Newbie needing advice

[boobtube]

Hello,

I am a complete newbie to boating other than spending alot of time scuba diving from them all over the world, including liveaboards.

Having spent the weekend on a boat on the Thames close to where I live in Walton on Thames I now have an appetite to purchase a cheap/old cruiser for £10k-£15k as a starter with the following specs.

- Toilet
- Kitchen (hob/oven)
- Sleep 4/6
- Refrigerator
- Shower (not sure if I'm being unreasonable here)
- Hot water


We plan to spend weekends on it (including staying for 1/2 nights at a time) cruising up the Thames.

I would really appreciate any advice anyone could give me on the above list and also on the following

- Probable mooring fees
- Probable tax and insurance costs
- Probable maintenance costs (I know this varies massively on the age of the boat)

Any thing else.

Thanks in advance

Kevin

 

[V1701]

Hi & welcome, you might get more response from either the Thames forum or the motor boat forum. There isn't any tax like you have on your car, at least there isn't on the sea! Insurance for boats isn't anything like as silly as it is for cars either. Not sure about motor boats but my 27ft sailboat is £156 p.a. fully comp. If it was me buying a motor boat I'd want a single diesel engine with a propeller on a shaft, I would avoid outdrives/legdrives & having two engines due to higher maintenance requirements, especially at the budget level you're looking at - older boats with knackered engines, etc.
Sure you'll get lots of useful advice in time from here & good luck...

 

[abraxus]

Given the accomodation and features you're looking for then you're looking at 26' plus. That would get you something with 4/6 berths, toilet and shower, a cooker of some sorts and a sink with hot water. Costs at that size are roughly as follows:

There is an equivalent of road tax that you have to pay, based on size, which would be around £400.

Insurance about £200,

If you're looking at keeping it in a marina on the Thames, in reasonable distance from where you live, then it will be about £3k per annum.

I can't comment on specific river cruisers as I don't have one, and so others with more experience of them will give you their thoughts, but for the size and price you're after you'll probably see a lot of single engine petrol boats with inboard engines and outdrives, and so as I have one of those I'll comment based on my own experience.

Pros are a lot of space for your money (I have a 6 berth Bayliner and it has a lot of room). Not too expensive to maintain if it's been looked after, but even a relatively inexpensive outdrive service (£200-£300) costs as much again in lift out fees, unless you can get it trailered out. Engine servicing is fairly inexpensive too at around £200. I tend to budget on a lift out and full service every two years at about £1k all in, with a contigency of £1k on anything else that might crop up, so I allow for £1k total a year and have always managed to keep within that. Ok ish on fuel given the speed limit on the Thames.

Cons are usually a big engine that rarely if ever gets much above idle speed. Steering at slow speed can be tricky with a single outdrive. Expensive if you have any major faults, but I suppose most boats are. However it's powerful enough to venture further afield and even out to sea if you ever wanted to.

I Imagine the ideal is probably a specific river cruiser with an appropriate engine but not sure what they're like in terms of purchase price.

You'll get a better feel for what's available in your price range once you start looking around, but budget for around £5k per annum in costs and if you have no major problems with the boat then you should stay under that.