V1701
Well-Known Member
Where to start???
I've lived FT on a couple of boats in a marina for 4 years, working closeby. Berthing fees are £3200 p.a. & that's in lieu of rent, council tax, water rates, TV licence, etc. so way cheaper than renting a flat & spending maybe £250 a year on gas & electric. I bought my first boat, a 1989 modernish 30 footer, for £16,500, sold it for £21,500 having tidied it up & redone the headlinings with inexpensive carpet. My second boat I bought for £10k, a much smaller 1972 27 footer but with good sails & a replacement engine & sold for £11,500, though I did make some other upgrades on that one so about broke even I'd say, not that that's what it's about at all but I'm trying to show it can be quite an economical way to go if you get a boat with a sound hull, decent engine, sails, recent(ish) standing rigging (the wires that hold the mast up), bunk foam/cushions & at least basic electronics (depth sounder, speed/log, GPS) which are your main pricey items so if any of these do need replacing make sure to factor that in. Most boats you will see are GRP (fibreglass) hulled, older (late 60's to into the 80's) ones being more heavily built & older designs tending to have less room inside but perhaps more suited to crossing oceans & sailing in rough conditions. More modern fibreglass boats have loads of room & more suited to marinas & coastal sailing. Buy steel if you enjoy painting, ferrocement (concrete) if you want a lot of boat for your money, although there are far fewer steel & ferro boats around. These are generalisations just to give you an idea & there are advantages & disadvantages to the different hull materials, you'll probably end up with GRP which is fine, be aware of osmosis but also that there's a lot of scaremongery about!
When you go & see boats you do need to know what you're looking at, if not take someone along with you who does. Think about whether or not to have a survey on your prospective purchase. It's a massive factor if you're willing & able to do your own maintenence, none of it is rocket science but if not you will need deep pockets. Annual maintenance consists mainly of antifouling (cleaning off & painting below the waterline), for which you'll need to have the boat hauled out & stored ashore for a bit (few hundred quid but depends where & how big the boat) & basic engine service (oil/filter change & a few other checks). The haulout & antifoul could be done every other year, I use a wetsuit, mask, snorkel & weight belt to dive & scrub the hull when it needs it.
I'd suggest go & have a look at some boats & see what sort of size/style you think you might like. Some say buy the biggest boat you can afford to buy & (crucially) afford the upkeep of, I tend more towards not buying a bigger boat than you really need (both to live on & also for the sort of sailing you want to do), though I'd struggle to live on one that I couldn't stand up in! Prepare to be disappointed as well in that a lot of boats you go & see are in surprisingly poor condition & filthy, for some reason it seems to be acceptable for boats to be left in a right state for prospective buyers to look at, whereas if you went to a car dealers to look at a car costing £20k you'd expect it to be polished & valeted to within an inch of its life. This is not the case with boats but don't let it put you off, it's very much a buyers market & there are some good ones out there! So go & look at plenty, maybe spend a week around the Solent, there's loads for sale around there & you could do your competent crew course while you're there.
Finally, do it, you will regret not having done it later in life if you don't. Hope that helps, do come back with any more questions, loads of useful help & advice here...
I've lived FT on a couple of boats in a marina for 4 years, working closeby. Berthing fees are £3200 p.a. & that's in lieu of rent, council tax, water rates, TV licence, etc. so way cheaper than renting a flat & spending maybe £250 a year on gas & electric. I bought my first boat, a 1989 modernish 30 footer, for £16,500, sold it for £21,500 having tidied it up & redone the headlinings with inexpensive carpet. My second boat I bought for £10k, a much smaller 1972 27 footer but with good sails & a replacement engine & sold for £11,500, though I did make some other upgrades on that one so about broke even I'd say, not that that's what it's about at all but I'm trying to show it can be quite an economical way to go if you get a boat with a sound hull, decent engine, sails, recent(ish) standing rigging (the wires that hold the mast up), bunk foam/cushions & at least basic electronics (depth sounder, speed/log, GPS) which are your main pricey items so if any of these do need replacing make sure to factor that in. Most boats you will see are GRP (fibreglass) hulled, older (late 60's to into the 80's) ones being more heavily built & older designs tending to have less room inside but perhaps more suited to crossing oceans & sailing in rough conditions. More modern fibreglass boats have loads of room & more suited to marinas & coastal sailing. Buy steel if you enjoy painting, ferrocement (concrete) if you want a lot of boat for your money, although there are far fewer steel & ferro boats around. These are generalisations just to give you an idea & there are advantages & disadvantages to the different hull materials, you'll probably end up with GRP which is fine, be aware of osmosis but also that there's a lot of scaremongery about!
When you go & see boats you do need to know what you're looking at, if not take someone along with you who does. Think about whether or not to have a survey on your prospective purchase. It's a massive factor if you're willing & able to do your own maintenence, none of it is rocket science but if not you will need deep pockets. Annual maintenance consists mainly of antifouling (cleaning off & painting below the waterline), for which you'll need to have the boat hauled out & stored ashore for a bit (few hundred quid but depends where & how big the boat) & basic engine service (oil/filter change & a few other checks). The haulout & antifoul could be done every other year, I use a wetsuit, mask, snorkel & weight belt to dive & scrub the hull when it needs it.
I'd suggest go & have a look at some boats & see what sort of size/style you think you might like. Some say buy the biggest boat you can afford to buy & (crucially) afford the upkeep of, I tend more towards not buying a bigger boat than you really need (both to live on & also for the sort of sailing you want to do), though I'd struggle to live on one that I couldn't stand up in! Prepare to be disappointed as well in that a lot of boats you go & see are in surprisingly poor condition & filthy, for some reason it seems to be acceptable for boats to be left in a right state for prospective buyers to look at, whereas if you went to a car dealers to look at a car costing £20k you'd expect it to be polished & valeted to within an inch of its life. This is not the case with boats but don't let it put you off, it's very much a buyers market & there are some good ones out there! So go & look at plenty, maybe spend a week around the Solent, there's loads for sale around there & you could do your competent crew course while you're there.
Finally, do it, you will regret not having done it later in life if you don't. Hope that helps, do come back with any more questions, loads of useful help & advice here...
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