Please help - I'm brand new

Re: Please help - I\'m brand new

Thanks Elza that's really useful can I ask what boat you went for exactly and if its really done everything you've asked it to? With regard to the previous question, I guess my first boat won't be much more than £30k- unless I wait a lot longer to buy it, and I mainly want to get on the water, and then progress to cross channel and coastal, but I recognise the first thing I need to do is learn what I like.
 
Re: Please help - I\'m brand new

The first boat you buy is highly unlikely to be what suits you. That comes with experience.

So best advice, is buy something you can sell easily after a season with little depreciation, and just get out on the water.

Loads of people here will come out with you, or accompany you on first trips, or give advice. Or you can join a club where you can cruise in company.

Get some experience in first for a season, then you can make much more educated guesses on what would be a good second boat, and will be able to ask far more searching questions from the accumulated wisdom of the forum.
 
£285k

You total tightwad! He'd probly take a bit less! Hey come one - if you bought a nice house on the south coast, that's gonna cost a few quid innit? So what about a nice house with massive engines, hm? Fact is, you can definitiely gettit right first time, as long as you aren't a skinflint. So, either work a bit harder than you are doing or get a massive loan. You only live once. I spent loads more than this with no traing and er it seems so did magnum. And ubnloading a ton of loot most definitely concentrates the mind. Come on come on...
 
um no, right first time really

er, well, i did - i kept our first boat about five years. Current boat is is essentially the same thing and is allowed to reserve in St tropez- not allowed under 21.5 metres tho not a fault of the boat, really.
 
Re: £285k

Nope, £285k wold be MUCH better. £160 grand better to be exact. Always ALWAYS have the most expensive stuff if possible. Otherwise you keep seeing the expensive thing and think of the (smaler) MARGIN of extra loot it wd have taken to have that instead, rather than the actual total price of it. In a marina once i remember seeing a san lorenzo 90 with a very sad bloke on it as tho at a funeral - and just in front a san lorenzo 95!
 
Re: um no, right first time really

So you are amongst the few? Most people get their feet by trying out a boat or two first before they settle on a happy compromise. I've kept my first boat for 5 years too, but that was more happy coincidence rather than fore thought
 
Re: um no, right first time really

ok, actually the first boat i tried to buy was a sortof not too wurrid about it boat for 15grand. I just bort it without telling anyone, put a deposit and ready forr survey and midmorning came home and told swmbo hurrah just bort a boat. She came down to see it and erm as far as i remeber she told me er no i DON'T think i wil be staying on this get your deposit back immediately, and so erm that afternoon we went off to the Fairline shop.....
 
Re: um no, right first time really

You have an exceptional SWMBO. Most have to go through upgrade process with a lot more cajoling

You are supported in everything you do, as I know from phone calls and texts from Diana while you were mid Biscay and beyond. Not many swmbo's are that interested in claiming life assurance /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

You are just a lucky git with a wonderful boat appreciating wife
 
I am gonna do it

Hi, I know you have posted in the motorboat section. But have you considered a sail boat. For your budget you can buy a hell of a boat suitable for world cruising if that ends up suiting.

Takes a little longer to learn the ropes (pun intended) but can be just as satisfying in the long run. Cheaper to run per mile, generally more room per £.

Ok you don't get to your destination as quickly, but you never know, you might end up enjoying being at sea rather than playing ferry boat captain all the time.

I am gonna get flamed for this, I feel like a BA rep trying to steal Virgin passengers from the queues (read that how you like)
 
Re: Please help - I\'m brand new

We boat on the River Thames and there are several possible moorings within easy reach of Southall. This gives us a choice of non-tidal boating, picturesque and not too demanding, or tidal, going through London and out to sea.

We belong to the Walton Bridge Cruiser Club. We are a friendly bunch and many of us are boating on similar budgets to yours. Send me a private message if you would like to visit.
 
