Think I've finally found my 1st boat

[magnetman]

4 minutes ago, Kris9128 said:

Cheers mate. I think I need to have a think 

My gut is to just get it. But my head says to get the survey, lol

 

I don't think a lot of people would specifically say don't get a survey. Obviously a survey is useful but if it condemns the boat then you have an interesting situation.

 

Either you do a deal or the seller waits for someone who doesn't want to worry about a survey. 

 

 

 

 

[rusty69]

4 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I'm yet another 3rd party insurance advocate..

 

Many (too many) decent boats have been subjected to unnecessary overplating just because the survey man said it was under 4mm. 

 

Not necessary but an inevitable symptom of insurance. 

 

 

 

 

We had a survey done about 5 years ago because I thought we had a serious problem. It turns out we didn't, and the hull was fine, but to secure fully comp insurance had to have various silly alterations made. One was to have the front deck drainage holes welded up. The other was to have the weed hatch height increased. It's now impossible to use. 

 

Previously we were happy with third party insurance, and will revert to third party next time the survey is due. 

 

This is not a recommendation for the OP. I personally, unless you are knowledgeable about boats, or can afford to loose the money, try and get a survey prior to purchase. Granted that may cause you to loose it if someone turns up with a wad of cash and requires no survey. It depends how much risk you are prepared to take, and how confident what you have already seen is a good indication of the overall condition of the boat. 

 

Good luck with what ever decision you make. 

[David Mack]

Allen's yard in Oldbury had a pedigree going back to the days of working boats. I can remember visiting as a child with my parents some time in the 60s and seeing wooden boats being repaired. They made the transition to building fine steel leisure craft, with better looking lines than most other builders. Your boat was probably built by Les Allen's sons Bob and John who I think retired some time in the 90s. The yard soldiered on for a while afterwards, but was eventually turfed out by their landlord who filled in the basins, and I don't think there is much to see now.

A Lister HRW3 will be fine. Plenty of power (the 2 pot version would be sufficient) so you'll be fine on canals and rivers. Slow running with a pleasant engine note, and water cooled so not as noisy as its air-cooled cousins. And keel (or more likely skin tank) cooling so you don't need to worry about weed/rubbish blocking water intakes or draining it down in freezing weather (providing you have sufficient antifreeze).

 

[Liam]

On 13/08/2023 at 20:28, Kris9128 said:

Well my nearest canal is the Bridgewater through Leigh. High probability of running aground on shopping trolleys and burnt out cars. Lol

Nothing to worry about, I've spent the last 13 years pushing them out of the way, deep into the mud! 😀