Jump to content

What do you think of this boat? (Newbie here)

Indyjanas

By Indyjanas
in New to Boating?

 Share

Featured Posts

Indyjanas Gongoozler

Indyjanas

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

 

I am totally new to this forum (Created my account 5 minutes ago) and if any of you professional cruisers would be kind enough, I'd like to hear your opinion on following boat:

 

http://england.apolloduck.co.uk/feature.phtml?id=481906

 

I already went for a viewing and liked it but will go again and wanted to make sure that I don't forgot to ask anything major, so if you have any suggestion, please let me know.

 

Any info or advice will be well appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Indy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lizzy Collaborator

Lizzy

Posted
Posted

For the money you save by buying a much better boat in the Midlands or up north you can pay somebody to transfer it for you. I would never buy a boat in London unless it comes with a mooring, in which case you pay the premium for the mooring alone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
W+T Influencer

W+T

Posted
Posted

Thanks, those are very nice and the price is more reasonable but it is really far. I am looking for something in London. Or is it easy to get your boat from Stafford to London?

easy as long as you have the cash for transport. or make a good week or so of cruising it, part of the fun with a new boat. most exciting times and one will not forget, .

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Indyjanas Gongoozler

Indyjanas

Posted
  • Author
Posted

For the money you save by buying a much better boat in the Midlands or up north you can pay somebody to transfer it for you. I would never buy a boat in London unless it comes with a mooring, in which case you pay the premium for the mooring alone.

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it. Could you please point out what is wrong with the boat in my original post? I am just trying to understand what to look for/what I missed.

 

Are Camelot and Toby better or in better condition than Wellingtonia or is it just a price that you wouldn't buy it?

 

Also, would anyone know how much roughly it would cost to transfer the boat?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

£32k for a 1977 hull seems one helluvalot of money no matter how nicely its painted and fitted out.

 

Forgive me for being brutal but have you heard that expression about how you can roll a turd in glitter but inside, it's still a... ?

 

On the other hand if the hull really IS good and not been the subject of overplating, then yes it looks a reasonable boat if still a bit pricey. But I bet it's been overplated, which is never good news in my personal opinion!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
OldGoat Veteran II

OldGoatDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Boats in London are invariably overpriced - because folks looking think they come with a de facto mooring - not.

The sellers realising their mistake (london's full up...) then try to recoup some of their costs.

Most folk look at the inside and ignore the outside and mechanicals etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Indyjanas Gongoozler

Indyjanas

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks all,

 

So, ok, how can I tell that the boat is crap before taking it out of water for survey? It seems really expansive to pay for every boat survey that I am interested in buying.

 

For example that Camelot and Toby boats look the same in the inside, worse than Wellingtonia from the outside, they are smaller and there is less info about age and condition (Seems to me), but somehow it seems, at least to The Boater, as a better option. There have to be some indicator for you guys, that you can tell if it is crap or not. I would really need to know what this indicator is before I do some stupid thing and buy a bad boat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

Posted
Posted

It is a truly eye watering price for a boat of that age, (nearly 40 years old), that cannot possibly be justified however many improvements it has had.

 

Absolutely no mention of original hull thicknesses I can see, or current state of the hull. Many boats this age are already either over-plated, or much in need of it.

 

It's an air cooled engine, so the engine can't heat the water, and there is no great evidence that it has any other way of heating water than a Rinnai instantaneous LPG heater.

I would say at least £10,000 over-priced.

For comparison we sold a boat half this age a year or two back for £28,000. It was full 10/6/5 mm steel specification, and passed a hull survey with flying colours with only minimal pitting recorded. None of that is likely to be the case here.

The fact that they have actually said it is over 3 years since it was last blacked isn't a selling point - it points to minimal hull maintenance to me!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

Posted
Posted

Thanks all,

 

So, ok, how can I tell that the boat is crap before taking it out of water for survey? It seems really expansive to pay for every boat survey that I am interested in buying.

 

Do you know the original hull thicknesses of this boat? Does the seller have any survey that has measured it in recent times? (Seems unlikely if it has apparently not been out of the water for 3 years!)

