The guys at Burton Waters were very effecient given the fact that this was probably a pocketchange compared to the other boats for sale. The bartering went back and forth a bit, the age old 'Ah we had a couple come back today to have another look at the boat' was used by BW, whether this was true or not I'll never know, so my impatience got the better of me and an offer was accepted, £500 less than advertised. A small win, but a win none-the-less.
Two conditions of sale were that I should be able to take the boat out for a sea trial and that the survey should obviously not throw up any issues.
It was all down to the surveyor next. I called up boat surveyors in the vicinity of Ipswhich. I can't remember how much exactly it costs, but it was around the £500 mark. I told the surveyor that I wanted to be there when he surveyed the boat as I was a complete noob, so anything that I could pick up from his years of surveying would be very much appreciated, and of course I would keep out of his way when required, this was agreed upon and was a great reassurance. I recommend doing this to all new boat buyers.
The report came back, everything was fine with only a few suggestions which related to additional jubilee clips on hoses, though nothing to worry about.
Thursday 24 November 2011
Monday 21 November 2011
You're crazy, you don't know how to sail
After we got home, and after I checked my bank balance I headed over to my girlfriend Emma, who also told me I was crazy when I told her I was going to buy a boat called Moonpenny.
It's true, I've never sailed a boat, I've never set foot on a boat apart from Stephs, but my view on life follows along the lines of 'Whats the worst that can happen'. I know myself, I like to learn new things, I like to try out new activities, you have to get a survey done before buying a boat so again 'Whats the worst that can happen'.
Moonpenny was on the market for £10,000 , some people buy cars on credit, and we all know how much cars devalue, well this boat had been around for 27 odd years, I couldn't imagine a boat devaluing much further.
Another thought I had at the time was that until I spent a considerable amount of time sailing, I would have no idea of what makes a good boat, or a bad boat. There's no point buying a boat with lots of fancy toys, only to find out half the boating community hate inmast furling because of their unreliability for example. I knew what I was buying was a simple boat, though it has to be said if I had had just a ounce of knowledge I could have got a boat with more kit on but hey ho. this was a boat for cutting my teeth on and obides by the KISS rule (Keep It Simple Stupid).
On reflection I don't advise anyone to head out and buy the first boat they see with a nice interior. I struck gold when I bought Moonpenny and it could have easily have been a different story now I'm writing this two years later armed with considerably more knowledge than I did back then.
It's true, I've never sailed a boat, I've never set foot on a boat apart from Stephs, but my view on life follows along the lines of 'Whats the worst that can happen'. I know myself, I like to learn new things, I like to try out new activities, you have to get a survey done before buying a boat so again 'Whats the worst that can happen'.
Moonpenny was on the market for £10,000 , some people buy cars on credit, and we all know how much cars devalue, well this boat had been around for 27 odd years, I couldn't imagine a boat devaluing much further.
Another thought I had at the time was that until I spent a considerable amount of time sailing, I would have no idea of what makes a good boat, or a bad boat. There's no point buying a boat with lots of fancy toys, only to find out half the boating community hate inmast furling because of their unreliability for example. I knew what I was buying was a simple boat, though it has to be said if I had had just a ounce of knowledge I could have got a boat with more kit on but hey ho. this was a boat for cutting my teeth on and obides by the KISS rule (Keep It Simple Stupid).
On reflection I don't advise anyone to head out and buy the first boat they see with a nice interior. I struck gold when I bought Moonpenny and it could have easily have been a different story now I'm writing this two years later armed with considerably more knowledge than I did back then.
What made me buy a boat
I arrived back from Zurich 8 months after moving abroad with a company I was working for at the time. Zurich didn't quite do it for me, there's quiet then there's quiet, so I decided to head back to what I knew.
So I'm back in London, spending time at my girlfriends place and my parents. I had a friend of a friend living on a boat in London and decided it was high time me and Ben should go and see her, kestrals packed we went down to the marina and had a great night of beers/bbq and blowdart practice (dont ask)
Tired of living at my parents and not wanting to house share I thought it would be pretty cool to live on a boat. Things seem so simple sometimes to me, I like to think I think in a logical manner which perhaps only makes sense to me. The only thing that holds you back is your own fear. Logically thinking I thought; I like learning new things, I like being outdoors, I've spent a week in Austria in my campervan covered in snow in minus temperatures....heck lets go have a look at a few boats.
