Tony & Diana Collins

Owners Of Sea Otter 31' Narrowboat Westmead

Our original plan was to buy a used boat of around 60 feet but found that they were mainly either rusty or the bilges were full of dirty oily water. This lead us to the decision to buy a brand new boat.

The builders we contacted for steel boats had full order books and were quoting over 12 months for delivery. They had the attitude,” no you can’t see one”, or, “we don’t have brochures”, or, “have a demo” which we instantly disliked.

We then came across Sea Otter boats. The boat was much smaller than planned but Sea Otter were ready to help, and when we looked in the engine bay everything looked as if it was meant to be there. The paintwork was superb, looking almost as good as my car and the decision was made to go ahead and pay the deposit for a 30ft narrowboat with a delivery slot promised for June 2000.

We made contact with Ray and Cindy Shepherd (the managing directors of Sea Otter) who, after we got used to their straight talking Yorkshire ways, somehow pulled out all stops and made our June 2000 build slot available. It was delivered on time and to the agreed price with no nasty surprise extras or hidden costs. The boat was beautifully finished both inside and out and we were delighted with the quality of service.

We had every confidence in Sea Otter’s ability to build our boat properly that we decided to go for an extended holiday with the boat the day after delivery, much to all our friend’s horror who thought we should have a snagging cruise first. This did not happen and Westmead behaved impeccably on this trip and also for the next three years.

At the Crick show 2003, we were asked if we were ready to change our boat yet and when an offer came that we couldn’t refuse, a change was agreed. The new owner would have our boat in October (without the name Westmead) and we would take delivery after the Boat show in February 2004.

The new Westmead was again delivered on time to Upton Marina, to budget, and this time with a stunning metallic finished paint job that TVR would be proud of. We met some of the Sea Otter workforce at the Birmingham show and just by talking to them you could feel that they have immense pride in their work. This alone gave us so much confidence in the factory’s ability to build a good boat that we set off on another extended cruise.

18 months on we have had no major problems and we are still absolutely delighted with our Sea Otter. Westmead has now completed 550 hours so with that type of cruising we have to budget for two services a year. The insurance for Westmead is a very reasonable £180 per year. The 2 cylinder Nanni engine on the first boat was doing up to 12 hours per gallon. The fuel consumption with the 3 cylinder Nanni engine is about 8 hours per gallon.

Maintenance on the hull and superstructure amounts to a quick polish once a year and a normal wash and leather for the rest (no de-rusting is required). The paintwork is as good as new and there has never been any water or grease in the bilges meaning the engine bay looks like new. Like all narrow boats it has taken some knocks and bangs, some our fault, some other boaters but it has sustained no damage or dents to speak of.

In the 5 years we have been owners, we have used Walton marine services both at Upton and Walton on Thames and have found them very helpful and friendly. All contact with the factory has been dealt with in a friendly and business-like manner making our transactions a very pleasant experience.

We would not hesitate to recommend a Sea Otter boat to anyone and would be very happy to talk to any prospective new owner.

Tony & Diana Collins

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