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Aintree Beetle 25ft or similar - buying a first boat...


boatymcnarrowboat

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Hi,

I've done a few narrowboat holidays and have hankered after one for a good while now.  Ideally I'm looking for something no larger than 30ft but ideally less.

I saw the Aintree Beetle at the boat show last year.  The 25ft 2 berth seems to be just what we're after.  It's priced at £35K.  With the intention of just spending a night or two at a time it'll more than do.  Plus I'm figuring on comparatively low running costs due to it being brand new and pretty tiny - blacking paid for by foot, painting, lack of flash kit in general and a basic fit out, and it should take no time to heat given its size, should point to it being fairly economical to run.  Mooring for £1300 a year has been found, another benefit of its size.

I'd factored a further £1000 a year running costs excluding mooring based on using it once a month or so for a weekend.

I'd looked at older boats up to 30ft but even ones that are 20+ years old are £20K+ and clearly come with associated running costs of an older boat, and it'll be far more dated in terms of fit out.  Given this it follows that I might be able to sell it on in 5 years for at least £25K.

It seems a no-brainer to buy new.

I'd be keen on hearing any feedback on the above comments and whether I'm off the mark with my assumptions.

I'd also be keen on any recommendations other than the Aintree Beetle and if anyone knows roughly what the lead time is on a new Aintree Beetle too.

Thanks

 

 

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These boats don't seem to come onto the market second hand very often, probably because they have only been around for about 4 - 5 years.

I did manage to acquire one just over a year ago. 

Like you, I was considering a standard spec new build 25 footer. It was the minimal maintenance costs and lower mooring fees etc that attracted me.

In the end I got a 30 footer. Somewhat less than new price, and only 21 months old, and I'm really pleased with it.

As an occasional use, weekend, short trip, day boat it's got everything you need. If there's only one or two of you, it should be fine.

The Beta Marine 16 engine is revving fairly hard at cruising speed (1800-1900 rpm), but it is pretty quiet, and at tickover barely audible. It's easy to service yourself too.

Reversing I found difficult to begin with, but ,as with all boats (especially short ones with short swims and eggwhisk propellors) once you have found the knack it can be done given no encumbrances like sidewinds.

The only thing I have had a problem with is the Eberspacher Airtronic  d2 heater, It started to cut out after a few minutes operation. The diagnostic control panel was showing a fault code 31, which pointed to a blower motor failure.  Then came the awkward bit- getting to the heater.  Anybody that has had to remove one of these things to service will be fully aware of the need to be an anorexic double -jointed dwarf.  This is because it is situated in a position restricted by the weedhatch,  stern deck drain tube, and engine silencer.  The motor had failed presumably through lack of use, (the guy I bought it from had only put 121 hours on the engine). And Eberspacher do recommend that you fire these things up once a month all year round. So maybe the bearings collected condensation and rusted? I dunno, anyway it's working again now.

 

Topping up the batteries also requires the services of the aforementioned dwarf with a mirror and a torch!

£2000 a year easily covers my mooring fees, boat licence, insurance and RCR rescue subs  I had her blacked in October and it cost me £350.

So yes, it is what it is, a good little starter boat to pootle about on, and you can turn it around almost anywhere!

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Just now, Tunnelman51 said:

These boats don't seem to come onto the market second hand very often, probably because they have only been around for about 4 - 5 years.

I did manage to acquire one just over a year ago. 

Like you, I was considering a standard spec new build 25 footer. It was the minimal maintenance costs and lower mooring fees etc that attracted me.

In the end I got a 30 footer. Somewhat less than new price, and only 21 months old, and I'm really pleased with it.

As an occasional use, weekend, short trip, day boat it's got everything you need. If there's only one or two of you, it should be fine.

The Beta Marine 16 engine is revving fairly hard at cruising speed (1800-1900 rpm), but it is pretty quiet, and at tickover barely audible. It's easy to service yourself too.

Reversing I found difficult to begin with, but ,as with all boats (especially short ones with short swims and eggwhisk propellors) once you have found the knack it can be done given no encumbrances like sidewinds.

