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Scruffy Dawncraft 25 project boat - Should I buy?


SuperKev

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Hi,

 

My name is Kevin, and I am strongly considering buying a Dawncraft 25 as a weekend cruiser for me and my wife.

 

I have no prior boating experience bar a few trips on a friends narrowboat, but I have good DIY skills, plenty of experience roughing it on camping holidays and a lot of enthusiasm! 

 

The boat in question is currently moored on the Leeds Liverpool canal, which I live a stones throw away from. I have walked past the boat a few times, it looks quite scruffy and unloved, the pram cover is ripped and full of holes, but otherwise intact. Having exchanged a few emails with the owner, he tells me it is a early 1980's build.  He bought it as a project boat himself but could not find the time and now wants rid of it. It has a 8hp Honda Outboard fitted inboard, there are no electrics, some gas pipework but no cooker etc.  Is has a 12 month mooring but this expires at the end of this month (December) . It is licensed to the end of February 19 and the Safety Certificate is valid until September 2022. he is asking £1500
 
I am planning to meet the owner next week and take a look inside. I have multiple concerns & questions.
 
I have read through the CRT website and my interpretation is that I would not inherit the mooring from the seller. Thus I would have a boat with no mooring, and i understand it is not easy to find one in my local area. With the amount of work I expect needs doing, It will likely be 1-2 years before its completed, thus should I try to find another local mooring? I have a large front garden which could accommodate the boat, thus should I have it lifted out of the canal and transported and parked in my garden to make the repair work much more convenient to undertake ? 
 
Any pointers as to what I should look for when I get to see the boat? Any specific questions I should ask? Do boats have such a thing as a service history?
 
Thanks in advance
 
Kevin.
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It depends upon you and how well you know yourself,....and be honest...if you put it on your drive will it get done?....there are a lot of boats on peoples drives slowly rotting away.

 

Find a mooring. Do the bare minimum of work to get the boat moving. Use it, make sure you enjoy boating, and slowly do the restoration work whilst still using the boat...it will take longer but you will be boating.

 

................Dave

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3 minutes ago, SuperKev said:

have read through the CRT website and my interpretation is that I would not inherit the mooring from the seller. Thus I would have a boat with no mooring, and i understand it is not easy to find one in my local area. With the amount of work I expect needs doing, It will likely be 1-2 years before its completed, thus should I try to find another local mooring? I have a large front garden which could accommodate the boat, thus should I have it lifted out of the canal and transported and parked in my garden to make the repair work much more convenient to undertake ? 

Lift it out and take it home.

Leaving it in the canal you will be paying :

 

2 years mooring fees (£3000 + ?)

2 years licence fees (£1000 ?)

2 years insurance (£250 ?)

 

And it will be much easier having power 'alongside' and being able to nip back in to make a brew or get warm.

Being at 'home' you can do an odd hour in an evening without having to take hours getting your tools, wood, screws etc sorted and taken down in the  car - then - Ooops, forgot the saw and have to go back again.

 

 

 

 

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20 minutes ago, SuperKev said:

The boat in question is currently moored on the Leeds Liverpool canal, which I live a stones throw away from. I have walked past the boat a few times, it looks quite scruffy and unloved, the pram cover is ripped and full of holes, but otherwise intact. Having exchanged a few emails with the owner, he tells me it is a early 1980's build.  He bought it as a project boat himself but could not find the time and now wants rid of it. It has a 8hp Honda Outboard fitted inboard, there are no electrics, some gas pipework but no cooker etc.  Is has a 12 month mooring but this expires at the end of this month (December) . It is licensed to the end of February 19 and the Safety Certificate is valid until September 2022. he is asking £1500

Whereabouts on the L&L Kevin?  One of us might know the boat.

 

It sounds like the current owner has removed most of what the BSS checks to make it pass the test, which will be time-consuming and possibly expensive to replace.

 

It sounds pricey for what you are describing - and ignore the licence expiry date as it is not transferable to you - but that might not matter if you are storing it out of the water to do up.

Edited by TheBiscuits
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Welcome to the site.

It would not appeal to me, but I would rather have the money in my account, especially as it is winter.

It might be cheaper to travel from A to B and do BandB as you go rather than trying to make it in to a safe and comfortable home from home.

Edited by LadyG
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13 minutes ago, SuperKev said:

Hi,

 

My name is Kevin, and I am strongly considering buying a Dawncraft 25 as a weekend cruiser for me and my wife.

 

I have no prior boating experience bar a few trips on a friends narrowboat, but I have good DIY skills, plenty of experience roughing it on camping holidays and a lot of enthusiasm! 

