Towable boats

[gordhouse]

I currently travel three and a half hours to the south coast where i have a 12 month berth.

Looking ahead i may decide to go smaller and tow down to a summer berth June to Sept.

I am looking at the small merry fisher with outboard or similar ( sea toilet preferred).

Any views on suitable boats and importantly the type of towing vehicle required would be appreciated.

Many Thanks

 

[ProDave]

I can't add much to which boat, but I do question why a "sea toilet"?

One of the benefits of a simple boat with an O/B motor, is lack of holes in the hull and lack of sea cocks to worry about. So fitting a sea toilet to such a boat seems a backwards step.

I'm not saying don't have a toilet, but I have no issues just having a porta potti on my own boat.

 

[wipe_out]

I currently travel three and a half hours to the south coast where i have a 12 month berth.

Looking ahead i may decide to go smaller and tow down to a summer berth June to Sept.

I am looking at the small merry fisher with outboard or similar ( sea toilet preferred).

Any views on suitable boats and importantly the type of towing vehicle required would be appreciated.

Many Thanks

I am just going though the process of looking at the new Merry Fisher 695 with similar requirements.. The only two boats that suited our needs were the MF 695 and the Parker 660 weekend..

In terms of cars to pull these. The boats weigh about 1400kg, engine 270kg, trailer about 550kg. then add fuel, water and gear and you are looking at a car capable of pulling about 2.5T.. Obviously you maybe looking at something a little smaller which will reduce the weight and the car requirements but then you are likely looking at chemical toilets..

 

[gordhouse]

I've not dismissed a chemical toilet , its just a pain to dispose of the contents !

 

[ontheplane]

In terms of towing, I always like to have a bit more capacity than I need, so if the boat is 2200kg then you have an issue.

Most cars will only tow 1500kg to 2000kg.

There are a few small 4x4's that will tow 2200 - but then you are right up to your max tow weight.

Therefore I think you are really looking at a more capable 4x4, some pick ups, or similar - I'd want a 2500-2700 kg tow capacity for a rig that weight ideally, although of course you can legally tow it with a 2200kg capacity truck.

What's the tow car budget?

 

[gjgm]

Launch and recovery is not always that fast , especially in the summer months, so just add that into your travel times. I would also suggest that if this is going to be regular you find somewhere with a very good slip, pontoon, and car park. That can be rather expensive. Get a trailer will full rollers (expensive) and look forward to alot of brake system repairs!

 

[gordhouse]

Launch and recovery is not always that fast , especially in the summer months, so just add that into your travel times. I would also suggest that if this is going to be regular you find somewhere with a very good slip, pontoon, and car park. That can be rather expensive. Get a trailer will full rollers (expensive) and look forward to alot of brake system repairs!

We would be towing to summer mooring end of May and returning end of Sept. So probably only towing twice a year !

 

[gordhouse]

Thanks again for all your input.

 

[PCUK]

Discovery has 3500kg tow capacity. You won't do better than that. Or Defender if you don't mind roughing it!

 

[annageek]

Regards to towing, if you're just going to tow down to a berth for the summer and tow back for storage, why not get someone else to do it. Just this morning, I have had Ben from www.compasstrailers.com tow us back from our drive to the dry stack that we use... all for a very reasonable price indeed! It's infinitely less hassle, and the one-off cost twice a year is bound to be cheaper than the cost of running/insuring/maintaining a huge 4x4 that will likely been largely underutilised the rest of the year. Sure... you don't get to go for those impromptu winter outings on a whim, but if you're 3.5 hours drive away from the water, I'd imagine these outings would be few and far between!

Ben at Compass Trailers also sorted our rather sorry state of a trailer out recently, and bought it back to life - also at very reasonable cost. Nice chap and knows his stuff!

No connection with Compass Trailers... just a very satisfied customer.

You even get a POD! Look!

 

[gordhouse]

Yes you are correct.
Because we are so far away we look for a weather window of 5 + days.
Keeping a boat on a mooring 12 months of the year is a costly exercise and i am looking at the alternatives.
Over the past few years we have found that the main use of the boat has been from June to the end of September.
Perhaps if the figures stack up it may be worth looking at arranging transport.
I also may look into perhaps storing the boat near Poole for 7-8 months of the year.

Many Thanks for your contribution.