 

Crucially, it it overplated, and if so over what areas, and in what thickness steel? Hard to see any evidence of an overplate in the photos. It is unlikely to have been more than 1/4" (6mm) sides when built, and may well only have been 3/16" (less than 5mm) in parts. If it is still reliant on that 39 year old steel, it is highly unlikely to be those thicknesses all over now, and it may well have very deep pitting. Not blacking for over 3 yeras will not have helped its longevity, particularly if it has been "habitually" looked after in that way.

One worrying point to note in the advert is that it has a portable 3 bar butane heater inside the boat, presumably with a gas bottle inside the boat. Totally against boat safety regs, and a potential bomb. I wouldn't just be walking away, I'd be running a mile.

 

You can have portable appliances actually plumbed into the boats gas plubming, I think, but correct use of a cylinder inside the cabin, (maybe inside the cabinet heater itself) would be a total no no.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PaddingtonBear Rising Star

PaddingtonBear

Posted
Posted

Please note that any survey mentioned was done for and is the property of the vendor and is of absolutely no benefit to you. You should always get a survey done before you start negotiations to buy. It is almost always the case that you can get the costs of a survey back off the purchase price. I concur with all the comments above, all from mightily experienced boat people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bastion Collaborator

bastion

Posted
Posted
OMG I am like John Snow, I know NOTHING!!! Is there any "safe" option to buy a boat? Like some marina where I can call, tell them my budget, tell them what I expect and BAM, here's your boat in a good condition?[/quote

See as many boats as possible to get an idea of what is on the market and then decide what layout suits you, a trip to whilton marina is a good start. And then see as many boats as possible that falls into your requirements. The boat will find you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

 

A portable gas heater ie superser would be an open flued device. Highly dangerous in the confines of a narrowboat, ventilation, carbon monoxide etc. Even if the heater was plumbed in, which wouldn't be allowed under current boat safety regs.

 

 

Sorry but this is plain wrong...

 

An open flue is a 'chimney' type of flue like you have on a Morco or even a solid fuel stove. It's called 'open' because combustion air is drawn from the room so the burners are open to the room atmsphere. The flue gasses pass up the open flue though to outside.

 

The Super Ser type of portable heater is temed "flueless" because it has no flue at all. Far more dangerous as you say, because the burners are gobbling up room oxygen but no fresh air is being drawn into the room from the action of an open flue (as with the Morco for example).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

OMG I am like John Snow, I know NOTHING!!! Is there any "safe" option to buy a boat? Like some marina where I can call, tell them my budget, tell them what I expect and BAM, here's your boat in a good condition?

 

 

Sadly no there isn't. Brokers bring a whole nother set of problems! Have a search for "Whilton" on here and read about their reputation, for example.

 

There are ethical brokers around but they have their stock and it's still up to you as the buyer to assess what you're buying and that only comes from experience.

 

I suggest you buy a cheap boat to start with then figure out all the things wrong with it while you actually use it and get some boating experience under your belt. THEN stump up serious cash for your second boat, chosen once you have a clearer idea of what makes a good boat and a bad boat. (Good and bad being different things to diifferent peeps, naturally!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Exturnaroundman Explorer

Exturnaroundman

Posted
Posted

The point I was making was that it is dangerous, regardless of the correct term. As you say room air is being burnt without fresh air drawn in from the outside, and the "flue" gasses vent into the cabin. Same with cookers of course, which is why lighting a few rings to take the chill off is not really a good idea, but we've probably all done it !

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ssscrudddy Rising Star

Ssscrudddy

Posted
Posted

& as another guide, 3 years ago I paid £40k for a 2007 boat, same size, far better equipped (eg 2.5k combi inverter charger these are about £2.5k new), very well maintained, all receipts & history for all work ever done, with nothing wrong with it at all.

Go look at loads of boats, Whilton is good because they let you poke around on your own.

Similar price, 13 years younger, knowing what Rugby boats (a brokerage) are like, very likely to be a pretty good boat
http://rugbyboats.co.uk/listings/mistweave-56ft-tug-lister-jp2-1990/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.