Seamaster or Motor Sailor

Darith

Researching into buying a boat to hopefully put into a marina in or near Dublin. I would like to spend two to three nights a week to ease the comutting plus to have soewhere else to lounge away. I haven't done crusing since i was near 12 and that was on the shannon. I have seen seamasters, foster sedan and a Finmar on donedeal. I presume seamasters have no difficulty with the Dublin estuary in general as i understand they are designed for it? Would a foster sedan be comfortable. My primary aim is staying in Dublin so sailing/cruising would come a close second. The finmar looks interesting. I would say the hull should be sound, i think i would need a mechanic to look at the engine(would a surveyor check the engine?) Would a Finamr 36s' draft prohibit sailing in the Shannon? Would its height and draft disallow canal navigation? Would any of these boats have decent insulation or heat retention? Is it possible to put insulation in such designs? Does the saltwater affect river cruisers in Dublin bay?

fergal.b

Air draft you are probably looking at 3.8m and draft 1.2m for anywhere on the inland waterways, most of these river cruisers have small engines 20 - 30 horsepower so might not be the best for the sea, the tides coming in and out of somewhere like Malahide can be quite strong and adding wind to this you might find them underpowered. Getting a marina birth a the moment is not that easy alot of places are full and have waiting lists so make sure you can get one first before you get the boat. A good survey will be able to tell you if the boat is seaworthy and you will need one to get insurance you will probably need to have it done in and out of the water. Most of the ex hire boats will have good insulation and heating a good 2kw diesel night heater will keep up to a 30 foot comfortable and maybe a 5kw for bigger boats, I re-insulated mine with foil insulation so in can be done but it's a big job to rip everything out. The main difference between inland and coastal boats will be the anodes and maybe the antifouling but for short trips from one to the other you should be fine.

Hope this helps a bit, best of luck.

10pennymixup

Finmar won't do the canals or Barrow from New Ross, way too deep for one. You'd have to take it by road or coast and as it's being sold as a project, I wouldn't do the coast.

Plenty of seamasters on the canals and rivers

Foster Sedans are large. I know a guy that fitted a hip bath into one. No idea how they handle.

If I was researching such a project I'd want to be sure of where I'd keep the boat before anything else.