What boat for my circumstances?

[Daydream believer]

I had an Anderson 22, a very sturdy boat. Trailed it once. Never again.

Our club commodore sailed 1000's of miles in his A22. He used to bring it to the club behind his aged Volvo 240. Seemed to have no worries towing it . Even at the age of 70. We finally made him give up when we were having to lift him aboard to sail the thing. Even then it was difficult to make him give up. They are said to be fantastic sea boats & have raced across the Atlantic. (Seajet jokes aside )
My wife accompanied him to an event where Princess Anne presented him with a lifetimes achievment award for his work in training sea cadets etc.

 

[Kelpie]

All this talk of £3k trailers plus something to tow it... you could buy years of berthing in Lochinver for that money, and have a far easier (dare I say better too) cruising ground.

We previously went with the big boat and trailer idea (Vega on a 3.5t road trailer) and IMHO it's really not worth it. Maybe if you absolutely must have the boat at home for the winter for some reason, and already own the towing vehicle etc. Towing and launching/recovering a boat of that size and weight is pretty terrifying.

 

[Daydream believer]

I towed a stella from the Midlands to Essex with no problem behind my disco on an SBS 5 ton boat trailer. I kept speed below 50MPH of course. I then towed it from Grays to Burnham & back several times. With the first Stella I towed it behind a bedford Midi van from Burnham & back but then I kept to 30MPH.
I know that several owners towed their Stellas behind Land Rovers in the early years. A Stella weights circa 2.75-3 Tons. & the trailer .75 tons.

 

[Refueler]

OK ... guy lives 1 mile from slip.

Is it worth having a trailer ? Yes if decides to lower boat size to that which makes it more viable. Many will come with trailer.

But if size is decided - then may I suggest trucking the boat ? I lift my boat and it gets trucked about 2km to my hard standing. If I had a yacht cradle - much cheaper than a trailer - I could do this easy with a Fin Keel ...
Cost is not cheap for the truck - I agree ... but 2x in a year ? That is Lift IN .... Lift OUT ... ?? plus a mooring and a dinghy to get to / from ... much better idea. Less stress ... opens up a wider range of boats .....

Note on Trucking costs.

If can be found £'s per hour rate then great ... but I have found that many truckers look at small jobs as destroying the day and they cannot then do another job after unless its another small short one. So they tend to charge more than time % ....

 

[Refueler]

I towed a stella from the Midlands to Essex with no problem behind my disco on an SBS 5 ton boat trailer. I kept speed below 50MPH of course. I then towed it from Grays to Burnham & back several times. With the first Stella I towed it behind a bedford Midi van from Burnham & back but then I kept to 30MPH.
I know that several owners towed their Stellas behind Land Rovers in the early years. A Stella weights circa 2.75-3 Tons. & the trailer .75 tons.

Pal of mine in the days of Centaurs etc. - had contract to deliver Centaurs / Pageants etc. with a Land Rover series 3 all over the country.

BUT he admitted that Centaur as example with trailer was over the legal road limit to tow even with that LR.

 

[Poignard]

If you ask me I'd much rather drive a couple of hours to a good seaboat on her mooring, ready to go, than spend an hour or so trailering a lightweight boat to a slip, launching her, tieing her up, parking the tractor and trailer, then getting on board before you can get going.

And then doing the reverse procedure when you come back tired. You might have to lose even more time if someone else is using the slip.

Also, you'll need two people to launch/retrieve a decent sized boat whereas with your boat on a mooring you can single-hand.

 

[Kelpie]

I don't think the OP has revealed his exact location but AFAIK there aren't many options to keep a boat along the north coast. Scrabster Harbour (pontoons), and Loch Eriboll. Maybe somewhere around Tongue? I don't think anywhere else is sheltered enough for a permanent mooring. I could be wrong, it's a coast I've sailed past without stopping to investigate.