 

The boat in question is currently moored on the Leeds Liverpool canal, which I live a stones throw away from. I have walked past the boat a few times, it looks quite scruffy and unloved, the pram cover is ripped and full of holes, but otherwise intact. Having exchanged a few emails with the owner, he tells me it is a early 1980's build.  He bought it as a project boat himself but could not find the time and now wants rid of it. It has a 8hp Honda Outboard fitted inboard, there are no electrics, some gas pipework but no cooker etc.  Is has a 12 month mooring but this expires at the end of this month (December) . It is licensed to the end of February 19 and the Safety Certificate is valid until September 2022. he is asking £1500
 
I am planning to meet the owner next week and take a look inside. I have multiple concerns & questions.
 
I have read through the CRT website and my interpretation is that I would not inherit the mooring from the seller. Thus I would have a boat with no mooring, and i understand it is not easy to find one in my local area. With the amount of work I expect needs doing, It will likely be 1-2 years before its completed, thus should I try to find another local mooring? I have a large front garden which could accommodate the boat, thus should I have it lifted out of the canal and transported and parked in my garden to make the repair work much more convenient to undertake ? 
 
Any pointers as to what I should look for when I get to see the boat? Any specific questions I should ask? Do boats have such a thing as a service history?
 
Thanks in advance
 
Kevin.

It is far from cheap. It will cost quite a lot of dosh to make it nice. The licence is worthless to you as similar to car tax it is non transferable. It would be cheaper to buy a reasonable one in reasonable fettle for about 6/7k?? If you dont have the cash I would save it up over the couple of years you would have this boat stuck in your garden before being able to use it anyway.

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31 minutes ago, SuperKev said:
Do boats have such a thing as a service history?
 

Yes, but by the sound of it this 'abandoned boat' is unlikely to have one.

 

 

So, you have had 3 answers

 

Do it on the water

Do it at home

Forget it and buy one you can use.

 

 

Hope we have all been of some assistance.

 

Note - there are so many GRP 'small boat projects' lying about that have been given up on people are actually paying folks to take them away. Its probably worth £300 for the engine and that's about it.

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My opinion and I would like to stress is only an opinion is:   Dawncraft are more of a floating caravan than a boat. £1500 is a bit dear for a project.

I suggest a Norman 23,a much more substantial boat and plenty available. Many of these are advertised with a trailer so you could take it home if you need to work on it.

Prices vary,but one ready for action shouldn't be much over £3000.

If you google Norman Owners Forum,you will find lots of info on Norman boats and others too.

The above is coloured by the fact that I owned a Norman before my narrowboat,and I have a soft spot for Normans.

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Hi Kev

 

As some have said, that sounds well overpriced, this time of year for a part fitted boat with no services i wouldnt pay more than £500, if its a good engine maybe a bit more but they can be got for a few hundred for an old one. ,Although i paid £150 for mine lol, see what i got for my money above.

 

Well lets say you got it, take it home as again said above, it will save you thousands that could be spent on the boat, i have spent over £5k on fitting mine out and thats a 20 footer, not including tools but i bought a new welder and many  power tools.  I did o OTT on a few things, eg, cleats i could of got for £30 but the ones i chose were £120, but my choice as i liked them and wanted them. Cooker and heating/water etc £1500ish but could of got cheaper.

 

If you want i would be happy to come with you to have a look, dependent on when and where as lots on.  Just love boats. PM me if you want.

 

So to end, Dont pay that, take it home, if you do  it on the canal or yard it is a whole lot less likely to get to finished or take a whole lot longer to finish if interest is not lost in the mean time., and double time to finish ;) and cost ;), 100% IMO no service history with it in the state it sounds to be in. 

 

Wayne

Edited by W+T
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Do us all a favour and burn it where it is. Never going to be worth £1000 even fixed up. 

 

C&RT drag in loads of crap craft like this every year and crush them, they are worthless. He is trying to sell it to you rather than have to pay to get it skipped, if he leaves it till the licence runs out C&RT will try to recover removal costs.

The licence and the mooring are worthless, both are nontransferable. 

All it is fit for is to be dragged behind a new age travellers boat as a butty until it finally gets cracked and sinks when it will be abandoned as a hazard to navigation.

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3 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

Do us all a favour and burn it where it is. Never going to be worth £1000 even fixed up. 

 

C&RT drag in loads of crap craft like this every year and crush them, they are worthless. He is trying to sell it to you rather than have to pay to get it skipped, if he leaves it till the licence runs out C&RT will try to recover removal costs.

The licence and the mooring are worthless, both are nontransferable. 

All it is fit for is to be dragged behind a new age travellers boat as a butty until it finally gets cracked and sinks when it will be abandoned as a hazard to navigation.

I dont what to say to that myself also dont have the time at the minute, and if i did i would be banned from the forum for bad language.

 

 

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2 hours ago, W+T said:

I dont what to say to that myself also dont have the time at the minute, and if i did i would be banned from the forum for bad language.

