Thinking of buying a boat - what do I need?

[Jonty355]

Hi guys, I've always been a lover of boats as much as cars but never ventured into ownership - However I'm tempted to change this and buy a small cabin cruiser for the odd family weekend like a 2 or 4 berth.

The only problem is, I have absolutely no idea what so ever to look out for when buying a boat and then what I need to do once I have one? What insurances, licenses, tax's, certificates, and various other boatey things I need to sort.

Also, are they worth having? Has anyone tried having a boat and then regretted it for any reason? Am I better off just sticking to cars and using my parents static caravan?

Cheers
Jonty

[No Bend]

You'll need a boat trailer and a tow car.

And some water.

[Jonty355]

Was thinking of one that stayed in the water rather than faffing about with the trailor etc!

[ecsrobin]

The first thing would be to book yourself on some RYA courses, that will then give you an understanding of what will be required. It is certainly not a cheap toy.

Just as a guide for a 65ft yacht I sail on its £18k per annum just for mooring fees down in the Solent.

[treepke]

Sea, river, canal etc?

[Jonty355]

ecsrobin said:

The first thing would be to book yourself on some RYA courses, that will then give you an understanding of what will be required. It is certainly not a cheap toy.

Just as a guide for a 65ft yacht I sail on its £18k per annum just for mooring fees down in the Solent.

I wasn't thinking of going that big on the boat size but christ! Suddenly a Ferrari seems a little less costly to run!

Maybe I wont bother getting a boat and will buy another car instead.

[ukshooter]

You can get a mooring on the Thames for £1,500-£2,000pa for a 20-24 foot boat.

I had a 55 footer and a 22 footer. I would suggest hiring a boat for a weekend and trying it out. There is a place near Datchet on the Thames that rents everything from a rowing boat to a gin palace

Unless you are going to use one more than 6 weekends a year (probably between April and end September) I wouldn't bother buying.

[Jonty355]

I'd have thought it might actually be even cheaper up north where I am? Everythings cheaper up north!

I work shifts so would be a case of going and staying on it whenever it fitted in with that, so would like to think I'd get plenty of use out of it. I'd been looking at something around the 20ft mark too.

[Simpo Two]

You can't easily trailer over about 24', you don't need an RYA for inland and you're unlikely to be on the Thames. So, ignore all the replies so far and start with Q1: inland or offshore?

Edited by Simpo Two on Saturday 22 August 22:51

[Jonty355]

Inland. Yorkshire area, probably around York.

[Simpo Two]

Jonty355 said:

Inland. Yorkshire area, probably around York.

OK, well it looks like you have lots of choice: http://www.yorkshire.com/what-to-do/outdoors/water...

Find out if the waterways you want to use are narrow (7') or wide (14'+), as that will set the maximum beam you can have.

Q2: Do you prefer a narrowboat (long metal thing) or cruiser (white plastic thing)?

[ecsrobin]

Simpo Two said:

You can't easily trailer over about 24', you don't need an RYA for inland and you're unlikely to be on the Thames. So, ignore all the replies so far and start with Q1: inland or offshore?

Edited by Simpo Two on Saturday 22 August 22:51

However RYA does give you the skills to manouvere a boat and teach you the right way to go about things.

[Simpo Two]

ecsrobin said:

However RYA does give you the skills to manouvere a boat and teach you the right way to go about things.

I looked at the courses available and it's not obvious to me which is appropriate for handling a narrowboat or small cruiser on a canal: http://www.rya.org.uk/coursestraining/exams/Pages/...

[treepke]

Try before you buy I would say. Personally I would go for at least 24' if you decide to buy a cabin cruiser.

[Jonty355]

I've had experience manouvering boats from a rib speedboat up to a large narrowboat. I have a friend that is a powerboat instructor so he gave me some experience with both a while ago.

I'l love a full metal narrowboat but my budget isn't going to stretch to one of those for now as I'd rather have something smaller for now at least to make sure I enjoy it first before getting serious and buying something big.

I've seen a few boats that are in the £4-7k bracket that need tidying up which I'd like the idea of as I can put my own stamp on things.

How often is the water safety certificate required and how much does this cost? Then is it just insurance and mooring fees or do you need river licenses depending on where you go?

[ecsrobin]

Simpo Two said:

ecsrobin said:

However RYA does give you the skills to manouvere a boat and teach you the right way to go about things.

I looked at the courses available and it's not obvious to me which is appropriate for handling a narrowboat or small cruiser on a canal: http://www.rya.org.uk/coursestraining/exams/Pages/...

