I've finally started to raise some cash towards the boat. I sold my Ham Radio gear the other week, so at last I have a pot of money to spend. Not a lot, but hopefully I might be able to add to that soon. I have a couple of old motorcycles languishing in the garage and I haven't used them since I ended up in hospital a few years back with a pretty serious abdominal condition. Plus the hassle of MOTing, Taxing and insuring a bike these days just takes the fun out of it. So they're for sale. Hopefully I can generate some cash.
The bad news is the March/April cheap period has now virtually petered out and now Easter has come and gone, prices will start to firm up.
From now on bargains will be few and far between. I'll need a little bit of luck from now on.
Monday, 8 April 2013
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Missing the Boat?
I sold some radio equipment back in January on eBay to fund my boat buying. I really wanted the money available by March as that's the month when the market gets a glut of boats as its the time harbour dues and mooring fees become payable.
Prices tend to drop thanks to the increased supply of boats and the eagerness of owners to sell before having to pay the considerable sums to moor or store their boat.
Well, I've been given the run-around by the buyer, first bemoaning the fact that I'm over 200 miles away from him (when the item was clearly described as cash on collection), then saying that his shift pattern stopped him picking the equipment up as well. The only weekend day he had free was the 24th and I agreed (unwisely as it turned out) that he could pick the equipment up then. In the meantime, I've had to pay over £60 in ebay fees, so was hoping he'd turn up today. To make sure he turned up, I sent him and email this week reminding him, which unsurprisingly wasn't replied to.
Also unsurprisingly he didn't turn up today.
The thing is it's too late to go through the standard ebay non-paying bidder procedure in the resolution centre, so I've had to fire off an email to ebay to see what the chances are of getting my fees back.
I'm losing faith with ebay as non-paying bidders and non-delivering sellers seem to be on the rise. I'm already involved in a dispute with a seller who hasn't sent an SD card I ordered last month.
So at the moment not only am I without money at the second opportunity of the year to buy a cheap boat (the period just after Christmas is the first), but I'm actually over £60 worse off. Great.
UPDATE:
Put in a complaint to ebay and they can't or won't do anything. So that's it; no fees returned, no sanction of a multiple non-paying bidder. I know caveat emptor means buyer beware, but on ebay the opposite is true.
The buyer can be given the run-around, be seriously out of pocket and the buyer doesn't even get their 100 percent rating dented. Caveat venditor.
Prices tend to drop thanks to the increased supply of boats and the eagerness of owners to sell before having to pay the considerable sums to moor or store their boat.
Well, I've been given the run-around by the buyer, first bemoaning the fact that I'm over 200 miles away from him (when the item was clearly described as cash on collection), then saying that his shift pattern stopped him picking the equipment up as well. The only weekend day he had free was the 24th and I agreed (unwisely as it turned out) that he could pick the equipment up then. In the meantime, I've had to pay over £60 in ebay fees, so was hoping he'd turn up today. To make sure he turned up, I sent him and email this week reminding him, which unsurprisingly wasn't replied to.
Also unsurprisingly he didn't turn up today.
The thing is it's too late to go through the standard ebay non-paying bidder procedure in the resolution centre, so I've had to fire off an email to ebay to see what the chances are of getting my fees back.
I'm losing faith with ebay as non-paying bidders and non-delivering sellers seem to be on the rise. I'm already involved in a dispute with a seller who hasn't sent an SD card I ordered last month.
So at the moment not only am I without money at the second opportunity of the year to buy a cheap boat (the period just after Christmas is the first), but I'm actually over £60 worse off. Great.
UPDATE:
Put in a complaint to ebay and they can't or won't do anything. So that's it; no fees returned, no sanction of a multiple non-paying bidder. I know caveat emptor means buyer beware, but on ebay the opposite is true.
The buyer can be given the run-around, be seriously out of pocket and the buyer doesn't even get their 100 percent rating dented. Caveat venditor.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Sailing Boat Sale at Shoreham.
Shoreham Port Authority are having their annual sale on ebay at the moment.
A number of yachts, all starting at £500.
