Choosing between practical and a cozy

[Nicholson58]

We summer on the hard in Trinidad at Power Boats. They have a few good boats in brokerage as does Peaks next door. Consider Power Boats yard as an economical place to get work done. We have had to top sides re finished, Awl Grip and non skid, the whole hull repainted last season. Use their listed contact people, not outsiders.

If you want a freshwater boat look on the Great Lakes. The Torresen yard in Muskegon has many lightly used, non corroded boats.

[Virginia Lee]

We looked at a lot of Taiwanese boats, each with problems. We bought a Shannon 38. Very solidly built. Very. Not a fast boat, but sea-kindly. Helm balances easily, makes her easy to sail. The cockpit is large, would easily entertain 6. The interior is small -- it's a narrow boat. The galley is superb. There is a lot of teak on a Shannon. The interior of ours was not varnished and it took a lot of work to remove decades of teak oil and then varnish it, but it looks great. The exterior is harder to keep up. I've given up on hand rails and toe rails, eyebrows. Chain plates are accessible for inspection/maintenance.

[somanyboats]

we had a union 36 with teak decks. removing them was time-consuming but not expensive. they are beautiful boats and sail well. the interior was very comfortable.

[tarian]

Originally Posted by madworld

Tthere will be more repairs on the Union to get her up to ship shape than the IP... it feels like their price will be closer once we dealt with those issues.


.

Do not think by repairing and removing teak decks and adding new electronics will move the price up on the Union. this is not the case and a is always a newbie mistake on boats , unless you are going full refurb, engine, sails , rigging , etc the price point is not going up , there is only a few boats that have great holding power in regards to re sale and your Union is not one.
So if you flinging $30000 in refurb and labour (your biggest cost) you will never get a return
This is why most boat owners learn to do it themselfs.
The reason the IP is priced is is is a known great brand of boat and therefore a price premium, A BMW against a Ford family car
There are plenty of teakdeck boats in the tropics this is not a deal breaker , lol evdery super Yatch has teak,
As for barefoot walking , good sense tells you to wear some protection on your feet , I have endless cuts nad bruiese by not doing this.
Is teak a deal breaker no
Do not expectthe IP to be in better condtion or equiped because it is more money you are buying into a brand
Go and look at the 2 boats and wirte yourself a list of Pros and Cons AND BE REALSTIC, money can disapear faster than a fart in a thunderstorm after buying your first boat.

[joelhemington]

There's a beautiful Hallberg 35 for sale in Key West. This boat was recently refitted by the Abandon Comfort gang with new standing rigging, synthetic teak deaks and some solar. As I recall they even added some LiFPo4 batteries to it and new bottom paint. No watermaker of genset as I recall but at the asking price of $84,500 you can't go wrong. The engine is a recent Yanmar with 450 hours and the current owners only paid $59,000 for it. The Abandon crew guys let it go cheap hoping that the new owners would make proper use of it. I think the girl is prone to seasickness but their reason for selling was that they felt it was too large for them so they bought a Fallmouth 22 instead. I personally would not go down in waterline length if seasickness was an issue. Google Hallberg Rassey for sale in the U.S. and it should come up

[MorningStar2]

I own an IP and love it but if i were going to live a board and cruise full time i would definitely look for a Hans Christian or similar from the 80's and refit, maybe for selfish reason i just hate to see these boats fade away. I spent a year on a Hans 38 in my 30's and have never been on a boat since that compares for comfort and sea keeping. It gets no better in my opinion. Good luck.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by madworld

My partner and I have been saving up for a bluewater cruising sailboat between about 35 and 44 foot, our first boat. We're trying to keep the price under $100k, preferably even with any repairs and outfitting, although we do have some wiggle room there.

We really love Robert Perry designs, such as the Tayana 37 or Hans Christian 38. The boats in this price range are usually from the 1980s. At this age and price, most of these boats have a screwed in teak deck that needs attention.

We've also been considering Island Packets 37 or 38. They aren't nearly as sexy as the Perry designs, but with the way they are constructed, and the fact that we can afford one of these boats from the mid 90s, it feels like they are going to be much less maintenance.

