First Time Boat Buyer, HELP!?

Question

hi can you guys recommend what kind of boat sumone should buy who hasnt owned a boat before, which is easiest to control etc....

Thanks

Answer 1

Well... I would highly recommend a Rib - take your pick which one, good in rough weather and easy to manouveur. If they're good enough for the Marines they're good enough for us!

I've been to and from IOW in one and around needles.

For fun a Bayliner is pretty good and not too expensive or if you want some out and out mayhem go for a Seadoo jet boat!

I'd recommend doing an RYA Powerboat course so you get the basics, if you're in London, Docklands sailing centre do te courses

Answer 2

Are you talking power boat?  Sail boat?  What kind of activity will you be doing?  Water-skiing?  Fishing?  Cruising?  You need to provide those of us who might be able to answer with some more specifics!  Thanks.

Answer 3

What you require is not a speed boat but a good sea going cruiser. If you then start to add speed then start to add thousands onto the price. There are plenty of good craft out there and I suggest you go round the various marinas and the boat brokers and get sea trials on different craft. Depending on your location I would start with Brighton Marina or one of the brokers on the lower Thames.

Get boating mags and peruse them. DO NOT get sucked in by the first slick salesman. take several months to research. Then throw money away on a great hobby.

Answer 4

My boat which is for sale and probably what you are looking for would be perfect for you. It is an 21foot openbow with a 5.7liter V8. It is not the fastest nor is it slow and yet it is big enough for lots of passengers and accessories and is all original. One thing you want to look at since you are wanting speed out of a boat is if the engine has been altered for performance, those high performance engines need to refreshened just about every year and can be very expensive.

Answer 5

You need to give us a little more information about you and your interests and skills.  Sail boat?  Power boat?  For day trips?  For longer trips?  How many people aboard?  I would recommend that you first do a course on boating and basic navigation.  There are even on line courses you can do.  If you do that you might have a better idea about what you want.  No boat is easy to control if you don't understand how they operate, manuever, etc. And boats are so affected by currents, wind, etc. that you can get in trouble in any boat.  The more important issue really is how prepared are you?  Here is a link to one boating course, a Canadian one, but you may be able to find a similar one for the UK.  Best of luck.  Boating is great, but don't start it unprepared.

Answer 6

Try looking at Sugar Sand jet boats. They're pretty sharp looking and they're pretty fast too.

www.sugarsand.com

Answer 7

Here are some good tips for buying your first boat.

http://www.yachtcouncil.com/buying-a-yac...

Answer 8

a small cabin cruiser would be the best.

Answer 9

personaly i started with a 10 ft aluminum then a 14ft then a16ft older bowrider then a newer 20ft bowrider with a 140hp inboard.every time i upgraded i made a little profit off the last one. you don't want to spend big  $ on a boat if you don't know what your doing.so many things to go wrong              P.S. don't forget to install the drain  plug.  lol..

Answer 10

First decide how much you want to spend $$$ if money's no object then go to your local marina and boat shops get a feel for what you like and start looking at boats , If your on a budget then price used boats a well maintained used boat can be the best answer as its already depreciated a lot from when it was first sold even if its only a year or two old you could be saving thousands of dollars off the price look at several different boats by different makers decide what you must have in a boat and go from there make sure they have records of the maintenance a poorly maintained boat may look like a deal but most likely won't be in the long run    GOOD LUCK