) and I'm a 25 year experienced vehicle techie doing ALL the work myself.
Then there's all the gear, ropes. fenders, lifejackets and all sorts of odds n ends.
This is before the boat has gone no further than the slipway to the pontoon.

At the 6knots river speed limit, my small boat burns over a gallon of unleaded every hour.
if I opened the taps it would burn 100 quids worth of fuel in about a hour and a quarter.
Don't forget this is a boat with a cabin with only enough room for 2 people and a quilt.

The only hobby I had that I found to be more expensive was aviation.

 

[stevepremia]

what do you mean annual birth could cost are what!!!?
is this just for parking it as ive got some prices in marinas in the uk and they are about 400 to 1000 per year.and by birthing costs do you mean living costs ie fuel food and launderette?i visited a marina/lock the other day and he said the first 3 days are free and £2 a night there after which work out £8 a week =400 a year if im roaming around.are prices more expensive to mooring in the med than the uk?im cofused as to birthing costs wth ! 5 thousand pounds!!
when i started to look into this the idea was that i dont pay this government or any other another penny a bit like a gypsie and i was happy to be a gypsie (kinda) but im not if im paying anything to this system.

Hi Cook, welcome to the world of boating. With regards to costs there is a definition in my sailing club of the word "boat" it goes something like this:

Boat: A hole in the water into which you pour money.

The other saying is that "owning a boat is likestanding in a cold shower fully clothed tearing up ten pound notes"

I can vouch for this.

BUT there are cheaper ways. Being in the western Med in a marina in a 40 footer is expensive. I would go east, generally the further east you go in the med the cheaper it will be, but still more tha £1000 PA. The other alternative are to look at the north African countries (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia even Libya and Egypt!) they will be much cheaper but the facilities may not be as good as the western Med. The people are very friendly the food is fantastic and it is a bit different. Insurance may be a bit more of a problem here(?)

With regards to the boat, I would be more tempted to go for a heavier displcement boat. If you go to www.apolloduck.com or do a Google search for maybe something like a 40 foot "Trader" or "Grand Banks" they will be older than you might want for your budget but with your deisel experience this should not be a problem. These are "semi-displacement" boats, they tend to be slower but much more practical for a liveaboard.

You will see that the style of the boat is more like a fancy trawler than a scaled up sports boat. There are many other makes of this type maybe someone else could reccomend another?

Do some good research, take your time, find the right boat, learn to handle a boat and navigate, chose your destinations carefully and go for it. You will only regret it if you dont!

Good Luck!

 

[John100156]

hual up remote boatyard? anchor up? christ almighty is it that expesive to float a boat in the water ?omg this sounds like signing my soul off to captain hook !! thanks for the help you lot are dowsing the dream pretty darn quick and you havent even mentioned sharks submarines or davey bloody jones!!

OK, Now the positive spin:

Its just great fun. I had my 2006 Fairline Targa 34 transported from Torquay to the Med (MDL's new marina in Sant Carles De La Rapita) Spain, last September. It is a twin cabin sports cruiser. We came out for a week every month last winter and my wife and I have stayed on the boat here since 1st May. Yes it's quite small, but it can be done comfortably. We have had many guests out, one of the reasons why I now want to upgrade to a bigger boat in the same marina. PM me if you want to discuss a deal on my boat complete with berth. There are several livaboards out here.

As for cost, you can live out here quite cheaply. I am just about to complete my first year, I reckon you need to budget around £4,000 for a berth here (there are still some very good deals to be had - I was offered a 10m berth for £3k for next year it's owned by a local), £750 insurance, one lift out and general maintenance (if DiY) £500, then say £100/wk food and drink. So say close to £10k per year should do it all in. Where we are based, there is a large lagoon to play in, so you can keep fuel costs low!

Also flights from UK to Reus are cheap, just booked two flights back in September with Ryanair for a total cost of £36 including priority boarding!

If its your dream go for it, better to have memories than dreams.

PM me if you need any further info....

 

[epervier]

If its your dream go for it, better to have memories than dreams.

I'll have to get copyright on that signature of mine.;-)

 

[lovezoo]

The OP says at the start of this thread "i have around 90-100k to spend on a boat"

my 2006 Fairline Targa 34.... PM me if you want to discuss a deal on my boat complete with berth.

Sounds like a pretty good deal, even at the higher end of the OPs budget

 

[blueglass]

sorry - I can't see a targa 34 as a long term liveaboard prospect. agree with others - semi displacement or even full displacemnt trawler type, GB, Trader dutch steel, broom/atlantic, all better bets for this.
I must say the OP has gone very quiet - I think maybe a reality check has clicked in and he's gone to look for a caravan.

 

[epervier]

sorry - I can't see a targa 34 as a long term liveaboard prospect. agree with others - semi displacement or even full displacemnt trawler type, GB, Trader dutch steel, broom/atlantic, all better bets for this.
I must say the OP has gone very quiet - I think maybe a reality check has clicked in and he's gone to look for a caravan.

have to say, I'm in sympathy with you on this, might be better off buying a large motorhome and tour europe for not a lot of money, the french and spanish have more tolerance for the gypsy lifestyle than us brits. something on the lines of this perhaps;-)

the banjo is an optional extra

if it helps I'll get m'coat