Buying a boat

Having sold our last boat towards the end of the summer, myself and a buddy of mine are planning on buying again in the near future. What we are looking for is something suitable for predominantly inshore work but with the guts to do up to 5 miles or so offshore. Dont want to buy something huge, but any advice is welcome. Our last boat was a (dont laugh!) 16 foot fletcher. Certainly want something bigger (and safer) than that.

Are there any other decent websites apart from http://www.apolloduck.ie that cover Ireland and the UK?

http://www.findafishingboat.co.uk always worth a nosey. :D

Try these

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk


http://www.findafishingboat.co.uk/boatsforsale.htm


Andy

Don't knock the fletcher, as far as general speedboats are concerned they are one of the safest around. Not an ideal fishing boat, but still very usable for inshore fishing, skiing, banana boating, hoofing about etc.

Thanks Lads, My god, there is some amount of stuff on boatsandoutboards.co.uk, does anybody have any particular recommendations by the way on particular models?

Depends on your budget

Orkney make excellant 16-19 ft sea boats

Sea hogs and warriors get rave reviews too

Some good reviews on this site http://fishing_boats.tripod.com/

hope this helps

Andy

16 foot is a good size for a boat if youre towing it ,and if you get a boat designed for angling,as suggested by bogaloo, it will have a much bigger deck space and deeper gunnels than the fletcher. If youre prepared to travel to britain youl find a big difference in price,
cheers steve

Seen this in boat angler and really looks the job. sensible money too.
http://www.atlantismarine.biz/

We got our Seahog Samurai from England off "Boats & Outboards", the only thing is that the good deals/boats sell quickly. You have to watch for new boats daily, have your cash ready and reply to an ad quickly. I happened to be the first person to reply to the seller, I informed him where I was living and asked him to forward on as much information about the boat including as many photo's as possible (photo's of the engine minus the cover, the trailer and photo's of the boat from every angle). This he did and I was able to study everything before going on the boat. The seller was very helpful and answered any query I had quickly.
The ad went up on the Tuesday and I was on the boat Friday night with a weekend return ticket which included a trailer on the return journey. I know it was a chance I was taking but after looking at the photo's carefully and talking to the seller I was fairly confident that it was the boat for me, I could also turn around if all was not well and go home empty handed but I had a plan "B" up my sleeve. I had also checked out boats on http://www.craysidemarine.co.uk/ and would have taken a trip further up the road to check out his deals.
The only thing I would say to you is: have a look at boats over here and try and get your wish list down to 2 or 3 different types, then when one of these models come up for sale you will know what to look for and how she compares for price.
Damien

It took me nearly a year to decide on a boat

Looked at Arvor's , Quicksilver , Jenneau , Orkney , Ocqueteau and Hardy
The Hardy was the one I wanted , but couldnt afford :)

Was going to settle for an Arvor 25 , then saw the Hardy on Ebay, emailed the seller, went over to see it ...bought it.

I still havn't seen one anywhere near the money I paid for mine , and I got a trailer included



Andy

Not looking to spend too much initially, up to or around the 4-5k stg mark, have to say am quite taken with the Sea Hog which can have anything up to a 75hp bolted on. Damien, how do you find the Samurai? Has anyone any experience of other Sea Hog models?

Do any of these trade dealers offer any kind of guarantee with 2nd hand boats or is that expecting too much?

Hi pete. the only advice I can offer is take your time deciding. I have a 17 hardy and same as Andy I looked about for a while before I bought and have never regreted it good luck geo

Lads, I know you said take your time..............

Off to Southport on Merseyside on Saturday to pick up a Sea Hog Alaska 500 Dory Elite with 50 hp engine, 1 year old electronics includingVHF radio, Fishfinder, GPS system. Loads of other extra bits and pieces with it. Got what I thought was a super deal (bought on Ebay) Judging by the prices of similar less equipped boats from dealers in the UK, even if the engine blew up on first pull, there would have been enough of a saving to cover buying another. Its coming from a seller with 100% positve feedback on over 200 items sold so we shall take our chances.

Wish me luck and thanks for the advice.

Pete

Good luck Pete, just got my Shortie home on Saturday, busting to get her on water !!!

Ill bet you are! Gonna give this one a few burns out around a local lough before taking to the Swilly in her. Looking forward to the pollack bashing in the summer time around Donegal already!

See you up there :D


Andy

Ill bet you are! Gonna give this one a few burns out around a local lough before taking to the Swilly in her. Looking forward to the pollack bashing in the summer time around Donegal already!

Never mind the Swilly, move on over a couple of bays to Sheephaven....... :wink:

You didn't hang around! Best of luck with her Pete, you'll have hours of fun on it.

Pete Mc.

1 word Tanglerat, TORY! summer light tackle pollack bashing :lol:
As much fun as you can have with your clothes on!

Cheers lads and will look forward to a small boat meet up in the future.

Good luck with her Pete, thats the way to do it, strike whilst the irons hot!
cheers steve