[Clearwater boat shell]

Hi all,

 

I have just spoken to Laurie at Clearwater boats about building me a shell as he has a slot soon.

does anyone know how good they are.

 

Regards Neil

hi neil i have had a boat half a boat made by laurie lavender and i am have to take him to court and i can honestly say he is a very bent business man if you could let me no were the shell is being build it would be helpfull he used a john white boat builder on mine . check him and his business partner on company house.

[best boat builders]

can some one recommend some good boat fitters pls

Welcome to the forum

 

Although some shell builders fit out their own shells there are a lot of boat builders that buy in the shell.

 

My boat fitter would actually fit out any shell of your choice but preferred only two.

 

Most shells built in the last ten years will be be built in 10, 6, 5, 4 or 10, 6, 4 that is base, hull side, cabin side, and top.

 

The cost comes in the style and the quality of the build and the attention to detail.

 

This has been discussed a few times so a search of the forum may help. (not easy )

hi were is your boat fitter based ?

i need a fitter near nottingham or north east london to start soon . any help pls . thanks alex

[How do I find a good boat builder?]

We have had two new boats built and, whilst there were minor niggles on both occasions, we were blissfully unaware of the horrors which were befalling some prospective buyers. Without wasting words, I can thoroughly recommend Devizes Narrowboat Builders, run by Tim Wickenden, who pulled all the stops out to fit out 'Batto' for us in 2001, and Mel Davis Boatbuilders, who built 'Trojan's shell and installed her Gardner engine in 2006. Both these concerns were honest, pleasant and almost punctual! DNB just do fit-outs (we used a Liverpool shell) and MDB just do steelwork but can recommend fitters (we used Mark Gravil whose craftsmanship was breathtaking and whose lack of any sense of time was almost as breathtaking, so Fox Boats finished the fit-out very competently and quickly).

hi could you tell me the shell builder pls as aim having one made by john white boats

[Does this seem fairly priced? 1974 46ft £27500]

Hello everyone. I've just joined the site and this is my first post.

 

I've been thinking about getting into the boating lifestyle for a little while and have been more seriously looking at boats for sale over the last month or so. I've been looking on Apollo Duck, eBay, local marina websites, as well as Whilton Marina and Venetian Marina.

 

I'm particularly keen on this boat on Apollo Duck. It's a 1974 46ft cruiser stern, listed at £27500. I've been looking at lots of boats of a similar vintage and size, most of which are priced closer to £20k or in some cases considerably under that. I'm trying to work out why this one is that much higher. I've read the whole of this thread with interest, about offering under the asking price, and am taking some of those points on board. I'd be extremely grateful if anyone on here could have a quick look at the ad and give a quick judgement as to whether they think it's overpriced. A big question for me is why the stern shaft had to be shortened after a recent survey (I confess I don't know yet what this means).

 

I'm not of the mindset of haggling to get the best price possible. I want to pay a fair price, particularly with a view to selling it on in a few years' time and moving on to a bigger boat. I don't want to find that I have to sell for £10k less, say, because I paid far too much initialy.

 

Many thanks to anyone who reads all of this. I realise I'm asking a lot in my first post.

i think the stern shaft connects to the engine shaft and if this was faulty for some reason it could have been putting a lot of vibrations throw the gear box and crank shaft . but it could be fine or have had an engine rebuild witch would explain the price having looked at apollo duck they do bump the prices up a bit as to be expected by a dealer. other reasons for the price increase would be stainless steel tanks alternative heating diesel or gas a lot of high quality batteries and a good inverter like a sterling 1800w pure sine wave or the overall quality of inside and out.