New to the scene

[Say_Cheese]

Hi All,

I am new to the boating scene and this forum so I need your help.

I have done a RYA Level 2 Powerboat course and I have caught the boating bug really bad.

The next step is obviously to buy a boat. I have been looking and with my limited finances I have found a boat for £1000.

It is a Dolphin 20 and is in need of some work on the inside so I have been told. (I am going to look at it tomorrow.) It comes with a 9.9hp Mariner Petrol Engine and basic equipment. It has two berths and no Boat Safety Certificate. (although the broker says that they have the facilities to do one.) I have not had an insurance quote as yet and I have been quoted £1200 per annum for berthing.

All I want it for is to take it up and down the Non-Tidal Thames so I can do day trips.


This is where you lot with all your years of experience come in.
Is there anything in particular I should check for?
Any reason to avoid it?
What should I be looking to pay on insurance (roughly)?
What sort of price should I be looking for on a mooring fee? ( I have nowhere to store it out of the water over the winter so would need year round berthing)

Many Many Thanks In Advance for all of your help. I just want to get out on the water in my own boat.

Thanks Again

Say Cheese

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[BarryH]

Erm hi! Welcome, I think your in the wrong place. This is the Farters and old swingers forum. The boating one is 3 doors doen on the left!

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[BarryH]

Nah seriously, welcome. Theres loads of people on here that have boats on the thames. You'll meet them sooner or later, or should I say bump into them!

Mooring the thing will probably be the biggest expense. Then theres the licence on top of that. As to cost of insurance. That can vary widely depending on what sort of cover you want.
The boat, Dolphin, a few of them about still. Is the one your looking at timber. The last of them were made in glass I think. Originally made by Brooklands Aviation. Byrons the man to speak to about that.
Not much help really, just enjoy the boat is about all I can say, oh and if your around Chertsey watch out for a Dutch steel thing with a blue flag and a little old man frantically waving his arms. Don't tell 'im I told you though....nudge nudge wink wink.

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[lanason]

Welcome to the forum.

Personally I would buy a tralier for it and tow it ....

find a local farmer and bung him £20 for storing it on his land

<hr width=100% size=1>Adrian
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.arweb.co.uk/argallery/kelisha>More Pics of Kelisha</A> /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[tripleace]

I have a feeling we had one as a family.

As with any wooden boat and one of marine plywood, have a survey.

It will be expensive to fix if rotten.

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[byron]

The Dolphin 20 was built by Brooklands Aviation in the 1960s. The cost in 1968 was £790.
£1000 sounds quite a lot to me, I see it at circa £700. Bear in mind the BSS inspection will cost £70 plus anything they insist on which all adds to the price. Be sure there will be something especially if the Inspector they use is a 'Jobsworth'
Moorings too, £1200 for such a small boat sounds too much. Depends where you want to keep it I suppose but there are much cheaper berths available.

The boat is well suited to the Thames.

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[jhr]

Not bad little boats in their day - though that was some time ago. Have a look at <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/forums/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=cb&Number=403849&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&part=>this</A> thread, and you could try a private message to Aztec, who is a fount of information on all things DIY and old boaty. Basically I'd imagine that you want to be looking for signs of delamination in the plywood and some evidence that the engine is working and has had the occasional service.

Don't know anything about mooring fees on the Thames, I'm afraid, though I have an intimate and painful knowledge of what's charged in the Solent ( Ditto costs of BSS compliance, though I imagine it could amount to quite a lot.

Make some allowance for safety gear: you won't need flares, GPS, VHF radio etc. on the non-tidal Thames but I'd recommend a lifejacket.

For a boat with a value of £1,000 I'd be tempted to get third party insurance only to keep the premium costs down. It shouldn't be expensive: £30 or so?

Good hunting!

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[Alpha22]

If it has never has a BSS then beware, there may be a bit of work to do to get one.
Get a BSS manual - they are free!!! Can't remember the website.....

For small boat mooring try Racecouse Yacht Basin. They do a discount rate for the 'other side' of their marina. No water or electric though. Probably not a problem??

D.

<hr width=100% size=1>If you want a job doing well, it's often better to get a profesional in.

 

[Bejasus]

BSS.......

Get the guide <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.boatsafetyscheme.com>Here</A>

You can down load it, search it or order a copy. Aslo your local waterways authority should have them. It is free.

