Views from Motor Boat Virgin

jonoR

jonoR

Member
Joined
27 Aug 2009
Messages
39
Location
Jersey, Cambridge, and France
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This is my first post on this forum and must say that I knew nothing about motor boats before joining this forum. I would like to thank everyone for the valueable information they have provided.
Southampton was the first ever boatshow that I had ever visited, and thought it was outstanding. I want to buy 10-12 metre boat and was advised to go to the Boatshow. I was absolutely gob smacked by the choice of the 10-12 metre range but this is my personal view after being there all day.
The Sealine range to me seems to be the best value for money. I loved the new styling but absolutely loved the F42/5 and would have liked to have seen the F37 there, (which is the boat i think I want)
I liked the Jeanneau Prestige 38s.
I liked the Jeanneau Leader 10
I liked the Windy Mistral 37
I am now totally confused on which boat to buy. I know that boats are a complete waste of money, but it is my money and to me it seems like a lot more fun than buying another two bedroom apartment.
I would like to hear from any users ( good and bad points) who have F37's
I know there is not a perfect, all boxes ticked boat, with the most reliable engines, but I would like to see some marine petrol and diesel engineers give ther opinions on which they think are the most reliable engines, after all they work on them every day.
I really like this forum and would like to thank everyone . Luv the boating holiday pics and blogs.
 
How much boating experience do you have? If it is as little as it appears (apologies if I've jumped to conclusions) and you like the look of Sealines, do a course with a school that uses them. There is a Sealine sea school based I think in the Itchen. Get some hours in and then you might start to know what you want.
 
If you think you want an F37, then go take a look at some (one forumite has one for sale at the moment - www.javacharter.co.uk for details). We love ours, as it ticks a lot of boxes for us. I'd be happy to tell you about it, but I have no idea if you have the same boxes as me or not.

What sort of boating do you want to do? How many people? What area? What budget? What's on your MOSCOW list?
 
of your list I prefare the Prestige 38S and new Jeanneau 10 Leader looks good too
Jezbanks aka Whitelieghter but also said that the SC35 over there in the UK is cheaper to the 10 Leader, so you might have a look at that too

the 37 Grand Mistral has a fame of being a best hander of the lot, altough I would not throw the Prestige 38S as it is, just as the SC35 has a Michael Peters designed hull
but this is your choice so you might want to haul over the best thing that suits you best
I would always go with diesel, as a petrol boat especially in the size will be seen tight and you need to resell because of consumption
 
its worth doing some sums.. just so you know how much fun this is going to be ! You can be as honest to yourself as you care!, but depreciation and cost of finance/use of funds can show just how expensive this hobby really can be. Add in a marina bill, servicing and fuel and over , say, three years, its alot of cash.
Unfortunately if you come afresh to boating you havent made any wrong boat mistakes on the way, and neither have you developed quite what it is you want from a boat.I ll risk saying that these days builders go to great lengths to wow you. What you ll find out afterwards is whether than design is just flash, or it actually works. Do you want flash handling (which usually means less volume/accomodation), or is the priority not to find you are in each others way on the boat all weekend? Do you want an easy to keep and use boat, a get up and go boat, or one where travelling is less important than living on it?
Try and make a list of exactly what you (think!) you want from boating, and then look at each boat in comparisson and see how many boxes each actually tic.
I just think that if you like the Windy 37 and the Sealine F37.. you really havent got to grip what you are wanting to do. The two boats are almost opposite ends IMHO !
 
Thank you for replying everyone. I am from Jersey and my only boating experiences were from fishing and water skiing when i was younger . I am now 48 and have suddenly developed a bug for boats..
I will definitely go on a course or courses to learn charts and get some hours in ( Thank you Elessar)
I have put my name down at the Jersey marina for a 10-12 metre berth and have been told there is a 2 year waiting list, so I am in no hurry to purchase any boat be it flybridge or sports. It will be used as a family and friends boat visiting relations and friends in France and speed is definitely not at the top of my list. Comfort is!!.
I have a lot of spare time and choose mostly when I want to work and my budget will be around £120k so it will not be a brand new boat but I definitely like the Sealine F37 or earlier models.
I really do like your points of view (gjgm which is why I like this forum) and appreciate the pitfalls and know I would be better off buying property, but being mortgage free, aged 48 and single and have my sister 's (who was widowed a few years ago) kids, I thought I would have a blast for the next 10-15 years while I am still fit and the kids are still young. If I don't like it after 2 -3 years and I have to sell a house to cover the extortionate boating bills , then I will sell the boat, but at least I would have had a good time doing it and maybe be a little poorer.
I appreciate all your views and those to come
many thanks
 
jonoR said:
I have put my name down at the Jersey marina for a 10-12 metre berth and have been told there is a 2 year waiting list, so I am in no hurry to purchase any boat
Click to expand...

There's two types of waiting list at marinas, the type where you enquire speculatively about maybe buying a boat sometime and would there be a berth (answer usually no), and the type where you say i'm on my boat waiting outside the port, and can I have a berth please (answer usually yes). OK once you're in you may need to schmooze the marina staff a bit for an annual berth, but i've never failed yet. Also, there's more than one marina/port in St Helier isn't there?

Not saying you should rush into buying a boat by the way, lots of good advice on this post already, but don't assume you couldn't get a berth for 2 yrs just because the port told you so.
 
