Reply With QuoteCats just take up more space, or do you mean cat as in meeeoooww?
I will be coming into a small, amount of money and remarkably my wife will let me buy a boat (I have had to agree to a cat but thats a side issue).
I will have 10k all in, for boat and all associated costs in the first year. I will probably have to suck up the cost of a mooring for 12 months, about 1k, until my number comes up for a floating mooring in poole harbour. I think I'll drop about 7k on the boat and have 2k, which should be enough for any service, small repairs and essentials.
Ill probably go for a fishing type boat with inboard diesel engine, small cabin and toilet - probably a parkstone bay if that makes sense to you. I have 2 young kids and it will primarily be used for trips in poole harbour and close shoreline, with fishing trips for mates as well.
Just wondered who has what boat on here, any pictures of your vessles and any tips on the topic.
cheers
steve
Cats just take up more space, or do you mean cat as in meeeoooww?
Rule of the 3Fs mate.
Flys, floats or..... What is the other one ? ;-)
looks like he's already ignoring that one. Might as well try save him on the other two eh!Originally Posted by b11ocx
I don't but my Dad owns one moored in Parkstone Bay Marina. Loving going out at the weekends and mooring off Studland....can't beat it!
Last edited by Christian; 31st July 2014 at 11:03.
We saw a lovely boat at a great price in Eastbourne recently so I enquired about the cost of mooring etc.
it was going to cost about £5.5k per year before turning the engines on so we decided against it.
They're a great idea but a very expensive hobby!
Yes sorry it's a cat that purrs and leaves fur everywhere. Im decidedly unhappy but if it gets me a boat then I'll compromise.
Does my Advanced Elements inflatable kayak count?
I have come close to buying a boat (a river cruiser) on several occasions. Every time I just remember my dear old sadly departed mum. She had a large, beautiful classic river cruiser - six/eight berth, lovely wood, mod cons.
It was wonderful to go and sit on, or occasionally pop a few miles up and down the river.
The rest of the time it was a colossal pain in the ar*e.
The running costs are high, very high in the UK. It needs to be taken out of the water over the winter. It needs constant maintenance. The marina fees, river license, mooring fees, insurances etc etc really do add up.
I'm not saying I never would, as I really do have a hankering, but it is one of those kinds of adventures you really need to do your homework on, go in with your eyes wide open, and really make a lot of use of it to make it sensible or viable. Buying the boat is only the start, and often the cheap bit.
me in mine, not too good for party's etc. although I hear Beyoncé wants a go with my oar,
Boats: like having a commercial vacuum cleaner attached to your wallet. If there’s a more efficient way of losing money I’ve yet to find it...
Gone:
Gone:
Current (along with a tiny RIB for pootling about in):
Sorry OP, I’m in no position to give helpful advice...
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Boat = Break Out Another Thousand
Cat = Costs Another Thousand ....
I've experienced both ...
Here's mine:
Great fun, but not really getting enough use.
Here's mine (I don't own it, but I do drive it every day):
Sunflower II, traditional Windermere launch, built 1950 by Borwicks of Bowness-on-Windermere.
60' narrowboat. As others have said, a hole in the water in which you throw yer money! At the moment I'm not getting enough use out of it but I'm hoping to move and live aboard at some stage.
The most expensive boat to own is the one you don't use enough. Even here in Sydney, the average boat owner (and there are a lot of them) probably does less than 20 days a year. That's going to cost you £100-£200 per day before fuel, even for a boat of the sort you're considering, because the fixed costs of insurance, berthing, depreciation and general maintenance are unavoidable.
A small sailing boat will be cheaper, particularly if you can keep it in the drive and tow it when you want to use it. A couple of other options to consider are sharing with someone else; or joining a share scheme. I've no direct experience of the share schemes, but they would be a good option if you don't want to spend too much time on maintenance, etc, which is usually taken care of within the scheme costs. I did a quick search and found this, which looks interesting. This is a not a recommendation BTW - I only know what I saw on their website; but there will be other such schemes:
http://www.ribshackmarine.co.uk/overview.htm
The two happiest days of boat ownership: the day you buy it and the day you sell it...
I've got a Cornish Shrimper on the River Dart; cheap to run, good fun, and 5 minutes from home. Still don't use it enough...