The only thing I have had a problem with is the Eberspacher Airtronic  d2 heater, It started to cut out after a few minutes operation. The diagnostic control panel was showing a fault code 31, which pointed to a blower motor failure.  Then came the awkward bit- getting to the heater.  Anybody that has had to remove one of these things to service will be fully aware of the need to be an anorexic double -jointed dwarf.  This is because it is situated in a position restricted by the weedhatch,  stern deck drain tube, and engine silencer.  The motor had failed presumably through lack of use, (the guy I bought it from had only put 121 hours on the engine). And Eberspacher do recommend that you fire these things up once a month all year round. So maybe the bearings collected condensation and rusted? I dunno, anyway it's working again now.

 

Topping up the batteries also requires the services of the aforementioned dwarf with a mirror and a torch!

£2000 a year easily covers my mooring fees, boat licence, insurance and RCR rescue subs  I had her blacked in October and it cost me £350.

So yes, it is what it is, a good little starter boat to pootle about on, and you can turn it around almost anywhere!

Brilliant.  Many thanks for the detailed reply.

Sounds like you're really enjoying it.  As you say, there's none on the second hand market.  I do intend to haggle a bit though with the price especially because it's out of season.

I've found a mooring for £55 a month, insurance at £18, licence is £56, so £130 PM excluding the cost of blacking / maintenance, which shouldn't be too bad given the size and age of the boat.

Can I ask a couple of 'thick' questions?

Is it possible to connect the boat to a power point at a marina or do you have to run purely off the battery/gas?

When the batteries are fully charged, would they cope with an 

How long do you have to keep the engine running for to get the batteries fully charged?

Assuming you hadn't been running the engine all night, how long would it take for there to be warm water for a shower in the morning?  From what I've read the only way the water is heated is through running the engine - is this right?

Can you run the heater all night without the engine running or will it just take the diesel from the tank?

 

Apologies for so many questions!

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32 minutes ago, boatymcnarrowboat said:

Brilliant.  Many thanks for the detailed reply.

Sounds like you're really enjoying it.  As you say, there's none on the second hand market.  I do intend to haggle a bit though with the price especially because it's out of season.

I've found a mooring for £55 a month, insurance at £18, licence is £56, so £130 PM excluding the cost of blacking / maintenance, which shouldn't be too bad given the size and age of the boat.

Can I ask a couple of 'thick' questions?

Is it possible to connect the boat to a power point at a marina or do you have to run purely off the battery/gas?

When the batteries are fully charged, would they cope with an 

How long do you have to keep the engine running for to get the batteries fully charged?

Assuming you hadn't been running the engine all night, how long would it take for there to be warm water for a shower in the morning?  From what I've read the only way the water is heated is through running the engine - is this right?

Can you run the heater all night without the engine running or will it just take the diesel from the tank?

 

Apologies for so many questions!

Yes you can connect up to shore power to supply the ample provision of twin 230v sockets within the boat. There is also the automatic battery charger/ inverter which puts charge into the batteries, or allows you to 'extract' up to 800 watts of extra 230v from your batteries to boost anything that needs more power than the shoreline provides.

The boat has 2x135 amp/hr batteries. This I reckon gives me about 80amps of actual useable power without getting below the critical 50% state of charge.

I am not quite sure how long the engine needs to run for to achieve absolutely full charge, probably ages, but there is a monitor with 3 red lights on it and when they are all lit up it is supposedly fully charged. There is also a small solar panel putting something in when the sun shines.

I have taken the boat for a six hour cruise, moored it up for the night, gone home, returned the next day (late afternoon) and the water is still hot!

And yes engine heated water is only available.

You can run the heater all night if you want, it does give off a slight 'roar' when on full chat but quietens down when on 'tickover' mode.

Don't worry about emptying your diesel tank, those heaters only consume  about 0.15 to 0.3 of a litre an hour - I would be more concerned with amps consumption from the batteries to run it. This can be anything from 1 to 3 amps per hour. Not excessive, but added to fridge,lights, waterpump etc it all adds up. (All without the engine running of course)

 

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11 hours ago, Tunnelman51 said:

 I am not quite sure how long the engine needs to run for to achieve absolutely full charge, probably ages, but there is a monitor with 3 red lights on it and when they are all lit up it is supposedly fully charged.  

