New to boating, first time owner

Seastoke

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I was in conwy for the last 10 yrs , the gate is an issue 3 hrs either side of hw , you have to like anchored, there is only cannafffffon as a marina to visit local. But Ireland Scotland iom, and Sw to visit.
 

Alicatt

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Thanks for the info. I have applied for a berth at VIctoria dock and Conway. Conway is looking very likely after speaking to the Marina directly, they seem to have all the facilities covered too. (they said both 58 & 42 foot boats would be fine)

I'm booked with Seawake, based in Conway, to complete the PB2 course in Sept too.

I've started the RYA Day skipper online course which has been good fun! I need some rope to practise my knots at home though ;)

I'm trying to hold off pulling the trigger on a boat before I've been to the Southampton boat show, as no doubt I'll change my mind a million times!

Hopefully I can bag this Conway berth as it's one hour away from me, so will allow me to visit it much more frequently.
Good to see that you have managed to get enrolled on some training (y)

In Germany they have a small portable kit of a cleat and some cord to practice the knots on, it is part of the syllabus of the sailing and boating courses there and you must demonstrate your knot tying skills on the practice cleat.

I was given a few lengths of rope from the Team Tyco yacht in 2001 before they set out on the Volvo Ocean Race, I was tasked to carry one of their sails down to the yacht in the company van, I worked for Tyco back then, those were left over ropes from tying up the sails, I still have them and still use them almost daily but not for sailing, they have proved to be quite resilient.

My wife and myself are off to do the PB2 course in September on the Clyde, the company has sent out the course pack to us, but it has not arrived yet, It's been more than a week and could take another week to arrive here in Belgium, mean while I have been doing part of the shore based day skipper course online as well as the VHF short Range Certificate course.

one of the North Sails straps that was left with me:
NorthSailSM.jpg
 

jfm

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citygent111

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Following this thread with interest as you're in a similar position to us. Looking to move out boat to Conwy (berthing application form is sat on my desk as I type this!) but have also been mulling over moving it to Croatia or Mallorca - a forum search of which lead me here!

To @Parabolica I had a look at Port Calanova - it looks lovely! Please could I ask, did you move your boat from the UK to Mallorca or did you buy her over there? Wondered whether the whole EU / 180 days thing is an issue? Ours is only a small boat in comparison to you guys, being only 6m LOA - as a very rough guide, do you know how much the annual fee would be to have a berth over there? I can't imagine it's much more (if at all) than Conwy, and a 9 or 10 month season is much more attractive than the 4 weeks of summer we've had this year!!

Sorry for hijacking your thread @nathwraith!
 

Parabolica

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Following this thread with interest as you're in a similar position to us. Looking to move out boat to Conwy (berthing application form is sat on my desk as I type this!) but have also been mulling over moving it to Croatia or Mallorca - a forum search of which lead me here!

To @Parabolica I had a look at Port Calanova - it looks lovely! Please could I ask, did you move your boat from the UK to Mallorca or did you buy her over there? Wondered whether the whole EU / 180 days thing is an issue? Ours is only a small boat in comparison to you guys, being only 6m LOA - as a very rough guide, do you know how much the annual fee would be to have a berth over there? I can't imagine it's much more (if at all) than Conwy, and a 9 or 10 month season is much more attractive than the 4 weeks of summer we've had this year!!

Sorry for hijacking your thread @nathwraith!
I viewed my boat whilst it resided at Port Calanova and as i planned to carry out a fair but of work to it, i said i would use their services if they let me stay. Otherwise i was destined to head north to Port Alcudimar.

Cost wise, Mallorca is very expensive and i cannot imagine Conwy being remotely close. I currently pay just over €4k/m (high season rate June - Oct), which will then drop to €3.3k/m in November as low season then comes into affect.

Your boat is smaller but the rate will pro rata down so still expensive.
a short hop across the water to mainland Spain and the rates are a third of what i am paying hence i have started looking at moving mine there now. Mallorca is a mecca for boat ownership though but its success has made it what it is, expensive.
 

citygent111

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Good heavens Parabolica, just a smidge more than Conwy!!! I'm amazed at that - the two marinas we were looking at in Croatia are very similar prices to Conwy, so Mallorca may be off the list for a few years!!

Wouldn't rule out mainland Spain though, at least it's also drivable (just!).

Thanks for replying though, appreciate it.
 

nathwraith

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Small update for you all.

I passed my PB2 single day assessment yesterday in Conwy, which was great fun! Gathered lots of local knowledge on the area too.

I’m fairly certain I want a 40 foot sports cruiser or flybridge boat now. 2 cabins is plenty.

