Best ways to compromise on a boat to save money.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by chambrse

Hi guys!

I've changed careers to software engineering in the hopes of transitioning to a full-time remote job and live aboard lifestyle! I'm a millennial, saddled with lots of student debt, and not a lot of savings. The goal is to buy a boat in 2 years, and I'm saving as much as I can. However, I'm going to be looking for every way to save money that I can possibly take advantage of.

I'm willing to undertake difficult projects, don't really care about the aesthetic of the boat, and have a goal of living aboard and working on it for a year before actually casting off.

When buying a boat, what are the projects you could conceivably complete for less money than you're saving by buying the boat without said work already done? Said another way: what things would bring the sticker price of a boat down, but aren't that big of a deal to fix?

While I don't have any practical experience, I'm confident I could complete restoration of wooden parts, power/navigation/equipment upgrades/repairs/refits, etc given time and an internet connection.

Thanks in advance for your input guys!

Some great responses here to your question, absolutely spot on, especially the ones related to advancing your career while stlll ashore, and doing a lot of sailing before jumping into the ownership trap (I mean a LOT of sailing. you should sail every week, maybe get on a race crew, it's free).

Buying an unattractive boat has a risk. Dirty, yes, needing TCL yes, but it needs to be one with a pedigree, so get a basically good boat, not the odd one-off or homebuilt. And one which can sail.

Be careful! Boats needing big restoration or major equipment replacement will take a lot more time and money than you anticipate. In the end you won't save anything, and home made repairs often look exactly like home-made repairs.

In general to get a bargain you want to buy something that few other people want, but remember, they won't want it much more in the future when you try to sell it.

What would that be that no-one wants, yet is a good boat? You ask? Well, here is another idea to save money on a purchase:

We bought a used race boat. Nobody wants them. They have little value. If the previous owner has been using it recently it will be in serviceable condition but not attractive to many prospective buyers. It will have sails, an engine, and usually lots of sail handling equipment. Probably not much interior, (lots of potential for a remodel). Ours had a lot of volume. Empty but big, making it easy to move into.

Plus it will be fun to sail. But it will be hard to sell later, note that.

But doing a lot of sailing before buying will inform you as to what you might like town.

[Pearson27]

There are good enough boats out there and I suggest you take your time to find a boat that has everything you need in the smallest boat. The bigger the boat, the bigger the cost for some things. Look at what needs to be replaced and get some prices for the size of boat you are looking for.

For example, a set of standard sails for a 27 foot boat will run about $2900. Double that for a 35 footer. Sails, lines, tackle, canvas are pricy and are priced by size too. Electroncs are largely the same regardless of size.

If you can find one from an owner, you'll save some money and an honest owner will price the boat fairly or accept a fair offer.

Get a survey. They will help you with what the boat needs.

The

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Pearson27.

[Lance]

Be inspired You Tube "Sailing Zingaro ".
La Vida Broka. Got to love the freedom.

[CaptainRivet]

loads of good tips here, really appreciate sharing all that.

A bit opposite what some state here is when you move aboard and wanna sail the world get an as much length boat as you can afford. yes some costs will raise by length but can be cut substantially trough buying used and smart.

Reason 40 till 50ft sails much better especially in big seas, more comfortable and less stressed then below 40ft. you will appreciate every ft you have more. Also load capacity rises.
Extra room and if you are taller like me more headroom is really a plus that counts. And that doesn't necessarly mean huge sails as there are many models on the market with a short mast/security setup where a 45ft has the same sail size as a 37ft performance oriented cruiser.
2nd there are a lot sails used out there (from eg hurricane damaged boats or simply not needed) and the boat market goes bigger and bigger so 45ft is a small size now but 20 years ago that was huge. but still not that huge that hydraulic systems needed to operate the boat. So you can safe on a lot of the aspects of a longer/larger boat by buying good used stuff.
Yes marina and haul out fees are higher but you stay much less in marina with a big boat then with a small one. And haul out fees are not outrages more and occur quite seldom.
And you can also buy a boat that can fall dry, so you can safe even on the haul out fees.
I fully agree on outdated electronics is a good way to safe money and many of them not needed. But If they work great and an old black&white radar is equally good to discover other boats and swells on night watch then the colored ones or in minimum better then no radar at all.

