What 25' boat

[BruceK]

You begga! It was an always will be teal. I had those lines redone at not inconsiderable expense I might add. Teal and black piping over grey. I rather like it myself. Anyway!! I proved you wrong about that boat though didn't I? You waited till I had bought it before ruining that buzz of new toy joy didn't you! You predicted I'd be miserable and likely drown as it sunk beneath me. Then you tried to sell me on the idea of a bloody Channel Island 22 as the best thing since sliced bread.
Roy as a word for you IIRC, what was it again?

 

[Momac]

I had a Sealine S23 six years and changed to a Sealine F33 in 2014.
I wouldn't say they're perfect - no boat is trouble free - but I would certainly look at another Sealine if I should change .

 

[Drifter2406]

Why are you looking at 25' ? Is it a trailer constraint or berthing constraint? The reason being is a small jump to 28 foot or even 32 foot would really open up your choices.

Purely money, running cost in general and initial purchase cost.

 

[Drifter2406]

I've been looking based on similar requirements and a similar budget and had shortlisted both the S23/S25 and the Leader 805. Nick Burnham does a great tour of his Leader 805 on his Aquaholic YouTube channel.

You could probably get an early S28 for that money, although I'm not sure if you want to able to tow. You then have the option of twin engines, not sure if that appeals to you or not.

Yes i have seen Nick's boat, very nice, that is on the list, i would rather have a single engine to keep costs down. Not worried about towing, the plan was to keep in the water all summer and dry store during the winter as i want to do most of the maintenance myself.

 

[Drifter2406]

this ?

Aquador - 25c | Boats and Outboards

Not overly keen on these, most of what i have been looking at have less than a thousend hours, how much life would be left in this with 4000?

 

[Drifter2406]

Thank you all for the input and taking the time to steer my in the right direction, it has certainly given me more to think about.

 

[Momac]

Purely money, running cost in general and initial purchase cost.

When I changed from a S23 to a F33 it was no surprise that it doubled the cost of insurance, servicing and fuel and increased mooring cost by about 50%. I would agree its wise to have boat that is no bigger than you really need .

I think a S23 is a two person boat moat of the time, which suited us at the time . I would have stuck with it but the chief officer insisted on a bigger boat
.

 

[BruceK]

Purely money, running cost in general and initial purchase cost.

OK understood. However I would encourage you to think a little bigger and go look around as if you ask anybody here your first boat is seldom the one you stay with for very long and the trend is almost always bigger as you start chaffing against the limitations a small boat brings. Just a jump from 25 to 28 can prove a big difference and 40k will buy you a early to mid 90's 34 foot sports cruiser and good ones can still be had and be cheapish to maintain if you are handy with a spanner. My Formula in the pics above is only worth 40k and similarly the Targa 33 posted

 

[Drifter2406]

It will be used for anything up to a week at a time with the two of us and a large dog, i don't get that much spare time so i don't want to be spending more than i have to when it's sitting in the marina most of the time. Plus it is a first boat and did'nt want something unmanageable to start with.

 

[Drifter2406]

OK understood. However I would encourage you to think a little bigger and go look around as if you ask anybody here your first boat is seldom the one you stay with for very long and the trend is almost always bigger as you start chaffing against the limitations a small boat brings. Just a jump from 25 to 28 can prove a big difference and 40k will buy you a early to mid 90's 34 foot sports cruiser and good ones can still be had and be cheapish to maintain if you are handy with a spanner. My Formula in the pics above is only worth 40k and similarly the Targa 33 posted

I will certainly look, i am quite handy with a spanner (Engineer by trade) so a lot of the maintenance will be done by me. Having heard what you all have said i will have a look at the ones for sale and get a feel for them in the flesh as they say, you can only get so much from the net.

 

[Nick Burnham]

I had very similar parameters and after looking at, and having been on, a lot of boats, it was very clear that the Jeanneau 805 Leader is in a different league to the Sealine S23/25. It's a physically much bigger boat (because it is so much wider), it has a far more suitable Volvo Penta KAD 43 or D4 (depending on age), larger cockpit, larger cabin, seperate mid cabin, etc etc. It's more stable at speed because it's wider (mine has no trim tabs, when I bought it I assumed that they would be the first thing I'd need to fit. Three years later I've never bothered, despite plenty of other upgrades) and it has a great hull.

The downside is if you want to trailer it. Basically you can't. When I had my boat delivered it had to come on a truck for that reason. Also it's French, so standard equipment is 'parsimonious', to put it politely! Horn, spring cleats, echo sounder, VHF radio, automatic fire extinguisher etc etc, all on the options list! (That's less of an issue second hand of course as most will have been fitted since).

Lots of videos of mine here, but in particular, check out Jeanneau 805 Leader Full Tour for, well, a full tour!

MY BOAT - 'Smuggler's Blues 2' - YouTube

Great boat, at least look at one before buying anything else. Once I had, it simply became a simple search for the nicest 805 Leader I could find.

 

[BruceK]

There is a recommendation you cant ignore and from someone who would know too.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Woo good to hear from you Nick.

 

[Seastoke]

(Thunderbird) Formula 34 PC

and thank you she'd appreciate that in her dotage. She's a very old boat at 92 vintage

he means mine in the distance

 

[BruceK]

It is quite a distance to Conwy Marina from there. You sure?

