Looking for a change

I like your thinking. I’m hoping to take my Broom Ocean 38 to the Med through France when I retire. But that’ll be another 8-10 years. In the meantime, I’m currently sitting here reading the West Country Cruising Companion as I’m thinking of taking extended holidays next summer and cruising from the centre of Ireland to the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall/Devon
 
Dino said:
I like your thinking. I’m hoping to take my Broom Ocean 38 to the Med through France when I retire. But that’ll be another 8-10 years. In the meantime, I’m currently sitting here reading the West Country Cruising Companion as I’m thinking of taking extended holidays next summer and cruising from the centre of Ireland to the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall/Devon
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It’s funny, I haven’t really thought about Ireland even though I was born there and lived there until I was 12. West Bay in Dorset is the furthest west I’ve been by boat.
Her ladyship wants to go to a Normandy this coming May/June, to do the D-Day bit and more. Her dad was clerk with the RASC who dealt with moving materials, equipment and provisions in support of the invasion and was in France for quite a while after keeping stuff moving as the front line did. She has his diaries and photos.
 
SimonX said:
Hello all,
Thanks for adding me to the forum.
I’m a semi-retired owner of a small logistics company and have owned a 1999 Bayliner 3055 for just over 6 years, using it mostly at weekends around the Solent area coast with occasional longer trips to Dorset and Kent.
This summer, having passed the day to day running of the business to my assistant, now general manager, we had our first bigger trip, over to the Channel Islands and St Malo and this has wetted our appetite to do some more. Probably to the same area and further in Brittany but the good lady (who had Belgian and Dutch parents) also keen to go up to the Netherlands and onto canals there and in France.
Unfortunately it also highlighted that the Bayliner isn’t great for these longer trips. The main issue is fuel cost and consumption. Running two 220hp Mercruiser petrol engines is pretty expensive. We also had some reliability issues with them (water pump failure, cracked manifold, the usual shift cable problems).
Despite being beamy it’s also quite cramped when you are living onboard for weeks. With both beds open onto the galley area and only one heads, it’s a bit too tight for guests once you are getting on a bit.
So we are looking at getting something a little bigger and diesel powered.
A couple of people at the marina have recommended Brooms and there seems to be a huge range of them. Price wise a lot depends on how much I can get for the Bayliner (probably £30-40k) but probably around £100-120k spend so a Broom is going to be around the same age or a little older for that price.
Models 35CL, 36, 37, 38 seem to be suitable although all the 35CLs I can see currently listed are single engine 135hp which seems a bit weak for channel crossing and anything but close coastal.
I’ve had a read of some other posts on here and it seems I need to be looking for twin diesels ( best brand?) bow thruster, folding radar arch, generator.
Any other features I should look out for ? Other similar boats?

Thanks in advance.
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Just a thought, if you're going to do canals abroad, the air draft of your future boat will be hugely important navigating those myriad low bridges.
 
Good news - We’ve sold the boat!
The broker had a mail from a guy in Scotland several weeks ago and thought nothing more of it. Then, on Monday 1st, he called to say he was on his way back from working in Africa, via Heathrow, and could he come and have a look? So, a bit of a rush to take covers off and check everything is OK, and he looked over it on the Thursday. Turns out, despite living in Scotland, he is actually American and has owned two Bayliner boats before, one in the US and a Capri here that he sold in September.
Seemed to go well but he was noncommittal, asking how low we would go.
On Monday an offer £10k under the asking price, rejected.
Tuesday a call which turned into a Zoom meeting and some back and forth but agreed on £4.5k under plus I will call in a favour with a friend who has a truck to move it to the Clyde cheaply. From there he will drive it to his berth (which I think is at Tarbert) although he was talking about having a Hogmanay party onboard somewhere else.
Survey has just been done today by a surveyor he brought down with him from Scotland, with no major issues and transport arranged for Tuesday next subject to funds being received.
This is a huge load off our minds. We aren't going to buy anything immediately unless something too good to miss comes up as we have my wife's pacemaker surgery to fund and her recuperation after that. We also need to find another £50k over what we were originally wanting to spend as she has set her heart on a 42CL like the one we saw in Amsterdam rather than the 36 or 38 we looked at here previously. Thankfully markets are doing OK but who knows what will happen with the Orange one's current rampages?
 
