Looking for first (in a long time!) boat. Advice please. :)

[jakew009]

Survey Done. Where have you been recently..... Boats are selling so fast that someone else would have bought it before you had time to call a Surveyor. We are talking about £25K here. Besides which Surveys are not generally worth the paper they are written on

I was going to say much the same. But not everyone has the same degree of “mechanical aptitude” and often something that is glaringly obvious to me is completely oblivious to my dad.

Likewise, something that looks really bad to one person, is a couple of hour fix to someone else.

But I nicked my current boat from underneath the nose of someone else who was waiting for a surveyor and sea trial. Poor bloke was mightily annoyed.

 

[Hot Property]

I agree that an outboard boat is far better than an inboard but you aint gonna get one of those at 24 ft long for £25K at the moment.

Unless Nick sells his cheap

Ha no chance Dennis!

It has a Verado too......

 

[Bigplumbs]

I was going to say much the same. But not everyone has the same degree of “mechanical aptitude” and often something that is glaringly obvious to me is completely oblivious to my dad.

Likewise, something that looks really bad to one person, is a couple of hour fix to someone else.

But I nicked my current boat from underneath the nose of someone else who was waiting for a surveyor and sea trial. Poor bloke was mightily annoyed.

Before all of this about 4 years ago I was looking at a £20k boat in Chester harbour. While I was viewing it there was another guy milling about on the pontoon with the full asking price in cash on him. We were not sure but said we would let the seller know in 1 hour. When we phoned back in half an hour it was sold to the guy with the cash. That was then now there are people buying at this price point without even looking at the boat in the flesh

 

[LBRodders]

Southampton Waters have had a Sealine 270s up for a little while now. If it's any good might be worth a cheeky offer towards your budget.
Don't forget, if there are things that need doing to the boat, these all help with the price negotiation.
Boats for sale | southamptonwaters

The 270 is a nice boat.

This one is a bit scruffy, but that's all fixable. No mention [or pictures] of engine / leg history / servicing.
Loaded she'll be best part of a 5 tonne boat. I doubt '200hp' will be enough, particularly after 25 years. Sea trial is key.

 

[paradave]

Survey Done. Where have you been recently..... Boats are selling so fast that someone else would have bought it before you had time to call a Surveyor. We are talking about £25K here. Besides which Surveys are not generally worth the paper they are written on

There's nothing to stop you reserving a boat with a refundable deposit subject to survey - it's completely normal and still the done thing.

I completely disagree about surveys being worthless - for a small outlay you have a complete mechanical picture of your boat and, in my cases in the past, have identified items that the owners have replaced saving more than the cost of the survey.

 

[jakew009]

There's nothing to stop you reserving a boat with a refundable deposit subject to survey - it's completely normal and still the done thing.

I completely disagree about surveys being worthless - for a small outlay you have a complete mechanical picture of your boat and, in my cases in the past, have identified items that the owners have replaced saving more than the cost of the survey.

I don’t think anyone said the survey is worthless.

I think what was said is that in the current market the seller is likely to sell the boat to someone else whilst you are faffing around with a survey on a 25k boat, refundable deposit paid or not.

 

[paradave]

I don’t think anyone said the survey is worthless.

I think what was said is that in the current market the seller is likely to sell the boat to someone else whilst you are faffing around with a survey on a 25k boat, refundable deposit paid or not.

bigplumbs said they're not worth the paper they're written on, I was disagreeing with that.
Personally, I'd rather take the chance of missing out on a good boat than get caught up in the madness and buy unseen or unsurveyed just so I've bought one. Obviosuly, everyone's mileage may vary on this.

 

[colhel]

You may struggle to get insurance without a survey

 

[jakew009]

You may struggle to get insurance without a survey

On a 25k boat you can buy insurance in about 15 seconds from here Craftinsure Boat Insurance

 

[madabouttheboat]

On a 25k boat you can buy insurance in about 15 seconds from here Craftinsure Boat Insurance

But if it’s over a certain age they still require a survey.

 

[jakew009]

But if it’s over a certain age they still require a survey.

Yes you’re right, on a motor cruiser policy over 20 years old. Hadn’t noticed that before, my bad.

 

[Bigplumbs]

You may struggle to get insurance without a survey

That I can assure you is nonsense. I insure 8 boats only one ever had a Survey. I have never been asked the question when I insure

 

[ICTM]

That I can assure you is nonsense. I insure 8 boats only one ever had a Survey. I have never been asked the question when I insure

No, it is not nonsense at all. My boat is 1991 vintage and I already know it requires a survey for renewal this year. Not just my current insurers but all I asked for quotes last May. Whether it is triggered by age, size or value I know not.

 

[chillee]

No survey needed for my 1996 25 footer either

 

[madabouttheboat]

No survey needed for my 1996 25 footer either

Who are you insured with, if you don’t mind me asking?

 

[Bigplumbs]

Who are you insured with, if you don’t mind me asking?

All going a bit off topic a new thread needed perhaps

 

[madabouttheboat]

As no one has posted on the original subject for 2 days I would say drift doesn’t matter. At least it’s keeping the thread alive.

 

[chillee]

Who are you insured with, if you don’t mind me asking?

Porthcawl insurance. Been excellent for me.

 

[Sianna]

Hi Marcus, we were in the same position as you 18 months ago, we bought a KAD43 powered Leader 805 ( the same model Nick Turnham has on his Aquaholics you tube channel, it's worth looking at to see some of his costs for running a single engined 27ft boat)

I had a survey done, we used it to negotiate the price and saved about £1k after the cost of the survey, that said the market is now moving so quickly now that option may have changed. We paid £30k for a sound boat that needed updating and some TLC, it is 18 years old after all. The UK market has gone bonkers, our boat has increased significantly in price but I know someone who has just bought the same model in France, had it shipped back and paid the relevant duties for low £30's so boats are out there you may just need to look further afield.
That said the last 18 months have been bloody fantastic, I'm based on the solent and have experienced the chop that can pop up from nowhere but the 805 has always felt safe along with enough power to get up and go when needed. So my advice would be to look at as many boats as you can, personally I found the Sealine S23/5 a bit narrow in the beam and the 805 less tippy but it's all about personal preference, buying the wrong boat is a very expensive mistake, buying the right boat has been great fun.

 

[Bigplumbs]

Hi Marcus, we were in the same position as you 18 months ago, we bought a KAD43 powered Leader 805 ( the same model Nick Turnham has on his Aquaholics you tube channel, it's worth looking at to see some of his costs for running a single engined 27ft boat)

I had a survey done, we used it to negotiate the price and saved about £1k after the cost of the survey, that said the market is now moving so quickly now that option may have changed. We paid £30k for a sound boat that needed updating and some TLC, it is 18 years old after all. The UK market has gone bonkers, our boat has increased significantly in price but I know someone who has just bought the same model in France, had it shipped back and paid the relevant duties for low £30's so boats are out there you may just need to look further afield.
That said the last 18 months have been bloody fantastic, I'm based on the solent and have experienced the chop that can pop up from nowhere but the 805 has always felt safe along with enough power to get up and go when needed. So my advice would be to look at as many boats as you can, personally I found the Sealine S23/5 a bit narrow in the beam and the 805 less tippy but it's all about personal preference, buying the wrong boat is a very expensive mistake, buying the right boat has been great fun.
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Very well done you. Looks like you had a very good launch party. Nick is Nick Burnham BTW