If he just wants to go out for the day and recover the boat afterwards then he should be thinking small. And if he wants to go off exploring the northern isles he needs to think big, and will need somewhere to keep the boat afloat between trips.

 

[Iliade]

OP is planning to tow with a tractor - he could probably legally tow my maybe 8 ton Ben34 :0)

I'm sure seakeeping and real life speed in a rough seaway are pretty significant factors at those latitudes.

 

[Refueler]

OP is planning to tow with a tractor - he could probably legally tow my maybe 8 ton Ben34 :0)

I'm sure seakeeping and real life speed in a rough seaway are pretty significant factors at those latitudes.

Pls keep in mind his 'cost cap' ......

 

[tommy2]

Pls keep in mind his 'cost cap'

The cost cap is around 10k for boat and around 10k for tractor. The tractor will be bought for my small farm, so not just being used for the boat.

 

[tommy2]

One recommendation was to have a look at what boats are being used in the local area. If I am honest there are not many yachts about. Most boats seem to be commercial fishing boats. But here are some pictures of what I found today in Wick. Is there anything in my budget that can be seen? I would be interested to hear peoples thoughts on the boats shown in the pictures.

 

[Kelpie]

In the first two pictures I can see a Vancouver and a Fisher, both great heavy weather boats and both well outside your budget fora decent one.

The little bilge keeler may be a Pageant, could be be a good choice but they're not fast so make sure you get the tides right!

Where exactly are you, and what is your plan for mooring the boat for the summer?

 

[tommy2]

I know it will be out of my price range, but what is the boat that says Skagerrak on it (Fisher 30?) Its a lovely looking boat.

As for the other boats, one of the boats in the harbour was a Westerly Oceanmaster I think. Not sure what the baot is that says "Flinders" and the other that says "Narina"

 

[Wansworth]

Skagerrak is a ColVic ,Imo

 

[Kelpie]

I think Flinders is a Vancouver 34. And yes Skagerrak may be a Colvic Watson, not a Fisher, oops. Both going to cost c. 3x your budget.

 

[Supertramp]

So go with a Pageant. Little sister to a Centaur and very competent for what it is. You won't magic an ocean worthy 35 footer for 10k.

But keep in mind that any boat that age, even in great condition, will involve a lot of maintenance and ongoing cost/work. And anything laid up or idle for years even more so.

Or step back, consider the range of comments in the thread and decide how to go forward.

 

[dunedin]

One recommendation was to have a look at what boats are being used in the local area. If I am honest there are not many yachts about. Most boats seem to be commercial fishing boats. But here are some pictures of what I found today in Wick. Is there anything in my budget that can be seen? I would be interested to hear peoples thoughts on the boats shown in the pictures.

View attachment 153436

Something like the boat in the first photo possibly named Sheep might be closer to budget? Looks a neat little boat.

 

[tommy2]

Out of interest are there any boats under 30 foot that have covering for the steering area? I was just thinking if things got bad weather wise and I wanted to stay a little drier. Obviously the Colvic Watson 30 does, but its quite a bit out of my price range. Is there anything nearer to my price range?

 

[Poignard]

Out of interest are there any boats under 30 foot that have covering for the steering area? I was just thinking if things got bad weather wise and I wanted to stay a little drier. Obviously the Colvic Watson 30 does, but its quite a bit out of my price range. Is there anything nearer to my price range?

A wheelhouse with standing headroom is going to be around 2 metres high, and it's floor will have to be above the waterline.

It's going to need a very clever designer to avoid such a structure looking unsightly on a boat as small as you are looking for.

Also, when the weather is not bad, wouldn't you rather be outside, enjoying the fresh air, than shut up in a box?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I think Flinders is a Vancouver 34. And yes Skagerrak may be a Colvic Watson, not a Fisher, oops. Both going to cost c. 3x your budget.

Flinders is a Vancouver 27 or 28, the transom hung rudder gives it away can't quite make out the aft deck which would confirm. The 34 is a very different animal.