General Info: Buying a Lagoon

[sailoread]

Hi, My wife and I are looking into buying a Lagoon to sail back slowly to Australia next July - December. Excharter Sunsail boats have got our attention at the moment. Any comments re the best place to look, contacts, avoiding pitfalls re establishing ownership and Aust. registration would be appreciated.
Happy sailing.
Bill

[maxingout]

I don't know anything about lagoons, but I sailed down wind to Australia twice. I would love to do it one more time.

Downwind sailing to Australia is about as good as it gets. Trade winds all the way to Oz once you get far enough south to pick them up.

Have an awesome adventure.

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by sailoread

Hi, My wife and I are looking into buying a Lagoon to sail back slowly to Australia next July - December. Excharter Sunsail boats have got our attention at the moment. Any comments re the best place to look, contacts, avoiding pitfalls re establishing ownership and Aust. registration would be appreciated.
Happy sailing.
Bill

Hi my wife Vivien and i are doing exactly what you are planning, at this juncture we are awaiting our return to USA to take ownership of a Lagoon 44 called Black Pearl.
Im an early retired boatbuilder and have owned quite a few boats over the years.
Pearl is a 3 cabin version and is loaded with extra's.
We chose Pearl for the following reasons, Comfort, Finish, Price, Layout, Reputation and so on.
We looked very closely at ex charter boats especially Caine and Robertson's however for our purposes we figured we would have to spend an additional 75k+ to bring it to the standard we would need. Charter boats are called 'Bare Charter' for good reason the gear on them is very basic, Pearl will suit our purpose of sailing the Caribbean and then the Pacific back to Aust very well, if i can assist with any questions regarding our experience then please don't hesitate to message me. Cheers and good luck.

[sailoread]

Thanks Dave,, I imagine the trip back from Panama would be fantastic,, take extra time to explore the western Pacific islands, we will need to do our research.
Bill

[sailoread]

Thanks for your inspiration. It seems you found what you wanted in Black Pearl. Our concern in buying private is to avoid ownership and other paperwork, customs, aust registration problems, we were told buying through a large charter co like sunsail would be safer /easier. Can you advise how you went about buying private, required paperwork, reputable dealers etc. I could fly to the US in April to do inspections before we have our 6 month off from June.

My wife Cecily and I are infant teachers here in Port Douglas, we have had enough of teaching at the moment and need an adventure.
Bill

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by sailoread

Thanks for your inspiration. It seems you found what you wanted in Black Pearl. Our concern in buying private is to avoid ownership and other paperwork, customs, aust registration problems, we were told buying through a large charter co like sunsail would be safer /easier. Can you advise how you went about buying private, required paperwork, reputable dealers etc. I could fly to the US in April to do inspections before we have our 6 month off from June.

My wife Cecily and I are infant teachers here in Port Douglas, we have had enough of teaching at the moment and need an adventure.
Bill

There is so much misinformation out there from armchair advisors, we are buying through Cat Co via Staley Weidmann a broker, we are using an agent who checks liens, mortgages and registration ultimately ensuring clear title whilst the actual financial transaction is handled through an Escrow account.

Aussie title and registration is all done by them as well, the vessel must be removed from USCG Rego to Australian. All up costs for the complete process were $2500. And on a 500k investment thats a small amount for the security it gives.

A bit like a Revvs check on a vehicle here in Australia.
Catamaran Co have been very good, you'll see Staley's name come up with most Lagoon's for sale stateside.

Let me know if i can help further we will be in Edgewater in late January then down to Florida, Cheers Frank

[Seblawris]

Hi All, we must be on the same wavelength. I am looking at buying a cat and sail it back to OZ. I may leave it in the caribean for a season and than sail it downunder...so I will be watching this thread closely. I will be interested to see where in the Caribean i can leave the boat once i buy it. By the way, the lagoons have very good prices, but never sailed them and don't know much about them...quality, how they sail etc. I currently have a mono..and would like to convert to multi..

Any suggestions would be welcome.