Here are a couple of the boats we are serious about.

• Union 36 Mark II (1988)
• Island Packet 37 (1995)

The Union is listed at $69k, which is about $40k less than the IP37, but since the Union has a teak deck, which is in good, but not great condition (we'd prefer to remove them, or replace them with something less maintenance heavy and less hot in the tropics)... some of the electronics on the Union need to be upgraded, and I suspect that there will be more repairs on the Union to get her up to ship shape than the IP... it feels like their price will be closer once we dealt with those issues.

I also have to figure out where on both boats to put solar panels. They both need wind vanes. The Union doesn't have davits, and with the pushpit, I'm not sure they are even possible to install. The pushpit might also complicate a wind vane as well.

While I can say that the Union is probably going to be more maintenance heavy, I don't know to what extent. I keep hearing horror stories of how much work a lot of these older Taiwanese boats can be. We'd rather have more time exploring a new location than dealing with the extra maintenance of a boat with a lot of brightwork and older systems. But, the Union feels more like home than the IP does.

Does anybody have insight into this? Is the Union going to be twice as much maintenance as the IP?

Any ideas how much it would cost to remove the teak decks from the Union 36 (We are on the US west coast, but plan on sailing down to the Caribbean).

Just my humble opinion. Avoid teak decks. They look nice but along with the surface maintenance they will need to be repayed (sp ?) at some point.

[joelhemington]

Yep. I agree, teak decks are kind of an anachronism in my view but unfortunately the higher end boats all seem to have them. It will take some time before this mind set shifts I'm afraid.

[Scaramanga F25]

You would be better off with a Westsail 42, 43 for 65K$ and have money left to fix and modernize.

[rmlarson1098]

Originally Posted by madworld

My partner and I have been saving up for a bluewater cruising sailboat between about 35 and 44 foot, our first boat. We're trying to keep the price under $100k, preferably even with any repairs and outfitting, although we do have some wiggle room there.

We really love Robert Perry designs, such as the Tayana 37 or Hans Christian 38. The boats in this price range are usually from the 1980s. At this age and price, most of these boats have a screwed in teak deck that needs attention.

We've also been considering Island Packets 37 or 38. They aren't nearly as sexy as the Perry designs, but with the way they are constructed, and the fact that we can afford one of these boats from the mid 90s, it feels like they are going to be much less maintenance.

Here are a couple of the boats we are serious about.

• Union 36 Mark II (1988)
• Island Packet 37 (1995)

The Union is listed at $69k, which is about $40k less than the IP37, but since the Union has a teak deck, which is in good, but not great condition (we'd prefer to remove them, or replace them with something less maintenance heavy and less hot in the tropics)... some of the electronics on the Union need to be upgraded, and I suspect that there will be more repairs on the Union to get her up to ship shape than the IP... it feels like their price will be closer once we dealt with those issues.

I also have to figure out where on both boats to put solar panels. They both need wind vanes. The Union doesn't have davits, and with the pushpit, I'm not sure they are even possible to install. The pushpit might also complicate a wind vane as well.

While I can say that the Union is probably going to be more maintenance heavy, I don't know to what extent. I keep hearing horror stories of how much work a lot of these older Taiwanese boats can be. We'd rather have more time exploring a new location than dealing with the extra maintenance of a boat with a lot of brightwork and older systems. But, the Union feels more like home than the IP does.

Does anybody have insight into this? Is the Union going to be twice as much maintenance as the IP?

Any ideas how much it would cost to remove the teak decks from the Union 36 (We are on the US west coast, but plan on sailing down to the Caribbean).