I was looking at the upcoming Saxdor 400 with some anticipation but the reality of cruising with petrol seems to be a near impossibility, so that may be out. Which is a shame as it looks so cool and is reasonably priced.

Most advice is pointing towards getting a used boat where most of the snags have been worked out to maximise my £££ over buying new. Negative of course will be refreshing the boat and general upkeep.

Budget is £500-600k give or take and I’ve got the below short list:

- Princess V40
- Fairline squadron 42
- Galeon 400 Fly
- Fairline targa 50(maybe too big?)

Im favouring Fairlines currently but the Princess V40 (current model) is extremely nice. Although in a perfect world I’d probably go for a new Fairline Targa 45 GT. As it has the best of both worlds with the enclosed saloon/cockpit doors. But I’m not dropping £800k on my first boat!
 

Seastoke

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Having spent 10 yrs in Conwy , a fly is more suitable , IMO .
Are you sure they have a berth in Conwy.
 

Parabolica

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Small update for you all.

I passed my PB2 single day assessment yesterday in Conwy, which was great fun! Gathered lots of local knowledge on the area too.

I’m fairly certain I want a 40 foot sports cruiser or flybridge boat now. 2 cabins is plenty.

I was looking at the upcoming Saxdor 400 with some anticipation but the reality of cruising with petrol seems to be a near impossibility, so that may be out. Which is a shame as it looks so cool and is reasonably priced.

Most advice is pointing towards getting a used boat where most of the snags have been worked out to maximise my £££ over buying new. Negative of course will be refreshing the boat and general upkeep.

Budget is £500-600k give or take and I’ve got the below short list:

- Princess V40
- Fairline squadron 42
- Galeon 400 Fly
- Fairline targa 50(maybe too big?)

Im favouring Fairlines currently but the Princess V40 (current model) is extremely nice. Although in a perfect world I’d probably go for a new Fairline Targa 45 GT. As it has the best of both worlds with the enclosed saloon/cockpit doors. But I’m not dropping £800k on my first boat!
Looking at your list and the price target, i’d seriously add a Windy 52‘ into the mix. Yes it’s a little bigger but it’s not big and you’d absolutely not feel phased by it. Plus the sea keeping is legendary, build quality very high indeed and residual values of this brand are always bullet proof too. The only issue is finding one.


I looked at this exact boat last year and was torn but wanted to go bigger and of course did. But it was simply the perfect boat.
 

jfm

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Small update for you all.

I passed my PB2 single day assessment yesterday in Conwy, which was great fun! Gathered lots of local knowledge on the area too.

I’m fairly certain I want a 40 foot sports cruiser or flybridge boat now. 2 cabins is plenty.

I was looking at the upcoming Saxdor 400 with some anticipation but the reality of cruising with petrol seems to be a near impossibility, so that may be out. Which is a shame as it looks so cool and is reasonably priced.

Most advice is pointing towards getting a used boat where most of the snags have been worked out to maximise my £££ over buying new. Negative of course will be refreshing the boat and general upkeep.

Budget is £500-600k give or take and I’ve got the below short list:

- Princess V40
- Fairline squadron 42
- Galeon 400 Fly
- Fairline targa 50(maybe too big?)

Im favouring Fairlines currently but the Princess V40 (current model) is extremely nice. Although in a perfect world I’d probably go for a new Fairline Targa 45 GT. As it has the best of both worlds with the enclosed saloon/cockpit doors. But I’m not dropping £800k on my first boat!
Congrats on the licence.

That's a good list, tho I have no knowledge of and a bit of quality worry about the Galeon - would be happy to be corrected/proven wrong on that.

Flybridge/sports is a fundamental choice so you should figure out which is better for you. There's no right answer. If you choose sports cruiser then closing glass doors seems essential to me given that your budget runs to it. Driving positions seem to me to vary a lot on sportscruisers - underway in Targa 50 (I've driven 2-300nm in two of them) the driver's view is perfect sitting down whereas in Targa 47 (I've driven 30 miles in one) the bow obstructs and you need to stand plenty. So that's worth checking out.

Happy shopping.
 

Martxer

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I noticed the squadron 42 you highlighted the other week is now under offer. I thought you
had maybe taken the plunge already.
 

nathwraith

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Congrats on the licence.

That's a good list, tho I have no knowledge of and a bit of quality worry about the Galeon - would be happy to be corrected/proven wrong on that.

