Learning About Boats etc...

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NauticalNovice

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My knowledge of all things nautical is about equivalent to a 5-year old in the 1st grade. I do have a reasonably good understanding of the weather and navigation, as it applies to flying, from my time as a private pilot. But that is the only knowledge that I bring to the world of boating.

So I need to start right at the beginning and my first question therefore is "Where do I start?" I assume that the field of boating is very wide, so to narrow it down the following summary provides an overview of my intentions: -

- I am currently looking at purchasing a 30-year old Princess 41 that has recently been completely renovated
- The crew will be 2 persons, my wife and myself
- We will only operate within the Mediterranean

What I need to know: -

- About boats - from A to Z
- About engines - fuel, care, maintenance
- About navigation (as it applies to boats rather than aircraft)
- About weather (as it applies to the sea rather than the air)
- About equipment - essential, nice-to-have and pure luxury
- About what to do in an emergency
- About marinas - do's and dont's and everything else
- About practical stuff - nausea, drinking water, toilets, bathing, waste disposal, laundry, mould.....

Would much appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

Thanks

NN
 
To be honest, you might be better holding off buying a boat until you have learned a little about them. As a pilot what would you say to someone who said, "I know nothing about flying, but I'm going to buy an aeroplane".
 
If the OP was thinking of buying a sailing yacht, I would suggest joining a club and acting as crew for experienced sailors first.

What is the Mobo equivalent - they don't really need crew, do they?
 
As mentioned before, there are plenty of books that will suit all of your needs and of course, enrol on a Day Skipper course. However, since your main sailing will be in the Med, it may be prudent to check up on local laws, insurances etc.. And of course you can ask questions on here.
 
Last edited:
NauticalNovice said:
My knowledge of all things nautical is about equivalent to a 5-year old in the 1st grade. I do have a reasonably good understanding of the weather and navigation, as it applies to flying, from my time as a private pilot. But that is the only knowledge that I bring to the world of boating.

So I need to start right at the beginning and my first question therefore is "Where do I start?" I assume that the field of boating is very wide, so to narrow it down the following summary provides an overview of my intentions: -

- I am currently looking at purchasing a 30-year old Princess 41 that has recently been completely renovated
- The crew will be 2 persons, my wife and myself
- We will only operate within the Mediterranean

What I need to know: -

- About boats - from A to Z
- About engines - fuel, care, maintenance
- About navigation (as it applies to boats rather than aircraft)
- About weather (as it applies to the sea rather than the air)
- About equipment - essential, nice-to-have and pure luxury
- About what to do in an emergency
- About marinas - do's and dont's and everything else
- About practical stuff - nausea, drinking water, toilets, bathing, waste disposal, laundry, mould.....

Would much appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

Thanks

NN
Click to expand...

Firstly welcome. The slow response to your question is because there is a delay for new member's posts to be approved by the moderators. As already suggested you will learn more from the MOBO forum, but the following might help your thoughts.

Running a big old boat like you are proposing is not for the faint hearted, or for those with shallow pockets, particularly if you want to go any distance. You either have to learn to do it yourself, or find a good reliable person to do it for you - not easy or cheap. Others have made suggestions books to look at to get you going.

For most of your questions you will get basic answers from undertaking the RYA certificates. Some of this is desk work and for example navigation, weather and regulations should pose no problem for somebody who is a pilot. Handling the boat requires experience and good tuition and you will find it useful to talk to an experienced powerboat trainer such as Solitaire who posts regularly on the MOBO forum about ways of getting tuition. Although you do not legally require any certification to skipper the boat you have in mind if it is UK registered you will find it necessary to have an ICC in the Med, particularly in France where a "licence" is necessary to drive a power boat. You get this with the RYA Day Skipper and the appropriate Powerboat endorsement. You will also probably need to have certification to get insurance on the boat. You can find out more about RYA training on their website. You will also need an operators certificate for your radio.

Actually living on the boat and using marinas is mostly common sense, although parking and unparking the boat is a skill that needs to be learned, and best done under the supervision of a trainer on your own boat. There is a lot to learn and most people pick things up over the years but would not normally get to own a boat like you are thinking of buying until they have experience in smaller and perhaps less ambitious boats. However you will find most boaters friendly and willing to pass on knowledge so if you have the time and commitment you can pick things up fairly quickly from others.

Hope this helps.
 
NauticalNovice said:
My knowledge of all things nautical is about equivalent to a 5-year old in the 1st grade. I do have a reasonably good understanding of the weather and navigation, as it applies to flying, from my time as a private pilot. But that is the only knowledge that I bring to the world of boating.

