is entirely possible to buy and run a thoroughly enjoyable dayboat
on a relatively modest budget. Truth be known, we’ve been running
a boat together since we were teenagers. A small windfall from our
grandfather’s will, himself a keen motor boat owner, enabled us to
buy our fi rst boat together, a faded diarrhoea-coloured 14ft Fletcher
Arrowfl yte with a 60hp Mariner outboard engine and a Perspex
windscreen so crazed, you had to sit on the seat back to see over it.
We cut our teeth on that boat (among other
things) and still have fond memories of
launching it by hand (none of us had a car
with a tow bar), mixing up endless cans of
two-stroke fuel and trying to impress girls
by ostentatiously leaving our boat keys lying
around (it never worked).
When we all got too heavy to ski behind
it, we sold it and bought a Sea Ray 180
with a 150hp Mercury. Eventually even
that gave up the unequal struggle with our
ever-expanding waistlines and families, so we were back on the
boat-buying trail. This time around it needed to be properly
reliable (wives don’t take kindly to being stranded at sea with
babies on board), easy to maintain, large enough to carry eight
in comfort and powerful enough to haul our fast-failing bodies
up on a ski while we were still capable of it.
After many happy hours of research, we settled on a brand new
Karnic 2250 powered by a 200hp Suzuki engine costing around
£35,000 at the time. Outboard power and a self-draining deck
means we can keep it on a cheap tidal swing mooring in Poole.
It can sit on the mud at low tide and all it takes is a quick slosh down
with a bucket of water to keep it vaguely clean. We bought it with
a trailer so we can launch and recover it behind a car and in winter,CHRIS MURRI’m 44 years old, married with one teenage
daughter. We bought our fi rst proper boat
four years ago and truth be told, it was a bit
of a disaster. Constant mechanical problems
meant we didn’t get as much use out of it as
hoped, so two years ago we upgraded.
Our dream boat had always been a Fairline
Turbo 36 so when we spotted a 1989 model
for sale with TBS at Penton Hook, we had to make a cheeky offer
of £48,000 against the asking price of £65,000. It was accepted,
subject to no quibbling over any minor issues found in the survey.
We keep her in Elmhaven Marina on the tidal river Medway. This
gives us easy pontoon berthing and reasonable tidal access other
than at low water, and is a lot more budget friendly than some of
the larger marinas. We are members of the Rochester Cruising Club
and regularly take advantage of its organised cruises, although we
have branched out this year and enjoyed a short solo European cruise.
We average around 125 hours use per year spread over about
40 days. Most of our trips are relatively local runs and with the tidal
river being speed restricted for a lot of its length, fuel costs are fairly
negligible at around 10lph in displacement mode, rising to 60lph
at a gentle cruise. The club sells fuel at near cost price which helps!
We do all the maintenance work ourselves, and there are always
club members on hand to help out with more tricky repairs. We’ve
been lucky not to have had any huge bills yet – I’m a fi rm believer
in regular servicing to try and prevent disasters from happening!
We are on the waiting list for a mooring at the club, which will
signifi cantly bring down our largest ownership cost – berthing
fees. Boating takes up a very large chunk of our spending money,
but gives so much more in return. It gives us a sense of freedom,
lifelong friends, excitement and technical challenges as well as
satisfying that primal desire to just be out on the water.1989 FAIRLINE TURBO 36, UK – £9,850
Contrary to all expectations (well, mine
at any rate), the editor’s role at Motor Boat
& Yachting does not come with a company
boat. This means that, horror of horrors,
I have to pay for my own boating. As
fi rst-world problems go, it’s almost
as undignifi ed as having to turn right
when boarding
an aeroplane. However, with a bit of
ingenuity and some creative negotiations
with my three brothers it turns out that it2006 KARNIC BLUEWATER 2250, UK – £1,132
HUGO ANDREAE
We keep her in Elmhaven Marina on
the tidal river Medway. It’s a lot more
budget friendly than some marinasREAL LIFEChris’s tidy Fairline
Turbo is worth every
penny he spends on itHugo shares the running
costs of the Karnic with
his three brothersA lifting outboard engine
means the boat can sit
on a cheap tidal mooring