I do not have it any more, but loved it.
A total money pit though...
I have a Rib- just a 4,8m Zodiac with a 40hp Yamaha 4stroke, keep it on my driveway and go out 8 or 10 times a year-mainly bass and bream fishing in the solent- it's only a mile to the slipway. I can go out all day for about £15 of fuel with 2 in the boat gorgeous on a summer evening to slip over to Yarmouth for a beer too.pics if I find some...
A boat (yacht) has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, chartering is the way I get my fix.
My "boat" can at least be kept in a garage
But even this small is a little pricey to run
£40 of fuel for about 4 hrs exhilaration, 8 hrs if it's in family fun mode
£350 a year for insurance
£300 a year for maintenance ( flush and spray oil into the cylinders, so I'm doing it this time)
Took it out 12 times last year so cost to play is pretty high
Am tempted to put it on a versa dock next year as it is a PIA to launch as the slip I have to use is steep weed and gravel strewn but that's £100 a month for the summer and will need a wash down every time as I'm using it in the sea
But when you're touching 70mph on water, and trying to keep it all together there is not much else pushes as many buttons for me
Beats sitting in an office answering emails. Lovely boat.
Here's mine (I don't own it, but I do drive it every day):
Sunflower II, traditional Windermere launch, built 1950 by Borwicks of Bowness-on-Windermere.
The problem with boats for me is that every time I get rid I then miss having one and start convincing myself to get another.
It’s strange how your emotions can over-ride logic: I see something nice and start convincing myself that it’d be “Not too dear/I’d use it more/it wouldn’t be too much trouble to keep”...
(To be fair, the above applies to things other than boats too).
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
The only way to avoid the money pit problem, too. Getting paid to drive someone else's boat.
Me and the missus have a Laser each, and get to race them most Wednesday evenings. Cheap to buy, maintain and store, lots of sailing and great fun. Learn to race dinghies - you won't regret it.
My boat is a bit more economical, runs on beer and stupidity:
Another one I drive for work - Queen of the Lake, at Wray Castle boathouse. Both Queen and Sunflower are on the National Historic Ships register.
Last edited by paul.in.kendal; 31st July 2014 at 18:17.
Hi,
I also live in Poole & currently have a Parkstone Bay Cruiser on a swinging mooring. Providing you’re not looking for too many creature comforts on board I’d highly recommend one as they are well built & have a shallow draught ideal for the harbour here in Poole.
Cost wise they seem to start at around £3,500 for a rough one & your £7,000 budget should get you a really good one. IMHO if you look around you should be able to get a nice one for £4-5,000 & recoup this back when its time to sell as it will have done most of its depreciation by now with 40-50 year old boats still commanding this kind of money. That said, if you are unlucky enough to suffer a complete engine failure your £2,000 maintenance budget will be swallowed up instantly so do get the engine checked out thoroughly by a professional if you can’t do it yourself & take her for a decent sea trial before buying.
They where originally fitted with a 42hp Mercedes diesel (Fresh water cooled with heat exchanger) on a shaft drive which being a very basic/agricultural engine is reliable & cheap to maintain with all parts still available. These sip fuel & push them along at around 5 knots all day but don’t worry if you find a good boat with a newer 18hp upwards as being a displacement hull she won’t really be much slower.
As many have said boats can be expensive but if you are prepared to do some of the work yourself you should easily be able to maintain a Parkstone Bay for your £2,000 a year.
Swinging mooring £180.00/year
Servicing of mooring £150-200/year
Insurance (12 months in commission) £160.00/year
Hiab recovery & following season launch £400.00
I will take mine out of the water for the winter months using a local flat bed lorry with a Hiab (Mine didn’t come with a trailer & I didn’t want one sitting in the drive all summer) & store her in the drive so I can work on her at my leisure preparing her for the following summer.
Boating can be huge waste of money if you buy the wrong boat/don’t have the time to use it enough so think hard about it first but from your usage criteria I think a Parkstone Bay would be a great choice.
Please feel free to PM me if you fancy a chat or would like to have a look at mine before deciding if this is the way you would like to proceed.
I always recall a friend saying to me: Boats are like a large hole in the water that you pour money into.