So I need to start right at the beginning and my first question therefore is "Where do I start?" I assume that the field of boating is very wide, so to narrow it down the following summary provides an overview of my intentions: -

- I am currently looking at purchasing a 30-year old Princess 41 that has recently been completely renovated
- The crew will be 2 persons, my wife and myself
- We will only operate within the Mediterranean

What I need to know: -

- About boats - from A to Z
- About engines - fuel, care, maintenance
- About navigation (as it applies to boats rather than aircraft)
- About weather (as it applies to the sea rather than the air)
- About equipment - essential, nice-to-have and pure luxury
- About what to do in an emergency
- About marinas - do's and dont's and everything else
- About practical stuff - nausea, drinking water, toilets, bathing, waste disposal, laundry, mould.....

Would much appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

Thanks

NN
Click to expand...
Go for it. remember a 41 foot plaining motor boat is not to be taken on without some thought. Apart from the expense there is handling. Take some of the RYA powerboat courses - they will give you the basics in a smaller boat then you cna progress onto some courses on bigger boats. Once you have done that just get out there and learn - best way don't be too surprised at the costs esp for fuel!
 
Thanks to everyone for the most helpful replies. Much appreciated.

It seems that I may have posted to the wrong Forum as I have been advised that the Motor Boat Forum would be more appropriate as I do not intend to do any sailing. Tried sailing once but it is definately not for me. I am what some may call a Techy - I love machines and have a good knowledge of technology - computers, electronics, electricity, engines, motors...... and so on, so a Motor Yacht is right for me.

Could a Forum Member please tell me how I ask a Moderator to move this post to the Motor Boat Forum.

And thanks again for your help :eagerness:

NN
 
NauticalNovice said:
Thanks to everyone for the most helpful replies. Much appreciated.

It seems that I may have posted to the wrong Forum as I have been advised that the Motor Boat Forum would be more appropriate as I do not intend to do any sailing. Tried sailing once but it is definately not for me. I am what some may call a Techy - I love machines and have a good knowledge of technology - computers, electronics, electricity, engines, motors...... and so on, so a Motor Yacht is right for me.

Could a Forum Member please tell me how I ask a Moderator to move this post to the Motor Boat Forum.

And thanks again for your help :eagerness:

NN
Click to expand...

They probably won't (can't?) be bothered. Just ask again over there. In general you are better asking a single specific question & the considering the responses as they may well reveal issues you haven't considered. I don't know the Princess well, but my guess is that she will be pretty flat bottomed for planing & high freeboard for accommodation. If so, that combination means that she will have little grip on the water when a side wind is blowing & will be hard to manoeuvre until you learn how she behaves & how too use what I assume are twin engines (& perhaps a bow thruster) to manoeuver in confined spaces (like a marina). Bear in mind she is a big heavy boat & a slip on a throttle is likely to be VERY expensive in a marina full of expensive boats.

You can get tuition on your own boat & that is probably a good idea if you have already bought it, but how well you cope with a local language trainer or can you get a native English speaker. Another possible issue in the Med is that some countries have quite high local taxes for boats & some charge even more for non-local owners.
 
NauticalNovice said:
It seems that I may have posted to the wrong Forum as I have been advised that the Motor Boat Forum would be more appropriate as I do not intend to do any sailing.
[...]
Could a Forum Member please tell me how I ask a Moderator to move this post to the Motor Boat Forum.
Click to expand...

Not "wrong" as such, just that there is a better one.

We don't generally move posts on this forum (except naughty ones which the moderators move to a skip somewhere :) ) so just start a new thread over here: http://www.ybw.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?14-stinky-mobo-forum :)

Pete
 
If you are a pilot you will be familiar with pilot training where every detail is carefully explained and practiced. One of the joys of boating is that it is not nearly so rigid in how to do things. In other words you can learn by your mistakes. Of course this can be expensive with big mistakes but it is not nearly so hard as you might imagine. As said a traing course and books will help but ultimately you need to enjoy the learning by experience thing. So just go for it and rmember boating is all about crisis management. good luck olewill
 
Don't completely rule out sail. I started as mobo man, tried as sail racing crew and enjoyed it so much I now have a sailing boat. Still mobo now and then though. Sail boats have engines too, and almost as many electronic gadgety bits as mobos remember.
 
NauticalNovice said:
Tried sailing once but it is definately not for me. I am what some may call a Techy - I love machines and have a good knowledge of technology - computers, electronics, electricity, engines, motors...... and so on, so a Motor Yacht is right for me.
Click to expand...

In 5-10 years time when you have learned the basics on the darkside, you will get board of them stink pots and see the light. Once you get your head into it there is more techy in sailing that you can imagine. Maybe not as a live-aboard cruiser but try pushing your boat that bit faster even better go racing.

You can spend hours agonizing over which is the best and how to go that little bit quicker. Whats better is often there is no proven correct answer...

No real help I know, but post back when you see the light. There is a constant flow this way from the dark-side :D :D :D
 
If you want to keep your boat in the Med,then before you buy your boat, get a berth. The waiting lists are long and . I had to wait 4 years.
Good luck.
 
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