Discussion
Morning All,
Having just bought a motorbike, it's quite clearly a good idea to purchase a boat for the summer, after doing some man maths with a friend, already having an adequate tow vehicle, we've both decided it's a great idea. (The missus doesn't), but lets not worry about that for the moment as she'll love it if/when we get one.
My friend is fairly well versed on boats/jet skis having owned various ones.
I, am however not so!
We've decided that we want something with an outboard, with a trailer & something powerful enough that it'll tow a boarder/ringo, ideally seat about 5 or so people on board.
We have somewhere to store it & launch it, so it won't be moored anywhere.
We've been looking at Fletchers with a variance of engines on the back.
What are the do's/dont's to look out for, so i'm going into this with my eyes open.
For clarity, we're looking at stuff below £5k & i'm fully aware it'll probable go wrong & bankrupt me eventually...
Having just bought a motorbike, it's quite clearly a good idea to purchase a boat for the summer, after doing some man maths with a friend, already having an adequate tow vehicle, we've both decided it's a great idea. (The missus doesn't), but lets not worry about that for the moment as she'll love it if/when we get one.
My friend is fairly well versed on boats/jet skis having owned various ones.
I, am however not so!
We've decided that we want something with an outboard, with a trailer & something powerful enough that it'll tow a boarder/ringo, ideally seat about 5 or so people on board.
We have somewhere to store it & launch it, so it won't be moored anywhere.
We've been looking at Fletchers with a variance of engines on the back.
What are the do's/dont's to look out for, so i'm going into this with my eyes open.
For clarity, we're looking at stuff below £5k & i'm fully aware it'll probable go wrong & bankrupt me eventually...
I had a 16 foot cabin/fishing boat with a small Yamaha on the back (it was either 10HP or 25HP, I can't remember exactly) and that carried 5 people or would pull a couple of donuts. And it was light enough to be towed by a 1.3l Mk2 escort automatic.
Stylish it was not. Fun it was greatly. And boat, outboard and trailer cost well under £1000 (in about 1995).
Do it. But don't forget the dead man switch and lifejackets
How about something like this?
https://www.gumtree.com/p/boats-kayaks-jet-skis/pi...
Stylish it was not. Fun it was greatly. And boat, outboard and trailer cost well under £1000 (in about 1995).
Do it. But don't forget the dead man switch and lifejackets
How about something like this?
https://www.gumtree.com/p/boats-kayaks-jet-skis/pi...
What you want is a rib,
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AVON-450-ADVENTURE-RIB-...
Light weight, good on the water pretty good on fuel.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AVON-450-ADVENTURE-RIB-...
Light weight, good on the water pretty good on fuel.
Before you go too crazy looking at boats I would suggest you make sure you've accounted for the price of all the required safety gear to go with it. VHF Radio, VHF licence, lifejackets for everyone on board and ideally a flare pack could easily eat up £1k of that. Also insurance is not always legally required depending on where you launch from but I would strongly recommend getting some.
I would then think about where you plan to use it. I'm not an expert but I know a lot of American lake boats don't take too well to the chop in the solent or similar. Personally I would be looking at Ribs, something around 5.4m long with 45-90hp. It's worth remembering that breaking down in a boat is a rather different problem than breaking down in a car, things can get dangerous very quickly. With that in mind I would pick a newer and better maintained smaller boat over a bigger more powerful but older and more dubious boat.
I would then think about where you plan to use it. I'm not an expert but I know a lot of American lake boats don't take too well to the chop in the solent or similar. Personally I would be looking at Ribs, something around 5.4m long with 45-90hp. It's worth remembering that breaking down in a boat is a rather different problem than breaking down in a car, things can get dangerous very quickly. With that in mind I would pick a newer and better maintained smaller boat over a bigger more powerful but older and more dubious boat.
Or keep an emergency 3hp Seagull motor under the seat to save those emergency 3 mile paddles after an all-night fishing/drinking session. I learned the hard way.
