How many boats did you look at.....?

[Paul C]

As some will know, we are seriously considering buying a boat and have been looking at some for sale at nearby marinas. We have heard it said that "the boat finds you" rather than you finding the boat, and went to see one today for the second time, gave it a VERY thorough check over and so far, so good, so now we're getting a little excited about the prospect of boat ownership! (Just the details of the finance to get in place). I've also heard a few stories where people have been looking for months and months and are never quite 100% happy with the ones they look at.

 

So, to those who have purchased their boat and are happy with it, how many boats did you see before you found the right one? How extensively did you travel around to view boats, and how much time did it all take?

[carlt]

First one I looked at, every time bar one when there was a nicer one that I spotted across the other side of the marina. I almost bought both of them.

 

Sometimes I've even paid before viewing and twice I've bought boats, whilst sunk, that I went to refloat for the owner.

 

I'm a typical boater, btw.

[Mac of Cygnet]

I wasn't even thinking of buying a boat (we had a shared boat) but it was love at first sight. So the answers to your questions are: none, 20 miles, a day (a week if you count getting the survey)

 

But that's one extreme - you may get different replies!

 

Edited to reply to Carl

I'm a typical boater, btw.

 

 

Don't be ridiculous!

Edited May 26, 2012 by Mac of Cygnet

[LEO]

Hi,

 

Bought my first boat in 1988, first one I looked at. We kept her until 2005 when a boat with the exact spec. I wanted came up for sale (tug style, 48ft max and with a Gardner engine).

 

We bought her after a struggle, so two boats, two viewings.

 

Leo.

 

PS - did not bother with a survey on either of them! but don't follow my example!

Edited May 26, 2012 by LEO

[Tony Brooks]

I think I looked seriously at two, having looked at a few without any intention of buying, just to get a feel of the market and what was on offer.

 

Th first one I looked at nr London had defiantly been "tarted up" and I did not like the brokers attitude.

 

The second I agreed to purchase after an inspection between hirings. However I knew I wanted an ex hireboat from a reputable fleet, I knew what I considered "must haves" so apart from checking the true condition I could have bought it straight off the Hoseasons brochure.

 

It is probably harder for a vendor or broker to hide things of importance from me compared with many purchasers and I did have a survey to confirm my opinion of the hull. Knowing how the fleets maintain their boats helps with assessing hull condition. In all other respects the survey seemed more an exercise in avoiding issuing a BSS certificate than anything else. I considered the surveyor to be less than competent.

[adam1uk]

We weren't really looking, but saw one on a brokerage website, went to see it, and bought it. Survey happened later that week, and the week after that the boat was ours.

[pete.i]

Hi

I bought Leo's old boat, although, not from him. We looked at a lot of boats on the internet and viewed a couple for real. We saw Keb on the internet and decided there and then that bar any hugely bad faults that was the boat for us. The survey was a good un, the hull had barely deteriorated so Keb was the one we ended up with and very happy with it we are.

 

Pete

[Ray T]

Spent at least 18 months looking for a boat, lost count of the number of marinas in the Midlands we went to. Also visited some of them a several times.

 

We kept coming back to a 45 footer at Calcutt. Not pristine, we didn't want that, but the hull and engine were sound. Bought her in 2009.

 

We then spent £££££'s having her repainted, renamed and throughly over hauled by myself and our "pet" boat yard and she is now OUR boat. Any vestage of a former life has long gone.

Edited May 26, 2012 by Ray T

[Leni]

Knew son wanted another boat (he last owned one several years ago, before he had kids). Saw one on ebay, thought it looked good, made an offer, was accepted, survey (yes, survey ) confirmed it really was as good as it looked, cash handed over, no problems, no searching!

[Chalky]

Went to see about a dozen then found 1 that was superb. Unfortunately next day I had to go to Sweden on business and when I got back it had gone. Ended up buying a sailaway...

[MikeV]

We looked at about 20 new boats at Crick in 2006 and short-listed four builders. We went to see one builder to discuss my proposed layout which I was unsure would work in practice, so sought his advice. He said that before we build it we'll layout it out on the workshop floor in masking tape and then we'll let you know if it works!

 

We then decided that perhaps a second hand boat would be better where we could see what we are getting before we bought it and gain some experience in what works for us. We looked at one boat before seeing and buying Whych Way which we have now owned for 5 years. It was 7 years old when we bought it and was built buy our top choice from what we saw at Crick, but a new boat from this builder at the time would have been beyond our budget.

[the grinch]

having worked in the industry for several years i knew exactly what i wanted visited about 20 builders, then spoke to Tony Matts (my old boss) who said i know someone really good, made contact and it went from there

shell built and dropped in at Market Harborough, towed by hand to foxton and the engine arrived a week later camped in the shell for ages whilst i fitted her out.

[LEO]

Hi

I bought Leo's old boat, although, not from him. We looked at a lot of boats on the internet and viewed a couple for real. We saw Keb on the internet and decided there and then that bar any hugely bad faults that was the boat for us. The survey was a good un, the hull had barely deteriorated so Keb was the one we ended up with and very happy with it we are.

 

Pete

 

Hi Pete,

 

Keb is a 'cracking' boat and we were pleased she eventually ended up in a good home - my wife never really forgave me for selling her - or took to the replacement boat.

 

Hope you are well.

 

Regards all round..

 

Mike.

[Ally]

looked at a few first time round, didn't like any, so built our own. Second time round I bet I looked at 25-30, liked a couple but had a little niggle that I hadn't fallen for them properly...head was ruling heart....then, via the forum, found an unexpected gem of a boat that needed fitting still....which was not my theory at the time, but fell for her the moment I saw her....we live (mostly) very happily together now!

[Mac of Cygnet]

 

shell built and dropped in at Market Harborough, towed by hand to foxton

 

Really???

