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Prestonian

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Hi all, my name is Gary and im from Preston in lancashire.

Like some on here, ive been dreaming of a boat since i was a child, but grew up owning fast cars instead.
After recently losing both my parents and my inheritance that my now ex siblings stole and run off with. i have had to battle the mental health issues i have on my own and made a decision the other day,
Im either going to sell my car and buy a boat, or do a straight swap. Why would i do that some of you may ask?
Well, those of us with high performance cars know the government is after pricing us off the road, and with my car now starting to go up in value as its starting to become collectible and isnt really used anymore makes sense to let someone else enjoy it.
Now a boat makes a little more sense to me in the fact that ive wanted one for a long time, and i know my dad would be happy being a submariner in the navy.
My mum would be happy in the fact that i would use it to help give some an opportunity that they would not have otherwise.
Now for a boat. I will be looking for an 8 metre 4 berth cabin cruiser with twin diesel engines (almost spit my brew out when i saw the petrol consumption of twin petrol v8 motors, and i thought 14 mpg, less when its played with in a car was bad).
Budget is upto 20k, and i dont mind a fixer upper as long as a full survey comes back satisfactory.
The plan is buy it this year, spend the winter getting it right, then put it on windermere next spring. Hopefully i can rent it out as holiday accomodation during the summer, to help pay for the mooring fees, and insurance, (as we all know, the prices of a staycation are enormous, and my prices will be less than most properties.) If this idea is workable, then i would be willing to allow certain charities use of it during quiet periods. An example being lets say a small family who have a child with cancer having a weekend or a few days away from it all and having a nice experience at no cost to them.
Before any of this happens, ive the matter of the rya powerboat course, navigation and vhf courses to do, so will have them done by summer.

Sorry for the long winded intro, any advice or comments would be most welcome.
Gary
 
There are snags with your benevolent idea, but firstly welcome to the forum and to boat owning.

The issues with letting a boat as accommodation are enormous, principally because of the widely varying skill levels that renters might have. You mention insurance and so it might be wise to make preliminary enquiries as to what a twin diesel with a capability of >17knots would cost when rented out.

The other, similar, issue is the idea of a free rental to deserving charities. Again, it's worth checking what you have to do to 'code' a boat in terms of extra equipment and systems when you let a boat out.


If Windermere is your location of choice, it might be worth going there and looking at the motor boats already using the lake. Perhaps talk with the wardens who will tell you about speed limits, gas regulations, and safety equipment. It will save you a lot of heartache and expense.
 
The accomodation plan would be just that, acc only and not to drive round the lake. For something along that line, i would expect to have to pay the relevant council tax as well.

Good point about charitable use though. The risk assessments would have to be tailored accordingly, and possibly adaptations to the boat, all fire retardant linings and upholstery, etc.
id also have to work closely with the HSE to make sure all their guidelines are met or exceeded. All good food for thought.

The last time i remember boats being hired out was in the nineties by a company called holidays afloat at windermere, and if i remember rightly, it was £450 for 3 days rental back then, but you got to drive them as well.

Im not out to make a profit. Just would like to keep running costs down and help others who are less fortunate and also help families who wouldnt be able to afford a holiday in the lakes.

At the end of the day theres a huge amount to think about, and conversations to be had, and if it does work, then happy days, but either way, i will have a boat. Start off with windermere, lochs lomond and ness, then the coast.

As for gas, im thinking induction hob and electric oven, but would probably have to have a generator fitted.

Its going to be hard enough just finding a boat in the first place, and id imagine the best time to buy would be at the end of the season. Car going up for sale or swap in may, and will save over the summer for refurbishment costs.
Ebay is a non starter, so maybe a broker.
Will do most of the work myself, so do you have any broker recomendations?
 
Presumably if it's going to be Windermere, it will be in a marina, so you need to make sure that liveaboards are allowed (increasingly not) and that there is no objection to letting.
There may be objections to running a generator when at berth.
Even if the boat is not moving, the systems are more complicated than a house with more to go wrong for a non-boater. ( I know a yacht owner who won't let his transat son and DIL stay onboard alone without 2 pages of A4 instructions).
Some insurers require that the owner is onboard for cover to be in effect.
 
Presume you're aware of the 10mph speed limit on windermere?

I think you'd get bored pretty quickly on windermere (or rather I know I would - especially with a 10mph limit) ,its not a large lake, but it might do as somewhere to get to know the boat and how to handle it for a year , before then moving it to the coast?
 
Prestonian said:
8 metre 4 berth cabin cruiser with twin diesel engines
Budget is upto 20k, and i dont mind a fixer upper as long as a full survey comes back satisfactory.
Click to expand...

Welcome Gary!

As well as the rules / legislation issues mentioned by other members, I think that what I have quoted is as much a stumbling block.

For 20k, pick one:
- float,
- move,
- habitable.

Double your budget pick 2, triple it pick 3. Good luck.
 
For someone who is into fast cars you would soon get bored plodding up and down windermere, also as has been mentioned you don’t need twin engines.
I had a bay liner 285 on windermere briefly there are plenty on the lake, I got bored with the speed limit but I knew I would.
We bought as an introduction to boating and used it as a floating holiday home as most are. I think there is an astondoa for Sale with 75 engine hours 2004
 
Boats are a compromise before adding in additional requirements for commercial and benevolent rentals. I think sort out what you need for your own pleasure first.
I think most of us, especially in the Med where % visitation times are low, have thought about rental to offset expense but I don’t know anyone on this forum who has actually done it. An untrained family on a boat for a week (even if the boat does not move) can do a lot of damage. It works of course on much larger boats with staff.
 
A lot of really good points by you all!
Well, the rental is a non starter. good idea in principal, but not to be. On a canal, good chance of a residential mooring, but not what i want.
As for helping others, that is easily modified to a free day out around the lake. I already know that id have to produce an enhanced CRB check, so absolutely no worries there.
As for damage, i had already thought about that. boat interiors arent the toughest, and from pics ive seen, the internals seem to be the same as a static caravan interior.
As for a boat, im thinking along the lines of buy one that is capable of going offshore, so i dont have to sell one just to buy another, and correct me if im wrong, but a lake would be a good starting place for boat control,
As for fast cars, you cant do 200mph over here, well not legally and not all autobahns are unrestricted. Takes less than 3 seconds to lose a driving licence, and you get bored of every man and his dog wanting to race. 2 500bhp car engines in a boat....that would be a challenge!
Boat control first, then off to loch lomond to learn fast handling, then learn coastal driving.
Boat electrics, i have absolutely no knowledge of, but would guess that inverters would be involved. And like a static caravan, plug more than 2 things in, and the electric trips.
 
just put it in fleetwood and be done with it protected little bay nice runs out to manx for the TT and scotland hell even make it to wales or liverpool or as you get braver across to ireland. don't bother with the lakes.
 
Just a bit of my own experience,
in 2020 I thought it would be a good idea to list boat on AirB&B , well it was a good idea and people loved it and respected the boat, they could only stay aboard and the boat was not moved, I did offer trips on dingy as a bonus if conditions were right and people understood the risk and safety elements, but not paid for.

looking back it was good fun but very hard work, do not under estimate the work involved, keeping boat cleaned and maintained.

needless to say we no longer do it.
 
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