Which way to go??

[Micky]

This searching out the right boat to buy is doing my head in. Size, Engines, Age, Price, Will it be ok?? Is it too small?? Will it be praticle?? Once commited will i find a better one round the corner?? Gosh what a task and i thought buying a car was a headache.

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[omega2]

What do you want the boat to do for you? fish at sea with mates on board, or go on your own, I see you are in Suffolk but you do not state where you will be operating from, if you are coming out into the Lower North Sea from one of the rivers in that area you will need something substantial. We started with a Pilot 590 with 70 horses outboard, (got fed up with being wet and cold) then a Tremlett 26 footer with 180 horses inboard, ( much better) but the outdrive was a disaster, we now have an Aquabell 33 with 2 180's on shafts and have got to our ultimate fishing machine, but with the diesel prices on the up we can now see that one engine may be the road to go. I hope you can read between the lines and catch our drift. Whatever and whichever way you go you will always see something better to drool over, My dream is a Lochin 40 with 400 plus horse power and the money to run it. Dream on. Age is not the enemy condition and usage is the thing to look at.

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[Micky]

Cheers Omega.
Just feeling totaly lost on the subject at the moment, been looking at so many options and reading all the super advice from others on this site that the whole issue has become fogged in my head.

First i will be berthed in Ipwich and the areas we will covering in the boat will be all the local rivers, Example Orwell-Stour-Deban-Alde-Walton blackwaters etc etc. Rivers are not a problem, but as you know can at times can be awkward to get to if rough.

Fishing is our hobby, wife and myself, so we will want to venture out to the deeper water at times.

Most important part is we intend on living aboard for a period of time, not permanent but it will be untill our home accomodation becomes available, at the moment it is occupied by my mother aged 84. Not room for us all as it is a flat.

Don't rearly want a boat that will end up too big to be praticle to use for weekends/fishing once we take possesion of the flat, BUT don't want to be so small that if living on it for several months or years we will be driven nuts.
Looking for best economy possible such as fuel, maintianance + mooring etc which we have already got sorted out so thats not a problem. Also the choosen boat has to be one that i can handle ok with the limited experiance i have.
Seems from advice so far that 27 to 30ft would be OK and probably cover everything we are looking for.

Trouble is getting it right, because once we make the move it will be too late to change our minds.

Oh by the way we had planned on spending up to £20.000 but could go to £30.000.

So far we have found a Madeira 27ft at £14,000 which is ready to go, fully fitted and only £14.000 went out on it yesterday and sort of liked it, nice size for fishing easy to handle, fitted with two BMC 1.5 engines on shafts etc, but this looks a little tight to live on but possible.

Also found a 38ft Colvic type house boat, hulls were origanly designed for RNLI, this is very nice inside fully equipted to live in and got everything anyone could ever want for a home and a mass of navagation equipment, looks more like an aircraft at the wheel then a boat but it looks too big for fishing or a weekend cruiser, in other words the size scare me, lack of experiance etc. Price £30.000, this is fitted with twin ford D100 engines.

So far all the others looked at we have given the thumbs down Oh dear, which one???

Sorry to rabbit on.

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[andyball]

You soon get used to the size,imo....at least after some tuition if you're not a born boat-handler.

Our 38' seemed huuuge after a 21' sportsfisher, but no problem now we're used to it.

Round here at least, size more a problem with marina costs.

Living on board depends on your point of view....many people would want 35' for this, others are happy with much less....if you plan to use it as well as live on, then 27' wd be way too small for me.

Be sure you can afford to use what you buy.

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[jimage]

We have a mitchell 31. Suits everything you`re looking for. We cruise ours for 3 weeks at a time quite comfortably, is a good fishing platform, and goes through any weather. We delivered one from the wash to Great yarmouth in a force 8 NE ! Theres one at essexboatyards.com which even has a 4.5kva gen set. They do tend to sit over though when dried out. We find ours ideal for east coast. can`t find a mooring at Ipswich so off to Burnham YH. Happy cruising!

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[Micky]

Can't find a mooring at Ipswich, i thought there were plenty available.

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[jimage]

Levington quoted 4 years, Ipswich haven 2 years, woolverston too expensive and no room etc.. Only got a bog standard 10m. Besides, Burnham is cheaper. Although would pay premium for Ipswich. Straight down the A14 on a friday night.

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[Micky]

Have you tried Shotley? they normally have a few spare.

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[Kawasaki]

I,ve gone from a Channel island 22 to a Nimbus 27. In your price bracket Good for fishing with aft cockpit and comfy for two.Single diesel.Plus you will sell it ok when you realise its not the right boat for you! cos they havent made it yet cos thats boats! The best bit about boats is changing them. My missis ses all I do is "fettle" Anyhow check out the Nimbus Good fishing Kawasaki.

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[Micky]

Nimbus 27 look like a nice choice of boat with good track record according to the reviews.

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[Greg2]

As already mentioned, I wouldn't worry about size per se. Our 37 footer is a dream to handle compared to our previous 32 footer. If you want to live aboard I would go for the biggest suitable boat you can aford (being aware of mooring fees of course) - you will only want to trade up in a year or so anyway!

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