enigmatic

Yeah, that might even be the correct answer to 'what is the best type of stern'!

Not sure how evenly the coating would come away which might be the bigger issue. The guy definitely wasn't touting for business when he said he reckoned it'd need grit blasting to get it all off I was happy to redo paintwork in principle (I say, having just put down a deposit on the boat with the best paint job I've seen in my price bracket ) but figured that this might be beyond my DIY skills or patience. That and knowing it was Moroccan and suspected there might be other interesting design choices made (I failed to find the threads about issues linked above but did find someone's rant about the firm that built it conning him) Still, I think if you only care that the metal's protected, the mess that's already there does the trick and the fitout looks fine from outside. Best pay asking price though: they'd already turned down two offers by last Thursday - Speaking of quite a bit of boat for the money, someone with a tolerance for square windows snapped this up from ABNB less than 24 hours after the listing went up http://pdfs.abnb.co.uk/3679abnb.pdf

Yep I actually went to look at this boat. The thick surface coat is peeling away, as you can just about see in the picture, and to his credit the broker said it'll need a bare metal repaint and so we knocked the cost of that off what we'd have sold it for otherwise when I asked how bad it was. On the plus side, it's filled in untidily with paint and so untidy rather than corroded Chatted with the guy in the yard who said there's no chance of a DIY job with an orbital sander, and if I really wanted him to do it I was looking at 12k and an April slot. Someone else was viewing, so I didn't bother hanging around to look inside.

Do you mean #5 (the speculative sale, not the director owned boat that sank)? That's just... weird. That broker actually seemed one of the more professional outfits when I visited them. Was going to suggest another Aqualine Madison on the basis when I visited I said "don't think I'll look at the Aqualine" and the broker said "noone else wants to look at it either" but that's now sold...

Lack of fixed double bed is the only obvious drawback...

True, but I thought brokers actually owning the boat was a rare thing? For every other boat presumably it's extra cash for the crane/slipway, and quite possibly some money for remedial work or blacking.

I'm surprised they're advising against surveys since the boatyard usually makes a bit of extra money on lifting the boat out...

I think this'd be more fun naming the brokers (I'll join in with my own slightly less crazy experiences once I've actually got a deposit down). Will second the bit about ABNB at Crick coming across as a professional outfit, just a bit too efficient at selling their less expensive boats. I imagine the owner of the boat you wanted to buy would be very interested in learning about Broker 5! I saw one boat on the market at 40k at the beginning of the summer and 45k at a different broker a little further south at the end. Did wonder whether it was the existing owner getting fed up with his broker or someone who figured they'd make a profit on a boating holiday!

In the brave new Covid world most brokers seem to be letting you have the keys and wander at will, provided you call in advance, including Whilton. Though Whilton seems to be running out of boats...

There's another one I saw at Braunston that went 'under offer' that's now on sale at Whilton for 2k less with 'recent survey'. Wonder what the original buyer's survey found...

I'd be very wary of a private seller asking for this. I remember the first time I considered canal boats and emailed a little old Scottish widow with a hazy knowledge of UK geography and a Nigerian email account suggested it But yeah, holding deposits are actually a thing with Great Haywood, and possibly other brokers.

It's under offer on their website, so someone did

How much is this on Apollo Duck for?

Funnily enough I saw one that definitely had been a lot longer than three years since blacking (no claim to have epoxied when they did it either) that looked pretty clean later in the day

Continuing the theme of sharing rusty hull photos, any opinions on this one? Asking mainly because I was surprised considering the paintwork and [trad] engine bay are in good condition. ~15year old boat, reputable builder, apparently blacked in 2017 Light rust on bumps and scrapes not too concerning, more questioning the waterline. And yes, I know the correct answer if I decide to get either boat is to get a survey