What boat would you buy to circumnavigate the UK and beyond, with only £5k?

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B27

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bpbpbp said:
Thanks I'll check them out.

That's another thing, bilge vs fin - the same peers recommending folk boats turn their noses up at bilges. "No fun to sail windward", "Keel damage from taking the ground", "Keels fall off if not encapsulated", "Slamming is annoying".

I had a Leisure 23 and found it pretty boring and slow to sail.
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Small old boats are generally not as fast as bigger or more modern boats.
If you find long slow passages 'boring' then maybe circumnavigating the UK is not for you, until you can afford a 60ft trimaran?
Small boats are great for shorter trips.
To do longer trips, it helps to enjoy being out there not going anywhere quickly.

I met a bloke last year, sailing a Laser around GB.
Laser around the uk 3
Previously done in a £50 Laser.
But even buying a boat for £5k, the major part of the budget will be a long Summer off work, incidental expenses like moorings, food, travel (most people seem to end up either going back to see family or family meeting them?), stuff that breaks or wears out?
 
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bpbpbp said:
Maybe I should sell some stuff I don't really need, and buy this Monsun 31? :)
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That might be one of the better suggestions!
But owning a boat is a commitment to keep paying out.
You have to look at the whole deal.
Buy the boat
Upgrades.
Ongoing maintenance
Mooring
Winter Storage.
Yearly costs like launching , hauling out, insurance etc

A mooring for a deep keel boat can be a lot of money.
Even for a small bilge keel boat, you have to take time to get on the waiting list and find an affordable deal.

But it's only what normal people seem to spend on cars.
 
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bpbpbp said:
Thanks I'll check them out.

That's another thing, bilge vs fin - the same peers recommending folk boats turn their noses up at bilges. "No fun to sail windward", "Keel damage from taking the ground", "Keels fall off if not encapsulated", "Slamming is annoying".

I had a Leisure 23 and found it pretty boring and slow to sail.
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Not all bilge keels are the same. Later well designed ones like the Sadler, Hunters Cobras Mirages later Westerlys and Moodys are very different from basic "caravan" boats like the Leisure.
 
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V1701 said:
I bought a 1969 Bowman 26 with a nearly new beta 10 engine, recent standing rigging, good sails and replacement bunk cushions in 2018 for £4300, headroom of about 6 foot. It helped that it was for sale in wales not on s coast. Nic 26 also has good headroom but they tend to go for higher prices and are very heavily built. Vega has 5'7" headroom, had one for 2 years & lived on it but I'm a shortarse so could stand in the main cabin...

I still think you should get that McWester 32...(y)
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McWester
B27 said:
Small old boats are generally not as fast as bigger or more modern boats.
If you find long slow passages 'boring' then maybe circumnavigating the UK is not for you, until you can afford a 60ft trimaran?
Small boats are great for shorter trips.
To do longer trips, it helps to enjoy being out there not going anywhere quickly.

I met a bloke last year, sailing a Laser around GB.
Laser around the uk 3
Previously done in a £50 Laser.
But even buying a boat for £5k, the major part of the budget will be a long Summer off work, incidental expenses like moorings, food, travel (most people seem to end up either going
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srm said:
Is this going to be your first cruising boat? If so buy something popular that will be easy to sell. The reason being that as you build experience you will refine your ideas about what you really want (as opposed to what the rest of us think will suit you). As an example all my monohulls have had much the same hull form, ranging from 29ft to 42 ft. Medium to heavy displacement with keel hung rudder. But others here are equally happy with spade rudders and lighter displacement.

Also, as I have mentioned in other threads, it takes me around three seasons to get a boat to the state that I am happy with it and only need regular maintenance and the odd replacement or upgrade. I sailed each season around 1000nm and made alterations etc. each winter.

If you are serious about single handed long distance sailing then invest in a wind vane self steering gear. Electric tiller/wheel pilots for small boats are not really built for continuous 24/7 use. Used wind vane gears can be found at around 50% of new price if you are patient. I put a wind vane gear on my second boat, then had one on all the others as they are just as useful for coastal sailing, need no electricity and very little maintenance. My last one had done an Atlantic circuit on a big boat, then I bought it and used it on my last two boats.

The bad news is that 5K is unlikely to meet your requirements, boats are expensive, even when you are willing to do a lot of the work yourself. Having said that occasionally good, well equipped boats do come on the market at realistic prices when the owner realises they have to let them go for health or other reasons. The new owner of my last boat is very happy to have a sound, fully equipped, ocean capable boat at a very low price, that admittedly needed quite a lot of hours of mainly cosmetic work. He had been looking for a suitable boat, within his limited budget, for a couple of years.
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Thank you, that’s helpful.

