Another silly question

[Felshampo]

I have just read that the most popular boats are "fifty to fifty seven foot, two plus two, semi-trad or cruiser sterned"

Could someone tell me what two plus two means.

Thanks

Jon

[RLWP]

Four?

 

Richard

[MtB]

I have just read that the most popular boats are "fifty to fifty seven foot, two plus two, semi-trad or cruiser sterned"

Could someone tell me what two plus two means.

Thanks

Jon

 

They were making it up in order to fool you into buying their boat.

 

MtB

[Beaker]

I have just read that the most popular boats are "fifty to fifty seven foot, two plus two, semi-trad or cruiser sterned"

Could someone tell me what two plus two means.

Thanks

Jon

 

One fixed double berth plus one double or two single put-you-ups, eg sofa beds.

Four?

 

Richard

 

This place is full of comedians.

[Athy]

wOW, NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE A mORGAN 4/4 FOUR SEATER ON HERE!

 

FELS, IT MEANS THAT THERE IS ONE PERMANENT DOUBLE BED, PLUS AN ARRANGEMENT (TYPICALLY TWO BENCHES FACING EACH OTHER EITHER ACROSS THE BOAT OR (sorry, caps lock!) fore and aft of a dinIng table, which can be made up into a second bed.

[magnetman]

A 'dinette double' and a fixed double.

Morgan

[RLWP]

I have just read that the most popular boats are "fifty to fifty seven foot, two plus two, semi-trad or cruiser sterned"

Could someone tell me what two plus two means.

Thanks

Jon

 

One thing that the whole message means is look for boats that don't match that description and you'll probably get a better deal

 

Richard

[MtB]

And the OP is best advised to buy the boat he/she likes, not one that will be 'popular' for resale later.

 

It sounds like estate-agent-speak to me. Is it Whilton said this?

 

 

MtB

[Felshampo]

And the OP is best advised to buy the boat he/she likes, not one that will be 'popular' for resale later.

 

It sounds like estate-agent-speak to me. Is it Whilton said this?

 

 

MtB

Its in an article in the Crick Boating Times.

 

Jon

[Phil Ambrose]

You are best of buying a boat that suits you,as has already been said. Don't get bogged down with "he said, she said, they said" Look at plenty of boats, weigh up the pros and cons from your point of view and take it from there.

Here we often have robust discussions as to what is the perfect boat,,,,,,, we all own the perfect boat, end of.

Phil

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

& As above from me as well.

 

Well said Sir Phil,

[Felshampo]

You are best of buying a boat that suits you,as has already been said. Don't get bogged down with "he said, she said, they said" Look at plenty of boats, weigh up the pros and cons from your point of view and take it from there.

Here we often have robust discussions as to what is the perfect boat,,,,,,, we all own the perfect boat, end of.

Phil

Thanks for that. I am not actually looking at buying a boat. Just wanted to know what it means.

Jon

[Paul C]

I have just read that the most popular boats are "fifty to fifty seven foot, two plus two, semi-trad or cruiser sterned"

Could someone tell me what two plus two means.

Thanks

Jon

 

Not sure what they mean by most popular - after all, why would you want something that doesn't quite suit, just for the sake of being popular?

 

However there does seem to be a converse theory that if you buy, or build, a boat with too much 'customisation' and its too far from the average, then it will attract few buyers if/when it does come time to sell - which is something worth taking into account. For example, really unusual layouts, no gas cooker, hydraulic controls instead of tiller, etc.

[Neil2]

The statement is wrong anyway. Trad sterns are most popular.

[Alan de Enfield]

Thanks for that. I am not actually looking at buying a boat. Just wanted to know what it means.

Jon

 

There are only two types of people :

 

Those that have a boat, and those that dont have a boat YET

[Clifford]

57 feet IS a popular length because it is often quoted as the maximum 'go anywhere' length. When we were boathunting we definitely noticed that for boats that were otherwise similar, you boats only a couple of feet shorter OR LONGER than 57 feet were significantly cheaper.

 

If you don't need quite as much as 57 feet, or don't wish to 'go-anywhere' (or are willing to risk trying to shoehorn a sixty footer through Salterhebble locks - plenty of people on here will tell you it's possible) then you can probably save a couple of grand.

 

The 'two plus two' bit is definitely true. Once you get over say 40ft, that really is the most common arrangement. Presumably because most buyers are couples who share a permanent bed, but want a dinette (or sofa, on a shorter boat without a dinette) which will convert to sleep occasionaly visitors.

 

If you want (or will put up with) something less common (say, two permanent bedrooms) then again you may save a bit of money - unless it just happens that there

are competing buyers about at the same time as you who want the same 'something different'.

 

The 'most popular' stern arrangement is likely to raise a storm on here. Liveaboards usually go for trad sterns because they have 'more useful room inside' (I always dispute that for non-BMC boats, because I like being shouted at). But I can definitely say that there was no shortage of trad sterns about when we were buying, despite the 'cruisers and semitrads are more popular' statement you've been given.

