Lakes motor boating

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DavidMBowman

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Evening. I’m having another crisis.....I’m thinking of getting a motor boat for the lakes. I know its 10mph limit so just looking for something to poodle about in for some family time. My hearts says grab a (£6K) Bowrider of some description but head says a smaller (£1.5k) plasticy job with a 15-25 on the back. Anything I should be looking out for or anything to avoid? And any good places to launch from ? Looking forward to boring you all with 1000 newbie questions.
 
DavidMBowman said:
Evening. I’m having another crisis.....I’m thinking of getting a motor boat for the lakes. I know its 10mph limit so just looking for something to poodle about in for some family time. My hearts says grab a (£6K) Bowrider of some description but head says a smaller (£1.5k) plasticy job with a 15-25 on the back. Anything I should be looking out for or anything to avoid? And any good places to launch from ? Looking forward to boring you all with 1000 newbie questions.
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Which lake .
 
If it’s just a little boat then first you ask yourself what are you going to do with it? Start with, do I keep it in the water or do I tow it or do I want something inflatable that I can keep in the back of the car?
 
Ok. Uk Lake District. I’m looking for out of water storage at the mo. My choices seem to be either the bigger bowriders at about £5k or a little old speedboat from the 70’s like Fletchers etc. Probably only used on sunny days...!
 
Not much point in a speedboat or similar with a 10mph limit. Perhaps an open type displacement boat? I think Orkney make some.
 
But a speedboat on a trailer could be used there and trailered anywhere else you like where there are no speed limits. That's what I would be looking at. A bowrider with a full set of covers can also provide all the shelter you need. My first boat was a Maxum 1700scr with full covers. It was easy to tow, reliable and cheap.

D
 
Because you have the place to keep it and you know where you want to use it, I suggest you just find the best deal available. If it’s a nice boat for a good price go for it. My only (optional) advice would be outboard not inboard.
 
I asked myself this same question when I started to look seriously at buying a boat. On the surface, it makes sense, small boat, towable by a decent sized car, no mooring fees, use on nice days, go anywhere with it. Perfect?
Then the missus says, what if it rains,? does it have a toilet on board? Won’t the lakes be boring once we have travelled up and down them a few times? Etc etc

3 boats down from me is a really nice couple who have done just what you are suggesting. They bought the boat in July, took it out once, it rained, she got wet and...no toilet onboard. Guess what? they haven’t been seen since.
What a shame! I spoke to him when they first arrived and he was so excited about buying his first boat.

There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on here who have boated for years. They have probably made every mistake there is to make in boat ownership, can I suggest that you continue to research and work out exactly what it is you need and that should give some clarity as to what kind of boat you should buy.?

enjoy the process, its part of the fun in boat ownership...?
 
Echo comments above on suitability. as you know it rains a lot in the lakes and inclement weather creeps up quickly. We visit the boat most weekend on Windermere and can count on one hand this year the days where the weather has been kind all day.

some things to think about:

- there is no petrol pump on the lake. Most marinas don’t allow you to fill up on berths either which can be a real pain.

- Public Jetty and mooring space around the lake is abysmal, particularly in the summer and nice days. This year has been significantly worse than normal as there has been an influx of day boats/ski boats. you can spend an hour getting from Bowness to Windermere to find there is literally no room at the inn. So you have to go back. And there will be nowhere there either. We tend to anchor up and use the rib to get to shore if spending any time out of the marina. Definitely something to think about if you don’t have a permanent berth and trailer down on good days

- Permanent mooring availability is extremely limited. You will need to call round the marinas if intending to keep it in the water to see if they have space

- most smaller boats will do more than 10kts and easily ’get away with it’. You may want more power
 
Bbroomlea said:
Echo comments above on suitability. as you know it rains a lot in the lakes and inclement weather creeps up quickly. We visit the boat most weekend on Windermere and can count on one hand this year the days where the weather has been kind all day.

some things to think about:

- there is no petrol pump on the lake. Most marinas don’t allow you to fill up on berths either which can be a real pain.

- Public Jetty and mooring space around the lake is abysmal, particularly in the summer and nice days. This year has been significantly worse than normal as there has been an influx of day boats/ski boats. you can spend an hour getting from Bowness to Windermere to find there is literally no room at the inn. So you have to go back. And there will be nowhere there either. We tend to anchor up and use the rib to get to shore if spending any time out of the marina. Definitely something to think about if you don’t have a permanent berth and trailer down on good days

- Permanent mooring availability is extremely limited. You will need to call round the marinas if intending to keep it in the water to see if they have space

- most smaller boats will do more than 10kts and easily ’get away with it’. You may want more power
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??
 
Just to add
your only option is Windermere if you want to go down the power route and launch sites are limited to Ferry Nab only If you trail down

Windermere Quays / Aquatics will do dry storage and launch on demand throughout the summer I believe.

you may be able to Self launch if you store at low wood too. Not sure one that one.
 
Thanks guys. I’m picturing family afternoons with friends pootling with a quick excercise to clear the engine...on decent weather days. So answering my own question really. It needs to be a decent size for 6-8 people. I think storage will be the key so I’m going to make enquiries locally and probably trailer it down. Who’s knows if boating will be for me but I can’t get it out of my head. In my childhood we skied on Ullswater..and although that’s not now possible, the boating part was still very cool.
 
DavidMBowman said:
Thanks guys. I’m picturing family afternoons with friends pootling with a quick excercise to clear the engine...on decent weather days. So answering my own question really. It needs to be a decent size for 6-8 people. I think storage will be the key so I’m going to make enquiries locally and probably trailer it down. Who’s knows if boating will be for me but I can’t get it out of my head. In my childhood we skied on Ullswater..and although that’s not now possible, the boating part was still very cool.
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In that case choose your engine carefully. Nothing will put you (and your spouse) off boating quicker than breaking down in the middle of a lake and wondering how you are getting back to shore
 
DavidMBowman said:
Thanks guys. I’m picturing family afternoons with friends pootling with a quick excercise to clear the engine...on decent weather days. So answering my own question really. It needs to be a decent size for 6-8 people. I think storage will be the key so I’m going to make enquiries locally and probably trailer it down. Who’s knows if boating will be for me but I can’t get it out of my head. In my childhood we skied on Ullswater..and although that’s not now possible, the boating part was still very cool.
Click to expand...

You may struggle to find a boat small enough to tow but rated for up to 8 people.......
 
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