Keep Current Boat or Buy Another in Caribbean?

[Boracay]

I'm fascinated by the financial aspect of boating so from that perspective:-

Catalina 30's are not an expensive boat and with a quick check of the For Sale ads it would seem that you would (unless it's a very late model) not get a good price.

So assuming that it's impractical to sail your boat to the Caribbean your cheapest option (by far) may be to have your boat trucked to Florida and then to sail from there.

Or, as other have suggested you could sell the boat and buy again in Florida. Likely to be more expensive as it would be a good idea to assume hidden faults in a second boat and, even if Florida is a good place to do it, repairs etc. are going to be expensive.

Yo mentioned the Islands by which I assume you mean the Virgins. I'm sure you are aware that the route from Florida to the Virgins is called the Thorny Path with very good reason (Against wind and current for starters) so a boat from Florida would need to be in pretty good condition to get there.

So if money is not a driving factor why not consider selling and buying an ex charter boat in the islands? From unreliable memory ex charter Beneteau 343s are selling for round the $70-80k mark. I've seen reports of cruisers hanging round for years at at time with few problems, it does seem like a very nice place to hang round, there would be fewer problems (compared with trucking, Florida purchase, sail yourself options), you'd have a roomier boat for liveaboard and the ex charter boats look to be only 6 - 8 years old.

I'm guessing you'd be up for $20-30k extra (or maybe more), but the extra value of a newer boat should tend to even this out in the longer term.

[Kettlewell]

The hard part about buying down in the Caribbean is that you have to fly everywhere, adding up to a lot of cost. There is no safe way to buy a boat remotely without closely examining it yourself, and the normal process I find is to look at 50 boats before you find the right one. That isn't easy to do when you are island hopping. It could easily cost you more than your Catalina 30 is worth to do that. On the other hand, in Florida you can either drive there and use your car or rent a car for maybe $600 for a month, stay in cheap motels or campgrounds, and look at hundreds of boats of all types if you need to. And, then when you find the right one, surveyors are right there, chances are ownership and documentation will all be normal, etc. I think buying in the Caribbean works better for the person looking for a particular boat or very specific type of boat that is in limited supply, so you might get a better deal there without having to travel all around looking at others. My two cents.

[Cheechako]

Yeah, I'm guessing 10-12k now days to ship it to Fl, but I havent checked lately. I know 3 years ago it was $11k to ship a 30' trawler to the PNW from Fl east coast. A really old Cat 30 is worth anywhere from $9k to probably $15k. Depends on a lot of things. A quite old one with Yanmar diesel went for $9k in the Seattle area last year. Lowest I've seen. Newer ones worth more as are prime examples. Depends on if you think you can get a good 30 footer (or one equal to yours I guess) for the same as your sale price. + $10000

[nimblemotors]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Yeah, I'm guessing 10-12k now days to ship it to Fl, but I havent checked lately. I know 3 years ago it was $11k to ship a 30' trawler to the PNW from Fl east coast. A really old Cat 30 is worth anywhere from $9k to probably $15k. Depends on a lot of things. A quite old one with Yanmar diesel went for $9k in the Seattle area last year. Lowest I've seen. Newer ones worth more as are prime examples. Depends on if you think you can get a good 30 footer (or one equal to yours I guess) for the same as your sale price. + $10000

oh my. I'd buy a trailer and a truck and tow it myself and drop it in the water outside probably Houston TX, and then sell the trailer and truck.
Can't see it costing more than $2k-ish Its a liveaboard, where is the OP going to stay when the boat is being trucked?
Nope, camp in it while you are towing it on the road, stop and visit some nice lakes along the way. Salt Lake, Lake Mead for example.

[Kettlewell]

With a beam of something like 10' 10" it won't be all that easy to trailer or even truck it. There will be lots of restrictions. I personally put shipping or trailering at the bottom of the list of options. I think you would be better off keeping it and sailing it around, or moving on and looking for another boat.

[Cheechako]

There are 149 30-32 ft sailboats on Yachtworld in Florida. A cursory look shows many to be $25k and less. A very clean looking 1988 Cat 30 was asking 21k.

[ty.gregory]

Because I am looking for a catamaran, (34-39 feet) and not an ex-charter catamaran, the VI's don't seem to offer much. Maybe I am not looking in the right places...?

For a monohull, there seems to be many to choose from. I've read the pros and cons to buying an ex-charter boat, and sadly, to my way of thinking, the Cons out-weigh the pros quite heavily. I have no answers, and yet, remain forever hopeful! It looks like Florida for me.

