My First Boat- advice needed please!

R

Rogue882

New Member
Joined
24 Oct 2006
Messages
8
Location
Shamrock Quay, Southampton
Visit site
Hello,
I'm looking to buy my first boat and would welcome some advice from experienced owners please! It will be small and old as I don't have a great deal of money (about £2000); I'm enthusiastic about working on it- but don't want a project that will take years to get on the water. It would be mostly weekend sailing or shortish passages.

I have had suggested to me a Hurley 18 and a small Contessa (a bit out of my price range). Does anyone have any suggestions of what I should be looking for?

Your help would be much appreciated!
Thanks.
 
Welcome to the forum!

The answer to your question is "how long is a piece of string".
How much sailing experience do you have?
Where will you be sailing?
Will you keep the boat on a mooring, in a marina or on your driveway?
Do you want a wooden boat or GRP, open or with a cabin?
Inboard engine or outboard?

Draw up a list of things you want and things you definitely can do without. Have a look at as many boats as possible. Sail on as many boats as possible. Then, when you've narrowed your choice down a bit, ask again.

A Hurley 18 is okay, while a Contessa 26 is a very nice boat.
 
there were a couple of very good Robert Tucker designed
Debutantes for sale - fantabulous fun boats, shoal draft (2ft 6in), light weight, easy to handle rigs, fine to single hand, traditional looks, easy(marineply) maintenance, proper little yachts (sansom post etc) head-turning good lookers, sail in and out of the marina - perfect - and inside your budget.

And I have a trailer to fit if you want it -

Not biased (ha !) - just great boats that can do as
much as you want while staying small scale enough
to keep the hassle down. Mines called Cloona.
 
I was in a similar situation 3 years ago, and out of the blue an opportunity to buy an E boat came my way. Its 22' long, 9'6 beam has a lifting keel, road trailer, and uses a 4HP outboard. If you come from a dinghy or racing back ground you'll love it, as it competes very closely with some of the 30' + boats in our club due to its rapid progress downwind. Accomodation is supposedly 4 berths but kneeling room only, althoigh there is a galley and space for a heads (I have a porta potti). Tatty ones come up for sale in your price range.
 
A couple in your budget here:

web page

I would just put £2k into one of the "boats for sale" online brokers and see what is around as a guide.

But for actual buying unless you have a bit of experiance I would stick to what is available to you local (ish) as you may be surprised what the delivery could cost, in relation to the boats cost - unless it is on a trailer and you DIY or the vendor offers to deliver. In any case no harm in having a look around the yards and marinas and berths near you and also "just asking around", plenty of small stuff never gets to the web or you may meet somebody knows somebody etc etc

If you are on a budget I would also factor in at the outset where you are going to keep the boat, depending on where you are a fin keel may mean you are looking at a Marina - which may blow your budget somewhat, meaning you are looking at a Bilge Keeler or even something that can be trailored.
 
All sound advice here but what has frightened me off buying so far is not the cost of the boat (at this price point they hold their value) but the running costs: insurance, wear+tear/repairs, mooring costs etc. Alot depends where you sail and if you can leave it in a field. If you're on the South coast the budget approach to speading the running costs might be to share the boat and costs- after all you're unlikely to use it every single weekend!
 
I suggest you buy anything! ...Provided it is an absolute bargain and GRP, or a complete giveaway in any other material. Leave choice for the fat cats with bags of money.
Before you dismiss me as nuts consider..
You will be doing so much learning, it hardly matters how the boat performs, if it has an inboard or outboard or sails sideways. You will enjoy just being on the water in your own boat. As you will be making mistakes all the time it helps to know your boat is not worth a fortune. With luck you will sell it at a profit and then be in a position to know what you want next.
There are loads of bargain boats about if you sniff around boatyards, and only touch brokerage boat if they have remained unsold for a year or two. Deal in cash and don't spook sellers with talk of surveys, at this price point. But you Must have your head screwed on, consider carefully what would happen if it had all of the hidden faults. Do not get carried away and remember only a snip will do. Brian
 
I think doug748 has some good ideas, but try to think about what sort of sailing you will do, where you will keep it and where you will sail it. The answers to these questions will help decide size, keel configuration etc. A dayboat may be what you want but some are so popular they are dearer than older small cruisers! Go to your local club & see if anyone wants a crew, you will learn a lot (as much about what not to do perhaps!) and may find something for sale that is not yet advertised.