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[Dave_Snelson]

Maybe my experience of buying second hand boats is somewhat jaded, but none the less you should bear in mind that you will only ever find out the real reason that the boat's previous owner is selling it, after you have bought it.

That said, you will get huge enjoyment from "tinkering" with your boat - probably as much as actually using it.

Welcome aboard!

<hr width=100% size=1>Madoc Yacht Club
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.madocyachtclub.co.uk>http://www.madocyachtclub.co.uk</A>

 

[tcm]

Re: Insurance?

If the whole thing is £1,000, then insurance had better be cheap, no? I mean, if you bought a bath with a 10hp engine, i bet that might run to a grand. Proabably more if it was one of the larger Twyford baths

Seriously, Is there a way you could get third-party-only insurance? Or of course, you could keep it cheap if you had a large excess.

Is it a requirement to have insurance anyway? I would praps keep a £50 quid note in my pocket ready to proffer to anyone whose boat i inadvertently whammed into. Perhaps a tenner too in case it was a not very expensive one. Sometimes i think that insurance feigns to offer a degree of security that isn't really there.

welcome aboard anyway !

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[BarryH]

Re: Insurance?

Such a descriptive way with words!

Basic insurance. Not sure if they are still around, but there used to be a company called The Basic Liability Co. Third party only insyrance worked out at about 30 quid for cover. Think the max excess was 200 quid.

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[jfm]

Small stash of cash and Self- Insurance?

An excellent policy. Frexample I can testify that if you are lunching ashore and your anchor slips causing your boat to wham into the side of an anchored Draco dayboat in Theole, puncturing the GRP in his topsides and creating a 6 inch square "flap" of his boat hull laminate, the profferring of €200 cash saves any need to fill out any insurance forms and causes a good time to be had by all.

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[Say_Cheese]

Re: Small stash of cash and Self- Insurance?

Well I went and looked at this boat and all I can say is what a mess.

I mean I expected to have to do some work on it but by the look of it, the boat needs a complete new interior. The bottom of the cabin is waterlogged which screams to me that the hull is leaking somewhere. The whole thing is a shambles and would require about another £500-£1000 spending on it to get it right.

I would have brought it at a knocked down price if I had somewhere to dry store it and some spare time on my hands to do the repairs. In it's present state it is not going to pass a BSS check.

I am sure that it would be a great boat once it is repaired but I don't have the time/space/money.

Thanks for all your advice anyway guys and I will keep looing for something that needs a bit less work doing to it.

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[tcm]

dirt cheap dry boats

have you tried havuing a look at <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.nationwideboatsales.co.uk>http://www.nationwideboatsales.co.uk</A>?

some under a grand, including a teal 18 with weird semi-flybridge thing and no engine. Looks like martyn has had a go at it already...

I wd recommend getting a dead cheap boat and then hovering around any casually-anchored boat in the med, possibly with dive gear to loosen their anchors, ands smack up your topsides a bit with a claw hammer at about the height of their anchor. Then, await cash payments from inebriated returning owners anxious not to involve boating cops or insurance or admit to lack of anchor ball etc etc , but start the bidding at no less than €400 cash.

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[jhr]

Re: Small stash of cash and Self- Insurance?

Well done for observing the first law of boat buying, and walking away.

Even at £1K, there are lots of boats out there and a number of them will fit your needs. Be choosy and don't buy until you're sure you are getting the right thing. A decrepit Dolphin with a leak ain't it! )

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[byron]

Re: Insurance?

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>

Is it a requirement to have insurance anyway?

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I believe that as of 2004 the Env.Agency require a sight of your insurance before they will issue a licence.

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[martynwhiteley]

Re: dirt cheap dry boats

And it's Green!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now where's that old stenna stairlift, I'm sure if I fix a helm seat on........





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[tcm]

Re: all-purpose Insurance Certificate

This elegant post confirms full no-quibbel insurance for the vessel, crew and third party as in the schedule are hereby insured by the International Directors & Insurers of Oceanfarers by Tcm (IDIOT) under the following headings

any fire damage up to a maximum of £2,000,000

any damage to other boats and third party liability up to £10,000,000

all personal injury claims to £2,000,000

all damage to own boat to a limit not exceeding the new value of the boat.

all out-of-pocket expenses (inlcuding long lunches with no receipts) incurred by the Holder and any third party up to £1,000,000

-------------------------------

SCHEDULE (separate bit of paper)

Any boat

NB: Excess for all claims : £20,000,000.00










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