can anyone recommond a sea going cruiser?
Discussion
Ayahuasca said:
How about this one, for sale for about 25,000 pounds.
Includes 1,000 horsepower for when you definitely, positivley, need a quick getaway.
Oh, and she's called 'Midnight Express'.
Really? Surely the engines alone are worth a fair chunk more than that?! Any sales details?Includes 1,000 horsepower for when you definitely, positivley, need a quick getaway.
Oh, and she's called 'Midnight Express'.
WTFWT said:
Ayahuasca said:
How about this one, for sale for about 25,000 pounds.
Includes 1,000 horsepower for when you definitely, positivley, need a quick getaway.
Oh, and she's called 'Midnight Express'.
Really? Surely the engines alone are worth a fair chunk more than that?! Any sales details?Includes 1,000 horsepower for when you definitely, positivley, need a quick getaway.
Oh, and she's called 'Midnight Express'.
If you're feeling flush...
Only 5 x 350hp though, so only 1,750hp. Not bad though...
http://www.midnightboats.com.au/content/MidnightMa...
Only 5 x 350hp though, so only 1,750hp. Not bad though...
http://www.midnightboats.com.au/content/MidnightMa...
Check this site out for advice and buy the book!
http://www.yachtsurvey.com/
Much knowledge to save you a fortune.
http://www.yachtsurvey.com/
Much knowledge to save you a fortune.
mickrick said:
Sounds a bit like "I want to buy some rope".
You get what you pay for, so cheap isn't realy an option. A good boat won't be cheap.
For what you describe, a regular 130 odd mile day hop, I wouldn't feel safe in anything less than this.
http://www.dalenelson.co.uk/nelson-38/Dale-nelson-...
The Med can turn nasty very quickly.
As an aside, I commisioned the boat in the picture, as a tender for a large yacht. (Notice the lifting points) So I can vouch hand on heart for the quality. I did over 800hrs in that particular boat.
Or,
http://www.deltapower.co.uk/new/ Again, I can vouch for the quality.
Absolutely the best! But not realy a cruiser.
Hope this helps,
Mick.
Those Dales look nice - a boat actually built out of wood - probably the strongest class of boats on the water bar steel.You get what you pay for, so cheap isn't realy an option. A good boat won't be cheap.
For what you describe, a regular 130 odd mile day hop, I wouldn't feel safe in anything less than this.
http://www.dalenelson.co.uk/nelson-38/Dale-nelson-...
The Med can turn nasty very quickly.
As an aside, I commisioned the boat in the picture, as a tender for a large yacht. (Notice the lifting points) So I can vouch hand on heart for the quality. I did over 800hrs in that particular boat.
Or,
http://www.deltapower.co.uk/new/ Again, I can vouch for the quality.
Absolutely the best! But not realy a cruiser.
Hope this helps,
Mick.
Most people save money and buy a crappy fibreglass chopper-gun money pit instead, so it's good to see decent boats still being made.
mickrick said:
They're not wood.....
Oh, what do they build them out of then?http://www.dalenelson.co.uk/nelson-34/build-galler...
I stand to be corrected, but I think that's the plug they're making, or it's foam core with glass.
The Nelson 38 is definately Glassfibre.
I saw the Classic 56 plug, which had the frames CNC cut from fibre board and stripped the same way, when I was there a good few years ago.
But I agree that wood is very nice.
When they built our Nelson 38, and the deck and wheelhouse went on, Mike walked around the inside of the hull, and ran his fingers around the inside joint without looking. Very brave, but also faith in his team! One of the Guys told me, if he got a splinter in his fingers, heads roll!
The team would also relish the sea trials they would put the boats through before the interior fit out, as Mike and his brother seemed to be in competition who would make the most hair raising ride in the roughest conditions.
They would do thier best to hoon it through the rough stuff to find any leaks.
I wish the plastic thing I work on now was built to the same stadard!
The Nelson 38 is definately Glassfibre.
I saw the Classic 56 plug, which had the frames CNC cut from fibre board and stripped the same way, when I was there a good few years ago.
But I agree that wood is very nice.
When they built our Nelson 38, and the deck and wheelhouse went on, Mike walked around the inside of the hull, and ran his fingers around the inside joint without looking. Very brave, but also faith in his team! One of the Guys told me, if he got a splinter in his fingers, heads roll!
The team would also relish the sea trials they would put the boats through before the interior fit out, as Mike and his brother seemed to be in competition who would make the most hair raising ride in the roughest conditions.
They would do thier best to hoon it through the rough stuff to find any leaks.
I wish the plastic thing I work on now was built to the same stadard!
My Boss owns a Johnson 87, I run and maintain it for a living.
It's about as good as you'll get out of Taiwan, apart from the Marlow Trawler yachts.
But the quality isn't there.
They're glassing in open ended sheds, in over 40 degrees and 80% humidity, and the dust is unbelievable!. Not good.
I oversaw the build, and probably nipped 80% of the niggles out of it before they where built in. I found the Taiwanese difficult to be honest, too set in thier ways, and not used to thinking outside the box.
I saw things that I knew would be trouble, but couldn't get them to deal with it.
In the end the sales manager, who promised us the world before we signed the contract was downright rude to me.
I talked my Boss out of going back 2 years later for the 100 footer, because of that.
I learnt a lot from it though. Mainly, don't buy a Taiwan boat!
European and British yards still build the best boats IMO.