So a few weeks later, with permission from the girlfriend, I invited my only boaty friend to come up with me on the back of my motorbike to Ipswich, just to have a look at a few boats. Steph was more than happy to oblige, though 'sailing' through a roundabout thinking we had a green light when infact there were no lights was not my high point, and the trip could easily have stopped there.
Well its true to say I didn't do any research, I couldn't tell the difference between a fin keel or a long keel. The first boat yard was full of wrecks, boats that hadn't seen salt water for about 10 years, with interiors that appeared to have been abandoned in haste. Steph convinced me that that the best boat of a bad bunch was really really bad, so I put my money away..with much annoyance.
The last place we visited was Burton Waters in Ipswich, I had still not bought a boat and felt pretty downtrodden. Like my dad, when I get an idea into my head I can get pretty impatient. Things though suddenly improved when on the hard standing we saw a brown racing boat called Moonpenny. Moonpenny had been standing for 10 years while the owner refitted it, spending copious amounts of money on things that I had no appreciation for at the time. Still it made no real difference, we climbed up and sat down in the boat, I could instantly envision living on Moonpenny, so for me it was a done deal. I took down all the details, we got back on the motorbike and as we sped off I shouted to Steph "I'm going to buy that boat" Steph laughed "YOU'RE CRAZY!!"
So I'm back in London, spending time at my girlfriends place and my parents. I had a friend of a friend living on a boat in London and decided it was high time me and Ben should go and see her, kestrals packed we went down to the marina and had a great night of beers/bbq and blowdart practice (dont ask)
Tired of living at my parents and not wanting to house share I thought it would be pretty cool to live on a boat. Things seem so simple sometimes to me, I like to think I think in a logical manner which perhaps only makes sense to me. The only thing that holds you back is your own fear. Logically thinking I thought; I like learning new things, I like being outdoors, I've spent a week in Austria in my campervan covered in snow in minus temperatures....heck lets go have a look at a few boats.
So a few weeks later, with permission from the girlfriend, I invited my only boaty friend to come up with me on the back of my motorbike to Ipswich, just to have a look at a few boats. Steph was more than happy to oblige, though 'sailing' through a roundabout thinking we had a green light when infact there were no lights was not my high point, and the trip could easily have stopped there.
Well its true to say I didn't do any research, I couldn't tell the difference between a fin keel or a long keel. The first boat yard was full of wrecks, boats that hadn't seen salt water for about 10 years, with interiors that appeared to have been abandoned in haste. Steph convinced me that that the best boat of a bad bunch was really really bad, so I put my money away..with much annoyance.
The last place we visited was Burton Waters in Ipswich, I had still not bought a boat and felt pretty downtrodden. Like my dad, when I get an idea into my head I can get pretty impatient. Things though suddenly improved when on the hard standing we saw a brown racing boat called Moonpenny. Moonpenny had been standing for 10 years while the owner refitted it, spending copious amounts of money on things that I had no appreciation for at the time. Still it made no real difference, we climbed up and sat down in the boat, I could instantly envision living on Moonpenny, so for me it was a done deal. I took down all the details, we got back on the motorbike and as we sped off I shouted to Steph "I'm going to buy that boat" Steph laughed "YOU'RE CRAZY!!"
My Background
I've been working in London as a programmer for various digital agencies since 2004 when I finished uni, its a bit of a w*nky world, long hours, projects with tight deadlines and blue sky thinking.
I spent most of my time in the summer months partying or hitting festivals in my VW T25 Camper, European road trips, snowboarding, kyaking, mountain biking and hiking with my dear old friend Ben and anyone else with a passion for fancy dress and beer. I wasn't always as adventurous as I am now, I think working a 5 days a week infront of a computer mean't that I needed to balance out the monotonous daily grind, festivals combined with road trips have always been a good release after being pent up in a office.
So its fair to say I really enjoy being outdoors and trying new things, coming from a small village I've adapted to city life pretty well, but it's nice to get out sometimes. I've heard many people compare heading out of London back to see the folks like having a heavy weight lifted off their chests, for me it definitely feels this way.
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