Go to your library and read Maurice Griffiths, Shane Acton, Hiscock, Uffa Fox & Frank Dye to name a few. You will find many others. Their sailing styles are very different and will help you know what appeals.
 
Re: My First Boat . . .

[ QUOTE ]
. . after all you're unlikely to use it every single weekend!

[/ QUOTE ]

Correct, that comes later: weekends off for antifouling, sail repairs, engine maintenance etcet - and divorce of course.

Been there, done that, writing the book.
 
I know of a Hurley 18 for sale which belongs to a friend of mine, with very little work required to finish. It is v. cheap, and lying in Essex. Let me know if you are interested.
 
The Newbridge Corribee might be well worth a look. A seaworthy little boat with lots of potential.

Mk2show.jpg


and the Leisure 17

l17sl.jpg
 
LOL /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif, it's usually me who suggests these!

Finally got around to rowing accross the harbour to have alook over my old Corribee last weekend, seems like this new owner really loves her judging by her varnishwork and new bits and bobs. Really pleased me /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I sold her 5/6 years back and looking fairly smart for about £3k (which was a liitle bit less that what I bought her for a few years before, albeit a very quick sale - except I kept the Avon (which was wot I was rowing over in!), the Autopilot and a few other bits /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif) - I found out last summer that the then owner had <u>given</u> her away the week before and a couple of days later had sold her for £1k. Although she did need work on her for either free or £1k I <u>would</u> have had her back /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Just a shame she is a Fin Keeler - the legs are a pain in the backside! on a drying mooring, especially on a small boat.

Bargains <u>are</u> around. "Just" a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
 
Agree with Doug, when you have done your research and decided what type of sailing you want to do and have a bit of background gen on boats generally, then go to your local club/s and ask around. You will find a host of friendly peeps willing to help with advice, and also, in the far corner of the yard you should find a few boats that they've forgotten about going for within your budget. Use their help to avoid the major projects, and you should find something very good. It won't be plush, but it will work OK, be fun to sail - and it will be yours!! I would suggest that to start you just clean it up and go, fancy fiddling around can come later when you know what you want otherwise you'll never get on the water. Also don't go overboard on electronics - a cheap handheld GPS / Plotter and H/H vhf should get you started - put your money into proper safety gear like a good quality lifejacket etc. I suspect that for your budget count an inboard diesel as a bonus. If it needs an outboard and doesn;t have one then ask around again. My dad did just that and someone in the club lent him his spare o/b free of charge for a season until he could afford to buy one.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Go to your library and read Maurice Griffiths, Shane Acton, Hiscock, Uffa Fox & Frank Dye to name a few. You will find many others. Their sailing styles are very different and will help you know what appeals.

[/ QUOTE ] Yes! I concur. And a great choice of authors. Good reading - with interesting variations in style - of writing and boating.
 
Got my e-boat two years back for £2,250. Great boat. I find the mooring costs for a couple of years is now more than the original cost of the boat.
 
As someonme else has commented the mooring costs for small old boats can exceed the cost of the boat, especially those with fin keels. - result there are small old fin keel boats available virtually free as the existing owner would like to think his boat has gone to a good home and by taking it off his hands you are saving him hundreds of pounds a year.

Therefore don't pay for a small old fin keel boat, but do be prepared to pay for a small old lifting keel or twin keel boat that can be kept at home on a trailer in teh winter and on a mud berth in the summer !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top