Cuddy cabin - Chris-Craft & Chapparell info
Discussion
Looking at a couple of options for a small Cuddy cabin boat and have seen both these options advertised locally:
Chaparral 215 (2009)
Chris-Craft Concept 228 (from info I can find online, presumably built in 1991)
Both have good histories, Chris-Craft has had a very recent overhaul and inspection with new engine parts etc, new long range tank
Usage will be entertaining friends, days out exploring/island hopping etc.
I cannot find any decent info online about the Chris-Craft, presumably as it is older than the internet itself!
Does anyone have any experience in either of the above please?
Chaparral 215 (2009)
Chris-Craft Concept 228 (from info I can find online, presumably built in 1991)
Both have good histories, Chris-Craft has had a very recent overhaul and inspection with new engine parts etc, new long range tank
Usage will be entertaining friends, days out exploring/island hopping etc.
I cannot find any decent info online about the Chris-Craft, presumably as it is older than the internet itself!
Does anyone have any experience in either of the above please?
Why do you want an inboard ?
You say you want to buy locally but your island hopping comment through me a bit. Where are you ?
Are you planning on trailoring/marina/mooring ?
Selva have a new outboard range of boats that look interesting. I have no personnel experience of them but the cabins look roomy
http://repository.selvamarine.com/catalogues/en/cr...
I run a Fibrafort that I find very comfy great in the chop and has a good amount of space for a boat of its size. With 4 berths and full camper covers. Even has a seacock (not called mashed Potts).
http://fibrafort.com.br/en/index.php?pg=produtos&a...
You say you want to buy locally but your island hopping comment through me a bit. Where are you ?
Are you planning on trailoring/marina/mooring ?
Selva have a new outboard range of boats that look interesting. I have no personnel experience of them but the cabins look roomy
http://repository.selvamarine.com/catalogues/en/cr...
I run a Fibrafort that I find very comfy great in the chop and has a good amount of space for a boat of its size. With 4 berths and full camper covers. Even has a seacock (not called mashed Potts).
http://fibrafort.com.br/en/index.php?pg=produtos&a...
Mashedpotatoes said:
Why do you want an inboard ?
You say you want to buy locally but your island hopping comment through me a bit. Where are you ?
Are you planning on trailoring/marina/mooring ?
Selva have a new outboard range of boats that look interesting. I have no personnel experience of them but the cabins look roomy
http://repository.selvamarine.com/catalogues/en/cr...
I run a Fibrafort that I find very comfy great in the chop and has a good amount of space for a boat of its size. With 4 berths and full camper covers. Even has a seacock (not called mashed Potts).
http://fibrafort.com.br/en/index.php?pg=produtos&a...
Thanks for the reply.You say you want to buy locally but your island hopping comment through me a bit. Where are you ?
Are you planning on trailoring/marina/mooring ?
Selva have a new outboard range of boats that look interesting. I have no personnel experience of them but the cabins look roomy
http://repository.selvamarine.com/catalogues/en/cr...
I run a Fibrafort that I find very comfy great in the chop and has a good amount of space for a boat of its size. With 4 berths and full camper covers. Even has a seacock (not called mashed Potts).
http://fibrafort.com.br/en/index.php?pg=produtos&a...
I should have said, when I say locally I mean here in Singapore.
The boat will be in a wet berth in a local marina
I had not made a conscious decision on inboard/outboard. Just happens that over the time I have been looking, the boats I have seen in this range (size, price) have all been inboards.
The Fibrafort looks very nice, I have not seen any for sale in Singapore though.
It is made in Brazil and sold under the name Focker. For obvious reasons they renamed it Fibrafort for the European market.
The reasons I prefer out to in are probably arguable so please don't take them as gospel.
Maintenance is cheaper.
Out drives like to bugger up.
One too many holes in the bottom/back of your boat.
What's your budget ?
I will add I am not against inboards I think the chaparral is a beautiful boat. I just think that in the size category you are looking at. You have options that you would not have if you were looking much bigger.
The reasons I prefer out to in are probably arguable so please don't take them as gospel.
Maintenance is cheaper.
Out drives like to bugger up.
One too many holes in the bottom/back of your boat.
What's your budget ?
I will add I am not against inboards I think the chaparral is a beautiful boat. I just think that in the size category you are looking at. You have options that you would not have if you were looking much bigger.
Edited by Mashedpotatoes on Thursday 27th February 08:24
Edited by Mashedpotatoes on Thursday 27th February 08:25
Budget is tiny compared to some of you nautical types! SGD $50k which is £25k, split around $40k for the boat, $5k 1st year moorings, $5k maintenance year 1. Hence looking at older boats. I'm struggling to find good sites/brokers here though, unless there really are not many boats for sale here within the range I'm looking for.
