How to buy a good boat? How do you tell?

[Hessie]

Hi, I'm currently looking to buy my first liveaboard boat and have found one I like but it has a worrying DIY fit out that is causing me some sleepless nights.

 

Is there anything that I should look out for that is not obvious to me but which would ring warning bells to an experienced boater?

 

I have interior pictures but don't know if I am allowed to post them.

 

My price range is around £24'000 so know it will require some work, but I need to be able to live on it immediately and carry out improvements as I go. Oh,I will have a full survey done before I buy any boat, but I don't want to have a survey only to find out there was a glaringly obvious problem that I could have spotted.

 

Anyway I think it's time I forced myself to stop worrying about this and go to sleep.

[saltysplash]

Hi, I'm currently looking to buy my first liveaboard boat and have found one I like but it has a worrying DIY fit out that is causing me some sleepless nights.

 

Is there anything that I should look out for that is not obvious to me but which would ring warning bells to an experienced boater?

 

I have interior pictures but don't know if I am allowed to post them.

 

My price range is around £24'000 so know it will require some work, but I need to be able to live on it immediately and carry out improvements as I go. Oh,I will have a full survey done before I buy any boat, but I don't want to have a survey only to find out there was a glaringly obvious problem that I could have spotted.

 

Anyway I think it's time I forced myself to stop worrying about this and go to sleep.

 

dont worry about the fit out. Its the hull integrity thats important.

If your having a full survey then that should let you know if there are any glaring problems as far as bss safety is concerned. As you already said. you can make interior adjustments as you go.

 

You will have some idea of what you want in a boat so as long as the hull is sound and its utilities are safe then go ahead and enjoy the boating experience.

 

What ever you buy, you will end up changing things and spending money. its the same with buying a house

Edited September 10, 2010 by saltysplash

[ymu]

As said, it's the hull (and engine) that matters. The survey could save you from an expensive mistake, or give you bargaining power to reduce the price for previously unknown but not deallbreaker problems. It's never a waste of money, as long as you're sure the boat is right for you if the survey is fine. We agreed a price with our seller subject to survey, explicitly on the basis that we would renegotiate if there were any previously unknown problems identified by the survey.

 

I don't know what size/age of boat you're looking at, but we bought a perfectly good 1980 65' for £26k. It also has an amateur fit-out - but it's been pretty well done (and we like wonky woodwork, OK ). Needed some better electrics and we'll be putting in a bigger water tank, but that's about it (so far, anyway). The BSS should give you some reassurance that the basics are safe. Make sure you run taps, start the engine from cold, play with the revs, check for overly smoky exhaust and listen to it for a while, check heating systems work, look for signs of leaks, check the bilge hatch for signs of problems under the floor.

 

Ideally, find someone who knows a bit more to check it over for you. There'll be plenty of knowledgeable friendly types hanging around a towpath near you.

[Dekazer]

You could write a book on this, and indeed people have, so you migth feel reassured by looking at getting one. Also, make friends with a boater They're very helpful with stuff like this.

 

When it comes to viewing you're never going to see everything, and experience everything. If it's sunny when you view there's nto an easy way of telling whether the windows leak, but you can be canny and check for things like water staining on walls and curtains. Little things like that can be annoying if you need to liveaboard immediately, especially if it's winter.

 

A survey is a must really, but you seem to know that. I know what you mean about not wanting to pay for a survey to tell you something you could have spotted yourself - they're expensive so you want to be pretty sure.

 

On our boat (for which we paid less than your budget by some distance) there were a few bizarro things that I would NEVER have expected to find. We didn't mind, as we intended to replace so much. I have 2 pieces of advice from our experience.

 

1. When you view, if possible, get behind bath panels, wardrobes, kitchen cupboards etc to see what's going on with all the plumbing, gas and electrics. You need to know if you're going to have to pull the place apart to fix a stupid problem.

 

2. Leave yourself a lot of money to do remedial work. There's nothing wrong with buying a cheap boat - we did! - and half the fun is in fixing things. In fact, it means that you become very intimate with the working systems of your boat, which helps with repair and maintenance. However, I'd say drop your budget to keep some surplus cash (if you haven't already).

 

It's jolly exciting, I do wish you luck. I'm afraid the only folk I know selling boats at the moment are a bit outside your price range but I'm sure you'll find something soon

[boots]

Go and see a lot of boats - we now think back in horror about some of the ones we saw in the early days and considered buying. (oh, and also spent a lot of time on this forum)

[Chris-B]

If it's around the London area I would be prepared to give it a good look over for you

 

Chris

 

edited to add:

Disclaimer

In a personal capacity and not related to the dayjob !

Edited September 10, 2010 by Baldock

[sueb]

Make sure the HOT water system works.

Sue

[Hessie]

If it's around the London area I would be prepared to give it a good look over for you

 

Chris

 

edited to add:

Disclaimer

In a personal capacity and not related to the dayjob !

 

Unfortunately boat in in warwickshire or I would take you up on this. Thanks for the offer though.