Do we need to justify our spending?
Must we account for every chunk
of money? Sadly, for those of us
of limited means, the answer has
to be yes. It’s a responsible attitude to
finances that helps put us in a position
to buy boats in the first place after all.
But of course, there’s always room for
a little man-maths in the spreadsheet.
For me, several reasons came into
play to justify this move to a (much)
larger and more expensive boat.
On a practical level, after three very
successful years with my Skibsplast
660D, a 21-year-old 21ft cuddy
cabin boat fitted with a single
TAMD 22P 106hp diesel engine,
we were just starting to butt up
against its limitations a little too
often. Something bigger, faster and
newer would broaden our horizons,
metaphorically and literally, giving
us the ability to cruise further faster,
and stay on board when we got there.
On a financial level, due to the
coarse jumps between berth sizes
in my marina, I’m already paying for
an 8m berth. A larger single diesel
shouldn’t cost much more to service,
and it’ll require a bit more antifoul.
We’re not talking quantum leaps incosts here. I figured that an 8m diesel
cruiser would only cost 10-15% more
to run yet offer 100% more ability.
There may be some man-maths at
play here... The final push was the
drop in the interest base rate to
0.25%, swiftly followed by a drop in
savings rates. Suddenly I was getting
0.35% interest on my ISA. £40,000
(my potential new boat fund) was
earning me a frankly insulting £140
a year. What’s the point?
All of the above set the hard points.
The new boat had to be as close
to 8m as possible. I wanted to gain
standing headroom, a separate loo,
a permanent double berth separate
to the dinette and a large single-diesel
engine. It had to be able to reach
over 30 knots, it had to have good
seakeeping and ideally, I wanted to
move the build date circa ten years
on from the Skibsplast. The reason
for this is that this move is likely to
be the last for a very long time. The
Skibsplast still feels like it has plenty
of life in it, so a boat ten years younger
should easily have well over a decade
of use in it. With the budget set at
£30,000-£40,000, it was time to go
boat hunting.New horizons
Our Born Again Boater tells us all about his new toy
Nick tries his best not to look
daunted by his huge new boatJEANNEAU 805 LEADER
Because this boat was such a long-
term project, it absolutely had to be
right – as close to perfect as possible.
Any fundamental compromises had
the potential to annoy me for a long
time. I was in the fortunate position
that the Skibsplast was bought and
paid for and I already had the funds
for the new boat, so I was able to
keep the little boat while I took my
time looking for the new one. A good
job, as it turned out – in fact, it took
nearly a year.
One thing that became immediately
obvious was that many boats of thisMBY ’SFLEET
PRESTIGE 680
ARTEMISIA
MARK WEISS, Marina d’Arechi, ItalyPRINCESS 67
JENNYWREN
MIKE ROTHERY, Sant Carles Marina, SpainDUCHY 27
ALCHEMY
PHYLLIS ROCK, Yarmouth, UKFAIRLINE SQUADRON 78
M ATC H I I
JOHN WOLF, Antibes, FranceFLEMING 65
VENTURE II
PHYLLIS ROCK, Yarmouth, UKSTEELER PANORAMA FF53
SYMPHONY
PETER CHESTER, the NetherlandsFPB 78
GREY WOLF II
PETER WATSON,
Guernsey, Channel IslandsJEANNEAU 805 LEADER
SMUGGLER’S BLUES II
NICK BURNHAM, Torquay, UKPRESTIGE 500S
BREAKING BAD
NIGEL PICKIN, Port Hamble, UKJEANNEAU NC14
DIANA
JOHN BRUNYATE, Port Solent Marina, UKKARNIC BLUEWATER 2250
BOHEMIAN GIRL
HUGO ANDREAE, Poole, UKDALE NELSON CLASSIC 45
ARLETTE
HARRY HORNBY, Badachro, ScotlandPRINCESS 61
B AT E AU 9
HARRY METCALFE,
Port Saint Jean, FranceNORDHAVN 46
ENVOY
LAURIE CRANFIELD, the MedFLEMING 55
P L AY D’ E AU
PIERS DU PRÉ, Guernsey, Channel IslandsPRINCESS 43
SAPPHIRE
GORDON CHRISTIE, Loch Lomond, UKJEANNEAU CAP CAMARAT 625
KIPPER
JACK HAINES, Poole, UKTop tips from real boat owners in the MBY fl eet
OURB OAT S