Flybridge/sports is a fundamental choice so you should figure out which is better for you. There's no right answer. If you choose sports cruiser then closing glass doors seems essential to me given that your budget runs to it. Driving positions seem to me to vary a lot on sportscruisers - underway in Targa 50 (I've driven 2-300nm in two of them) the driver's view is perfect sitting down whereas in Targa 47 (I've driven 30 miles in one) the bow obstructs and you need to stand plenty. So that's worth checking out.

Happy shopping.
Thanks! Yes the Galeon is a left field choice but they do have a clever layout.
I noticed the squadron 42 you highlighted the other week is now under offer. I thought you
had maybe taken the plunge already.
I had seen too, no sadly not me. There is another Squadron 42 for sale in Troon with the larger 435 engines here which I haven enquired about. You can see it here: 2012 Fairline Squadron 42, Troon South Ayrshire - boats.com


There is another one in Jersey that I may ask my brother to go check out for me too:

2011 Fairline Squadron 42 | Fairline Yachts


My preference is definitely flybridge but a Targa with glass partition seems a good option too. (Less cleaning perhaps!)
 

jfm

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Thanks! Yes the Galeon is a left field choice but they do have a clever layout.

I had seen too, no sadly not me. There is another Squadron 42 for sale in Troon with the larger 435 engines here which I haven enquired about. You can see it here: 2012 Fairline Squadron 42, Troon South Ayrshire - boats.com


There is another one in Jersey that I may ask my brother to go check out for me too:

2011 Fairline Squadron 42 | Fairline Yachts


My preference is definitely flybridge but a Targa with glass partition seems a good option too. (Less cleaning perhaps!)
Unless it's a great price I would suggest you dodge the Jersey boat. It's under my apartment window. It is ultra low spec - no generator (gas cooking) and no tender launch system. But more importantly, the 370hp engines don't work in that boat imho. Fairline sales folks at the time would try to convince you they were ok, but everyone who knew (including Fairline's own technical guys) knew they struggled.

The Troon boat has good spec. This weekend I'm seeing someone who happens to know that boat and if there is any interesting about it I'll PM you.

Neither boat has aircon though :/ So you wont have the option of sticking it on a lorry (<£10k) to the Med if you want some warm weather.
 

nathwraith

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Unless it's a great price I would suggest you dodge the Jersey boat. It's under my apartment window. It is ultra low spec - no generator (gas cooking) and no tender launch system. But more importantly, the 370hp engines don't work in that boat imho. Fairline sales folks at the time would try to convince you they were ok, but everyone who knew (including Fairline's own technical guys) knew they struggled.

The Troon boat has good spec. This weekend I'm seeing someone who happens to know that boat and if there is any interesting about it I'll PM you.

Neither boat has aircon though :/ So you wont have the option of sticking it on a lorry (<£10k) to the Med if you want some warm weather.

Ah thanks for the heads up on the Jersey boats! Yes I had read the 370s were abit feeble.

Shame about the no AC on both. I had asked about that specifically on the Troon boat and was told it hasn’t. Appreciate you asking about it for me.

Difficulty of buying used demonstrated perfectly.
 

jfm

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Easy to spot a boat with no airco: there are no controller panels dotted around the insides, plus no generator or a small (in this case 7kva) generator. Very expensive to retrofit it well, the generator being a big element.

Yes - difficult to find perfect spec. Until a month after you have bought the boat then a perfect one comes onto the marketo_O. One of the attractions of buying new :)
 

nathwraith

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Easy to spot a boat with no airco: there are no controller panels dotted around the insides, plus no generator or a small (in this case 7kva) generator. Very expensive to retrofit it well, the generator being a big element.

Yes - difficult to find perfect spec. Until a month after you have bought the boat then a perfect one comes onto the marketo_O. One of the attractions of buying new :)
Yes I feel like I’ll be eating my words come the end of the month and be getting something new. I’m trying to be semi sensible though!
 

LBRodders

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Pretty sure the Troon one has been up for sale for a couple of years. Either the same sale or flipped incredibly quickly.
Maybe nothing, maybe something.
 

Elessar

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Congrats on the licence.

That's a good list, tho I have no knowledge of and a bit of quality worry about the Galeon - would be happy to be corrected/proven wrong on that.

Flybridge/sports is a fundamental choice so you should figure out which is better for you. There's no right answer. If you choose sports cruiser then closing glass doors seems essential to me given that your budget runs to it. Driving positions seem to me to vary a lot on sportscruisers - underway in Targa 50 (I've driven 2-300nm in two of them) the driver's view is perfect sitting down whereas in Targa 47 (I've driven 30 miles in one) the bow obstructs and you need to stand plenty. So that's worth checking out.

Happy shopping.
I’d buy the galeon. I really like them and I’ve had a good look inside and out. Real and perceived quality seems good to me.
 
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