Should I buy Doral Monticello / Prestancia? Views and help please!!!

[KevB]

Hi Mark,

Just wanted to add another voice for moving closer to the Solent. Brighton is a great place but beyond that there is nothing. We too have young children and I can highly recommend Chichester marina as you have the whole of the harbour to play in (about 17 miles of protected water) and only 25 minutes to the solent once you're out of the harbour.. Some fantastic anchorages in the harbour and East head has one of the best beaches you'll find on the south coast.
The only down side to Chichester marina is that it has a lock but in the 13 years or so we've been there we've rarely had a problem with queues.

ps. if you fancy a tour you're more than welcome. When the weather improves of course....

 

[Andy Bav]

I have some friends who live in North London and have been in the Hamble for many years but are now bored with the Solent and are considering moving down to the West Country to find new cruising grounds! But they don't have kids and will just jump on the train on a Friday and head back to London on Monday!

Chatham is on my doorstep but I wouldnt consider it as for me its not far enough away from home to properly enjoy it and think I am "away", whereas some would argue that Torquay is taking it to the other extreme. However, and depending where you live London, on our way west on a Friday evening the traffic on the M25 heading East always looks horrendous so you are possibly right to avoid for more reasons than you think.

We picked our boat up from Swanwick and a combination of a generous forumite (P4Paul) and Tim Griffin we were shown and saw a lot of the Solent and surrounding areas and will definitely return, and I see that MDL have changed their Freedon Berthing package this year so we may not be limited to 30 days maximum this year. This is something you may want to consider when thinking of a berth - who owns the Marina and how flexible can you be for visiting other group-owned marinas.

As for the boats you are considering I have seen one in Torquay being "skippered" by a 10 year old (with his dad on the swim deck sorting out his lines!) and a friend has a Boca Grande, and loves it - having previously had a Prestancia. One other thing to consider (and I dont know the length etc ) is whether the boat you are considering will be short / light enough for a dry-stack. In that price range you do have a broad market and without opening up another debate on the subject, the "screen price" may not reflect the final price, so it may be worth going up a few thousand of pounds in your search and assume a reasonable discount - some hereabouts think up to 30%.....

As for training that could be a chicken and egg situation as if you are going for a twin engines I am pretty sure that will be in a schools single engined boat, which will handle differently to a twin, so either waiting to do the course on your own boat, which will work out cheaper, or doing the course at a school and having a skipper for a day or 2 on your own will be options - we did our PB2 in our first boat (single) and when we traded up had a skipper for the day. You may want to check what your insurance company insist on though as we picked our boat up on the Friday, were taken to the marina by the dealer in her, and then the next 2 days we did our PB2, and it was only when we had our certificates that we were insured so our first outing without a professional on-board was between Teignmouth and Torquay which was quite daunting...

Good luck with your search. I am sure the forum will follow your thought processes unfold with interest, and I have found them to be an excellent source of information and assistance.

 

[Markhammond]

Thanks again to everyone for their replies, I'm genuinely taken aback by both the number and the details of the responses given to date.

So on location, I'm on the London / Kent borders which means it can take an hour to and hour and a half before you hit the A3, so I'm worried that the journey could at as a barrier and prevent me getting out on the water as frequently as I'd like (though I already expect that to be less often than I'd like thanks to the ladies in my life!). Brighton still sounds like a good option (despite Gary's movies) for many of the reasons rafiki has outlined. I've also started to reconsider either the Thames or the Medway until I get some hours under my belt.

Thanks for views on boats, there does seem to be a lot of Sealine lovers out there!! I must confess they are on my shortlist but my wife's not as keen as we looked at one and the cabin area looked quite dated when compared to the Dorals (no offence to you Sealine owners out there, as I've been advised they have far better hulls and are a more rounded boat). I'm yet to see a Prestancia in person, though have seen a Monticello, a Four Winns and a Bayliner 285) but also have considered the fairline targa 30 (though the large seat on deck isn't ideal for kids in my view).

Any further advice or views are really welcome and thanks again to everyone who has posted replies so far, I really appreciate it.

Mark

 

[Whitelighter]

Bayliner 285 is a really great family boat. Has the advantage of two sleeping areas without converting the saloon, plus a really good cockpit.

The only downside is you will struggle to find a diesel boat - 99% were V8 petrol powered. That said you should be able to pick up a 2005/2006 boat with the desirable later luck pack if blue hull, corian surfaces, teak/ holly floor, full canopies etc for around £35k.

As you have already found out that will only get you a fairly old, ropey 'floral' S28. Yes diesel is a nice option but everyone is right - you'll likely only keep your first boat a couple if seasons and there is only so much petrol you can burn.

Also, don't look at max rpm fuel burn, you'll rarely do that with a family cruiser and it will put you off

Doral are good busts too - the Monticello is a bit small as it's actually 25ft with a massive but a bit pointless swim platform. The prestancia is a better boat but will push your budget.

 

[mercuryman]

Targa 30 is a great little boat

 

[Andy Bav]

Targa 30 is a great little boat

Burton waters have one for sale at 54,950 and a couple of Dorals as well..

 

[SolentPhill]

Hi Mark

I'm on my second Doral and very proud of it, I like everything about them the build quality is very good and yes you can get parts for them. One of the things I like is the sea worthy ness of them, they are made for the sub zero temperatures of the Canadian waters and the hull is heavy, whilst this extra weight will use a bit more fuel it means when the sea is not at it's flattest it holds well compared to other boats of the same size. I also wanted a boat that is slightly different to the others as sealine, Bavaria and fairline are more common where as you don't see that many Dorals. It is a shame as they are very nice boats that do go that extra mile as far as luxuries go.

As far as Brighton goes, I was new to Boating and started with a small boat, did a few courses and Brighton was a regular place I went to and loved there. But as others have said we all start somewhere to start with a Doral and Brighton would be a good start. Gain experience and you can always move on, if you went to Brighton you would be a Premier Marina customer and you can transfer between marinas and move west if your bored with Brighton. At least with Brighton you won't have to worry too much about tides as you can come and go when you like (you will need to avoid low low tides) but you can learn as you go and there are some good schools there to help you.

If I can give you any advice it would be pick a good broker, yes Essex are good.

 

[Markhammond]

Cheers Andy, I'll check them out

 

[Markhammond]

Thanks very much Phil, good to hear a view from a Doral owner and thanks for the PM.