Summer cancelled. Any point having a boat in the UK anymore?

ari

ari

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After a brilliant summer in 2006 and a somewhat so so summer in 2007, I sold my boat at the beginning of 2008, with great reluctance.

There then followed the worst summer I can ever remember. Every weekend I looked at the weather and thought "Glad I've not got that boat, costs, cleaning, lack of use, marina charges etc etc".

This year with a warm early June I started getting a bit twitchy, but for the last, what, six weeks it's been a non starter again! Even the Met Office are hastily backtracking on the much lauded "Summer scorcher 2009".

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/2009/pr20090729.html

it's August at the weekend, and no real sign of an improvement. If it does we'll have three weeks and it'll be September. Might get a couple of weeks then if we're lucky and that'll be about it for small boat owners.

I'm genuinely (and for the first time ever) starting to wonder if I'll ever bother again. Fine if you've got your boat abroad. Fine if you've got so much money that it doesn't really matter.

But for those of us who have to compromise to afford a boat and have to keep it in the UK (for time/cost/use reasons), is there really any point?

So much for "Global warming" eh?
 
Am with you 100% Ari, we sold our boat end of 2008 because of lack of use in 2007/8 cos the weather was ****, Keep looking but then dont miss boating in the wind and rain. Am in Spain at the moment Costa Del Sol been in the 30s since we arrived a week ago but has been very windy so guess if you had a boat here going out could be a rough experience. Way to go if I had the time and money would be a place here overlooking a marina and a 20` day boat

Chill
 
UK summer

I moved abroad for just this reason but there are hidden costs for the sun! I was prompted to reply as many don't see this being global warming. But I saw an interesting documentary that showed the US warmed 1 degree a massive amount in 3 days after 911 as there were no vapour trails as all flights were banned. The theory being that temps are lowered by the massive number of vapour trails. If they reduce then ooomp up will go the temp and then they added this could melt gases in the arctic that would accelerate ozone depletion even faster: But at present the poor temps have led to many thinking it is all rubbish.

I concur 100 percent with the advice for a 20ft day boat. This is what I settled for and it serves me well:
 
I don't know, I am happy to just be on my boat even if it is raining. Just being away from home is enough for us, can't be cleaning/ironing etc. if we aint there.:)
 
agree entirely - our weather just is not appropriate for boating. after 7 years of enduring it we finally sailed our boat to the med and at last we get value out of our investment. just got back from a whole month on board in the ionian and in that time we had one ten minute shower and a cloudy afternoon. 2 gales mind, but still sunbathing/swimming weather even as the wind howled.
 
sure there is a point.
We use ours almost every weekend, and in fact its not that common its so foul there is nothing to do. OK, it might be poor for part of the day, but not as much as you might think from sitting indoors.
And if it really is poor, we use the location to go and do something else from that location.
But I would agree that the boat needs to big enough.Whether for you thats 25/30/40 ft or whatever, is a personal decision.
This year, for the first time I can remember on ANY holiday, we got 2 perfect weeks, so 2009 for us looks like being one of the best !
 
I think it's a case of what is the most appropriate type of boat for the weather.
We have a Broom Crown 37 - with a covered aft helm, we have the visibility of a fly bridge, but the comfort and warmth of an enclosed cockpit.
On sunny days we can roll up all the canvas - front, back and sides.
We have plenty of space down below for extended cruising.
I also fitted heating as we use the boat all year round.
It was a modest price compared to more modern boats, and is easy and cheap to maintain with 'agricultural' style Perkins engines.
My running costs are less that hiring the same size craft for two weeks at summer rates, and we get a huge amount of use during the year (including our main summer holidays.)
 
The Met Office can't even get the forecast right 4 or 5 days ahead.

Why on earth they try to predict months ahead is for their own egos -- to catch the headlines and always without fail get it hopelessly wrong.

i wish they would spend more time and the money we pay them getting the short range forecasts accurate !!!!!
 
Well having done quite a bit of meteorology, I have a lot of sympathy for the forecasters.

They gave a 65% chance of decent summer. This still leaves 35%, about one third, chance of a repeat of last year.
Forecasting long range (i.e. months ahead) is still in its infancy, so I'm not at all suprised they got that one wrong, although making statements such as "barbeque summer" was foolish.
Having learned about the ins and outs of forecasting, when it's unsettled trying to make a forecast is very difficult. Chaos theory reigns supreme.
Having said all that, meteofrance are a lot better than our own Met office, though forecasting weather on the continent is a bit easier.
 
Seamaster 30 A Broom Crown a? brings back memories of my Broom Crown which went by the name "Finola" by the way Lovely boat the Crown for all the reasons you mention
 
Chill ...yes it is kinda hot here at the moment, mind you down our way, near Gib the winds been quite light. Oh and if it gets too hot we go inside and put the AC on.
 