SimonX said:
Good news - We’ve sold the boat!
The broker had a mail from a guy in Scotland several weeks ago and thought nothing more of it. Then, on Monday 1st, he called to say he was on his way back from working in Africa, via Heathrow, and could he come and have a look? So, a bit of a rush to take covers off and check everything is OK, and he looked over it on the Thursday. Turns out, despite living in Scotland, he is actually American and has owned two Bayliner boats before, one in the US and a Capri here that he sold in September.
Seemed to go well but he was noncommittal, asking how low we would go.
On Monday an offer £10k under the asking price, rejected.
Tuesday a call which turned into a Zoom meeting and some back and forth but agreed on £4.5k under plus I will call in a favour with a friend who has a truck to move it to the Clyde cheaply. From there he will drive it to his berth (which I think is at Tarbert) although he was talking about having a Hogmanay party onboard somewhere else.
Survey has just been done today by a surveyor he brought down with him from Scotland, with no major issues and transport arranged for Tuesday next subject to funds being received.
This is a huge load off our minds. We aren't going to buy anything immediately unless something too good to miss comes up as we have my wife's pacemaker surgery to fund and her recuperation after that. We also need to find another £50k over what we were originally wanting to spend as she has set her heart on a 42CL like the one we saw in Amsterdam rather than the 36 or 38 we looked at here previously. Thankfully markets are doing OK but who knows what will happen with the Orange one's current rampages?
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Congratulations on the sale. Best wishes for your wife, and enjoy the new boat browsing. We considered a Broom type boat, but dismissed it due to the access challenges, and all the steps involved to the salon and cabins. My wife has some mobility and balance issues. So we bought the Azimut. Bathing platform, cockpit and saloon all on one level. 4 steps down to the galley, cabins and heads. Of course it has the steps to the flybridge, but these are decent steps with good handrails.
 
SimonX said:
Good news - We’ve sold the boat!
The broker had a mail from a guy in Scotland several weeks ago and thought nothing more of it. Then, on Monday 1st, he called to say he was on his way back from working in Africa, via Heathrow, and could he come and have a look? So, a bit of a rush to take covers off and check everything is OK, and he looked over it on the Thursday. Turns out, despite living in Scotland, he is actually American and has owned two Bayliner boats before, one in the US and a Capri here that he sold in September.
Seemed to go well but he was noncommittal, asking how low we would go.
On Monday an offer £10k under the asking price, rejected.
Tuesday a call which turned into a Zoom meeting and some back and forth but agreed on £4.5k under plus I will call in a favour with a friend who has a truck to move it to the Clyde cheaply. From there he will drive it to his berth (which I think is at Tarbert) although he was talking about having a Hogmanay party onboard somewhere else.
Survey has just been done today by a surveyor he brought down with him from Scotland, with no major issues and transport arranged for Tuesday next subject to funds being received.
This is a huge load off our minds. We aren't going to buy anything immediately unless something too good to miss comes up as we have my wife's pacemaker surgery to fund and her recuperation after that. We also need to find another £50k over what we were originally wanting to spend as she has set her heart on a 42CL like the one we saw in Amsterdam rather than the 36 or 38 we looked at here previously. Thankfully markets are doing OK but who knows what will happen with the Orange one's current rampages?
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Yes, well done 👍I hope everything go well with your better half’s operation.
Boating always takes a backseat to health....I’ve just lost an entire season’s boating because of my dogs poor health.
 
rafiki_ said:
Congratulations on the sale. Best wishes for your wife, and enjoy the new boat browsing. We considered a Broom type boat, but dismissed it due to the access challenges, and all the steps involved to the salon and cabins. My wife has some mobility and balance issues. So we bought the Azimut. Bathing platform, cockpit and saloon all on one level. 4 steps down to the galley, cabins and heads. Of course it has the steps to the flybridge, but these are decent steps with good handrails.
Click to expand...
Thanks.
Right now we dont have any access issues, both of us are reasonably agile and steady on our feet, I like the wide decks on the Brooms. The one we saw in Amsterdam had fold down ladders for the side access which the others didn't but they look like they could be fabricated easily enough.
The other thing it had that we liked was an induction hob and microwave/combi oven rather than gas but my wife getting a Pacemaker rules that option out :(
 
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