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Ex-hire boats


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Sorry it's me back again. I'll bugger off and have a coffee soon and leave you in peace.

 

I've been wondering about ex-hire fleet boats. I know they are totally lacking in personality, but an interior re-fit and repaint would sort that out. But I was guessing that the engine and steel work would be well maintained? Or am I being very naive?

 

I haven't really been interested in them as they prioritise the number of berths they can squeeze in and have grim wipe clean interiors. But maybe I'm missing a trick here, given that I'm happy to improve the loveliness for myself. And they do seem usually to have nice bathrooms!

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Some hire companies do not 'cram in as many beds as they can' they work on quality of boat and quality of finish and are in many ways 'ready made private boats'.

 

We had such a boat which was ex-hire Weltonfield boat that was only 6 year old when it was sold out of the fleet.

It was 'Juno' and was simply a permanent 2-berth boat with the ability to convert the settee into another 2-berths (much as any private boat) A solid fuel fire, inverter, bath, eberspacher diesel central heating etc were all fitted so no work needed

We didn't want an empty saloon with just a couple of free standing chairs so the layout was perfect for us.

 

 

Juno in its hire-days :

 

 

 

Screenshot (685).png

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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It helps if you have some knowledge of the hire fleet and how they maintain their boats.  there have been the odd (smaller) hire fleet that I would never consider buying form but did by from anther smaller operator. By and large an ex hire boat is likely to be easer to maintain because they would have been built with access for maintenance in mind.

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It depends on the make of boat/hire company, but generally hire boats have been well looked after and make good liveaboard boats. Some might need some rearranging inside to get it how you want, or a solid fuel stove added if it doesn't have one (mine didn't), but any boat not built to the buyer's spec will likely need a bit of tweaking as you settle into it.

I've had my ex-hire Black Prince boat for 14 years, it had two private owners before me, it's been easy to reconfigure the spaces as my needs have changed over the years, and I love it.

Some hire companies work their boats for many years before selling them on (AngloWelsh, for example) or have thinner steel or through bilges - so potentially need more major maintenance work earlier. But others like mine were built 10:6:4 and are sold to private owners after only a few years service as a hireboat.

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1 hour ago, Jane Cartridge said:

Sorry it's me back again. I'll bugger off and have a coffee soon and leave you in peace.

 

 

No need to apologise: many boat owners love talking about their boats, and expressing views on other people's.

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1 hour ago, Jane Cartridge said:

 I've been wondering about ex-hire fleet boats. I know they are totally lacking in personality, but an interior re-fit and repaint would sort that out. But I was guessing that the engine and steel work would be well maintained? Or am I being very naive?

 

I don't think you will get one in your budget 

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10 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I don't think you will get one in your budget 

 

It might be possible depending on the boat and fleet.  I think Anderson boats flogged a couple last November for around £30-40 grand.

 

I think some hire boats would make great liveaboards, for example four fixed bunks can easily be changed into a workspace/office area with storage and a sofa opposite.  It all depends on your requirements of course

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1 minute ago, cuthound said:

Another alternative to an ex-hire boat is an ex-shareboat.

 

Usually these are closer to a private boat in specification, but have the high usage and maintenance of a hire boat.

 

I don't think I would be so happy maintenance wise with one from a private consortium as opposed to an operating company.

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Most hire boats will have 'cruiser' sterns so that is something to think about, personally I would not choose that for a live aboard as the rear 10 ft of the boat is a cold soggy leaf filled sump in winter. As with any boat if the steelwork is sound then you can proceed to the next step, engine and equipment, that might need a surveyor or an experienced eye, if that's ok then you can look at the interior and see if you can live with it or change it. Good luck, it can be a difficult search.

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1 hour ago, Bee said:

Most hire boats will have 'cruiser' sterns so that is something to think about, personally I would not choose that for a live aboard as the rear 10 ft of the boat is a cold soggy leaf filled sump in winter. As with any boat if the steelwork is sound then you can proceed to the next step, engine and equipment, that might need a surveyor or an experienced eye, if that's ok then you can look at the interior and see if you can live with it or change it. Good luck, it can be a difficult search.

 

Yes but in summer it's a sun filled 10 foot long patio....

  • Greenie 1
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On 06/11/2021 at 11:40, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

 

Juno in its hire-days :

 

 

 

Screenshot (685).png

Cressy came past us last week and looks very smart and modern even now.

 

As an aside, Weltonfield/Hythe is now being sold off, the Haven not for some reason.

Edited by matty40s
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10 hours ago, StephenA said:

 

Yes but in summer it's a sun filled 10 foot long patio....

Great for the three days of English summer every year... 😉

 

Quite a few semi-trads in the hire fleets -- mostly in the "higher-class" (more expensive, better-equipped) ones-- but not many trads.

 

Most hirers want cruiser sterns (patio), some (more familiar with the UK weather) want semi-trad, and very few want trad -- hire fleets just provide what people want, if trads (and semi-trads) were more in demand they'd have more of them.

 

Most ex-hire boats are robustly built and have been designed to be easily maintained (for obvious reasons), and have (mostly) been well looked-after -- all good news for a subsequent buyer 🙂

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