The cost of removing the teak decks depends on what you do afterwards. If you put down new teak it'll make your eyes water; FRP or something like it (maybe simulated teak?) would be more doable for us. Still a big job as I'm sure you know...
We like Island Packets, (IP32 especially!) but if the chainplates are original in a mid-90's IP it would make me nervous. Tanks are another issue with IP's but we could work around that, and a leaky/failing tank won't dismast your boat.
It would be the Island Packet for us, and if there were any concerns regarding the chainplates I'd move them outboard, as quite few owners have done. I'm told it doesn't look as nice, although the one's I've seen look good, And supposedly it takes away from the resale value of the yacht. But we don't buy stuff to sell it again; guess we're just not very savvy business people! But hey. It'll be your boat. Do as you like and as your pocket book allows.
All the best!

[Strayed Arrow]

Pacific Sea Craft 37 (Bob Perry) or our favorite, Tayana Vancouver 42cc. Sail's great, sturdy, cutter rigged, glass decks, proven world cruiser.

[RLMM]

If you are close to San Diego contact Don Aitken at Ensign Yachts. He knows a lot about Island Packet.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by double u

BTW: 35 to 44', thats a huge spread, maybe 1:3
just saying...

I completely agree on this. My advice would be to pick a DISPLACEMENT range, say maybe 8 tons to 14 tons. Does yachtworld let you search by displacement?

[Americanrancher]

Originally Posted by madworld

My partner and I have been saving up for a bluewater cruising sailboat between about 35 and 44 foot, our first boat. We're trying to keep the price under $100k, preferably even with any repairs and outfitting, although we do have some wiggle room there.

We really love Robert Perry designs, such as the Tayana 37 or Hans Christian 38. The boats in this price range are usually from the 1980s. At this age and price, most of these boats have a screwed in teak deck that needs attention.

We've also been considering Island Packets 37 or 38. They aren't nearly as sexy as the Perry designs, but with the way they are constructed, and the fact that we can afford one of these boats from the mid 90s, it feels like they are going to be much less maintenance.

Here are a couple of the boats we are serious about.

• Union 36 Mark II (1988)
• Island Packet 37 (1995)

The Union is listed at $69k, which is about $40k less than the IP37, but since the Union has a teak deck, which is in good, but not great condition (we'd prefer to remove them, or replace them with something less maintenance heavy and less hot in the tropics)... some of the electronics on the Union need to be upgraded, and I suspect that there will be more repairs on the Union to get her up to ship shape than the IP... it feels like their price will be closer once we dealt with those issues.

I also have to figure out where on both boats to put solar panels. They both need wind vanes. The Union doesn't have davits, and with the pushpit, I'm not sure they are even possible to install. The pushpit might also complicate a wind vane as well.

While I can say that the Union is probably going to be more maintenance heavy, I don't know to what extent. I keep hearing horror stories of how much work a lot of these older Taiwanese boats can be. We'd rather have more time exploring a new location than dealing with the extra maintenance of a boat with a lot of brightwork and older systems. But, the Union feels more like home than the IP does.

Does anybody have insight into this? Is the Union going to be twice as much maintenance as the IP?

Any ideas how much it would cost to remove the teak decks from the Union 36 (We are on the US west coast, but plan on sailing down to the Caribbean).

I am biased but would recommend a Pacific Seacraft! A 34 could easily be had and VERY well equipped for $100K. If you were willing to spend more a 37 would be the ultimate solution! A fall back would be a Valiant 37 well equipped for a $100K a 40 would be great but much more money one way or another.

Good luck!

[DeValency]

Not clear if you are considering the 42-44' range - the cost of these of the same builders can easily be twice in comparison to the 35-37' range -- where the market inventory is huge and you can get great boats at a much lower $/foot.

You can buy and refit well the smaller range, good quality builders (like IP) from the late 90's just under 100K. It will be way more difficult with the bigger 42-44 range of the same years.

I know the Island packet production and it is one of the best around. I do believe in the more known builder brands that survived well the years.

If you plan to cross the Atlantic or do long cruises in the Med and around Europe - to my opinion, a 42-44 would be a better choice for a more comfortable boat, but in some cases, an Island Packet, Hallberg Rassy, Najad, Contest, Freedom, Passport at the range of 35-38' could offer you a better overall package - of course all subject to condition, maintenance etc.

Shopping for a boat is fun, enjoy it as long as you can and before the reality kicks in...
Best of luck!