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Sailaway lined/additions or 7-10 year old ready made...


Quaysider

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' Evening folks...

 

I'm just wondering if anyone else is either in the same boat (no pun) or have been...

 

We made a plan several years ago, to save up enough money to buy a sail-away to fit out as a live about to take a year off work off, before using it as a B&B in order to be able to afford to live aboard full-time, until I can get hold of my pension. (currently 43)

 

This month, my savings finally hit the 38k required for the sail-away additions from Lymm boat yard so we went for a visit. Having met Chris and looked at a few boats half done, I'm just about ready to commit and place the order... THAT said, having looked around at lots of different boats to get ideas of layouts etc. I've got an urge to buy one already up and running so to speak and perhaps tweak things that don't work for us rather than start from blank.

 

If I place the order, it's likely to be anywhere between 8-12 months until the sail-away is ready for collection which will mean another 8-12k added to the savings.

 

I presume I can't be the only person in this predicament? - what would YOU do?... stick with the plan, buy the sailaway and enjoy spending a couple of years fitting it out or look for an older one that is fully usable from day 1? - I've found a local mooring that I like and also need to toss a coin as to whether to start paying now for an empty bit of quayside or take a gamble they'l have something available when the sail away is ready....

 

My father always advised when you don't know what to do... do nothing... but I can't help but feel I should have made a final decision. by now...

 

 

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Wait the year and spend 48-50! This fits in with your Dad's sage advice and adds the very important "do nothing' option which should be in every spending review. The extra few grand buys a much better boat (well, potentially). So that's Choice #3, stand by for more!

 

 

 

Edited to remove a double post.

Edited by Sea Dog
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I can't say I enjoyed fitting mine out. Others will be along soon to tell you the pitfalls of B&B also if you buy a ready built you can use it now. Do you have the skills required to fit it out?

edit spilling

Edited by ditchcrawler
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A sailaway gives you a brand new hull, no hidden problems....though it will create it's own problems over the course of the build. If you go this way, assuming you have the skills, do it to the RCD, just incase. Ready built is a quick option, easier, but keep savings back for unexpected problems, and expect to want to change to a different boat some time, unless you are really lucky.

The b&b thing....do you mean from your current accommodation or from the boat?

Me, I'd go sailaway, expect a long build, many frustrations, good times, but you know exactly what you have.

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The B & B plan is more of a hotel boat but marketed as "come and share our live aboard life for a while" rather than come as a paying guest.... The house will be rented out to long term tenants.

 

Just to throw the usual damp-squid into the fray :

 

Will your B&B / Guests be recompensing you for providing them with B&B ? (financial, work done in return, paying for fuel etc etc)

If so you are opening up a very different can of worms and need a boat built and inspected and certified to different specifications than a private leisure boat.

You will need a different licence and different insurance as well.

 

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Edited by Alan de Enfield
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We recently picked up our lined additions boat from Chris @ Lymm and are absolutely delighted . Chris and his team are so helpful nothing was to much trouble. we will be retiring on it next May and at the moment are enjoying the fitting out. What I would say is really look at where you want everything but you have plenty of time to decide that and Chris/Steve/mike will go through it with you. We printed some really good plans from pontoon fit out website it helped loads. You could spend 50,000 and still not be happy but with a lined additions what is left to do isn't really that much or if you want it fully fitted have a look at the fully fitted ones at lymm. It really does depend on how hands on you want to and how much money you want to put in !!! One example my wife fitted 24 lights on a 60 ft boat in 30 minutes, so not that difficult .Whatever you decide Good Luck!!!

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In my job it was mainly paper and so I never had a feeling of real achievement, with a sailaway you can look at it when it is done and know that you did it. It is also laid out as you want. It gave me a great sense of achievement.

 

If you go down the sailaway route make sure you get advice about the layout as changing it later is not so easy.

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Just to throw the usual damp-squid into the fray :

Will your B&B / Guests be recompensing you for providing them with B&B ? (financial, work done in return, paying for fuel etc etc)

If so you are opening up a very different can of worms and need a boat built and inspected and certified to different specifications than a private leisure boat.

You will need a different licence and different insurance as well.

 

Yes. The first idea was along those lines... or rather perhaps suggesting cash gifts ... rather than accepting payment if you follow, Having spoken with crt business folk, they pointed out it wasn't worth the risk ... SO to begin with (ie before we begin trading as such) we want a year off as leisure users.... to give time to blog, create some history of the journey and hopefully find customers for the next years cruising. Essentially, we pay a normal licence/insruance until the change of use of the boat. As for differences, whatever boat we end up with will have to made to comply with the differences (the passenger bss stuff) - although there is a bit of ambiguity there, in that I keep being given conflicting advice that if there are to be no more than 12 folk on board, the usual safety stuff IS valid. I wont rest until I get something in writing from crt on that one.

 

The point of being a b and b (with evening meal - and perhaps lunch out) is to create more of a relaxed, equal relationship with any "customers"... NOT providing the usual "afternoon cake" pa-larva etc... to make it more of a Lifestyle share . Basically, "working" enough weeks to cover our annual running/living costs on teh boat.....

 

As for whether my skill set will be enough (retired from IT now and working as a vintage fairground restorer) - lets just say it's improving. I'm ok with plumbing and electric... wood work is ok but I hope to use a proper cabinet maker for things I can't to well - or rather thiings that need to look good. Having a things made peice meal when each months spare salary goes into the bank.

 

Having looked at an awful lot of self fit outs, to be honest, my efforts will be no worse than many lol .

