$100,000 to put in a money pit

[warren5421]

Never owned a boat but looking at getting a schooner, 32'-38', to use for single handing. I have $100,000 to spend on a used or new sail boat. I think I want a schooner 32'-38'. After finding the boat I will hire someone for a year to teach me to handle the boat. I would like some feedback or recommendations on boats to look at. I have looked at 2 Morris and a Hunter . Liked the Morris but not the Hunter. I will do the Caribbean and maybe to England.

[gonesail]

Go for the Morris

[S/V Illusion]

The word ‘pit’ implies there is a finite bottom to a hole. That perception might be the first to go if/when you buy a boat.

The consensus view seems to be that capital cost of purchase is around 50% of your actual investment once done with repairs, initial maintenance, additions and upgrades.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Warren.

Originally Posted by warren5421

... After finding the boat I will hire someone for a year to teach me to handle the boat ...

That alone, could eat up a large part of that $100K.

[GILow]

Curious... why a schooner? At that size it seems a bit of unneeded complication. Plus restricting the options a fair bit.

[sailorboy1]

a Hunter schooner??

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

a Hunter schooner??

You learn something new everyday.

[boatman61]

Dont think either do schooners, at least not in that size..
There is a Cherubini 48 schooner but whether built by Hunter I cannot say.

[tkeithlu]

Welcome Warren. Go for your dream, but you imply that you are starting from scratch. A multi-mast isn't the easiest to single hand, as GI suggests. A smaller, cheaper and simpler boat might be a better starting point. Long cruises require lots of skills and experience. Why not a boat that will let you find the edges of your envelope, and start building toward your dream trips and dream boat? You might want something rather different when you get there.

[dadster3]

If you plan to single hand, a schooner is waaaay too much sail. I will be a single hander myself as soon as the sale is finalized. For me, even a standard sloop rig is too much sail--I just don't want the hassle of 2 sails-- and you will find that it can become work just keeping the sails trimmed. You might want to consider a Hinterhoeller Nonsuch. It has one huge sail--think genoa jib--and all the lines lead to the cockpit. Check on Yacht World. They were built like battleships and hold their value very well. They are surprisingly fast, and point up much better than sloop sailors will tell you. You could find a pretty good 30-36 footer for far less than what you have to spend. Check them out and also the website for the International Nonsuch Association. Keep an open mind.


Also take the ASA 101, 103 courses.

[roland stockham]

Maybe you have your terminology wrong. A schooner has 2 mast but the main mast is taller and at the stern. A ketch is the other way round. Ketches are available at that size but very few schooners. If you plan is to sail solo either a ketch or cutter (2 head sails) are great options as the smaller sails are easier to handle and reefing can just mean releasing a clutch to drop a sail. On instruction getting a live aboard skipper for a year will be a significant cost. There are some great course programs from the RYA and in the USA that work as progressive training then you practice on your own boat between each course. You may still want a skipper initially while you get started but you will never really learn how to run a boat until you do it! Build up experience over 2 or three year before heading to strange places and you will have a better time than rushing it in a year, takes that long just to prepare the boat properly.

[Rorzech]

I think he meant sloop. He may have been calling all boats schooners.

[Mithril Bham]

Sounds like you need to charter for a while. Consider hiring private instructor and chartering in the BVI. Read Chapman's and Annapolis Book of Seamanship.
Lots to learn. Over 50 years doing this and still no little.
Get your Captain's license just for drill.

[Scout 30]

Other than the 34' Lazy Jack Schooner I'm not aware of any other small fiberglass production schooners. There were some built in wood & some in steel but pretty rare at that size. The Lazy Jacks are extreme shoal draft boats and there have been several located in my neighborhood due to our skinny water. I have to disagree about them being hard to single hand. In fact it's actually pretty simple because the rig is split so you're dealing with smaller sails & instead of reefing you can just drop one of the sails. Plus these days when everyone has an auto pilot you're never really single handing when raising or lowering the sails.

[zboss]

When you are saying that you have 100K for a money pit you really mean 33.3K or 330K. Buy the best boat you can find for 33K and do only the minimum necessary to make it safe and livable. A year later take that 70K you have left over and buy the boat you really want and sell the old boat.