Unfortunately a tad too expensive for me and they appear to be fin keeled yachts so not suitable for my needs.
However a bargain for anyone wanting a cheap yacht that needs a bit of TLC. They are after all yachts that appear to have been abandoned.
Shoreham itself is pretty well placed to hop to anywhere on the South Coast so shouldn't take too long to sail one home.
I must admit the mirror offshore probably isn't worth £500, given the floor seems to be covered by a few inches of water. Hate to think what state the inboard Diesel is in.
A number of yachts, all starting at £500.
Unfortunately a tad too expensive for me and they appear to be fin keeled yachts so not suitable for my needs.
However a bargain for anyone wanting a cheap yacht that needs a bit of TLC. They are after all yachts that appear to have been abandoned.
Shoreham itself is pretty well placed to hop to anywhere on the South Coast so shouldn't take too long to sail one home.
I must admit the mirror offshore probably isn't worth £500, given the floor seems to be covered by a few inches of water. Hate to think what state the inboard Diesel is in.
Friday, 1 February 2013
What's My Type of Boat? Part 2
I suppose I should discuss what size of boat I would like.
Well, the upper limit is set by mooring limits in the harbour I'm thinking of mooring the boat. With 25ft being an upper limit before mooring fees step up significantly. However price factors highly here and a realistic affordable length limit is around 22ft.
The majority of boats in my miserly price range are between 17 and 19 feet in length, so the odds are I'll buy something in that range.
Another factor to consider with a bigger boat is increased maintenance costs: more paint, more rigging, bigger sails.... just more cost.
So, 17-20ft it will be. Plenty in that range: Caprices, Hurleys of various flavours, Leisures, Newbridges, Proctors, Sea Wych's (not my favourite), Vivacitys, Valliants......
Well, the upper limit is set by mooring limits in the harbour I'm thinking of mooring the boat. With 25ft being an upper limit before mooring fees step up significantly. However price factors highly here and a realistic affordable length limit is around 22ft.
The majority of boats in my miserly price range are between 17 and 19 feet in length, so the odds are I'll buy something in that range.
Another factor to consider with a bigger boat is increased maintenance costs: more paint, more rigging, bigger sails.... just more cost.
So, 17-20ft it will be. Plenty in that range: Caprices, Hurleys of various flavours, Leisures, Newbridges, Proctors, Sea Wych's (not my favourite), Vivacitys, Valliants......
Thursday, 31 January 2013
What's My Type of Boat?
I've been thinking for a while now on the type of boat I want and the reasons behind the decision.
First off, it must be able to stand on the ground as I'll be keeping it on a cheap drying mooring: no tippy single keelers for me, my boat will be a bilge keeler with twin keels. Triple keels will take the ground fine, but there's a penalty in the extra drag of a third keel, plus that middle leg tends to upset how the boat takes to the ground.
No, twin keels will be fine.
The next decision is the type of keel. I'm still mulling this one over. The problem is that each type of keel has its own pros and cons and as far as I can see the arguments between each are fairly evenly balanced.
Plate keels tend to have less drag, but there are the nasty keel bolts to deal with. Having to go through the expense of changing keel bolts isn't something I'd like to do. I like my boats low-maintenance and keels made out of steel plates tend to need a fair bit of maintenance. It can be mitigated somewhat by adding sacrificial anodes to the keel, but still there are plenty of boats I've seen on ebay with keels shot full of holes and rusty or sheared keel bolts.
Of course I could go for encapsulated keels with the keels as part of the hull moulding and the balast tucked inside all nice and dry (if only). The problems here is that some keel designs not only have the balast in the keel, but also do encapsulate it in resin inside the keel. The problem here is rust, obviously with steel balast, salty sea water can get to the steel via micro fractures in the hull from groundings and the like. That water then starts to rust the balast, the rust swells inside the keel and the keel splits .Its not an easy job to hack the rusty balast out of the dodgy keel and then get everything back to original standard. Of course a secondary issue is the fact that moulded keels aren't the slimmest of things and tend to add drag. Not as much as a triple keel, but its there: moudled keels tend to be slower.