I agree with Nick regarding the marina berth thing, if you are ready to do business, so will they.

The good brands are always going to be an reasonable asset, just go through all the processes the guys recommend prior to purchase.

You seem to have good motivation, enjoy your boating.
 
Thank you so much for all your comments. Once again this is why I like this forum. There has been nothing but constructive help.
As regards to the marinas in Jersey. There is a 4 year waiting list on boats up to 10 metres and 2 year waiting list on 10-12 metres and have been told that it could come down due to the fact that a lot of people are selling or moving their boats due to recession.
I wish I could be as upfront as you (Nick H) but knowing my luck they would leave me stuck in the middle of St.Aubins bay . Yes ( Nick H ) there are three marinas in Jersey. La Collete, where you can leave and enter when you like is a closed shop as they have shut the waiting list and I am number 38 on the waiting list of the others and am not in any hurry as I will go on courses and carry on reading posts here.
Thank you hlb. Will take that into consideration . Many thanks all
Jono
 
Hi, we have two Sealines at our school an F36 & an F37. Both boats have served us well
Both have KAMD43's 230hp. In my opinion they could do with more power. Go for the KAMD44's or 300's , mind you the 300's will be on a very late model.

If you fancy learning in the sun we are here. regards Sun Coast
 
You are clearly getting the bug to buy.....
I'd recommend you take your first plunge into boating by going on a sea school course.
I went out to Duquesa with clive's school (suncoast) when I first got the bug. I found that 5 days on the water (boating) was a great way to properly get the feel and I got a licence and experience as well. This was a great platform to then progress onto buying plus if you went with clive you would be helming an f37 / f36 as well !

Strongly recommended you should follow this route.

(5% intro commission as usual clive please - said hello to the boys at sibs on wednesday)
 
hlb said:
Hmm. Dont look closely at other boats, but Sealine do look prone to adding a bedroom, where locker space should be. Make sure there is room for gear, there is alot of gear.
Click to expand...

Take no notice of that curmudgeon! The F37 has tons of stowage space. Working from the pointy end:

The anchor locker has enough room to hold 3-4 large fenders plus a couple of 20m warps comfortably

Forward cabin:
* There's a cave locker under the forward end of the bed that will hold about 3 dozen bottles of wine or an equivalent number of slabs of beer
* There's a drawer under the foot of the bed that can swallow a week's clothing for 2
* There are two small lockers either side of the bed head
* There's a drawer on the left that can hold half a dozen beach towels, an iron, a hair dryer, straighteners and 27 bikinis
* There's a hanging locker on the right that can hold foulies, an ironing board and a bunch of other rubbish.

Mid cabin:
* There's a small hanging locker outboard
* There's a moulded out storage tray under each berth about 100 x 50 x 20 cm
* If you can be bothered to remove the screws, there's an enormous void under the starboard berth

Galley:
* Under floor stowage that holds a toaster, hoover, beer/soft drinks slabs, coolbag, kitchen rolls, bog rolls etc etc
* Double cupboard under the cooker
* Double eye level lockers above the cupboard (work better if you fit an internal shelf)
* Deep bottle locker behind the oven (not on all F37's it seems)

Saloon:
* Aft fridge/large cupboard (depending on spec)
* Stowage under 2 of the 3 runs of seating
* Stowage in the stool stored under the saloon table
* Stowage under the tub chairs to port

Cockpit
* Gas bottle locker
* Dedicated liferaft stowage under the aft seating
* Draining locker under the starboard seating large enough for two small children or 6 standard fenders plus two 20m and one 40m warp
* overhead locker holding folding teak cockpit table
* overhead locker holding all cockpit canopies
* Wet locker on bathing platform

Lazarette - enormous. Ours holds
* 4 x 80 litre storage boxes
* 1 x 120 litre storage box
* 1 x large toolbag
* 1 x 4 drawer toolbox
* 2 x folding teak chairs
* 1 x hose pipe
* 1 x wakeboard in bag
* 1 x pair water skis
* 1 x inflatable donut thing
* 3 x firebuckets
* 1 x large flare tub
* 1 x grab bag
* 1 x ton of other stuff

Flybridge:
* Stowage under the helm seat for table and othe rrubbish (loads of space spare)
* Stowage under forward seating for flybridge canopy
* Locker to starboard to hold coolbox or any other rubbish

I reckon we would need at least a Transit van to empty the boat if we were to sell up...
 
Last edited:
Many thanks Wiggo. It sounds as though your wife or partner has the same boating ideas as mine as long as they can fit all their essentials, frocks,shoes etc. I can make do with the one drawer for my diner suit and everything else for a week. Your lucky you can have a place for beer and wine. If your partner is the same as mine then there is definitely enough space on a F37
 
Lazarette - enormous. Ours holds
* 4 x 80 litre storage boxes
* 1 x 120 litre storage box
* 1 x large toolbag
* 1 x 4 drawer toolbox
* 2 x folding teak chairs
* 1 x hose pipe
* 1 x wakeboard in bag
* 1 x pair water skis
* 1 x inflatable donut thing
* 3 x firebuckets
* 1 x large flare tub
* 1 x grab bag
* 1 x ton of other stuff
...................................................................................

Thats nowt, I've got a 45 gallon oil drum in mine. (smileylaughythingy)
 
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