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by Seblawris

Hi All, we must be on the same wavelength. I am looking at buying a cat and sail it back to OZ. I may leave it in the caribean for a season and than sail it downunder...so I will be watching this thread closely. I will be interested to see where in the Caribean i can leave the boat once i buy it. By the way, the lagoons have very good prices, but never sailed them and don't know much about them...quality, how they sail etc. I currently have a mono..and would like to convert to multi..

Any suggestions would be welcome.

A lagoon 420 is nice modern and reasonably priced, 440 roomier and prob 80k dearer. Robertson and caine 43's are nice also cheap..... Lots to choose from check out yachtworld.com Cheers Frank

[Seblawris]

Thanks Frank...do you have a Lagoon 440? I have been looking at many sites, but I will check yachtworld again. With regards the ex-charter fleet, whether Lagoon, Robertson & Caine etc...are they a good purchase? or too risky?

[sailoread]

Thanks for your advice, Frank, I'll do some searching.
Hot and humid her in Port Douglas, a good lead up to our first cyclone of the season.
Cheers,
Bill

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by Seblawris

Thanks Frank...do you have a Lagoon 440? I have been looking at many sites, but I will check yachtworld again. With regards the ex-charter fleet, whether Lagoon, Robertson & Caine etc...are they a good purchase? or too risky?

With any boat purchase it's always buyer beware, once confident you've found the boat that ticks your boxes get it surveyed by a qualified marine small boat surveyor experienced in the class of boat you are considering.
Can be a good idea to charter a similar boat so you can get a good feel for it.
If you read back through this thread you'll note Viv and I are about to take delivery having travelled to the US and test sailed, surveyed and accepted our choice. We've paid the deposit planning to take delivery early next year.
Study, evaluate, sort opinion from fact, decide and hopefully enjoy for a looooong time. Ex charter boats are usually lightly equipped and have high engine hours however they can be a cheap base to build a good cruiser from.
Crewed charter boats are probably a good choice albeit a better choice. We opted for private 2 owner simply on the good value right now, the boat we have chosen has nearly all the equipment we would choose, we just gotta hope it works out in the long run. :-)

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by sailoread

Thanks for your advice, Frank, I'll do some searching.
Hot and humid her in Port Douglas, a good lead up to our first cyclone of the season.
Cheers,
Bill

I agree i saw tonights weather pattern it was reminiscent of last years opening to the wet season. We just had some thunder bumpers roll through the CQ area and in last days received probably three or so inches of rain. Bring it on!!!!

[Seblawris]

Frank, i just reread the thread and started from the top again!! yes, you are correct...I need to start road testing some cats.

[cats4life]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

There is so much misinformation out there from armchair advisors, we are buying through Cat Co via Staley Weidmann a broker, we are using an agent who checks liens, mortgages and registration ultimately ensuring clear title whilst the actual financial transaction is handled through an Escrow account.

Aussie title and registration is all done by them as well, the vessel must be removed from USCG Rego to Australian. All up costs for the complete process were $2500. And on a 500k investment thats a small amount for the security it gives.

A bit like a Revvs check on a vehicle here in Australia.
Catamaran Co have been very good, you'll see Staley's name come up with most Lagoon's for sale stateside.

Let me know if i can help further we will be in Edgewater in late January then down to Florida, Cheers Frank

I was reading your posts and saw Edgewater. Where are you picking up your new boat? I was out that way earlier this year for an Open House for Cats at Sail Away. I think I was on that boat. She is really nice. Congrats. Congratulations to you!!!!

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by cats4life

I was reading your posts and saw Edgewater. Where are you picking up your new boat? I was out that way earlier this year for an Open House for Cats at Sail Away. I think I was on that boat. She is really nice. Congrats. Congratulations to you!!!!

Thanks, Black Pearl is under the care of Tommy Smith we will meet there for final acceptence and if all good then complete.
Pearl has everything and more, there's a little wear and tear but thats to be expected.
Cheers the adventure soon begins!!!! Frank