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Some Good News, Some Bad News


Stourbridgeguy

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Well the good news is my budget has doubled, Mother has decided to match my budget as long as I dont borrow any money (i.e. Bank Loan). Now the bad news, I cant seem to find a decent boat for around £20k. Have spent this weekend veiwing 3 boats that sounded great.

 

1st one the owner never showed up for the veiwing :D

 

2nd one looked gr8 in the pics, but the pics must have been taken about 5yrs ago when it was newly painted and the carpets were a sea of dog hair.

 

3rd one turned out to a Springer and not what I was looking for at all.

 

Now for the question asked by my Mother (84yr old) "Is there a place like Car Craft where all these boats are in one place", I trawl the web most days looking at the sites but cant work out if Braunston would be the best place to look. I am based in Stourbridge West Midlands, so the weekend is the only time I get to get out searching.

 

I am looking for a tired cruiser stern as I have a mad cocker who never leaves my side (except to chase chickens), a trad would be no good as I dont want her falling off the stern. Ideal length would be between 35 & 45ft with a fixed double berth (just in case I get lucky :wacko: ).

 

So if any of you kind people point me in the direction of the Car Craft for Boats, or know of a boat that may fill my requirements please feel free to contact me.

 

Take Care

 

Dave

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i think whilton marina have the largest selection of boats for sale you can spend almost all day wandering around them

 

And Crick Marina as well, but perhaps boats of higher prices judging by some they seem to have there, but it's in that neck of the woods so worth a call at least. The backs of the mags have loads of ads for boats at marinas..

 

Nick

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when i was looking to buy a boat i visited whilton marina most weekends, got a good idea of what boats where out there, and prices etc.

 

Also i spent nearly everyday visiting www.moveyourboat.co.uk and boatshopuk.co.uk - along with http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/ and www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/

 

I had a similiar budget to you and i was able to find a suitable boat. - took me sometime searching, but it was worth it in the end.

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I am currently on my second secondhand boat, and whilst searching for them I have paid numerous visits to Whilton who have probably the largest collection of boats in one place. However, neither of my boats came from there as I found the prices higher than I thought reasonable for what was on offer. But don't let that put you off a visit - you may find differently.

 

My first boat came through Castle Marina, Nottingham and the second through Freedom Boats, Macclesfield.

 

Best advice I can give is to go through the magazines, look up the websites, have patience, and be prepared to do a lot of travelling looking at boats that looked good in the ads but turn out to be rubbish. It's also worth contacting the hire companies, as they turn over their fleets regularly and often have ex-hire craft for sale.

 

The only other thing I would say is to 'look beyond the surface'. The boat I bought looked very tired externally, but the interior was OK so I bought it - a coat of paint makes a world of difference!

 

Peter

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Bluewater Marina at Thorne often has very reasonably priced boat.

 

Also, I recall Shire Cruisers are selling one of their smaller boats and they are generally in impeccable condition - so long as you are passionate about the thump of an air cooled Lister.

 

There is a 1991 on e-bay at the moment which looks ok (currently at 18k with a buy it now for 24)

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Are you being extra fussy with a few dog hairs. What would it look like with new carpets and a polish? Don,t restict yourself to just looking at cruiser sterns, your dog won,t be any more likely to fall in on one than say a trad. My dog has fell in from the towpath! Be prepared to travel far and wide, I,m on my third boat and its took 18mth to find her. Happy hunting. :D

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your dog won,t be any more likely to fall in on one than say a trad. My dog has fell in from the towpath!

I would be VERY cautious with a trad boat, although I love them, MY last dog fell off of the roof at the stern end and I never saw him again, a total nightmare, he would of been ok if it had been a cruiser stern. ( when this happened BW staff said they have heard of this happening before) I wouldn't even let my dog stand on the back deck of a trad style 'cos you only have to suddenly move for something and quite innicently knock them in, and not a good place to fall in.

Wendy

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Well the good news is my budget has doubled, Mother has decided to match my budget as long as I dont borrow any money (i.e. Bank Loan). Now the bad news, I cant seem to find a decent boat for around £20k. Have spent this weekend veiwing 3 boats that sounded great.

 

1st one the owner never showed up for the veiwing :D

 

2nd one looked gr8 in the pics, but the pics must have been taken about 5yrs ago when it was newly painted and the carpets were a sea of dog hair.

 

3rd one turned out to a Springer and not what I was looking for at all.

 

Now for the question asked by my Mother (84yr old) "Is there a place like Car Craft where all these boats are in one place", I trawl the web most days looking at the sites but cant work out if Braunston would be the best place to look. I am based in Stourbridge West Midlands, so the weekend is the only time I get to get out searching.

 

I am looking for a tired cruiser stern as I have a mad cocker who never leaves my side (except to chase chickens), a trad would be no good as I dont want her falling off the stern. Ideal length would be between 35 & 45ft with a fixed double berth (just in case I get lucky :wacko: ).

 

So if any of you kind people point me in the direction of the Car Craft for Boats, or know of a boat that may fill my requirements please feel free to contact me.

 

Take Care

 

Dave

 

Have you chatted to boaters along the canals in your area? They often know of boats for sale locally and the pro's/cons of the boat.

