milltech
Active member
I've been playing with the idea of buying another boat for over a year now, and I'm sure I will one day soon, but time still presses so I'm not in any rush, still it's fun to consider the prospects, and my budget would be about £80k max.
My boat must have:
2 diesel engines, (I'm no engineer so it gives me comfort).
8 knots cruising speed, more OK but not an issue
1 spare cabin for guests
A decent range and enough tankage not to keep filling up at euro prices. Now because I wish to use the boat single handed my original idea was an old lifeboat, difficult close handling can be solved with a bow thruster. The main advantages that drew me to these were:
1. Easy access to decks port and starboard
2. Low freeboard for easy embarkation and disembarkation
3. Walk round decks with good high stanchions and rail
4. Will sit more or less upright in tidal anchorages
The downside seems to be that they're not very well set up for spending long period aboard, in Watsons you cannot get to the forward cabin without going on deck which is a security issue, and the accomodation is small. Also running costs are quite high with heavy duty everything and an elderley double diagonal wood construction.
With the strong pound dollar situation I was fantasising about buying in the US and cruising there for a while, and that got me thinking about what my alternatives might be, given that ex. RNLI boats are not exactly plentiful there. The Grand Banks seems to be the only option I can come up with, but I've owned one before and it is a bit like living in a goldfish bowl, and despite protestations to the contrary I think they can feel distinctly dangerous in a beam sea, but I don't say they are, just that they roll so, and with a semi displacement hull form, well it had me worried anyway on the one occasion I was subjected to it.
I wouldn't exclude a GRand Banks but does anyone have any other ideas that might fill the criteria?
<hr width=100% size=1>John
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allgadgets.co.uk>http://www.allgadgets.co.uk</A>
My boat must have:
2 diesel engines, (I'm no engineer so it gives me comfort).
8 knots cruising speed, more OK but not an issue
1 spare cabin for guests
A decent range and enough tankage not to keep filling up at euro prices. Now because I wish to use the boat single handed my original idea was an old lifeboat, difficult close handling can be solved with a bow thruster. The main advantages that drew me to these were:
1. Easy access to decks port and starboard
2. Low freeboard for easy embarkation and disembarkation
3. Walk round decks with good high stanchions and rail
4. Will sit more or less upright in tidal anchorages
The downside seems to be that they're not very well set up for spending long period aboard, in Watsons you cannot get to the forward cabin without going on deck which is a security issue, and the accomodation is small. Also running costs are quite high with heavy duty everything and an elderley double diagonal wood construction.
With the strong pound dollar situation I was fantasising about buying in the US and cruising there for a while, and that got me thinking about what my alternatives might be, given that ex. RNLI boats are not exactly plentiful there. The Grand Banks seems to be the only option I can come up with, but I've owned one before and it is a bit like living in a goldfish bowl, and despite protestations to the contrary I think they can feel distinctly dangerous in a beam sea, but I don't say they are, just that they roll so, and with a semi displacement hull form, well it had me worried anyway on the one occasion I was subjected to it.
I wouldn't exclude a GRand Banks but does anyone have any other ideas that might fill the criteria?
<hr width=100% size=1>John
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allgadgets.co.uk>http://www.allgadgets.co.uk</A>