£20k in the uk puts you into a very nice boat. I hear SP has crippling import tax for cars so I'm guessing that will be the same for boats.
Have you looked to see if www.boatshed.com have a SP branch ?
Have you looked to see if www.boatshed.com have a SP branch ?
Yes Singapore has crazy car prices, boat prices do not appear to be affected though. Car pricing is just all about keeping the traffic flowing through a tiny city by putting them out of reach of as many people as possible.
Boatshed.com does not have a Singapore operation unfortunately. Thanks for the Apollo suggestion, I've been on that on and off for a while now but it doesn't seem to be that widely used over here.
Perhaps the issue is that compared to the Singaporean billionaires and their super yachts there's not much scope for your average Joe pootling around the seas in a sub-30ft lunch box!
Boatshed.com does not have a Singapore operation unfortunately. Thanks for the Apollo suggestion, I've been on that on and off for a while now but it doesn't seem to be that widely used over here.
Perhaps the issue is that compared to the Singaporean billionaires and their super yachts there's not much scope for your average Joe pootling around the seas in a sub-30ft lunch box!
The Chaparral you are looking at seems almost like new, very well looked after. It's had 170hrs on the motor which is pretty average for it's age. The outdrives for this model are normally robust, don't worry too much about those.
http://www.asiaboatsale.com/ads/details/1401938466...
Just make sure you get a full survey for the boat. Exhaust manifold/risers do rot on any petrol engined boat, see if these have been sorted.
The ChrisCraft is much older. Unless it's a very well cared for model, I'd prefer to go with the newer one. Old petrol boats should have their own thread on this forum.
http://www.asiaboatsale.com/ads/details/1401938466...
Just make sure you get a full survey for the boat. Exhaust manifold/risers do rot on any petrol engined boat, see if these have been sorted.
The ChrisCraft is much older. Unless it's a very well cared for model, I'd prefer to go with the newer one. Old petrol boats should have their own thread on this forum.
The Chris Craft is a very well looked after boat by all accounts. Owned and run by one of the yacht clubs here. However, having run several old and "very well looked after" cars I think my first foray into boat ownership needs to be somewhat more careful.
Reading up on import costs, there's only a licensing fee, 7% VAT and purchase of any safety equipment that is needed here. So depending on transportation costs, importing could be an option and certainly opens up a lot more choices.
Damn you lot, now I'll be looking all night!
Reading up on import costs, there's only a licensing fee, 7% VAT and purchase of any safety equipment that is needed here. So depending on transportation costs, importing could be an option and certainly opens up a lot more choices.
Damn you lot, now I'll be looking all night!
Mashedpotatoes said:
Find anything ?
I was travelling all last week so hardly had a chance to look, but did have an afternoon in a Four Winns 268 booked for yesterday which was unfortunately cancelled at the last minute. Opening up the search to US/Europe has brought about so many options that I think I need to try a few to see what suits our needs best. Little update on progress so far:
Having looked around, tried a few boats of different sizes (Chaparral cuddy, FW 268, Maxum 25ft) over the last few months I also had to get my PPCDL license to drive a boat within Singapore waters. This, as with most things here, is a slow and laborious process. I registered in March, had my theory and practical lesson in April/May, took my theory test (100% of course!) in July, then practical (100% again, Captain Pugwash here) a couple of weeks back.
Since then my nautical fund has been burning a hole in my pocket, looked at a few boats locally and they are all absolute nails. I cannot believe people try to sell $30-40k items in such bad state of repair, full of years worth of rubbish!
Made the fatal mistake of taking the missus out on a few sea trials, good news is she loves it, bad news is she hated the cuddy. A friend has a Sea Ray 250 EC coming back from refurb in a couple of weeks so looking forward to having a poke around that, could be a nice option.
Anyone here have any experience with mid-90's Sea Rays?
Having looked around, tried a few boats of different sizes (Chaparral cuddy, FW 268, Maxum 25ft) over the last few months I also had to get my PPCDL license to drive a boat within Singapore waters. This, as with most things here, is a slow and laborious process. I registered in March, had my theory and practical lesson in April/May, took my theory test (100% of course!) in July, then practical (100% again, Captain Pugwash here) a couple of weeks back.
Since then my nautical fund has been burning a hole in my pocket, looked at a few boats locally and they are all absolute nails. I cannot believe people try to sell $30-40k items in such bad state of repair, full of years worth of rubbish!