I too have a devoted and enthusiatic cocker spaniel. First boat had a cruiser stern, current boat has a trad stern all the falling off to date was from the cruiser stern mainly due to getting carried away at the sight of all those ducks, moorhens etc within tantalising reach. He is now older and wiser! He now wears a harness on the boat as it's better than a collar for fishing him out. Metal pilings and concrete walls make it virtually impossible for the dog to get out and onto the towpath unaided.

Have fun searching!

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My vote's for Sawley Marina too. We went there one weekend when we'd just lost out on a boat we'd wanted, and had already booked the weekend off work! So rather than waste the weekend, we wandered around Sawley Marina, viewed lots of boats both within and out of our pricerange (good for comparisons and nosiness!) and happened to find the boat that we ended up buying! It was cat-hair-tastic and filthy inside, but that ended up being a great bargaining tool in the end. (Hence don't rule out your boat number 2)

 

And the brokers were very helpful in persuading the owner to whittle the price down for us.

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Another idea, have you tried looking at boats slightly above your price bracket and offering what you can afford. I'm not quite ready to buy yet but have been looking at boats for a few months now, some of them have been dropped quite drasticly in price when they have been on the market for a while.

If your looking on Apolloduck they show the dates when the boats were listed to give you an idea how long they have been on the market for.

This could also mean that they are total sheds and thats why they are still on the market but you never know!

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2nd one looked gr8 in the pics, but the pics must have been taken about 5yrs ago when it was newly painted and the carpets were a sea of dog hair.

 

with the budget you've got - you're gonna need to do some work to a boat, so expect there to be work needed. - a lick of paint and a clean out due to a dog doesn't seem to be a big problem.

 

the best advice i was given when i was looking to buy a boat on a budget, was this :: make sure the boat has a solid Hull and a good Engine, the rest is cosmetic. - After all I doubt you'll find a boat in the region of 20K that doesn't need some work to it.

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Another idea, have you tried looking at boats slightly above your price bracket and offering what you can afford.

 

That's what we did! As I've mentioned many a time elsewehere on the forum (sorry to be a bore! :D ), the original asking price for our 65ft-er was just shy of £40k, after two months it was reduced to £37,500 then after another month to £32,500; and we initially offered £25,500 which was accepted. After survey we knocked it down to £23,500 and it too was accepted.

 

The circumstances just happened to be in our favour. We only had £25k max to spend anyway (personal loan!), so had they said no we were prepared to walk away. We were also happy to buy a boat that needed some work done on it. That helps. :wacko: And we weren't in a hurry. That helps too.

 

Beforehand we'd only looked at boats in our price range. But by looking at boats above that, we got more for our money, in the end (and got to get some good layout ideas from the posher boats we viewed!). The only gamble is that the vendor might say no to your offer. What have you lost? Nowt. Go for it, I say!

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Thanks everyone for the advice

 

To those that mentioned the second boat, well it was just shear disappointment really, I did not mind the dog hair so much but every seat had ciggy burns in it, along with the smell. Not to mention it was a little over my budget, it would have needed a gallon of petrol and a match to make it habitable, or the fact that they had a weeks notice of us veiwing.

 

The first guy texted this morning saying he had changed his mind.

 

Oh well, never mind, tomorrow is another day, see what that brings.

 

Take Care

 

Dave

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That's what we did! As I've mentioned many a time elsewehere on the forum (sorry to be a bore! :D ), the original asking price for our 65ft-er was just shy of £40k, after two months it was reduced to £37,500 then after another month to £32,500; and we initially offered £25,500 which was accepted. After survey we knocked it down to £23,500 and it too was accepted.

 

The circumstances just happened to be in our favour. We only had £25k max to spend anyway (personal loan!), so had they said no we were prepared to walk away. We were also happy to buy a boat that needed some work done on it. That helps. :wacko: And we weren't in a hurry. That helps too.

 

Beforehand we'd only looked at boats in our price range. But by looking at boats above that, we got more for our money, in the end (and got to get some good layout ideas from the posher boats we viewed!). The only gamble is that the vendor might say no to your offer. What have you lost? Nowt. Go for it, I say!

That's some price reduction! All I can say is how on earth was it put on the market at the original price? If it was worth anywhere near that there is very little likelihood that the price would have been dropped so far.

 

You must also remember that any broker is acting for the seller. They are paid by the seller, and they are appointed by the seller to act as their agent. That does not mean that they are necessarily out to pull the wool over the buyer's eyes - a hopelessly short term policy that must ultimately blow up in their faces.

 

You get what you pay for in most instances. I am sure there are tales of absolute bargains that people have managed to strike, but in the main, if your budget is £20k then you have got be prepared for something that is probably fairly old (nothing wrong with that necessarily but for God's sake at least have a hull survey) and will also need a good amount of work to bring it up to scratch.

 

I would add that it always pleases me to see a buyer happy with the boat they buy, and in turn that means not accepting every boat on brokerage that I get offered by any means.

 

Good luck with it, but once again, with that sort of budget expect to have to put in a lot of legwork and time before you find the right boat.

 

Dominic

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Is there not a boatfinder facility with brokers? You know the type of thing you contact them and say Im looking for x, y, z and give them a budget and then let them find one for you.

 

If not can I introduce you all to my latest venture, www.ammodels-boatfinder.co.uk

 

:D

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