moorings

[doug748]

There is rarely any sense in buying a 'doer upper' with boats.....
.

But.

As we have to point out every time. There is no sense in buying boats.
You can avoid loads of expense by buying a new one, if only you could figure out a way of not paying for it.
When you have bought your new boat it will not be worth the figure you have paid for it, this is how things operate in fiscal markets

A cheap boat can be bought cheaply, yes sir. And the upgrade can be met out of income. Much expenditure can be replaced by hard work. And you end up with a boat, instead of dreaming about it. I am all in favour of dreamers, I think people who have invested a lot of themselves in a boat are often more dedicated to the dream and sailing, they have to be.

To the OP, as outlined above by the other correspondents, do not lumber yourself with a large boat. Get a plastic one that is just big enough for what you need. Here is a useful prospect in the area you intend living:

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/s...0-cruiser.html?link=/search?keyword=hurley+24

A man of simple tastes could live on that but only when the work is completed. It has a deep keel so will need a deep mooring and to be hoisted out of the water for the winter/work. Remember that will cost a realistic minimum of c £1000 pa, the clock starts ticking as soon as you buy it. It might be worth looking for a twin keel Westerly if you need to cut things to the bone.

I think a figure of £1000 was mentioned for buying, a this level you will have a lot of stuff to do, so you will need at least as much again, immediately, just to keep things moving. You do need to keep things moving, here is a good boat bought cheaply:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWPp9PN0Tt4

Note the hard work, how organised, skilful and persistent they are, how much they are spending. Note the good facilities and how they look quite down now and again.

Some projects succeed and some fail. You can learn a lot from YouTube.

Good Luck.

 

[james-will1]

I thank you all for the good advice and the time you have taken to reply to me meant a lot to me knowing some people have taken the time to reply to me. I would like to say I still have that dream that I strongly still actually want to do and hopefully this will happen and am well prepared to spend my time working on a boat as plenty off time and being by myself I suppose some would call that a bonus although I am a mechanic when it comes to fixing cars so do have a good basic engineering knowledge I believe that is off help and have worked with fibreglass many times on cars and that so I believe that gives me a basic knowledge also so that must be off benefit although I do know there plenty I don't know and will need to learn as I go along and advice and help at time if possible sometimes even to just explain things but as in what I have learnt over time to what i know now nothing can beat listening to the experience of others who usually know the best way to do or repair something as more than likely they have had to do it before as i hope i may be able to even get advice over things at times from here if possabl as you all seem a great bunch of people

 

[KINGFISHER 9]

It's a while since I've been there, but as I recall Islington Quay (Wharf?) on Penrhyn used to have a large population of dreamers. You know, disintegrating old hulks whose occupants have shaggy hair if male, dirndls if female and nothing on below the waist if under the age of four. I like these people, I hasten to say, which is why I am glad they don't try to take their wrecks to sea .

I remember one couple, pretty much as you describe, and I think they had three different boats built and were definitely going to sail around the World. I think they'd read Hiscock's Voyaging Under Sail too many times but I suppose they were happy! Don't think for a minute they ever went anywhere ... probably still there. They kept one boat in Mylor, on a mooring ... wooden double ender ketch with no cockpit which I always thought would be a nuisance ... I remember they'd decided that even a small cockpit was dangerous! She'd been built by Terry Heard. Last time I saw them some years later they were in Penryn on a 30' plywood sloop ... this was the one and they were really going this time! Must have been early 70s but I dare say there's still couples living on boats around the country who just dream. I believe now though that, unlike then, there are 1000s of people all circumnavigating ... I also suspect there are a lot of boats for sale in Gib or the Canaries when they discover it's 'not for them' after all.