Newbie needs advice

[hooligan971]

Hi guys,
New here and hoping you might be able to give me your oppinions on a couple questions. First let me share my story,i'll try to make it short. I grew up here in a little town on the Chesapeake Bay in Va. and have sailed (some) in my 35 yrs with hopes and intentions of eventually living aboard and cruising,but there was never enough time and other obligations always took priority. This all changed on 3/15/04 when driving in the mountains a few hours west of here. An oncoming car,swerving to miss a deer,hit my truck and sending me over a 30' ravine. That other driver left the scene and I was found five hours later. My family was given little hope for my making it through the nite, but obviously I did. I had broken my back,pelvis, all ribs and had severe damage to my lower right leg, ankle and foot. Then came talk of not being able to walk again. I'm happy to report that all speculation was wrong,and that I made a much unexpected recovery. The only telltale signs are a few scars and some limited movement in my right ankle.
This experience changed my perspective on a lot of things,one being not to put off any longer the dream of cruising.
My first concern is finding a boat that I could live aboard fairly comfortably and sail singlehanded. The problem is that I'm 6'4" and I'm having trouble finding a boat with accomodating headroom. Also, having lost most everything I ever saved as a result of the accident,my price range is in the $10,000 or lower range(ha!). I intend to sell most of my worldly posessions to achieve this number. My plan is to find the right old boat in need of some tlc, and put a lot of time and energy(and what $ might be left) into making it my new home.
Does anybody have any suggestions on models to look out for?
Just to inform you guys before the "Do you have any idea what you are getting into?" questions. I do. I have grown up in the environment,just never gone thru with doing it myself.
Sorry for the long read!
Thanks for any help,
Patrick

[Charlie]

Hi Patrick:

Sorry to hear about your tragedy but glad that everything came out alright. $10k is a pretty limited budget. I'm not sure of the head room but I think that you could fit in a Yankee 30. It is a very solid old boat. You didn't post what you plan on doing with the boat but the Yankee 30 would allow you to do some Costal cruising and is still a quick boat for its size. I've seen them on Yachtworld.com for an asking price of $17k. I recoomend you get a boat with a diesel b/c it is alot safer than gas.

Charlie

[hooligan971]

Charlie,
Thanks, What I'm looking for is a boat with a good hull. I have a couple of marine diesels and a small stockpile of hardware and furniture to work from,as well as a pretty good supply of teak. I should mention that I'm a custom stairbuilder and furniture maker,and with all the marinas around here I have done quite a bit of work on boat interiors in the last 15 yrs. The budget is for a boat that will make a good platform to build on. I don't expect to buy a ready to sail livaboard for that price,sorry for not being more clear on that. I'm actually looking for something in the 35' to 37' range, but would consider a smaller boat depending upon the layout.
Patrick

[BC Mike]

The Tanzer 28 is a solid hull. Some of them sell for a reasonable price if they have limited gear. The hulls are vertually bullett proof. The T28 is different to my T8.5 which is a newer model.
Michael

[CaptainK]

Greetings Patrick.

Welcome aboard cruisersforum. This is where the "truth" is.

Well. You could start by browsing through this website. http://www.projectboats.com/ And you could also post a message to them asking them what your looking for. They could contact you, if and when they might have what you're looking for?

Also this site is good. http://www.projectboats.net/ & http://www.projectboatco.com/ & http://www.boatmall.com/ProjectBoats/default.htm & http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=project+boats

This should get you started on your search.

Good luck with your search!!

[Talbot]

I know I am going to get flamed for this by some, but with that budget and those skills, I would be looking for a good ferro hull that needed the interior completed.

But make sure that the hull has been professionally built and get it checked by a surveyor who knows ferro

[GordMay]

Patrick:

I was moved by your well-written (but too short, not too long) story of misfortune, and your commitment ”...not to put off any longer the dream of cruising ...”

Being 6'-4" tall & limited to a (hard won) $10K budget will certainly increase the challenge of finding a suitable “live-aboard” project boat.