 

 

Sorry W+T if I offended you, I am aware of the time and effort you have put into your boat and it is a credit to you.

But stepping back from your position for a moment, can you tell be what in my post is not factually correct?

On the moorings I have used both on line and in marinas in the last 30 years I have seen countless numbers of boats similar to the one mentioned abandoned and scrapped.

Whilst cruising I have had to avoid lots of them sunk in the channel, either whole or broken or burnt.

 

Further to this post, there is another post on this forum that may be of more interest.

 

For Sale, Dawncraft Sunseeker 27ft

By 12_Guy_34, May 31 in Boats for Sale 

Edited by Boater Sam
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Hmmm, You could spend a lot, do a lot of work, and at the end of it you could end up with an old boat of not much value. Probably not the best project boat out there unless you have a shed full of stuff waiting to be used on a boat.

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Thanks for the very informative feedback everyone, the advice offered has suggested many different courses of action! There is a consensus that the boat is overpriced at £1500, and is little more than a floating tub.

 

The boat is moored in Parbold and is called Blue Venture. I am planning to take a look at it with the owner next week, if only to get an better idea of its condition, I will point out to him that it is worth very little. 

 

I remain keen on taking on the challenge of a project boat, something that I can put my own stamp on whilst not breaking the bank. I am coming to the end of a lot of big House DIY work and thus am eyeing up my next long term project. I get restless if I don't have something on the go! Perhaps not as extreme as W+T - though I am enjoying reading though the project history of Faffer!.

 

Having read through the forum and looked at many websites selling boats, I cannot find any that sell cheap 'project' boats. The odd one appears at random on Ebay and gumtree. where is the best place to look ? 

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No offence taken, i get what you say about the mooring etc but the boat is worth saving to me and think they should be more often. These boats can be very cheap or as expensive as you want them to be to fix up.  I have seen more than i care to remember as well as owned and sold many to folk that actually did get them back on the water. 

 

Its just me, i see a neglected boat car anything and i would rather renovate than destroy it when it a lot of cases its not needed if the buyer has the ability and funds to do so.  

 

With out seeing the boat that Kev was interested in we cant say much or even set it on fire and scrap it, a lot of these cruisers will polish up well and look so much better with an hour cleaning it. 

 

If the new owner remove dit to a standing or home then there would be no problem with it making the canal look a mess. But then there are so many eyesores about etc etc we will have just to shut up and put up with it i guess, i dont mind them myself as they give the canal character along side all the shiny brigade.

 

7 hours ago, SuperKev said:

Thanks for the very informative feedback everyone, the advice offered has suggested many different courses of action! There is a consensus that the boat is overpriced at £1500, and is little more than a floating tub.

 

The boat is moored in Parbold and is called Blue Venture. I am planning to take a look at it with the owner next week, if only to get an better idea of its condition, I will point out to him that it is worth very little. 

 

I remain keen on taking on the challenge of a project boat, something that I can put my own stamp on whilst not breaking the bank. I am coming to the end of a lot of big House DIY work and thus am eyeing up my next long term project. I get restless if I don't have something on the go! Perhaps not as extreme as W+T - though I am enjoying reading though the project history of Faffer!.

 

Having read through the forum and looked at many websites selling boats, I cannot find any that sell cheap 'project' boats. The odd one appears at random on Ebay and gumtree. where is the best place to look ? 

 

Hi Kev

 

Yes Faffer was a full on project and crazy and thats me saying that but i do like a challenge and find more fun in messing about making and designing things. One thing to remember that is that all project boats like what your after and price are tubs. unless your lucky. If you have a £1.5K budget you should find a good one in a yard or the likes. 

 

I find a lot of boats in yards and marinas, I was over near Hesketh Bank early this year and they had  a few for sale going real cheap, complete on standing for around £500 to cover on paid fees. That is my best port of call for a project.  

 

As said i would of come over but i work long hours during the week and away next weekend for a xmas bash. Ill keep an eye out for you ;)

 

ah yes Facebook groups are good to find a boat. Just a matter of joining a few. 

 

Wayne 

 

found this and could be good. 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24ft-Broad-River-crusier-project-boat/332916802299?hash=item4d836342fb:g:YYUAAOSw5iRcAniD:rk:16:pf:0

 

 

good boats but small cabins  

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Norman-20ft-Cruiser/382643995152?hash=item59175c0210:g:J6kAAOSwn6Jb0inf:rk:38:pf:0

Edited by W+T
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8 minutes ago, W+T said:

That's better than a ripped out tub - if nothing else, you have all the old bulkheads, seats and lockers to use as templates, which saves a lot of messing about with a tickstick or a measure.

 

Twin diesels, so no messing around with petrol on the canal.

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