I have great memories of ours, which was kept on the South coast, but I don't miss the moorage fees, constant upkeep: anti fouling, servicing, maintenance, etc (read more money) and cost of marine diesel (thanks to the EU for all savings on marine being removed!).
Every time I start to feel nostalgic and get tempted to start looking at For Sale ads, I remind myself how relieved I felt when the last one sold.
I've had a few boats, everything from canoes and jet skies to motorboats capable of crossing the channel. I had ten wonderful years on the ocean waves and don't regret a minute of it, hang the expense it was worth it!
Most of my motorboating was done out of Poole Harbour which in itself is a fantastic location with lots of anchorages for chilling, swimming and even waterskiing (or fishing if you're in to that). Further afield you have Studland Bay, Chapmans Poole, Swanage and of course the Solent. It is boating paradise (if you get the weather) but of course also the most expensive place in the UK to do it. I also crossed the channel a few times to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands, navigating your way across open water with no sight of land is a thrilling experience as well as a very satisfying challenge.
This was my V8 petrol engined Italian beauty coming out of Cherbourg:
And here's my Finnish sports cruiser "Aquavit" enjoying a quite afternoon on the Hamble:
Hope that whets your appetite - bon voyage!
I'm definitely playing at the cheaper end of the boat spectrum....
A random ebay purchase a couple of years ago but really enjoy getting out on it. Had a great day at Tynemouth just last weekend and looking forward to getting it back up to Dumfries and Galloway in a week or two.
David
Wow, some lovely boats on here and some good advice as well. I'm aware of the potential pitfalls with boats and I have a track record of buying mechanical things that go on strike, but I'm confident this can be good (crossing fingers, toes etc).
Wads, that's a really generous offer, I'll ping you a pm later.
The chap I was hoping to see today has bailed out so it looks like this weekend to have a look at the boat. A mate has a friend who is thinking of selling a Parkstone Bay at the moment so I'm putting my pal under a ton of pressure to sort it out!
And sadly my wife has just arrived at the Cats Protection League to collect said moggy. The only saving grace is that I've insisted that we name her Janet.
I once heard a quote that made a lot of sense to me ," the two happiest days in your life are the day you buy a boat , and the day you get shut ". can't think who said it though.
Was it Hubs?
A few year ago I almost purchased a 32 footer. The annual costs including mooring, insurance, fuel, deprecation/fuel and consumables, etc was going to be around £4K/year. My wife then worked out (I live about 90 minutes from Poole) we would get to use the boat realistically about 6-8 weekends year. There was no way she would want to spend more than 2 nights on it at a time. Bottom line it was going to cost us £500+ per weekend. She then pointed out at a weekend stay at a rather nice hotel would cost about the same without the risk of drowning. Also you can rent a decent boat for £500 and simply give it back when you are bored with it. I will have my boat one day, but it will be when I am retired and can use it most days. Just my thoughts you understand.
As a kid, my uncle used to live in Canford Cliffs, Poole - and we'd go down in Summer and sail the harbour in his boat –*nothing fancy, a small wooden sail boat he hand built with his dad. Great memories, fun on the water doesn't have to be expensive.
If I lived in Poole I'd probably get a jet ski or small Hobie Catamaran.
Certainly needs LOTS of thought, Ie purpose, size, Sail, Motor, Day boat, Live aboard, Goes on forever really, Then comes the nec paperwork Radio operators license, Skipper, Captain, Off shore, Navigator,And on again. However I think it is all well worthwhile, I seem to remember down that way -- Pool ???you can go with small twin keel vessel and moor to an old gas oven filled with concrete, Dropped in and marked,(I am deadly serious) in the bay As the tide goes out the boat will sit on its keels till tide incoming, These moorings if I remember rightly were free, However you would need a tender to get out to boat, And there is always the worry of boat safety in bad weather, To be honest I think the favourite is to start small I would be thinking ( for me of course) 18 --- 20 ft small cabin small outboard perhaps moored on river for a start, Somewhere just to have a cheap weekend aboard and gain Fun, food for thought, and experience. Just make sure you are not being swayed by this unusual summer weather, And if spending any good amount ALWAYS have a survey done, and Get boat checked out properly.