Re: Please help - I\'m brand new

I also boat on the Thames
I have a birth at Windsor Marina. This is run by MDL.
Lovely location, lovely feel.
Come and have a look.
My boat is a Bayliner 285 and I love it
Drop me a message if I can be any further help

Ian HT
 
Re: Please help - I\'m brand new

As per many of the posts your budget will be the main influence on boat choice. Moorings are very hard to find so take time deciding the boat that fits your needs ie accomadation, price, style size etc then find a mooring to suit before you buy. Crossing the Channel can be daunting with the strong tides and also the shipping, so do not take on too much too soon. Finding the right for you is very much down to personal choice, take your time and you can always buy a larger boat in the future. Buy second hand as you will not feel quite as bad when you scrape the hull for the first time believe me it will happen at some time. Good luck.
 
Re: Please help - I\'m brand new

Hello Mr Brand new.Ignoring where you want to go for the moment.How many of you are there? Also ...erm how umm old are you?.Funny old question but,look at it this way.As you get older your boating tastes will probably change,many here will have started with speedy pocket rockets which will get you and the girlfriend anywhere you want quickly, uncomfortably and uneconomicaly.As the years roll by and the kids have been evicted from home (they WILL return) you tend to start looking at just how big the bedrooms are rather than how big the engine is.
Most folks restrict their wanderings fairly close to home to start with and the Thames offers as good a training ground as any as learning to handle the boat in close proximity to other craft is good practice.You can buy a perfectly good boat for around 30K but he difficult thing is to buy right ,do not march in to the brokers yard and then abandon all common sense,all boats are not the same,the trick is always to find the boat which has been carefully loved and pampered all of its life.There will be approx ONE like this in the thirty or so you will look at in the coming months.Do not set your heart on one make or style as you could dismiss a perfectly good boat,cos it has not got the right stick on plastic name on the side.

Ps.Go for diesel if you actually intend going further than the pub round the corner and keep your boat localish if only to start with.
So is you and the ten Kids or just you .
 
Dont put off the newbie, one tenth value,

this is a bit harsh. We started with a v8 maxum 30 footer on the thames. was £47,000 and not comparable to a £4 grand car, miles better, in fact than most £30 grand cars. You can get to Penton Hook or Windsor easy, go see Penton Hook sales and take your cheque book with, you will never regret it,
 
Re: Please help - I\'m brand new

What better than a nice Sports boat to start off with.

I know a very nice example for sale, only 2 years old, can be seen Here!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

And i believe its your for £28,500. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Re: Please help - I\'m brand new

In answer to some of the questions, I'm 27 and it's just me and the wife. We have no intention of having kids so don't need to cater for them, probably won't have anyone else's kids on the boat either. At first I will probably stay local, and I might even go for the training and then go on a couple of holidays to try to get a feel for what I like.

I am in no hurry whatsoever to buy. I'm pretty active without the boating at the moment anyway. What I do want to do is learn all about boating and get as involved as I can before I make a big jump into ownership. In answer to the post on getting a sailing boat, it frankly seems a bit too energetic, although I obviously have no idea how active you have to be to sail any kind of boat at the moment. I'm aware its not the best idea to buy a boat and a mooring with no knowledge and its been really useful so far so please keep your tips coming. I will definatly take some of you up on your offers to see boats and marinas.
 
Re: Please help - I\'m brand new

We bought a Skibsplast 660 for 19K. this is a small diesel cruiser but capable of 27kn+ and quite up to coastal work. Our first trip was from Poole to the Isle of Wight

There quite a range of boats like this from scandanavian builders and the US. One thing we found was that if you go second hand you can get a much better quality of boat and will not take the depreciation hit. Running costs have been a bit of a shock. Anything "Marine" is automatically expensive.

Does she do what we want, well the only things we would now choose would be a bigger boat to take moderate seas in more comfort (bigger = exponentially more expensive) and a separate heads compartment. Our next boat if we decide to trade up would probably be 23-26 foot and on the borderline of trailerability.

You might want to consider an inland waterways boat (much cheaper) or possibly chartering on the broads or canals- thats where we started before buying our sea going boat.

Good luck and pm me if you would like more info
 
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