Made the fatal mistake of taking the missus out on a few sea trials, good news is she loves it, bad news is she hated the cuddy. A friend has a Sea Ray 250 EC coming back from refurb in a couple of weeks so looking forward to having a poke around that, could be a nice option.
Anyone here have any experience with mid-90's Sea Rays?
OK a few tips from someone who kept boats in Singapore for a long time and still has a yacht at changi .....
unless you are going to use it every weekend, look at dry storing if its going to be less than 30ft .... (Raffles and Pongol do good deals for this sort of stuff) Otherwise engage the services of a local diver to go down on her bottom (fnar fnar) every week or 2, teh waters in singapore are notorious for weed fouling and teh cost of a diver will be offset by the fuel savings.
If getting an Outboard motor boat, only get Yamaha - its the only one that has a good parts supply on teh island and vaguely competent mechanics ... anything else and they will just bodge !!!
For boats, have a look further afield, Port Dixon, Sebana Cove or Puteri Harbour in Malaysia, or up to Penang / Langkawi and have it road transported down.... alternatively you make a good saving on buying in Australia and having it deck shipped, the whole package probably costing teh same as a locally purchased example but getting something significantly better / maintained properly
If you want i can put you in touch with two mates that should be able to help you in finding teh right boats too, drop me a PM
unless you are going to use it every weekend, look at dry storing if its going to be less than 30ft .... (Raffles and Pongol do good deals for this sort of stuff) Otherwise engage the services of a local diver to go down on her bottom (fnar fnar) every week or 2, teh waters in singapore are notorious for weed fouling and teh cost of a diver will be offset by the fuel savings.
If getting an Outboard motor boat, only get Yamaha - its the only one that has a good parts supply on teh island and vaguely competent mechanics ... anything else and they will just bodge !!!
For boats, have a look further afield, Port Dixon, Sebana Cove or Puteri Harbour in Malaysia, or up to Penang / Langkawi and have it road transported down.... alternatively you make a good saving on buying in Australia and having it deck shipped, the whole package probably costing teh same as a locally purchased example but getting something significantly better / maintained properly
If you want i can put you in touch with two mates that should be able to help you in finding teh right boats too, drop me a PM
To bring a bit of closure to this thread, thought I would update it with my latest progress. Thank you to those of you who offered ideas/advice in this thread 
Having looked at several boats for sale in Singapore and being put off by the s
t state they were all in, I went back to looking abroad specifically Malaysia, Thailand and USA. Best deals as always were on Florida boats and all-in a USD 15k will end up costing around $38k once inspected, shipped, landed, registered and sorted in Singapore. Given the potential pitfalls of buying an unknown boat from thousands of miles away I ran up the old man-maths calculator, increased the budget and bought the nicest boat I could find for (outside) my budget here in Singapore: a very nice, very tidy 2000 Four Winns 268 Vista with a 300 hour Volvo Penta 5.7 Gsi motor.
Owned by a friend who imported it from Florida a year ago, it has had no expense spared in that time, engine has just gone back in following the replacement of belts, flywheel, risers, manifolds and elbows, plus a few other preventative jobs and an oil/filter change. Antifouling has a year left on it which is good as for the next few months it will be wet berthed until my dry stack becomes available.
Plans are to use for island hopping, trips to Indonesia/Malaysia, weekends away, a bit of fishing and general larking about on the water. First decent day out will be in a couple of weeks when we take part in a charity cruise over to one of the islands with some local kids (now then now then) for a beach BBQ.
Couple of bad photos below
Having looked at several boats for sale in Singapore and being put off by the s
t state they were all in, I went back to looking abroad specifically Malaysia, Thailand and USA. Best deals as always were on Florida boats and all-in a USD 15k will end up costing around $38k once inspected, shipped, landed, registered and sorted in Singapore. Given the potential pitfalls of buying an unknown boat from thousands of miles away I ran up the old man-maths calculator, increased the budget and bought the nicest boat I could find for (outside) my budget here in Singapore: a very nice, very tidy 2000 Four Winns 268 Vista with a 300 hour Volvo Penta 5.7 Gsi motor.Owned by a friend who imported it from Florida a year ago, it has had no expense spared in that time, engine has just gone back in following the replacement of belts, flywheel, risers, manifolds and elbows, plus a few other preventative jobs and an oil/filter change. Antifouling has a year left on it which is good as for the next few months it will be wet berthed until my dry stack becomes available.
Plans are to use for island hopping, trips to Indonesia/Malaysia, weekends away, a bit of fishing and general larking about on the water. First decent day out will be in a couple of weeks when we take part in a charity cruise over to one of the islands with some local kids (now then now then) for a beach BBQ.
Couple of bad photos below
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