I'll leave it there for people to ponder and any real-life information about actually living with each type of keel would be gratefully received.
First off, it must be able to stand on the ground as I'll be keeping it on a cheap drying mooring: no tippy single keelers for me, my boat will be a bilge keeler with twin keels. Triple keels will take the ground fine, but there's a penalty in the extra drag of a third keel, plus that middle leg tends to upset how the boat takes to the ground.
No, twin keels will be fine.
The next decision is the type of keel. I'm still mulling this one over. The problem is that each type of keel has its own pros and cons and as far as I can see the arguments between each are fairly evenly balanced.
Plate keels tend to have less drag, but there are the nasty keel bolts to deal with. Having to go through the expense of changing keel bolts isn't something I'd like to do. I like my boats low-maintenance and keels made out of steel plates tend to need a fair bit of maintenance. It can be mitigated somewhat by adding sacrificial anodes to the keel, but still there are plenty of boats I've seen on ebay with keels shot full of holes and rusty or sheared keel bolts.
Of course I could go for encapsulated keels with the keels as part of the hull moulding and the balast tucked inside all nice and dry (if only). The problems here is that some keel designs not only have the balast in the keel, but also do encapsulate it in resin inside the keel. The problem here is rust, obviously with steel balast, salty sea water can get to the steel via micro fractures in the hull from groundings and the like. That water then starts to rust the balast, the rust swells inside the keel and the keel splits .Its not an easy job to hack the rusty balast out of the dodgy keel and then get everything back to original standard. Of course a secondary issue is the fact that moulded keels aren't the slimmest of things and tend to add drag. Not as much as a triple keel, but its there: moudled keels tend to be slower.
I'll leave it there for people to ponder and any real-life information about actually living with each type of keel would be gratefully received.
Monday, 7 January 2013
New Years Resolutions
Well, actually it was a resolution I made a bit before New Year in that I've waited long enough and 2013 will be the year I buy a boat.
I have the engine and that will hopefully get sorted next month.
I'm already selling stuff to amass the cash needed to buy the boat.
So the plan has started rolling.
Now its a case of firming up the details about the type of boat I want and why, as well as the ones I'll avoid and why, which I'll start to flesh out in the next post.
I have the engine and that will hopefully get sorted next month.
I'm already selling stuff to amass the cash needed to buy the boat.
So the plan has started rolling.
Now its a case of firming up the details about the type of boat I want and why, as well as the ones I'll avoid and why, which I'll start to flesh out in the next post.
Monday, 24 December 2012
Swotting up on Seagulls
This weekend I've been reading up on-line about seagull engines.
One of my primary concerns is the orange ooze that leaks out of the gearbox. I have a potential fix for that so that's one of the first things on the to-do list. There's a better oil seal for the propshaft that at least keeps the oil from dripping everywhere.
Looking at the engine, so far I need a carb spring, carb choke plate, fuel vent screw, spark plug cap and starter cord.
Most things are cheap to get hold of, but the choke plate seems to not be available in numbers so commands a price: its a whopping £17.50 just on its own. I'm skint and I'm not paying that for a flat bit of metal, so some ingenuity may be required to fashion a plate myself. Maybe an old tin cut up, flattened and cut to shape will produce a thin enough plate of the right shape.
However that'll have to wait until after Christmas and New Year, as the family festivities come before fettling old outboards.
One of my primary concerns is the orange ooze that leaks out of the gearbox. I have a potential fix for that so that's one of the first things on the to-do list. There's a better oil seal for the propshaft that at least keeps the oil from dripping everywhere.
Looking at the engine, so far I need a carb spring, carb choke plate, fuel vent screw, spark plug cap and starter cord.
Most things are cheap to get hold of, but the choke plate seems to not be available in numbers so commands a price: its a whopping £17.50 just on its own. I'm skint and I'm not paying that for a flat bit of metal, so some ingenuity may be required to fashion a plate myself. Maybe an old tin cut up, flattened and cut to shape will produce a thin enough plate of the right shape.
However that'll have to wait until after Christmas and New Year, as the family festivities come before fettling old outboards.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)