Yes my first cruiser after owning a Leisure 23 for a season.
 
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Minerva said:
Another benefit of a bilge Keeler is you don't need a cradle to haul out with over winter - saving £100's per winter. Thats if you opt to haul out at all. They can 'easily' do below waterline stuff between tides (although a brave man would change seacocks whilst dried out between tides!
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Could I do that with a fin using legs or careening?
 
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bpbpbp said:
Could I do that with a fin using legs or careening?
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Not easily. Legs are expensive to buy and you really need to use them regularly to justify having them. Careening is a no-no with most small boats, but in some locations you can dry out against a wall or dedicated drying posts.

Bilge keels became popular in the 70s and 80s because there were fewer affordable deep water moorings or marina berths. The sort of boats I suggested were designed to give performance close to the fin keeled versions of the same time and realistically unless you want to go round the cans racing there really is little advantage in the fin keel. Once you get over 30' or so the benefits of twin keels start to decline as regular drying out is less attractive and boats used less for exploring shallower waters. The savings when laying up out of the water from not needing a cradle are real.

Don't get hung up on keel types. Either are perfectly adequate for what you want to do and twin keels open up some possibilities around the UK that are just not open to deep fin keels. The overriding consideration when buying on a tight budget is condition, condition, condition. Working engine, preferably modern, recent rigging, good sails are essential as replacing the first would exceed your total budget and the other items 30 or 40% each. Do not underestimate the time and cost of getting a boat prepared, even if it is notionally in use when you buy. Most boats like this that are for sale either get relatively little use or none at all. You plan to use the boat intensively and you will quickly find things going wrong!
 
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There are a lot of sub 26ft boats under 5k and not needing much at all.
I sold a 22ft westerley cirrus, full standing headroom and a toilet compartment with a running gm10 for £800 as it need sails but it was a tidy boat.
Sold a nice evolution 26 ready to sail away and the best i managed to get was £3200. It was a joy to sail.
Have a centaur with decent sails, all new running rigging and basic safety equipment and a fully rebuilt yanmar but the engine has a problem which i may look at but don't expect it to sell if running for more than 4k.
Have a lovely little snapdragon 21 with excellent sails, just need an outboard and a tomahawk 25, again with nice sails but needs an inboard, but cheap enough to still make them a bargain even after buying what is needed.
Most on here seem to assume that because a boat is old then so is all is equipment but that's not always true.
I aquired a free old 26ft boat a few months back that cost me £120 to get the inboard running . It had brand new unused sails and thousands of pounds worth of equipment on Board.
There are good boats everywhere, you just need to go out and look at some to see what they offer.
 
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bpbpbp said:
Could I do that with a fin using legs or careening?
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Legs are probably not a good idea with a bolt on fin keel. One boatyard I used had a "rule of thumb" of no more than 70% of the boat's weight on the keel when propping up ashore. However, if you have an older design "wineglass" section boat with a longish keel to stand on legs could work. When I bought my second boat, a Trintella 29, it had spent all winter on a sheltered drying mooring on legs with the mast down. It depends on the length of the base of the keel and weight distribution. The legs that came with that boat were made from large section oak, shaped to the curve of the topsides. Not something to carry on the boat. I had them shipped home by road.
Have never had the nerve to try careening a yacht as the hull needs protecting, though did do it accidentally with the Trintella 29 due to a night of 80+kn winds and a big storm surge.

Minerva said:
They can 'easily' do below waterline stuff between tides (although a brave man would change seacocks whilst dried out between tides!
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Have kept deep keel boat afloat all year round, cleaning off and antifouling against a wall between tides. Have also changed a seacock on one boat and cut a hole and fitted a cooling plate for the fridge on another. Both tasks between tides with plenty of time to spare before the water came back. Just takes careful planning with all materials/tools prepared and ready before putting the boat on the drying berth, and being able to touch the bottom shortly after HW to give the longest possible working period.
 
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The Foxhound didn’t float your boat then? Get a Centaur caravan for £6k, spend £4k on new sails and rigging. Sail it local a few times then sell it on in a fire sale for £7k in 2026

It was neat but not for me.
 
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westernman said:
For going round Britain with 5k you would be better off with a Ford Mondeo estate and a tent.
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No roads out to the Muckle Fluga lighthouse; its on an isolated rock. You need to pass north of it to be able to honestly say that you have gone round Britain. Likewise with passing west of the St Kilda group.
 
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