Hi
Being a newbie here will fill in a few details. Have sailed in the past but no experience of a power boat as such.
Living near the Norfolk Broads seems obvious to look for a suitable boat. Going in blind researched a lot. One that kept popping up
was the Shetland 27. Anyway to cut a long story short last Wednesday I met James Reinman to look over a SHETLAND 245, not for sale, but
to get an impression.
Generally favourable+ except for a couple of topics which are connected.
Until yesterday I did not know that there is no petrol available for Broads boating, except for a trip to a petrol station nearby, just diesel.
I have been told that current 4 stroke outboards are very quite but I still do not like the idea of lugging petrol containers around.
The 245 James showed me had an inboard, all good, but then problem number 2 for me.
The bed arrangement. We want a double that can be made up and left permanent, no faffing with infill backrests etc. Plus I do not want it to be the front V berth, not keen on looking at bed all day. So with an inboard it is a non starter. Using the V berth as seating leaves 2 singles, just so the port side one looks short. A double running across the boat would be fine but requires a hydraulic engine to make space for a double doing that.
Am I missing the obvious here, asking too much or are Shetlands just not suitable for me?