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I looked at lots of second hand boats and my thoughts on each one ranged from it weren't quite right to crumbs uck this is rip out ..then walked onto a lined sailaway and knew thats what I wanted and managed to get one the same guy who not only helped me get a shell but subsequently went on to fit it out with some help as i was able from me. There are some things as Ive used her that I would do different but not enough to want to change her. With a sail away you have that bond with boat..you know where everything runs..and its more yurs if u get my drift. You see boat from start to completion.

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As for differences, whatever boat we end up with will have to made to comply with the differences (the passenger bss stuff) - although there is a bit of ambiguity there, in that I keep being given conflicting advice that if there are to be no more than 12 folk on board, the usual safety stuff IS valid. I wont rest until I get something in writing from crt on that one.

 

 

 

Some of the differences between a private boat and a commercial boat are 'structural' and need to be taken into account during the build - they can be rectified later but at some expense.

A couple of examples :

 

Hull openings ( waste water etc etc) MUST be 10" or more above the water line on a commercial boat, there is no specification on a private boat. (it needs to be this height on a finished and loaded boat - fully fitted out, ballasted, with the number of people on board it is licensed to carry, water and fuel)

There are similar requirements for the weed hatch

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The sailaway option depends a helluva lot on where you live and where the boat is while you are fitting out.

Mine was in the back garden and even with a double garage used as a workshop it was a complete pain at times.

(It wasn't a sailaway - just a bare hull....)

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As for differences, whatever boat we end up with will have to made to comply with the differences (the passenger bss stuff) - although there is a bit of ambiguity there, in that I keep being given conflicting advice that if there are to be no more than 12 folk on board, the usual safety stuff IS valid. I wont rest until I get something in writing from crt on that one.

There's 2 different sets of rules in play here.

 

As far as CRT are concerned, if you are operating a business you need a business licence, and a the higher standard BSS. So when buying/building/fitting out your boat you should aim to comply with the higher BSS requirements from the start, although you only need a business licence when you start to take paying guests.

 

If you are to carry more than 12 passengers (I.e. not including the crew) you get into a whole different regime covering both the boat and its equipment and the qualifications of the staff. These are administered by the Marine and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Canal trip boats carrying more than 12 passengers have to deal with all this, but if you are operating a B&B/hotel boat service, you will surely have way less than 12 passengers, so this shouldn't be a problem for you.

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Or you could buy an up and running B&B type boat. I see Wandering Duck is up for sale http://www.wanderingduck.co.uk/blog/tourism/canal-boat-tour-business-for-sale/

Takara is also for sale, we passed her at Stone last week with a for sale notice in the window http://www.hotelboat.co.uk/

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What cable is required for the wiring of a 13 amp, 240v ac socket?

 

well at home I'd use 2.5m single core but on the boat, get hold of multi-strand stuff .. some argue it should be tinned but having looked the price of that, I doubt many use it.

 

Although, as Eddie says, as far as sockets are concerned, they'll already we wired as per my working plan. The other side (as in 12v to inverter) that will be dependant upon what model I end up buying.

 

I'm not naive - or afraid of hard work and spend most - no... all of my spare time reading, learning and expanding my mind... ok so I can't spell (or type for toffee) but I'm not stupid enough to do stuff that might a) be dangerous or B) I'll make a pigs ear of... that's what professionals are for... I'm happy to pay someone to do stuff I can't/ shouldn't do. ... but like I said, it will have to be bit by bit as the money is earned.

 

I noticed Wandering duck was up for sale - but that's not really what we want to do... I've been working /in business long enough to realise that I dont want the best years of our lives to be used up, just putting money in the bank/paying off the mortgage... I want to live, experience simple pleasures - HAVE time to waste whilst I'm young/fit enough to enjoy and value it. The business side is purely to cover living costs... NOT to make us rich. The tenants will pay off the mortgage (will them and the feed in tarif from the solar panels)... the boat will be bought and paid for before we step foot on it and I hope to have a couple of years mortgage payemtns/living costs in the bank before we begin the adventure proper... - in short, by the time I'm 46, we'll be stepping on to the water to begin the next chapter....

 

If/when it's over - be it down to knackered knees,backs or whatever, we'll come back to the house, flog the boat and live frugally until my pension kicks in.

 

I "think" we're sorted... we're certainly going to be happy for a while anyway.

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Good on you.

 

I was being a little naughty, hence smilie, but it is surprising the number of people that come on hear and say they know what they are doing but obviously do not.

 

Good luck in your venture.

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The business side is purely to cover living costs... NOT to make us rich.

 

On the 'if it looks like a duck, quacks etc...', that's a business. Good luck convincing CRT that it is something else

 

Richard

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nah - we've given up on the idea of trying to persuade them its not a business and will just have to cough up the extra liceense when the time comes... AND have a home mooring which is ridiculous given we intend to live on it and be out 365 days a year...

 

 

WHICH of course means, we'll have to work 6 weeks a year to cover the cost of it being a business but any weeks after, are "ours" to spend on chips/beer and wild women.... (well 2 out of the 3 )....

Edited by Quaysider
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What'll you do with any surplus cash after investing in beer and wild women? Just waste it on frivolous stuff, I'm guessing.

These two George Best stories jump to mind

 

1 - The ultimate laddish tale tells of the night when a waiter delivering champagne to Best's hotel room saw thousands of pounds of casino winnings and the current Miss World both arranged tastefully on the bed.
The scene prompted the legendary question: "Mr Best, where did it all go wrong?"
2 - Best quote - "I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted,"
These came from the BBC so it must be true :-))
Edited by Chewbacka
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