Quote:
Originally Posted by sailorboy1
The wide of possible boats between 30 and 50 feet makes the question, IMO, ......
If you can’t narrow down your wants more how can you really except useful answers?
Get an old 32’ boat that is good ok condition
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Sailorboy can be a bit abrupt, but he has point. It is certainly a good idea to get preliminary feedback here to start to get a feel for what is involved. But.....
A good analogy for an inexperienced potential sailboat owner asking what boat he should buy is like a 17 year old asking what kind of woman he should marry.
I am relative
newbie. I am
ASA certified to bare boat
charter, have done a number of bare boat charters over the last several years. My MO because my wife does not sail is sail 6-8 weeks a year with the blessing of my wife, and therefore not end up divorced. Owning a boat makes no practical sense unless I decide I must own and buy a day sailor. A good motto is "rent big and own small" if you are hell bent on owning. Another good motto is sail on OPB's(Other People's Boats). There are always many opportunities to crew or
skipper on OPB's if you are experienced enough and do not mind the personal liability. The more experience you have the less you pay or perhaps earn $$ if you are experienced enough.
Like a woman boats(boats are always referred to as "her" for a reason), are a fair amount of trouble, are expensive especially "owning" one versus "renting" one. Owning a boat is especially expensive if you have some one else do the bulk of the
maintenance and
repairs. Think of a car to the third
power, exponentially.
Divorces rates are 50% or more for married couples around the world. By the same token go anywhere in the world and you will see zillions of lonely boats
on the hard abandoned by their owners or zillions of boats sitting in
marinas that get little or no use.
The best advice for both finding a boat to own or a wife is take baby steps, go on lots of dates with a myriad of options, don't fully fall in love until after you buy and listen to your heart but allow your
head to
rule when
buying.
Before you buy determine your intended use. Just like before marrying you must determine your needs, wants and desires that work for you in a spouse. It is never going to perfect for a boat or a spouse. It is all about the
trade offs, knowing what you can live with, not live with and not live without.
If you do buy a cruising boat be very conservative about what you expect to get back when you sell it, and way over estimate what you think it will cost to use, maintain and store. Don't over spend. The worst thing in the world is to be "boat poor" resulting in you not enjoying her resulting in always worrying about the $$$. Hence defeating the purpose. Similar to a marrying a financially high
maintenance wife that to be happy requires more than your means can provide.
Just as bad is having a boat that does not work for you even if the financial part does, similar to being married to the wrong person. Getting a divorce depending on the circumstances is usually worse than abandoning or selling a boat because in the end with a boat only
money is involved not so much emotion but depending on the boat you may never find a buyer.
I sailed recently with an experienced sailor, age 75, is well off financially, has 40,000 miles of
racing, cruising and moving boats for a living under his belt, has every possible merit badge including to teach sailing, can navigate with a
sextant, has moved a boat inland in
France from
Med to the Atlantic going through something like 10 locks a day, has done 7 crossings of the Atlantic, etc. etc. He lives in the UK and the only boats he has ever owned is a wooden canoe he built himself and a 26 ft
sail boat, that can sleep 4 comfortably for a weekend, that he uses inland on lakes, rivers.
I asked him if he was 40 years old, and if I gave him a new Amel, a $1MM+ cruising boat what would he do with it? He said sell it! This is a person who in his 40's and 50's spent 6-9 months year sailing around the world.
Owning a boat is not for everyone just like being married is not for everyone. It does not sound at this point you have anyway of knowing if owning a boat is for you or not.
As a friend of mine who is cynical about marriage says, "Instead of getting married just find a woman you hate and give her 1/2 your assets in order to skip the emotional
distress and you will be way ahead."