I never bothered with radio stuff, just reversed the boat in to the water and then off we went. But I was a carefree 19 year old.
I never bothered with radio stuff, just reversed the boat in to the water and then off we went. But I was a carefree 19 year old.
I started with a Fletcher and it would certainly tick your boxes. Mine was a 16' with a 90hp two stroke on the back, more than powerful enough to pull a skier or ringo. Dead easy to launch and recover, very simple tech and a nice one easily bought in budget.
You can tell straight away if it's been looked after, signs of general abuse are really easy to spot. I'd be careful with the trailer, they're often completely knackered. Assume new bearings or hubs immediately with some new tyres as well. Budget for an engine/trim/steering service too, not that expensive and good for peace of mind. I never bothered with a spare outboard, just a set of oars and an emergency gallon of fuel. Safety kit as others have mentioned of course.
I went from this to a bowrider style as I wanted a bit more cabin room. Not so good in rough weather but these are toys for sunny days!
You can tell straight away if it's been looked after, signs of general abuse are really easy to spot. I'd be careful with the trailer, they're often completely knackered. Assume new bearings or hubs immediately with some new tyres as well. Budget for an engine/trim/steering service too, not that expensive and good for peace of mind. I never bothered with a spare outboard, just a set of oars and an emergency gallon of fuel. Safety kit as others have mentioned of course.
I went from this to a bowrider style as I wanted a bit more cabin room. Not so good in rough weather but these are toys for sunny days!
LFB531 said:
I started with a Fletcher and it would certainly tick your boxes. Mine was a 16' with a 90hp two stroke on the back, more than powerful enough to pull a skier or ringo. Dead easy to launch and recover, very simple tech and a nice one easily bought in budget.
You can tell straight away if it's been looked after, signs of general abuse are really easy to spot. I'd be careful with the trailer, they're often completely knackered. Assume new bearings or hubs immediately with some new tyres as well. Budget for an engine/trim/steering service too, not that expensive and good for peace of mind. I never bothered with a spare outboard, just a set of oars and an emergency gallon of fuel. Safety kit as others have mentioned of course.
I went from this to a bowrider style as I wanted a bit more cabin room. Not so good in rough weather but these are toys for sunny days!
This is exactly the kind of thing we're looking for!You can tell straight away if it's been looked after, signs of general abuse are really easy to spot. I'd be careful with the trailer, they're often completely knackered. Assume new bearings or hubs immediately with some new tyres as well. Budget for an engine/trim/steering service too, not that expensive and good for peace of mind. I never bothered with a spare outboard, just a set of oars and an emergency gallon of fuel. Safety kit as others have mentioned of course.
I went from this to a bowrider style as I wanted a bit more cabin room. Not so good in rough weather but these are toys for sunny days!
Do you mind if i ask how much you paid for it?
theguvernor15 said:
This is exactly the kind of thing we're looking for!
Do you mind if i ask how much you paid for it?
Well I bought it in 2012 for sub £4k off an ebay classified. Sold it in 2015 for a shade more. From memory, the boat was a 90's model but the Fletchers all have a Classic look and condition way more important than age.Do you mind if i ask how much you paid for it?
A quick trawl finds a similar one with a shiny trailer albeit with a 135hp inboard but that's the same motor as in my current boat and easy to look after.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fletcher-17-GTS-speedbo...
and another with an outboard
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPEEDBOAT-16-FLETCHER-A...
Gotta love the retro trim but a lot of fun for the money!
Edited by LFB531 on Friday 4th May 15:57
Where are you based? I’ve got a 17” Picton 166 GTS that will be going up for sale shortly. It’s a 1994 boat with a 1994 Evinrude 70PTT in great condition. I’ve had a mono skier and a wakeboard up at the same time off the ski pole which is no mean feat!
Had new floor finished in non slip gel, fusion marine stereo with 4 6.5” waterproof speakers, nav lights, new steering wheel etc. Last year.