An independent up to date navi solution for around 600-700$:

Get an I refurbished I pad pro 12,9" with 32gb basic WIfi version (12,9" screen as it has lots of battery and a nice big screen), a rugged water tight case, get an external bluetooth 10Hz GPS (connected via USB charger permantly with power, don't save money here, a really good one is of high value and precision) and external bluetooth Wifi 4G module for your sim card (does the boat wifi). Yes apple is a must here as this is just quality and works reliable stable. That setup is everything you need for navigation. runs very good and often even better/more precise then the expensive chart plotters. the rescue captian I sail 5000nm with has this with her when she does a yacht delivery and on her own boat too. In the beginning just as backup but meanwhile she always uses this and don't care whats on board. I got this setup too. Used it on charter boats, yacht deliveries and when I crewed on boats.

The 12,9" pro has min. 28h of battery life as you just need bluetooth enabled, (the WIFI version has no build in GPS that sucks battery empty anyhow but gets GPS via Bluetooth and powerconsuming WIFI is outsourced) so you have it the whole time with you independently where on the boat you are. The big screen is so handy, can display a lot of wireless BT stuff in parallel via split screen (eg the Battery BMS and monitor, some sensors....) and its apple quality. Just works great...
Important just put your naval apps like navigation, anker alarm, weather forecast, log book... and what you need to monitor on board via bluetooth BUT nothing else as this is your navigation tool!!! the 32GB is more then enough memory if you really limit it to that.

NO email browser, social media, movies and other stuff your phone/Ipad normally has and look that you always have min 5GB of memory free. And a Cheap 9" Ipad 2 as backup with the same apps and for all your other personal stuff like Insta, facebook, cruiserforum etc....

[OneHullPaul]

Boat length.

[NorthernMac]

When I decided to get a boat for a liveaboard again (lived aboard as a kid) I opted for a smaller boat as I don’t have a wife and kids and will be single handing it.

Staying in the under 40’ range also seems to make things much less expensive and time consuming.


Don’t buy stuff you can’t afford and give yourself a wide margin for upgrades. Be sure to get a good survey/sea trial done before buying it.
The boat I got, nothing was wrong with the boat, it just needed some stuff to meet the mission, one of those things was a new engine which is looking to be around 3000-3500, the engine now appears fine, but based on age and hours and rebuild cost, I’ll just toss a new engine and tranny in because in my mind it’s somethinc that should be done and something I’d rather do on my own terms vs after a major issue in a random port where I’m subject to NEEDING to do it.

Also I’d say work on the boat yourself, both to save money and to learn, I’d say if there is something you don’t understand systems wise, that WILL be the thing they will break and at the worst possible time. Back to size stuff, things like paint change quite a bit size wise and if you can do it vs do it for me it’ll help your piece of mind, safety at sea and wallet.

DONT BE CHEAP, folks don’t seem to know the difference between being cheap and being a sucker, if something is wrong fix it, even the small stuff, it’s like making your bed in the morning, not being a sucker is both shopping prices for engines, sails and whatnot, as well as rolling up your sleeves and firing up google or taking some classes and learning how to do things you don’t know how to do. Look into stuff like opencpn, browse the classifieds and also Craig’s list, there is junk but also sometimes a diamond in the bottom of the septic tank lol

I consider myself a greenhorn too, that’s just what I’ve seen thus far for myself.

Oh yeah, also look at the formulas on here for comfort, power, capsize etc, cool site for comparisons.

https://sailboatdata.com

[Byrdman]

Watch this: https://youtu.be/2lwbHYOFD-4

Get a good paying job near the ocean, buy a cheap 27' boat, learn to sail it around that area while you save and pay off your debt. you can get your forever boat later when you know what you want.

Become a specialist in whatever you do, not just a 9-5'er, so that your skills will be in demand and then become self employed. That way you will have the flexibility to make your own schedule and income. IME, you can be the average 9-5'er making $30K-$50K a year working every day or become you own boss and make +2x that easily being self-employed