Trouble is, the Dutch and German yards have gone too expensive.
I couldn't recommend Dale enough! Or Delta for that matter! They built us (Delta, when I worked on the 80m Yacht) a lovelly 7.4 meter RIB with a 420hp Yanmar 6LP, and Hamilton Jet. 46 knots up and out of the hole! Propper commercial quality.
We put Cats in the Nelson, but I'd probably use Yanmar's if I had another built. Nothing wrong with Cats though, just the Yanmar's are quite a bit lighter, and possibly a bit smaller physically. It would be a tough call between the two though.
It's about as good as you'll get out of Taiwan, apart from the Marlow Trawler yachts.
But the quality isn't there.
They're glassing in open ended sheds, in over 40 degrees and 80% humidity, and the dust is unbelievable!. Not good.
I oversaw the build, and probably nipped 80% of the niggles out of it before they where built in. I found the Taiwanese difficult to be honest, too set in thier ways, and not used to thinking outside the box.
I saw things that I knew would be trouble, but couldn't get them to deal with it.
In the end the sales manager, who promised us the world before we signed the contract was downright rude to me.
I talked my Boss out of going back 2 years later for the 100 footer, because of that.
I learnt a lot from it though. Mainly, don't buy a Taiwan boat!
European and British yards still build the best boats IMO.
Trouble is, the Dutch and German yards have gone too expensive.
I couldn't recommend Dale enough! Or Delta for that matter! They built us (Delta, when I worked on the 80m Yacht) a lovelly 7.4 meter RIB with a 420hp Yanmar 6LP, and Hamilton Jet. 46 knots up and out of the hole! Propper commercial quality.
We put Cats in the Nelson, but I'd probably use Yanmar's if I had another built. Nothing wrong with Cats though, just the Yanmar's are quite a bit lighter, and possibly a bit smaller physically. It would be a tough call between the two though.
David Pascoe did a review on Taiwanese boats: loads of trouble, generally very serious and built right in so they were virtually unfixable.
Bertram has gone by the wayside too these days, it's all about saving a bit of cost and effort in the manufacture and f
king the poor sod who buys it. The worse quality boat I nearly bought (had to reject it) was a Shetland, but I did own a Galia for a while that was total quality, a masterpiece of woven fibreglass built to survive anything!
Bertram has gone by the wayside too these days, it's all about saving a bit of cost and effort in the manufacture and f
king the poor sod who buys it. The worse quality boat I nearly bought (had to reject it) was a Shetland, but I did own a Galia for a while that was total quality, a masterpiece of woven fibreglass built to survive anything!Before the Johnson, my Boss had an Elegance (Built by Horizon Yachts), it was two years old when I got on it, gelcoat cracking everywhere.
First time I tried to do a valve clearance check on one of the generators, I couldn't get the top off the sound box, as they'd pushed the whole unit in under some stairs, and the bolts where under the tread! Ended up cutting the stairs to get the top off.
On the Johnson, they built a step in the engine room close to the plate coolers in front of the engines.
I had to explain to them that the plate coolers expand to twice thier length when the bolts are undone to clean the plates. They had to modify the step so I would be able to dismantle the coolers for cleaning.
Imagine if I hadn't spotted that.
The list is endless.
First time I tried to do a valve clearance check on one of the generators, I couldn't get the top off the sound box, as they'd pushed the whole unit in under some stairs, and the bolts where under the tread! Ended up cutting the stairs to get the top off.
On the Johnson, they built a step in the engine room close to the plate coolers in front of the engines.
I had to explain to them that the plate coolers expand to twice thier length when the bolts are undone to clean the plates. They had to modify the step so I would be able to dismantle the coolers for cleaning.
Imagine if I hadn't spotted that.
The list is endless.
Globs said:
David Pascoe did a review on Taiwanese boats: loads of trouble, generally very serious and built right in so they were virtually unfixable.
Bertram has gone by the wayside too these days, it's all about saving a bit of cost and effort in the manufacture and fking the poor sod who buys it. The worse quality boat I nearly bought (had to reject it) was a Shetland, but I did own a Galia for a while that was total quality, a masterpiece of woven fibreglass built to survive anything!
are the galia's polish built? are they still good quality?Bertram has gone by the wayside too these days, it's all about saving a bit of cost and effort in the manufacture and f
king the poor sod who buys it. The worse quality boat I nearly bought (had to reject it) was a Shetland, but I did own a Galia for a while that was total quality, a masterpiece of woven fibreglass built to survive anything!cabbron said:
Globs said:
David Pascoe did a review on Taiwanese boats: loads of trouble, generally very serious and built right in so they were virtually unfixable.
Bertram has gone by the wayside too these days, it's all about saving a bit of cost and effort in the manufacture and fking the poor sod who buys it. The worse quality boat I nearly bought (had to reject it) was a Shetland, but I did own a Galia for a while that was total quality, a masterpiece of woven fibreglass built to survive anything!
are the galia's polish built? are they still good quality?Bertram has gone by the wayside too these days, it's all about saving a bit of cost and effort in the manufacture and f
king the poor sod who buys it. The worse quality boat I nearly bought (had to reject it) was a Shetland, but I did own a Galia for a while that was total quality, a masterpiece of woven fibreglass built to survive anything!Read David Pascoe's Yachtsurvey.com site to find out what to look for and what to avoid, and maybe buy one of his books. His advice is gold.
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