Please don't rely on that to tell you the batteries are fully charged.

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Just now, Tunnelman51 said:

Yes you can connect up to shore power to supply the ample provision of twin 230v sockets within the boat. There is also the automatic battery charger/ inverter which puts charge into the batteries, or allows you to 'extract' up to 800 watts of extra 230v from your batteries to boost anything that needs more power than the shoreline provides.

The boat has 2x135 amp/hr batteries. This I reckon gives me about 80amps of actual useable power without getting below the critical 50% state of charge.

I am not quite sure how long the engine needs to run for to achieve absolutely full charge, probably ages, but there is a monitor with 3 red lights on it and when they are all lit up it is supposedly fully charged. There is also a small solar panel putting something in when the sun shines.

I have taken the boat for a six hour cruise, moored it up for the night, gone home, returned the next day (late afternoon) and the water is still hot!

And yes engine heated water is only available.

You can run the heater all night if you want, it does give off a slight 'roar' when on full chat but quietens down when on 'tickover' mode.

Don't worry about emptying your diesel tank, those heaters only consume  about 0.15 to 0.3 of a litre an hour - I would be more concerned with amps consumption from the batteries to run it. This can be anything from 1 to 3 amps per hour. Not excessive, but added to fridge,lights, waterpump etc it all adds up. (All without the engine running of course)

 

Thanks so much.

I just need to find one for sale now!

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I bought the one that was for sale last year at Pyrford marina as new but for less than today's price.   I have not been far with it yet so cannot help much other than to say that I think they are great value for money, very well built and equipped and  am very pleased I bought it having owned several narrowboats before.   I even bought it without seeing it so as not to  risk missing it, as I don't live near.

Maybe you already joined the Facebook Aintree Beetle owners group?   If not you can get most answers there

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Just now, JamesFrance said:

I bought the one that was for sale last year at Pyrford marina as new but for less than today's price.   I have not been far with it yet so cannot help much other than to say that I think they are great value for money, very well built and equipped and  am very pleased I bought it having owned several narrowboats before.   I even bought it without seeing it so as not to  risk missing it, as I don't live near.

Maybe you already joined the Facebook Aintree Beetle owners group?   If not you can get most answers there

Sounds promising. All positive stuff then!

I've since picked up some leads over potential boats for sale so we'll see how they pan out..

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I've been tempted by these things a few times; the lining looks solid and mellow and they look nicely compact and comfy inside, good use of space etc. Problem is letting go of my Norman cruiser...to be fair the back deck/cockpit space and comfort is a major plus point with my cruiser; on the Aintree Beetle the deck space looks a bit limited (relative to a cruiser stern).

Edited by Philip
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Yes the front and back deck are only 4ft 6in long even with the longer versions so interior space is maximised.   It's deckchairs on the bank and standing with bum resting against the stern rail whilst steering with these boats.   The interior is very solidly built with top quality joinery but I do find the seats/berths rather narrow.

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Grebe was 26 ft and we found her great for day-boating, weekends and holidays up to a couple of weeks.  The secret is making all the spaces work.  A made-up bed wastes a lot of cabin space, however you do have to make up your sleeping arrangement every night.

We were offered a 30ft hull for Grebe at a very good price but decided against it.  At 25ft you can turn a boat anywhwere on most canals - at 30ft you may have to reach a winding hole to turn.

we got £4000 less than we paid for Grebe after 16 years ownership, most of that would be the original VAT

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14 hours ago, Philip said:

Just looking at the plan of all the models of this range, it seems the 35 and 40 foot versions would be the better options for reasonable comfort levels; they have a double bed and as you say the single berths/seats on the '25 do seem very narrow.

It is possible to arrange a different layout if you are having a new build though - as did the previous owners of my 30 footer.

They came up with a very good arrangement incorporating a double bed (converted from the dinette) larger shower room, and much bigger galley. Plenty of room in the bed, but essentially only a two berth boat, although you can accommodate a third person on an air mattress in the corridor outside the shower room.

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