Quote:
Originally Posted by Island Time O25
If the goal is to do more distant sailing and to learn boat systems, etc than buying something in semi-decent shape and bringing her to life/shine makes better sense...
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I would agree with that. I think the operative phrase, though, is "semi-decent shape." Something that is a complete piece of junk, is a different matter. I don't believe that the
boat in question, in this particular thread, qualifies as "semi-decent shape."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Island Time O25
The only issue I see in taking the 2nd approach is that newbies often overpay for TLC boats.
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Whether you call it over paying, or under estimating the amount of
work that will be needed, I see a fair number of newbies on this forum who seem anxious to buy a boat that is best suited for nothing but
salvage. They think that they're going to buy a boat for $5k-$6k, spend a couple of months and maybe another couple of thousand "fixing it up," and then it is going to be ready to sail around the world. In reality, these boats are often going to require so much
money to get into shape that it would be far cheaper to buy one in good shape to begin with. And then the
repairs will be bleeding them dry for years and years, while they wonder what happened to their dreams of sailing around the world.
Look at the ads in craigslist, or sailboatlistings.com and you can see the evidence. Lots of "project boats" out there that someone has spent 5 years working on, has had some life change, and now they just want to get rid of the damned thing and be done with it. And what they are hoping is that some starry-eyed dreamer (much like they were 5 years ago) will come along and take it off their hands.
I really am not trying to be a naysayer here. And there are a good number of people who buy
project boats, fix them up, and then move on to the sailing life that they were dreaming of. But for every one of them, I would bet that there are at least 5-10 of the type that I have described (and possibly quite a few more than that).
If you are going to buy a
project boat, you need to understand that--first and foremost--you are
buying a PROJECT! Go into it with eyes wide open, understanding what is ahead of you, and you will probably be successful. Go into it with blinders on, only dreaming of exotic beaches and idyllic
anchorages, and you are probably just going to end up very discouraged and quite a bit poorer.
Again, to the OP... Your
money, your choice. And I really do wish you the best of luck. But if I were you (and, as I mentioned before, in a way I am), I would walk away from this one.