Moody 35 Moody 35 Questions - Considering Purchase

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Neil Goodyear

Good Day and thank you for admitting me as a guest. I have a series of questions if I may.

My wife and I will hopefully have soon sold our Westely Konsort. Our next boat of choice appears to be a Moody 35. I can see from the Moody archives that 192 were made but we are particulary looking for a bilge version so we don't have to change our sailing habits. The yacht market has a few M35s about at the moment but bilge keepers seem rarer. Is this the case or is just the market at the moment?

We viewed a M346 last year. Is the headroom in the passage to the aft cabin improved or the same? The side on profiles would suggest the combing is higher so more headroom?

I take it the cockpit locker in the starboard quarter is a useful size? Big enough to stow an inflatable dinghy? I presume the two lockers over the aft end of the aft cabin are useful for warps but not much more? Unfortunately no one ever seems to photograph the lockers when open.

A lot of boats seem to have the original engines which presumable means they were reliable workhorses. What life expectancy do long term owners believe they have?

There is a fin keel version nearby that we way may have to go and look at, but I don't like wasting people's time, even yacht brokers...

Anyway, that is probably enough questions for now but any more useful information would be appreciated. Many thanks.
Neil
 
Hi Neil,

Welcome to the MOA. I've never owned a Moody 35, although I have sailed one and they are very seaworthy boats that stand up well to a good blow and share with other Bill Dixon designs a delightfully light helm which doesn't lack feel. While not the right choice for round the cabs racing, they are remarkably good passage makers, eating up the miles effortlessly.

I guess you have already found the Moody Archive via a link on the Home Page and beyond that, I would recommend you take a look at any Moody 35 to get a feel of how these boats are set up and to see for yourself details of things like locker sizes. Apart from the keels and their attachment, there is virtually no difference between the fin and bilge versions, but I recommend you look at a few Moody 35s before buying - boats of this age will have been developed and upgraded through nearly 30 years of ownership so it's good to see what's out there to get better focused on what really matters to you.

As for engines, most marine Diesels will slog on forever if looked after, but a relatively short period of neglect can destroy them so it's impossible to predict an engine's lifetime from simply looking at make and age - it's all about standard of care as it has aged. These days, a thorough top end overhaul and rebore cost nearly as much as a new engine, so many engines get replaced in circumstances that would have been managed with an overhaul in my youth.

I don't know what proportion of M35s were bilge keeled, hopefully someone who does will be along soon.

Happy hunting!

Peter
 
Hi Neil,
We have owned our 35 for about 8 years. Initially had reservations about the fin keel, especially after coming from a Southerly with a lifting keel and then a bilge keel. We always liked the security of it. However, after years of having her, I can honestly say it barely crosses our mind now and the superb build quality and over engineered spec of the Moody gives us so much confidence even in lumpy seas.

The two lockers on the aft are only good for mooring lines, electric cable and hose pipe etc. The starboard locker is vast, and has a shelf too. Personally we don’t put much in there and not a dinghy. It has the exhaust pipe work and also the heating outlet so sometimes people put a lot in there and then end up crushing the pipe work. This also houses your emergency steering.
Headroom: we are both tall, I’m 5’8 and my husband is 6ft . He can’t stand to cook it’s just you have to duck your head to walk through to the aft cabin. The great selling point with the 35 is that you won’t find many aft cabins of this size, light and quality in a 35ft boat! We have just had a mattress made to fit the bed and after 7years in the standard foam it’s just the best aft cabin to sleep in.
Our boat is 1996, and has the original Volvo MD2040, she’s run really well and did a little work on her this winter, but I will be looking at maybe a new engine in due course, probably in the next 3/5 years as we will end up having more maintenance in due course. She has plenty of life in her but I work for a Marine Engineering company and we are Volvo Dealers, so it’s tempting to have a new one!
Hope the above is helpful.
Hattie
 
Hi Harriet. I've just joined as a temporary member and the boat I'm looking for is possibly a 35 so reading your reply to Neil was a bonus. so a big thank you. Peter
 
I have just made a huge mistake which I should have realised when dealing with estate agents. Never tell a yacht broker that you are a cash buyer, they are not interested because they make more cash from selling a yacht to someone who needs to borrow funds where they can set up the loan. They then make cash from the seller and also the company supplying the funds. The downside for the seller is that the yacht can take much longer to sell because the broker is there to make cash for themselves
 
Neil Goodyear said:
Good Day and thank you for admitting me as a guest. I have a series of questions if I may.

My wife and I will hopefully have soon sold our Westely Konsort. Our next boat of choice appears to be a Moody 35. I can see from the Moody archives that 192 were made but we are particulary looking for a bilge version so we don't have to change our sailing habits. The yacht market has a few M35s about at the moment but bilge keepers seem rarer. Is this the case or is just the market at the moment?

We viewed a M346 last year. Is the headroom in the passage to the aft cabin improved or the same? The side on profiles would suggest the combing is higher so more headroom?

I take it the cockpit locker in the starboard quarter is a useful size? Big enough to stow an inflatable dinghy? I presume the two lockers over the aft end of the aft cabin are useful for warps but not much more? Unfortunately no one ever seems to photograph the lockers when open.

A lot of boats seem to have the original engines which presumable means they were reliable workhorses. What life expectancy do long term owners believe they have?

There is a fin keel version nearby that we way may have to go and look at, but I don't like wasting people's time, even yacht brokers...

Anyway, that is probably enough questions for now but any more useful information would be appreciated. Many thanks.
Neil
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Did you get one ?
 
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