 

Stern type is very much a matter of taste. I'm sure you'll just go for the sort you like best after viewing plenty of boats.

 

The least common type, which definitely DOES attract a premium, is the 'really trad' type. For the benefit of new readers, I'll expand a bit. The back ends of these boats mimic the working boats that families used to live on. They have a trad stern, a scumbly back cabin (most often called a boatman's cabin, BMC, to the annoyance of many) and an internal engine room, usually with a big shiny engine that goes thumpa dumpa whumpa and side hatches to show it off to the envious. The BMC has walls 'scumbled' to look nice and grainy, mini range stove, single side bed, dropdown table, dropdown cross double bed, and possibly lots of lace, plates, and brass. These boats usually hve smug-looking men in greasy overalls at the tiller (I wish I was one) but they don't come with the boat when you buy it. On modern boats with these arrangements, fake rivets are optional, If the boat has REAL rivets it may really have been a working boat once.

[MtB]

57 feet IS a popular length because it is often quoted as the maximum 'go anywhere' length. When we were boathunting we definitely noticed that for boats that were otherwise similar, you boats only a couple of feet shorter OR LONGER than 57 feet were significantly cheaper.

 

If you don't need quite as much as 57 feet, or don't wish to 'go-anywhere' (or are willing to risk trying to shoehorn a sixty footer through Salterhebble locks - plenty of people on here will tell you it's possible) then you can probably save a couple of grand.

 

The 'two plus two' bit is definitely true. Once you get over say 40ft, that really is the most common arrangement. Presumably because most buyers are couples who share a permanent bed, but want a dinette (or sofa, on a shorter boat without a dinette) which will convert to sleep occasionaly visitors.

 

If you want (or will put up with) something less common (say, two permanent bedrooms) then again you may save a bit of money - unless it just happens that there

are competing buyers about at the same time as you who want the same 'something different'.

 

The 'most popular' stern arrangement is likely to raise a storm on here. Liveaboards usually go for trad sterns because they have 'more useful room inside' (I always dispute that for non-BMC boats, because I like being shouted at). But I can definitely say that there was no shortage of trad sterns about when we were buying, despite the 'cruisers and semitrads are more popular' statement you've been given.

 

Stern type is very much a matter of taste. I'm sure you'll just go for the sort you like best after viewing plenty of boats.

 

The least common type, which definitely DOES attract a premium, is the 'really trad' type. For the benefit of new readers, I'll expand a bit. The back ends of these boats mimic the working boats that families used to live on. They have a trad stern, a scumbly back cabin (most often called a boatman's cabin, BMC, to the annoyance of many) and an internal engine room, usually with a big shiny engine that goes thumpa dumpa whumpa and side hatches to show it off to the envious. The BMC has walls 'scumbled' to look nice and grainy, mini range stove, single side bed, dropdown table, dropdown cross double bed, and possibly lots of lace, plates, and brass. These boats usually hve smug-looking men in greasy overalls at the tiller (I wish I was one) but they don't come with the boat when you buy it. On modern boats with these arrangements, fake rivets are optional, If the boat has REAL rivets it may really have been a working boat once.

 

IT'S NOT A BMC, IT'S A BACK CABIN!

 

BMC is an engine.

 

MtB

[Paul C]

I did have visions for a moment of a trad boat with an engine room, and sitting low down near the floor, a little BMC 1.5 engine.

[Athy]

I did have visions for a moment of a trad boat with an engine room, and sitting low down near the floor, a little BMC 1.5 engine.

Many a true word spoken in jest. There's a very pretty little French & Peel tug, which seems to be perpetually for sale, which has exactly that.

[Clifford]

I should have put my "BMC=RedRag" warning a bit earlier!

 

Given my recent moan about people stubbornly getting units wrong, I'd better just come quietly and say, "Yes, the proper name is back cabin".

[David Mack]

But surely a Boatman's Cabin (if such a thing existed) would be a BC. BMC would be the abbreviation for a Boat Man's Cabin.

[Ray T]

But surely a Boatman's Cabin (if such a thing existed) would be a BC. BMC would be the abbreviation for a Boat Man's Cabin.

 

Wouldn't it save a lot of arguments to call it a "crew 'ole". Where the engine is, is an engine 'ole, it is not an "engine cabin".

[Starcoaster]

Its in an article in the Crick Boating Times.

 

Jon

 

The Crick Boating Times is a promotional paper for the Crick show, so what's the bet that some builder is flogging boats that very much fit the OP's description at the show?

Edited May 8, 2014 by Starcoaster

[andywatson]

Here we often have robust discussions as to what is the perfect boat,,,,,,, we all own the perfect boat, end of.

Phil

 

My next boat will be the perfect one.

[Clifford]

The 'most popular' boat features deff do NOT add up to the 'perfect boat'.

 

Boats lined in Light Oak veneer with a thick coat of lacquer, millions of 'em. Yuch! Looks like something from the Grauniad "ideal London pad" pullout from twenty years ago.