[Grace and Favour]

We'd looked at hundreds and hundreds of adverts/webverts, viewed half a dozen boats in various corners of the canal system, and then, arranged to view the one we (eventually) bought......

It was in The Czech Republic, and was delivered on a large lorry.

[Timleech]

Really???

 

Why ever not? It's only 5 miles.

I've been involved in many times longer bow-hauling trips than that, in my yoof.

 

Tim

[nicknorman]

Looked at numerous boats over several visits to Whilton and New & Used. They were all too olde worlde for us and definitely like someone had died on them. Most at Whilton had not even been vaguely cleaned inside. After crick we decided that a cheapo new boat could be built to our general style, and nearly went for an Orchard. Finally we saw sense and bought a new boat from Steve Hudson, with which we are delighted and of course it is to our spec inside - bright and airy without a hint of oak or brass anywhere! And definitely no roses and castles...bliss!

[Ange]

We looked at lots and lots of boats! I didn't keep count so can't tell you how many. I suppose it depends on your boating background - we were former hirers who wanted to live the life with no idea of the options available, so we wanted to look at as many boats as possible. We concentrated on brokers mainly because we didn't want to waste the time of private sellers, spent a lot of time at Whilton Marina just getting an idea of what's out there.

 

We also burnt a lot of petrol! We come from Ashford, Kent and that's a long way from most marinas and brokers. I remember one weekend we did the entire M25 to look at 3 boats.

 

As for time, we started looking in April 2008 and bought Iona in October 2008. Best of luck in your quest!

[Circe]

I'd just promised to stop looking at Apolloduck as we really couldn't afford a boat, when one popped up that we just HAD to go and see.

 

It was love at first sight. She still needs a repaint, but she could have been made for us. Third boat we saw - no hesitation, no regrets. She's just lovely.

[little duck!]

Hello, only my third post on here! I am the GF of the OP ( i hope i got the abbrieviations correct!)

It's good to hear that if all goes well the boat could be ours soon. However this is a very long weekend as we can't even think about sorting finance out until tomorrow! Then it will take a good few days anyway. I don't want any one else to beat us to it! Decided if finance doesn't work out right now it's just not meant to be and it meant there is another boat somewhere out there that is waiting for us!

Thanks for all your stories, good to hear!

Little duck!

[Ratzend]

Interesting thread!

 

I really liked the first boat I looked at but thought it probably sensible if I looked at a couple more before making a commitment.

 

Which was good because the second boat I liked more than the first, and the same with the third, fourth and fifth and so on!

 

I have only seen a few so far that didn't tick any boxes but each boat has it's pluses and minuses, I don't know if I am getting nearer the boat I really want or whether it is just my preferences are being guided by the experience of seeing more and more boats, which I suppose would make sense!

 

I am lucky in a way in that I am on my own so I don't have to consider family space etc but at the same time I want as much space to myself as is reasonable.

 

I had a few reasonably firm ideas of what I wanted but they have all gone out of the window and that is making the decision a lot more difficult

 

I decided to be lazy yesterday and went to see a friend who lives in a chalet right on the bank side at Riddlesden, drew up a chair and waited for a flotilla of boats to pass and help me with the aesthetic side of things, I think we saw a total of four boats !!! And two of those were the same widebeam that had gone up and winded !!!

 

So we retired to the Bay Horse where the staff were nice but the service and the food were appalling and only one boat came past which must have been on a hand over from Silsden.

 

By the time I drove back to Liverpool I decided that my ideal boat hasn't been built yet, probably because it would be the size of an Olympic swimming pool

 

So the quest continues, I will be going to Crick and am also spending a few days in London.

 

Having so much freedom of choice is not always a bonus

 

I really hope your arrangements work out for you, I am sure my boat is out there, it's just finding it, and I am not a 'picky' person !!!

[Darren72]

Hello, only my third post on here! I am the GF of the OP ( i hope i got the abbrieviations correct!)

It's good to hear that if all goes well the boat could be ours soon. However this is a very long weekend as we can't even think about sorting finance out until tomorrow! Then it will take a good few days anyway. I don't want any one else to beat us to it! Decided if finance doesn't work out right now it's just not meant to be and it meant there is another boat somewhere out there that is waiting for us!

Thanks for all your stories, good to hear!

Little duck!

I told Paul if its at Swanley or Aqueduct i can take a look and give my thoughts as a different pair of eyes can find something you never did. I ll be out and about on cut jubilee week so get him to PM if he wants any help.

[Dekazer]

When we first decided to move onto a boat we viewed loads. We spent one lovely weekend camping in Daventry, visited all the local brokers and the Braunston show.

However, we decided not to buy until we'd secured a residential mooring. Once we had the mooring, the search was officially on. We loved the first boat we viewed but thought we should be sensible, so viewed several more. But we went back and bought that first boat and we've lived on it for the last 3 years now. Been out cruising today, and we love it as much now as the day we bought it, if not more

 

Enjoy your search!

 

Lucy

[FadeToScarlet]

Although we only properly visited three boats to see if we wanted to buy, and bought the third we saw, we'd done some preliminary work looking around WHilton Marina and other people's boats to see what types we liked, etc.

 

It's perfectly possible to know of ALL the boats that are widely advertised for sale in your price range, prefered size, etc.

 

For example, my partner and I kept a Google spreadsheet with every single boat from Apollo Duck, Boats and Outboards, the brokerage sites, private ads, etc., that we'd seen, with links to where they were advertised. We looked at all the ads, marked the boats out of 10, and went to look at the ones that were 9/10 or higher.

 

We had about 15 boats on our sheet, back in 2008, and although the market is bigger now (it seems), it is still possible to know all of the boats that are for sale that match your criteria, which will help you know which to look at.