Has swim ladder, twin batteries, 1100gph rulemate bilge pump etc.
On a strong trailer that had new hubs and bearings last year.
I haven’t run it this year but have just done the gear oil, impeller and a new set of spark plugs so she should be ready to go and I’m only looking around half your budget. Only selling as I’ve bought a Bayliner
Had new floor finished in non slip gel, fusion marine stereo with 4 6.5” waterproof speakers, nav lights, new steering wheel etc. Last year.
Has swim ladder, twin batteries, 1100gph rulemate bilge pump etc.
On a strong trailer that had new hubs and bearings last year.
I haven’t run it this year but have just done the gear oil, impeller and a new set of spark plugs so she should be ready to go and I’m only looking around half your budget. Only selling as I’ve bought a Bayliner
LFB531 said:
theguvernor15 said:
This is exactly the kind of thing we're looking for!
Do you mind if i ask how much you paid for it?
Well I bought it in 2012 for sub £4k off an ebay classified. Sold it in 2015 for a shade more. From memory, the boat was a 90's model but the Fletchers all have a Classic look and condition way more important than age.Do you mind if i ask how much you paid for it?
A quick trawl finds a similar one with a shiny trailer albeit with a 135hp inboard but that's the same motor as in my current boat and easy to look after.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fletcher-17-GTS-speedbo...
and another with an outboard
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPEEDBOAT-16-FLETCHER-A...
Gotta love the retro trim but a lot of fun for the money!
Edited by LFB531 on Friday 4th May 15:57
Sorry to jump in on your thread; been looking at similar boats online. Never owned a boat, know they can be ruinous but it seems fun and the kids would love it. What's a typical general yearly running cost for something like these? Again I would store at home to avoid mooring/storage. Appreciate how long is a peace of string but really have no idea what they might cost to run/maintain properly.
Nick_MSM said:
Sorry to jump in on your thread; been looking at similar boats online. Never owned a boat, know they can be ruinous but it seems fun and the kids would love it. What's a typical general yearly running cost for something like these? Again I would store at home to avoid mooring/storage. Appreciate how long is a peace of string but really have no idea what they might cost to run/maintain properly.
I Skipper and maintain a 5m RIB with a 60HP 4 stroke engine for a Yoof charity.It's kept on a all tide mooring in an Essex creek for 8 months of the year and stored ashore on private land over winter. Use of a marina slipway for launch and recovery costs £10 each way, the maintained mooring is a smudge over £500 and insurance is about the same taking the bill so far to just over a grand. Antifouling paint is around £80 every year and engine servicing parts like oil, filters and occasionally new anodes are about £100. We have to replace lifejacket cartridges and flares to keep both in date which averages about £40 each year. I usually stick a new prop on every other year at about £100 a go.
Last winter we had to spend several hundred quid refurbishing the brakes on the trailer as they'd rusted solid through not flushing out after immersion and we've recently had to spend about £300 on parts for the 4HP reserve engine All in time wise,I recon I spend something like 2 whole days every year on maintenance
The engine is still on pretty low hours at just over 300 and nothing - despite the best efforts of hormonally challenged teenagers to Muller it - has broken and run up big bills so far.
We burn anything between 8 to 14 litres an hour so a usual day out with a mix of economical cruise when I'm driving and repeatedly bouncing the engine off the rev limiter when I let the kids have a go usually gets through £60 to £80 worth of fuel.
I have a 5m RIB, my river mooring costs £300 per year, insurance is £120 per year. I work for a marine company, so I can get parts at cost, but a mid sized outboard engine would cost around £200-500 per year to maintain, depending on what needs doing and whether you're doing bits yourself or paying an engineer.
Budget for other parts, like steering, control cables, electronics, props, other bits that may go over the years.
Budget for other parts, like steering, control cables, electronics, props, other bits that may go over the years.
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