Another 'what boat should i buy' thread

[UNCIVILIZED]

Another route to consider, regardless of boat age or type. Would be to hire a project manager, or boat repair firm, & have them sort out some of the bigger issues on the boat in need of TLC that you’re not yet up to tackling.

For example taking the surveyors report, & getting estimates on many of the more urgent items. And then prioritize in what order you want them done. So, call it a partial professional refit. Unless, that is, you have the coin to have pro’s do a full refit. But I’d suggest that you be reasonably savvy on any job you hire out, so that you can inspect the work as things go along.

The perk of this is, that you get a fairly “new” boat once the refit is done. New in terms of the important bits which on any boat regularly need servicing or replacing. And as stated before, you’ll need to go over all of the systems on even a new boat. Along with the fact that at (or before) the 5yr mark, many things are in need of inspecting, & servicing or repair. Such as your through hull fittings for example.

By going to the linked thread, you can see that the through hull on this boat when new, was utter crap. And in need of a full on correct installation (build), including adding reinforcements to the hull in it’s vicinity, & installing the proper sort of valve. In this case a seacock. So new boats definitely have issues. And in this case it’s a serious one, given what happens when/if a through hull fails.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ck-185146.html


PS: If you're down to a short list of boats that you like, but you don't necessarily see any of them listed for sale, there are still plenty of ways to go about finding/acquiring one. The simplest being to contact the owner, & see if he'd be open to negotiations. And there are others as well.

[44'cruisingcat]

[QUOTE=OceanSeaSpray;2417741

Cats are attractive "from the inside out" for sure. On top of ugly, you also get huge windage, no upwind ability,[/QUOTE]


Just out of curiosity, which cats did you sail that had no upwind ability?

I admit, I've only sailed on a dozen or so different cats, but so far I haven't found ONE that couldn't outsail our old steel mono on any point of sail.

[boatman61]

BVI Yacht Sales Ltd. (Physical: Nanny Cay Marina, Nanny Cay, VG1110, British Virgin Islands)

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Just out of curiosity, which cats did you sail that had no upwind ability?

I admit, I've only sailed on a dozen or so different cats, but so far I haven't found ONE that couldn't outsail our old steel mono on any point of sail.

Many to most of the polars I've seen on production cats are abysmal. It's only when you get into the lighter ones, often with daggerboards that they sail well. At least as compared to a lot of mono's. The upwind VMG is where they truly take a beating. No pun intended.

[TaikoHax]

So stepping away from my origional choices briefly i realised we could afford a Southerly 135.

I've long had a fondness for them and the ability to go into shallower waters.

Would that, for the lack of better phrasing, be the kind of boat the "old salts" would approve?

(acknowledging that a big moving part is something which could fail, though I've seen no records of it happening).

just starting this "wider search" - shame i cant afford a newer "blue water boat" but naturally they seem to hold their value really well.

[Pete7]

Now other than a minor problem in that its located half way around the world, I would like this:

1998 Moody 40 Sail New and Used Boats for Sale - www.yachtworld.co.uk

you just might have to wait until a European one becomes available.

Or the next size up with a new engine?

1989 Moody 425 Sail New and Used Boats for Sale - www.yachtworld.co.uk

At that price at least there won't be tears if you crunch it into a jetty.

[OceanSeaSpray]

Originally Posted by TaikoHax

So stepping away from my original choices briefly i realised we could afford a Southerly 135.

I've long had a fondness for them and the ability to go into shallower waters.

There are far worse boats than that for sure! The drawback of centerboarders is that they have to carry more ballast and they are constrained down to a smaller rig. It creates a penalty for light wind sailing.
Light winds is a lot of what you get when cruising. The ability to sail in 10 knots or less is what makes all the difference between angrily accumulating engine hours or enjoying a silent ride.

Shallow water preferences are personal again, but unless you are exactly in the right sheltered environment, it is not automatically that useful. Over the years, I have seen more than one centerboarder anchored "on the beach" and caught in breakers or otherwise in trouble because the conditions had suddenly changed etc.
A good depth of water means more margin and time to deal with whatever might happen. A deep draft is not what is keeping me anchored in deep water basically!
The other thing is that working underneath a boat that has no keel is anything but attractive.

See if you can find one of those well-built, middle-aged fin keelers with some beam at the transom and a decently-sized rig. They are around.

[Rohan]

Here's something else to consider, I'm not sure if anyone mentioned it, but another possibility is investing in a charter boat.

With £150k-£180k - you can invest very nicely in a charter boat, and use it for much of the year, you just wouldn't have it all the time. There are other people on this forum much more knowledgeable on this system, and the pros and cons than me.

[bobfnbw]

For that money I think you will not find a good Cat.
If it was me, on that side of the pond, I would look at Trintilla. There are some good ones out there. Aluminum hull and deck, with a beautiful interior and well thought out systems. Most have hydraulic furlers and winches.
1988 Anne Wever / NL Trintella 44 Aluminium Sail Boat For Sale

Built by the Ann Weaver boatyard in the netherlands, and a Van Standt design.. great boats from what I can tell.

[lifemiles]

hi there.

don't worry about experience. sailing is sailing, doesn't matter where you do it.
I did two charters in the summer in Europe and went for the atlantic.
did things go wrong ? yes. but they would have gone wrong either way. you can't prepare for everything, as long as you are mechanically apt you'll find ways to jimmyrig whatever went wrong and get across.

I would definitely advice to read up (heavy weather sailing teaches you a lot on what possibilities you have when things go south)

as far as boats the ones you mentioned are pretty boats and as people stated people do cross oceans on them. there's one butt in my opinion on all of 'm, their keels are bolted on. while shore cruising maybe no drama but loosing that sucker in the middle of the ocean will turn you upside down faster than you can blink an eye (think underwater collision at night with partly submerged container, or even a whale ?)

for crossings the better way to go are the monohulls with an integral keel (keel is one molding with hull, and filled with ballast from the inside) or catamarans. if you loose the small keel underneath that it's no biggie. prices way up higher though.

there are old boats out there that are good buys, and can be fitted (if you're handy) to a top-cruising boat for less than what you'd pay for a "top-cruising boat" (you'll find you'll always want to change on or two things anyway)

I've seen a real nice endeavour 42, in st. Thomas. really wide and stable (I've had a 40' myself) and excellent roomy for long time cruising. it's on facebook;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1597...68151823491314

I've actually inspected it myself but i'm coming down from a 132' Motoryacht so I'd like a little more space still.

the Endeavour will forgive you an occasional misjudgement of wind and reef by leaning over a little more and she won't be the fastest, but one of the safest older boats I could recommend to any beginning cruiser :-)

[yachtcowgirl]

I might have a boat you would be interested in for sale. it is a Pearson 530. She has roller furling sails, a 12 kw Northern Lights genset and many upgrades like a brand new Force 10 propane stove, new propane system, new fuel system. My husband and I worked on the boat for the past two years. He was killed suddenly after we returned from Cuba. I recently spent two months in the Bahamas and I have decided that I do not want to try to continue cruising without him. Let me know if this boat might work for you.