Boats

[Tengu]

Not just any old boat...I mean, the boat I can both afford to learn to use and own.

Lessons can be expensive but Id like to try several different boats...the reason being that I have no idea what vessel I will wangle.

Now I am near the sea there are a mort of boats of all types and inclinations...and you know me, I am pretty good at finding kit. I know there is a boat waiting for me.

However I suspect it will be something gungy fibreglass, and will need doing up...All the more fun.

What do you suggest?

 

[Goatboy]

Join a boating/yacht club. Offer to help crew others boats and get a feel for what you like. You'll also probably get to hear of boats going cheap better that way too.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[andibs]

Depends on what you want or are able to do. I bought a topper topaz only to find that I couldn't take the constant kneeling plus the boom was at teeth height which hurt!! Now got an Enterprise so at least I can sit in relative comfort plus it takes two comfortably.

Have a look on Apollo Duck for types and prices

Alternatively, if you are close to the sea, get a kayak and go rock hopping and camp on a beach.

Andy

 

[bambodoggy]

Sail, steam or paddle?

I think you'd look great on a camo painted jet ski

 

[Quixoticgeek]

What boat depends a lot on where you plan to take it. You mention you're near the sea. Which sea? Boats have historically had regional differences, and this is because of the water they are used on. Do you want to stay on the coast? Do you want to explore up estuary or river? Do you want to take a friend? Sail? Row? fork out on fuel?

The answer to all of these will dictate what boat is most suitable. Tho ultimately, the best boat is most likely the one you have... or can get your hands on.

J

 

[Tengu]

Yup.

The best boat, I think, would be one of those mythical Klepper kayaks which can be paddled acoss the Atlantic and stored under the bed.

And as the matter of seas, I have a rocky Atlantic coast on my right and an estuary on my left...(But I hope to have a changable land locked sea all round me one day.)

A Jet ski would be nice but I rather suspect out of my price range. (I did see one at a car boot once.)

 

[lou1661]

Dont forget, many people define a boat as "a hole in the water that you throw money into" Still, enjoy it if you get one.

 

[santaman2000]

Dont forget, many people define a boat as "a hole in the water that you throw money into" Still, enjoy it if you get one.

Boat is also sometimes thought of as an acronym:
B = bust
O = out
A = another
T = thousand

That said, they're like knives; one is never enough.

 

[boatman]

Sit on top kayak is the most practical and can be sailed. A dinghy is nice and the sort with a built in stern wheel can be handy, small but sailable. Not as good out at sea as the kayak though in my opinion. Of course a touring kayak can be very cheap and is reasonably seaworthy with spray deck. Chap in Falmouth built and uses a dinghy shaped skin on frame boat (hazel and canvas). Must be the cheapest to build and he fishes reasonably far out with it.

 

[bearbait]

Join a boating/yacht club. Offer to help crew others boats and get a feel for what you like. You'll also probably get to hear of boats going cheap better that way too.

Very sound advice.

The sea can be a scary place even when you do know what you're doing and are in a sound and appropriate vessel. As can other bodies of water.

You'll make some new friends too.

 

[bambodoggy]

(I did see one at a car boot once.)

Lol....I'd have been very disappointed if you hadn't

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Dont forget, many people define a boat as "a hole in the water that you throw money into" Still, enjoy it if you get one.

Boat is also sometimes thought of as an acronym:
B = bust
O = out
A = another
T = thousand

That said, they're like knives; one is never enough.

Sailing - Standing i a cold shower tearing up five pound notes...

J

 

[Terry.m.]

As others have suggested, join a club, (get qualified) in whatever class of "boat" Yacht" you want to do. The sea takes no prisoners\\;
I have a sailing boat quite big and I can tell you one thing whatever you want or need doing cost at least 5 times more than anything else you may do.
out side of mooring costs.!
my advise find /make a friend of someone with a boat

 

[boatman]

If you want to experience larger working boats then the Cornish Maritime Trust has restored working sailing boats and in time you can even take them out yourself.
http://www.cornishmaritimetrust.org/

 

[grumit]

If you had been over here would have set you up to try anything from a sit on kayak to a fourty knot rib and small sailing boats from a topper to a hawk twenty I,m an rya instructor and bcu level two coach so get on the water a bit also do some sea fishing in a orkny vanguard

 

[mrcharly]

Not just any old boat...I mean, the boat I can both afford to learn to use and own.

With what aim in mind?

Pottering around a harbour or estuary? A spot of fishing? Exploring rivers? Sailing the ocean blue? Living aboard?

I have a lot of experience of the latter.

 

[Adze]

I wanted a fishing boat a while back and there were a few about which I reckoned were affordable. Fortunately for my wallet the first person I met with a view to buying their boat gave me what I considered to be sage advice regarding the sea and how you should approach it. I'll have to paraphrase as I can't remember his exact words but it was something along the lines of the following:

There are no trails at sea... nor can you make your own. Landmarks are a bit thin on the surface too once you're out of sight, which doesn't have to mean far from shore. A fog can come up in minutes and even as little as a few hundred metres can have you disorientated in short order. "Lost, as in 'Officer have you seen my mommy?".

Dead reckoning will likely have you going in circles very quickly. In short, learn to navigate properly first. Don't just read about it, do the courses and pass the tests. Then invest in the right safety equipment - radio, spare radio, flares, EPIRB/PLB, immersion suit etc. and then see how much you have left over to decide which boat you can now afford.

 

[boatman]

So you gave up and sat on the beach?

 

[Adze]

No not at all. I decided I couldn't afford the fishing boat and bought a canoe.

 

[boatman]

Great, float what one can afford, handle and store.

Worth noting a kindness I experienced today. My dinghy is on a beach and had got a lot of water in it that I was planning to bail out. Visited it today and somebody had set up a plastic pipe as a syphon so it was practically empty.