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Selling a home to live on a boat - does it really stack up?


thenortherner

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On ‎04‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 11:30, thenortherner said:

DIY skills are non existent unfortunately.

12 minutes ago, rasputin said:

but the OP said he had no practical skills...

Agreed - if you are being advised to buy a £7k 'wreck' (and do it up) some DIY skills would come in pretty handy.

 

I find it pays to read the thread first and then contribute.

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11 minutes ago, rasputin said:

but the OP said he had no practical skills...

 

30 minutes ago, happyboris said:

........ he had absolutely no training in boat building or carpentry he learnt as he went along.....

 

It's not rocket surgery, learning new skills and the feeling of self worth from fixing/building things is great. 

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14 minutes ago, rasputin said:

but the OP said he had no practical skills...

It's not for the faint hearted my friend who has converted the dutch barge had no practical skills either, having spent years in IT however with the help of google, a huge amount of optimism and the sometimes ignored advice of friends and colleagues he now has a fantastic boat worth a minimum 0f 120k. I would never advise someone to do anything beyond their abilities however I always advocate that people should push themselves especially in new directions. The guy asked for opinions that is my opinion, you don't need practical skills to spot a bargain like my friend did with the springer and i have done many times in the past. It always annoys me when I meet new boaters who have been fleeced by marinas and yacht brokers if you can keep them out of the boat buying process the boat usually costs loads less.

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1 minute ago, rasputin said:

and you have never seen any body loosing money by buying rubbish and spending a fortune on it because they don't know what they are doing and selling at a huge loss?

Unfortunately I have, every marina has its field where dreams go to die. My father learnt the hard way in that respect when he bought an old wooden boat. A mistake I went on to make myself many years ago I made the mistake because I fell in love with the idea and ignored the realities, it can be a hard learning curve. That is why i would advise anyone who is considering buying a boat to do their homework.

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30 minutes ago, rasputin said:

and you have never seen any body loosing money by buying rubbish and spending a fortune on it because they don't know what they are doing and selling at a huge loss?

...and ever heard of having your house repossessed by the bank? Tens of thousands of families per year have:

http://www.ticfinance.co.uk/how-many-repossessions-uk/

Generally speaking, " buying rubbish and spending a fortune on it because they don't know what they are doing" is going to end in tears no matter what it is you're buying, but the massive burden of debt that most property represents can drag you down to the absolute bottom through no fault of your own and no matter how canny you buy, nothing can ruin a dream like a house and a few bad rolls of the dice can....

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2 hours ago, rasputin said:

but the OP said he had no practical skills...

And presumably no way of properly checking the condition of the hull on a prospective purchase.

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1 minute ago, MJG said:

And presumably no way of properly checking the condition of the hull on a prospective purchase.

In all fairness it isn't rocket science here is a rough guide to hulls.

Wooden don't get involved unless you are an expert with unlimited cash.

Steel unless you are an expert elicit the help of a trusted welder or steel worker generally speaking these people have the equipment to measure thickness and condition of hull then follow their advice

Fibreglass without a doubt the best material for novice boaters and experts alike. A fibreglass boat is virtually indestructible and lasts forever generally speaking the welder steel worker will be able to help choose a fiberglass boat. If you are told doom and gloom stories about osmosis then no longer heed the advice of that particular person.

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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I find it pays to read the thread first and then contribute.

Most definitely.

If you can't trust somebody to do that before giving advice how on earth can you trust the advice they give in the first place.

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9 minutes ago, MJG said:

Most definitely.

If you can't trust somebody to do that before giving advice how on earth can you trust the advice they give in the first place.

You accused me of giving extremely bad advice I am a little unsure why and what the bad advice was I notice you fail to substantiate what you say is it a case of the empty vessel making the most noise? I for one read the original post and commented on that not on the thread itself. The views i gave come from years of experience in small boats I would never knowingly give bad advise and on this particular issue i am right. Can only guess you bough a boat from a broker and paid way too much and now want everyone to do the same. 

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39 minutes ago, happyboris said:

In all fairness it isn't rocket science here is a rough guide to hulls.

Wooden don't get involved unless you are an expert with unlimited cash.

Steel unless you are an expert elicit the help of a trusted welder or steel worker generally speaking these people have the equipment to measure thickness and condition of hull then follow their advice

Fibreglass without a doubt the best material for novice boaters and experts alike. A fibreglass boat is virtually indestructible and lasts forever generally speaking the welder steel worker will be able to help choose a fiberglass boat. If you are told doom and gloom stories about osmosis then no longer heed the advice of that particular person.

I am with you on fibreglass boats I have one and if it had been steel and looked after as little it would have sunk years ago!!

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I never give or take advice, instead I try to provide pros and cons for them to decide or listen to others and decide for myself. I would never say "go for it, you won't regeret it" because they just might. I've always known what I want and pursued it but have experienced others putting their faith in the things I have done without doing any research of their own, naively not realising the cons, which has always made me feel uneasy (blind faith?)

I suppose some people need someone to guide them but just trusting someone is often not enough, that someone may be sincere but may also have a certain naivety (don't we all?) If you take advice you have to be prepared for if it fails to take responsibility for that failure

A dozen pieces of advice and a dozen different answers.

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