Maybe, just maybe... the OP can find someone in FL. looking to sell their Cat 30 and move to the west coast. Do you see where I'm going??? Can you imagine the possibilities????

[roverhi]

Since we are talking Catalina 30, selling and buying another closer to the Carribean makes more sense. You could set your boat up and test out the gear around home. Remove the stuff, ship it to Fla or wherever, sell the boat in Oregon and buy another Cat 30 on the East Coast.

Shipping the boat makes no sense. You'd never recoup the cost of shipping. Cat 30s are commodity items and sell in a pretty limited price range. Didn't they build something like 6,000 of them??? Shouldn't be a problem finding another if you didn't want to sail yours down the coast.

[belizesailor]

@ty.gregory:

Dont think you will find much but x-charters in the VI. Look where there are lots of recreational/cruising boats.

FL ranks pretty high on both counts. Loads of boats in Texas too but not so many cats. Also venues where cruisers tend to leave boats for hurricane season: far SE Cribe, Panama, Rio Dulce...

[Kettlewell]

There are a fair number of catamarans and cat dealers in the Chesapeake too.

[sww914]

We're in Puerto Vallarta. South to Panama is mostly easy from here south except for one spot. From San Francisco, the only easy part was from Santa Barbara to Ensenada.
The sailing in Mexico was all good, but the good harbors are FAR apart.
If you want a big cold adventure, then yes, sail from Portland. If you want to start at the good part, start easier. Start someplace warm and consistent.

[nimblemotors]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

With a beam of something like 10' 10" it won't be all that easy to trailer or even truck it. There will be lots of restrictions. I personally put shipping or trailering at the bottom of the list of options. I think you would be better off keeping it and sailing it around, or moving on and looking for another boat.

Agree, if 11' beam it rules out a trailer, 8.5' (no requirements) is widest that makes any sense.

Here is a old 30' Columbia for $6500 in Florida..
1972 Columbia sailboat for sale in Florida

[IrishWake30]

After seeing the estimate on shipping my boat to Florida, it would definitely be to my advantage to sell my boat here in Oregon and find something else in Florida.

Thank you for all of your advice and input. This is making my decision a lot easier, and things look a lot more clear to me now.

[daddle]

Florida is only barely "the Caribbean". It might be a long sail from Florida to where your dream island is. Consider looking for a boat out in the islands.

Whether to truck or sell/buy sounds like a financial decision. Selling and buying is trading the known boat for one of unknown condition. Often a disappointment. Who knows?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Not sure of the budget for the new boat (like for like?) - but gotta figure on a few k on repairs, tweaks and upgrades (needed and wanted), makes sense to do stuff where it is cheaper and easier to do it and likely that will be before you set off - the upside is that you will (hopefully!) get to do less boat fixing in sunny places later .

Buy in haste and repent at leisure! - Whilst I would do research online in advance (on boats and areas where boats for sale are located - not everything gets online, especially at the cheaper end of the market) I would not go past "warming up" a few prospects before arriving - certainly no commitments until own eyes and hands on of a specific boat and what else is around for sale.......the price of that will be time spent ashore, I would pick an area to base myself in (with lots of boats 4 sale around! and connected to other similar areas) and plant myself there for a couple of months somewhere cheap, rather than trying to do a deal whilst paying daily rates for accomadation. On the upside you won't yet be paying dock fees. Also before buying check where you will be keeping her and how much!, odds on that a couple of months with a base at or near where you purchase will be useful whilst you tweak her and get some hands on learning in before setting off to the islands. Could do less of course, but no sense in rushing if you don't need to.

A vehicle would also be very useful for boat shopping and snooping - plus for when you buy and need to get out and about onshore to buy stuff / fix her up (only so much in walking distance of a dock - and only so much that can fit on a bus )........ideally own vehicle from home so can bring with you the squillion bits and bobs you have already accumulated on the current boat that make life easier / more pleasant..........On which note I would be minded to sell the current boat with only the expected essentials (new owner likely will be using as a weekender and not a liveaboard), even if that includes swapping out a few things for older items (am thinking of things like a cooker, if you have a nice one I would replace with a cheap 2 burner! and Warps and even halyards! (if what you have is recent and good and can be replaced with older stuff) and if you have a portable fridge then replace with nothing )......just don't leave holes where things were fitted as folks feel as if they are missing out - even if not sure exactly what!