It all depends what you want to get out of boating, everyone is different.
Some people will go out in nearly all weather, just to get out.
Some prefer a nice day sail/cruise in good weather.
Some are happy sitting in the marina either fettling things or just being there.

If you want the nice day cruises, weekends (or weeks) away etc with relatively guaranteed good weather, then I guess UK is not the place.

If you prefer the other options then UK is OK.

For us, we wanted the easy day sailing and good weather, that is why it took us so long to get our own boat, we needed to wait until we could afford a place aboard to keep the boat in the Med ( well Aegean actually)
Even then weather is not guaranteed, but nine time sout of ten you will get more usage of your boat than risking taking a couple of weeks off work in UK.
Also the the tides (or lack of) issue, means that there is one less window of (lack of) opportunity to have to factor in.

There is the cost factor involved in keeping a boat abroad, however, the better chance of quality time aboard when abroad also needs to be factored in.

Just trying to give a balanced view. As I said earlier it is all down to what you want out of the boating experience.

If we were still living in UK, we would not have bought a boat in UK to answer the original question.
 
Chill said:
Am with you 100% Ari, we sold our boat end of 2008 because of lack of use in 2007/8 cos the weather was ****, Keep looking but then dont miss boating in the wind and rain. Am in Spain at the moment Costa Del Sol been in the 30s since we arrived a week ago but has been very windy so guess if you had a boat here going out could be a rough experience. Way to go if I had the time and money would be a place here overlooking a marina and a 20` day boat

Chill
Click to expand...

Exactly what I did! Apartment in a Marina here in Gib and a 20ft Dayboat on the dry rack. Also being in a marina means you get crewing oportunities! (Thanks Clive). I can agree about the weather, was a raggy for regatta week last week and the wind was very low, This week though it is blowing strong!
 
All good points. I guess if you live 100 miles from the coast and can afford a decent sized (30ft+?) boat to stay on with all mod cons (heating, decent fridge, toilet(s), shower etc) then whatever the weather you've still got your holiday cottage/weekend retreat, and i can see the merit in that, to a point.

For me though boating is about being outdoors, in the fresh air, having fun. And it's hard to achieve that when it's cold/wet/windy/rainy. Doable, but not fun.

Another bad summer and I wonder whether anyone will bother with anything too big to tow or stick on the roof, but too small to "holiday cottage" in.

Starting to toy with the idea of going right back to basics, a car toppable RIB, outboard in the boot, keep it in the garage when not in use. Even if used only three times a year, the fact that it's not costing/needing to be maintained means it doesn't really matter.

This is how we used to go boating 10 years ago, Avon 280RIB and an 8hp Merc. From a cost/fun ration it was unbeatable, and most importantly is was weatherproof. If the weather was bad it stayed in the garage and cost zilch. (And if the weather was good it came out for the day and cost £10! :D )

1171734img.jpg
 
Hey Vagabond, it might be sunny but judging for the amount of layers of clothes - it's cold! We get lots of days like that too in bonny Scotland in the winter. It's great!

Despite boating for some 25 years I have only taken a boat holiday once for my summer two and a bit weeks, for fear of pouring & crappy weather. Usually we have a week on the boat with the safety net of 10 days in Majorca or similar. We did a trip down to South Ireland a few years ago and had great weather, but never repeated it as we thought it was just luck. Anyway this year I decided I am fed up with air travel which is a chore and Spain etc.... which has become very samey (sorry - such a word!). Also the Euro made Europe holidays poor value IMHO. So this year we took the risk by going up the West Coast of Scotland. Bloody hell it was magic! One of the best holidays ever. Great weather - hardly rained and when it did, it was actually not for long and gosh - I can't believe I am saying this - but in a strange way it was quite nice! Created a lovely atmostphere when it stopped. I am sure others who do the West Coast will know what I mean.

The thing was that on EVERY weather forecast it said it was going to rain. Maybe it did during the night. MAybe it rained for 5 minutes somewhere in the area, but believe me we never saw hardly any rain for 17 days. So the motto is when you get the forecast when you are sitting in your office/house etc..... ignore it completely and get out on your boat. It will almost never be anything like they say. BTW I mean the general rain/sun type forecast - not the wind/sea state type forecast whch we obviously need to be aware of and trust as accurate.

Having a boat in the UK is great, but without a shadow of a doubt the long dark nights, damp and grey days gets you down over the winter periods. That's when I start to think - is this worth the cost? Then we get a few stunning cold and frosty days (like Vagabonds pictures) and we're out again in the boat and going to the same places we do in the summer and lifes great again!
 
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