I agree, outboards are the future. America has always had large boats powered by outboards and now Europe is following that trend. A big Honda outboard is so reliable that you could cross an ocean with it.
That’s true to some extent (although in the Uk id argue that a sports boat has nowhere to sit in the warm that’s light and airy!). However, a MF805 has a large sun deck on the roof of the wheelhouse. I’m amazed more of this style boat don’t take advantage of the space up there, we use it so much.
If you're happy to look at a sportscruiser with canvas canopies then the world's your oyster really, there are loads. Adding a diesel heater will cost 1-4k depending on whether you go chinese copy with diy install, or a branded unit and pro install.
Not much call for that here in Devon, unfortunately. But having protection from the elements will almost certainly lead to an extended boating season. I’ve had quite a few open boats, ribs mostly, and had little desire to use them in cold, wet weather.
You would think. Unfortunately my pilot house was broken into, a 50c bottle of water was stolen and more than €2000 worth of damage was done to the door. The insurance assessor seemed concerned that the boat was no longer secure because the door was broken. But in the end of the day, anything made of plastic, wood or glass is easy to break and expensive to fix.