Last edited by fishman307; 31st July 2014 at 15:54.
Up here in Scotland the west coast is an amazing place to go sailing. But as earlier posters have said it's an expensive business and not to be entered into lightly. I currently don't own a boat but I'm fortunate to have a cousin who does and who is always looking for relatives and pals to help crew for him. The boat is a Rival 34 shown here moored in Castlebay Bara where we sailed mid May earlier this year. My cousin is a retired policeman, single with no kids, who manages to spend most summer weeks cruising the west coast and further afield.
His boat is around 30 years old and kitted out to cover long distances single handed. It probably cost more to kit it out than to buy it in the first place and any heavy weather sailing always ends up with lots of small breakages which quickly add up to large costs.
He probably gets in 12 -15 weeks sailing from May to early September but most weekend sailors would be lucky to do a couple of weeks and a couple of weekends; add up the cost per week and it can be scary. Most cost effective way to go sailing is to crew on someone else's boat or to charter from one of the bare boat charter companies in the UK or the Med (no tides to worry about there).
That said it can be tremendous fun and lets you see parts of the country from a completely different perspective.
The day after the photograph was taken the weather blew up and because I had to get back to work we ended up sailing back to Tobermory (60 miles) in a force 5/6 with heavy seas, two reefs in the mainsail and 7 knots all the way, I was as sick as a dog but still had great time, happy days.
Go buy yourself that boat.
regards
grant
Put it this way...if you live in Poole, you are missing out on half the reason for being here if you don't have access to a boat!
I can't agree more about the Hobie.
We went to Sandals Montego Bay for our honeymoon, mainly for the all you can eat food and the free diving, but I think the only thing we spent more time doing than bombing round on the Hobies was eating! They take less than an hour to get to grips with, then the addiction kicks in and all you want to do is get that little bit faster than last time.
I priced one up when we got back and found a few used ones that would come easily under £2k all in.
Very true and same here but its considerably cheaper to be friends with other people who own boats rather than having to pay for it yourself. A friend of ours has his at Poole yacht club, one of our highlights of the year is the jaunt across to Bournemouth, drop anchor near the pier and enjoy watching the air show. Not long to go now and it has been glorious the past 2 years.
The cheaper way of course is just to get out on the water in a canoe or small sailing dingy, depends whether someone is looking for a dream lifestyle traveling by sea or really just likes being on the water. I decided sometime ago that as much as I love going out on the water the reality of actually living on a boat is a form of torture that people pay a fortune for, its a bit crazy when you stand back and analyse it.
Yep, agree. I guess the jetski is also a cheaper alternative. Looking forward to the airshow myself!
I went cycling yesterday along Poole Quay. Some massive yachts on the other side by Sunseeker. One day, when I win the lottery....
This is the largest boat I get to skipper for work: Miss Lakeland II:
Christian our little group of local Porsche enthusiasts supported Sunseeker's pre-season boat show earlier in the year. I got to drive their latest 660k creation around a bit of the harbour as part of the gig, you really feel like you have gate crashed a music video for 5 minutes, like Duran Duran Rio or some mega blinged up rapper MTV thing. The things are driven with a little joy stick now which makes it all a bit to easy and bizarre at the same time making a big yacht manoeuvre so easily. It really is a different world but nice to sample a bit from time to time.
Some pictures here say better than words what it was all about:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...++++&mid=73190
Very cool! Would love to go out in the harbour in one of those.
Ive had a number and moored them on the Thames
Damn near bankrupted me
Mayland 21
Freeman 22
Bates Starcraft 33 (this really was a money pit)
Gave it all up about 12 years ago
One of these puppies from memory: http://www.sunseeker.com/en/news-and...oat-award-2014
They seem to be selling plenty of boats of that size and up, the place is knocking em out these days at a ferocious rate which is great to see for the local economy.
No boat myself, but my son is an apprentice waterman who spends everyday on one of these:
And even he sometimes agrees with the sentiments expressed by a certain , oft quoted, gentleman:
No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned... a man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company.
Samuel Johnson
Just spoke to really nice boat surveyor who lives nearby. Only 210 quid for peace of mind. Good advice, thanks.
Its on the front of my head
Posting Permissions