That's because your looking at exams

How about the inland waterways crew course or the inland waterways helmsmans course? http://www.rya.org.uk/coursestraining/courses/inla...

[treepke]

Jonty355 said:

I've had experience manouvering boats from a rib speedboat up to a large narrowboat. I have a friend that is a powerboat instructor so he gave me some experience with both a while ago.

I'l love a full metal narrowboat but my budget isn't going to stretch to one of those for now as I'd rather have something smaller for now at least to make sure I enjoy it first before getting serious and buying something big.

I've seen a few boats that are in the £4-7k bracket that need tidying up which I'd like the idea of as I can put my own stamp on things.

How often is the water safety certificate required and how much does this cost? Then is it just insurance and mooring fees or do you need river licenses depending on where you go?

You could probably get a decent Birchwood 25 or similar for that money.

Moorings c £1k pa depending where obviously.

Boat safety - every 4yrs..from memory £100ish
Insurance - £100 ish
River license - £250 ish

We bought a 25ft cabin cruiser 1st, used it and put our own mark on it as you intend, and recently bought something bigger and a X between a canal boat / cruiser.

Unfortunately boats do take time and money whether you use them or not but lots cheaper / less stressful than blowing an engine around Thruxton.

[Simpo Two]

If you can cope with a large narrowboat then other options should be easier - though cruisers being taller and lighter are much more affected by wind, and the classic newbie thing is the famous zig-zag as they overcorrect constantly.

£4-7K won't get you a narrowboat but will get you started with a 20-24' cruiser. That will be a good toe in the water (groan) - if you don't it then you haven't lost much; if you do you can open the other piggy bank. Most cruisers that size have outboards but some will have inboard engines. Boats don't keep depreciating like cars, nor do cruisers rust as they're GRP. If the waterway you plan to use has narrow locks (7') then make sure you don't buy anything wider!

The safety test (BSS) is every four years and costs £120-150 for some bod to come on board with a clipboard and poke things.

Other costs:

1) Mooring/marina fees. Usually charged by the foot. There will be cheap places and expensive places; choose what you like best/where is decently convenient to reach by road.

2) River licence. I think your area is managed by the Canal & River Trust https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/boating/licensing - this one may sting a bit; looks like a 24' boat is £514 pa.

3) Insurance. I use www.craftinsure.com - surprisingly cheap.

You can of course look for suitable boats on other waterways, they can easily be trailered overland by people like Tony Tugboats. Simpo's suggests: Freeman 22Mk2 narrowbeam.

ecsrobin said:

That's because your looking at exams

Aha!

Edited by Simpo Two on Sunday 23 August 10:37

[wokkadriver]

Jonty355 said:

Hi guys, I've always been a lover of boats as much as cars but never ventured into ownership - However I'm tempted to change this and buy a small cabin cruiser for the odd family weekend like a 2 or 4 berth.

The only problem is, I have absolutely no idea what so ever to look out for when buying a boat and then what I need to do once I have one? What insurances, licenses, tax's, certificates, and various other boatey things I need to sort.

Also, are they worth having? Has anyone tried having a boat and then regretted it for any reason? Am I better off just sticking to cars and using my parents static caravan?

Cheers
Jonty

If you are thinking about it you can try this handy simulator:

A friend of mine once said that if you want to know what boating is like, stand in your shower fully clothed with the temperature at '0' and burn £50 notes.

[Simpo Two]

wokkadriver said:

A friend of mine once said that if you want to know what boating is like, stand in your shower fully clothed with the temperature at '0' and burn £50 notes.

Yebbut - they weren't doing much in the bank account

My 27' cruiser costs about £2K pa to run - that's river licence, marina fees, insurance and fuel. A shorter boat in a cheaper marina would be less.

If you consider boats totally practically then you will never have one. You don't need it and it costs money. Therefore it makes no sense to get one. It also makes no sense to get a car any bigger than Nissan Virus... but we do...

I say to the OP: Do your research (as you are doing), look at boats for sale in the category you're after (after seeing 10 or more you'll start to have an idea of what's good and what's not), and when or if you're ready to buy, you'll know. If the answer is 'buy' then I suggest you buy from a broker rather than privately, as brokers seem to have the best boats, handle all the paperwork/money for you, and don't charge buyers. I suspect most boats for sale in your area are narrowboats; remember you can seach countrywide as smallish boats can be moved around for a few hundred pounds.

Edited by Simpo Two on Sunday 23 August 22:02