Generally, $10K might buy a severely damaged 35 - 40 Ft boat - very likely a storm victim, having been holed and submerged. The economics of restoring such vessels are challenging, to say the least. Although your skills as a stair & furniture maker, and previous boat experience will be invaluable in such as refit, the costs can quickly become very burdensome.

In addition to Kevin’s excellent references, you may want to look at National Liquidators:
http://www.yachtauctions.com/
In particular, check “This week’s auction” and “Hurricane Salvage Inventory”

Best regards,
Gord

[Islandmike]

Patrick,

If you look on ebay or on the Marineryachts.com website you will find a 32 foot ketch, $10K asking. It is a fiberglass pocket cruiser with 6' 5" headroom. Needs work for sure, but they are great boats, very solid. I own a Mariner 40 and I love it, they are classics. Just a thought.

Good luck with your dream

Mike & Paula
S/V Tivoli

[parrothead]

We just bought an Oday 32 Center Cockpit that is pretty bare bones and needed cleaning up. The hull is sound and the diesel is in pretty good shape. We got it for 10500. There is fair head room. So there are boats out there that would work for you. As long as your not going to cross the big pond.

[Charlie]

Patrick:

All good advice above. Except the ferro cement. I saw a Hallsberg Rassy Rasmus for sale in San Diego area for $10k (check latitude38.com classifieds) and an Islander 36 in New Jersey for $10k (yachtworld.com). Shipping on either of those would shoot the budget. The one in SD is enticicng. The owner notes that he may be willing to carry a note.


Charlie

[Talbot]

Said that somebody would get wound up about the ferro! Actually thats why the prices are so low! Most of the attitude to ferro comes from two sources:

experience of a home built hull

total ignorance of professional ferro construction.

I dont want to turn this thread into yet another ferro discussion, as it has already been covered pretty well on here before, but worth a look at the previous thread.

[GordMay]

The current issue 48, May/June ‘06, of ”Good Old Boat” magazine has a couple of articles that may prove helpful:

”Confessions of a Bottom Feeder” ~ by Bob Brintnall
How to fix bargain boats, and make a modest fortune - includes tips on finding bargains

”Scorpio 30 Refit” ~ by Barry Hammerberg
Hard work plus cash saves boat from scrap heap

The magazine almost always has a re-fit story.

[Steve Rust]

If you are willing to consider a multihull a Searunner 34, 37, or 40 trimaran may fit the bill. My 40 has 6'4" headroom from the tall first owner. These boats have a very deep bilge and it would not be that difficult to lower the cabin sole an inch or three in one if needed. The clear open deck and lack of extreme heeling would make it easy on your ankle too. At your price range you will be looking at a fixer upper but with your woodworking skills you could it should pose little problem as long as the boat is structuraly sound. The 40 may be a little much for singlehanding. The 37 is the more common of the three and may be easiest to find.

[CaptainK]

Guys, guys, guys!!!

Talbot has a good idea there.

Gord maybe?

But Steve Rust. That's all and sweet and everything.

But Patrick mentioned all he's spending is $10,000. He already has a couple of marine diesel engines already. He just wants a pointer on where he can get a "project boat."

He's not looking at a expensive $20,000 and more boat like you guys are throwing at him. Unless I'm mistaking here? But yes, headroom is a issue with this gentleman. Let's do better. Shall we?

[hooligan971]

Thanks guys for your input. I came very close to buying a smaller boat than I needed this evening.There was a Catalina27 about 30 min away from here listed on Ebay.It went for $1501.00,very tempting .I thought about getting it and doing a little woodwork and turning it over for a profit,but decided to stay focused on just finding the boat I need and working on it. Still looking for any boats with enough headroom for me and even thinking of getting a set of plans from Benford on the Badger Dory. Jay Benford tells me there are simple changes that can be made in order to keep me from concussing myself every time I go below deck. This project would take alot longer than I would like,but within my budget,I could end up with a sweet little cruiser.
Your thoughts?
Patrick