 

[Scubadoo]

I had very similar parameters and after looking at, and having been on, a lot of boats, it was very clear that the Jeanneau 805 Leader is in a different league to the Sealine S23/25. It's a physically much bigger boat (because it is so much wider), it has a far more suitable Volvo Penta KAD 43 or D4 (depending on age), larger cockpit, larger cabin, seperate mid cabin, etc etc. It's more stable at speed because it's wider (mine has no trim tabs, when I bought it I assumed that they would be the first thing I'd need to fit. Three years later I've never bothered, despite plenty of other upgrades) and it has a great hull.

The downside is if you want to trailer it. Basically you can't. When I had my boat delivered it had to come on a truck for that reason. Also it's French, so standard equipment is 'parsimonious', to put it politely! Horn, spring cleats, echo sounder, VHF radio, automatic fire extinguisher etc etc, all on the options list! (That's less of an issue second hand of course as most will have been fitted since).

Lots of videos of mine here, but in particular, check out Jeanneau 805 Leader Full Tour for, well, a full tour!

MY BOAT - 'Smuggler's Blues 2' - YouTube

Great boat, at least look at one before buying anything else. Once I had, it simply became a simple search for the nicest 805 Leader I could find.

Great video tour and in great condition, the engine bay looks incredibly tight to access the rear or the engine, does it open up further? The layout and "size" is more comparable to a Sealine s28 not the S23/25.

 

[Drifter2406]

I had very similar parameters and after looking at, and having been on, a lot of boats, it was very clear that the Jeanneau 805 Leader is in a different league to the Sealine S23/25. It's a physically much bigger boat (because it is so much wider), it has a far more suitable Volvo Penta KAD 43 or D4 (depending on age), larger cockpit, larger cabin, seperate mid cabin, etc etc. It's more stable at speed because it's wider (mine has no trim tabs, when I bought it I assumed that they would be the first thing I'd need to fit. Three years later I've never bothered, despite plenty of other upgrades) and it has a great hull.

The downside is if you want to trailer it. Basically you can't. When I had my boat delivered it had to come on a truck for that reason. Also it's French, so standard equipment is 'parsimonious', to put it politely! Horn, spring cleats, echo sounder, VHF radio, automatic fire extinguisher etc etc, all on the options list! (That's less of an issue second hand of course as most will have been fitted since).

Lots of videos of mine here, but in particular, check out Jeanneau 805 Leader Full Tour for, well, a full tour!

MY BOAT - 'Smuggler's Blues 2' - YouTube

Great boat, at least look at one before buying anything else. Once I had, it simply became a simple search for the nicest 805 Leader I could find.

Hello Nick, thanks for the info, i have watched your full tour of your boat and many others come to that. Yes the Jeanneau is well up the list. What sort of LPH do you get from the D4 on average? I must admit the more i read and how much more efficient and possibly mre desirable for resale?

 

[Nick Burnham]

Great video tour and in great condition, the engine bay looks incredibly tight to access the rear or the engine, does it open up further? The layout and "size" is more comparable to a Sealine s28 not the S23/25.

Correct on both counts.

Definitely closer to the S28 than S23/25. An S28 is a little older boat though I think, I believe they came out in the nineties, the 805 Leader I think in 2001. Also the vast majority are twin engine which is great, but does double the running costs (and amount of things to go wrong!)

Engine access isn't great, and it's frustrating because it could be better with a different design. However it's possible to fold yourself in there and not as bad as it looks once you're in. I have my engine maintained by my local Volvo Penta dealer in any case, and I'm sure they've experienced worse!

 

[julians]

Hello Nick, thanks for the info, i have watched your full tour of your boat and many others come to that. Yes the Jeanneau is well up the list. What sort of LPH do you get from the D4 on average? I must admit the more i read and how much more efficient and possibly mre desirable for resale?

I have a d4 260 in a 25 foot boat, and at cruising speed (20-25knots)it uses approx 25 litres per hour. Its very fuel Efficient.

 

[Nick Burnham]

Hello Nick, thanks for the info, i have watched your full tour of your boat and many others come to that. Yes the Jeanneau is well up the list. What sort of LPH do you get from the D4 on average? I must admit the more i read and how much more efficient and possibly mre desirable for resale?

It uses 25 litres per hour at 20 knots. Interestingly at 24 knots it uses 30 litres an hour, which is actually exactly the same on a trip basis, 0.8 miles for each litre.

However don't make the mistake of working out how many hours you plan to be on the boat and multiplying it by (say) 25 litres because even when running, a lot is ticking over in and out of harbour, up and down rivers etc. I keep very accurate records and last year (as an example) it averaged out at 11.9 litres per engine run hour. We clocked up 62 hours running in total and that was about £1,000.

With regards to petrol or diesel, no way would I have a petrol boat again (I've had them in the past). Fuel is far less available dockside, many places only have diesel and when you can find it, it costs way more than road prices, like 50p a litre more last time I checked! Add in that they're less economical and it costs a lot more. With my petrol boat (which was way smaller, a Monterey 218LSC cuddy cabin speedboat) we'd have a lovely day out whizzing around and then the next day just anchor in a bay because it had cost so much. With this boat I never even think about it. Use it, enjoy it, about once a month fill it back up for a couple of hundred pounds.

Also don't make the mistake of thinking 'a petrol boat is £5K cheaper, that buys a lot of fuel' because you haven't actually saved that £5K to spend it on fuel, the boat is still worth £5K less when you sell it.