Want To Buy: We're doin' it!

[ascarswell]

Yes...you read correctly! We're doin' it!

Our house is sold, I just resigned (literally...TODAY!), and we're heading out into the deep blue sea. Well...okay...maybe not just yet. Aside from enjoying the journey (obviously!), there are a few things we've got to accomplish first:

1. Learn some stuff.
2. Go see some boats.
3. Adjust expectations.
4. Buy a boat.
5. Learn even more stuff.
6. Shake down cruise (repeat as necessary).
7. Fix/change some stuff (not too much, hopefully).
8. Make a plan.
9. Cast off.
10. Learn, learn, and learn some more (indefinitely).

#4 is in bold as that's the primary focus of this thread. We're casting a wide net and considering various options. We'll narrow our focus as we learn and adjust, as we order and re-order our priorities, and as we learn the real market (closed sales versus unrealistic listing prices). I've been looking a lot, but unless you're an all-cash real-live buyer, the experience just isn't the same. It's now time to talk turkey!

Our initial parameters:

- $200k or less if possible; more in the cruising kitty is a good thing! :-)
- mono-hull 46'-54'
- catamaran 40'-44'
- shallow draft (5'6" or less)
- prefer "newer" (2000+), but would consider the right re-fit 'classic' boat with most or all new systems
- Florida...(we're in Fort Lauderdale), but for the right boat at the right price, we'll jump on a plane
- newer sails, rigging, electronics, canvas, etc.
- nice tender set up
- solar array
- gen set (low hours) & A/C
- low engine hours
- bow thruster, especially on a cat ;-)
- safety & emergency equip
- clean
- cared for
- did I mention, clean?

So let's see what you've got! I look forward to seeing, listening, and learning. I'm accessible by PM, email, phone, text...so let's chat.

Cheers,
Adam

[Sawbonz]

Congratulations! It sounds like you’re well on your way. I don’t think I can be of much help being that we have a new Leopard 45 on order and haven’t had our own start yet, but I’ll look forward to seeing you out there!

[gunkylump]

Originally Posted by ascarswell

Yes...you read correctly! We're doin' it!

Our house is sold, I just resigned (literally...TODAY!), and we're heading out into the deep blue sea. Well...okay...maybe not just yet. Aside from enjoying the journey (obviously!), there are a few things we've got to accomplish first:

1. Learn some stuff.
2. Go see some boats.
3. Adjust expectations.
4. Buy a boat.
5. Learn even more stuff.
6. Shake down cruise (repeat as necessary).
7. Fix/change some stuff (not too much, hopefully).
8. Make a plan.
9. Cast off.
10. Learn, learn, and learn some more (indefinitely).

#4 is in bold as that's the primary focus of this thread. We're casting a wide net and considering various options. We'll narrow our focus as we learn and adjust, as we order and re-order our priorities, and as we learn the real market (closed sales versus unrealistic listing prices). I've been looking a lot, but unless you're an all-cash real-live buyer, the experience just isn't the same. It's now time to talk turkey!

Our initial parameters:

- $200k or less if possible; more in the cruising kitty is a good thing! :-)
- mono-hull 46'-54'
- catamaran 40'-44'
- shallow draft (5'6" or less)
- prefer "newer" (2000+), but would consider the right re-fit 'classic' boat with most or all new systems
- Florida...(we're in Fort Lauderdale), but for the right boat at the right price, we'll jump on a plane
- newer sails, rigging, electronics, canvas, etc.
- nice tender set up
- solar array
- gen set (low hours) & A/C
- low engine hours
- bow thruster, especially on a cat ;-)
- safety & emergency equip
- clean
- cared for
- did I mention, clean?

So let's see what you've got! I look forward to seeing, listening, and learning. I'm accessible by PM, email, phone, text...so let's chat.

Cheers,
Adam

We have a 1982 Stevens 47 for sale, a proven blue water boat, pretty much fits your want list. It is listed in the boats for sale section here on CF.

1982 Stevens 47, Hull #33. Recent, quality updates throughout, as follows:

Complete bottom job completed in Grenada June 2016, hull taken down to gelcoat. Two coats of West System epoxy, 2 gallons
Interlux 2000E barrier coat. 2 gallons of black Sea Hawk Island 44 plus, then 3 gallons of light blue Sea Hawk Island 44 plus
and then 2 additional gallons of dark blue Sea Hawk Island 44 plus because the black was bleeding through the light blue.
Seahawk, under warranty, just applied 2 coats of Sea Hawk Island 44 plus black paint to hull due to issues with barnacles growing
on the hull. So, a brand new bottom again, completed Nov.1/17.

Pro-Furl in boom furling main.

Pro-Furl genoa. Continuous furler staysail. Storm sail, track on mast. Spinnaker.
Rocna anchor, pivoting anchor bow roller, 350 feet of 3/8's BBB chain.

Extra high lifelines, from stern arch to boarding gates are double run 1" stainless steel. From boarding gates to bow
are stainless safety wire.

Swim platform.

Stainless steel stern arch with seating on each side. Dinghy nests directly underneath stern arch.

690 watts of solar, mounted on stern arch, with the largest Outback controller available. These solar panels are set up to swivel and follow the sun all day.

Hard dodger, with full bimini and enclosure. Enclosure is 3 years old, and consists of both glas and bug screen, which are
totally interchangeable.

Aluminum mast steps to top of mast.

All portlights have visors to prevent most rains from entering, allowing you to leave the portlights open in most rains.
Bug screens for all portlights and hatches.

Standing rigging inspection completed June 2017, headstay replaced due to one broken wire.

All topside lighting converted to LED, solar powered motion sensor lighting topsides for security.

Winchrite electric winch grinder - 2 years old.

7" Raymarine touch screen and button operated chartplotter, 44 mile digital radar, Vesper 850 AIS with stern arch
mounted antennae. Raymarine ST60 instruments, wind direction wind speed, boat speed, depth, rudder position, Raymarine auto
pilot. Icom VHF powermike at helm.

Cockpit table fabricated from starboard.

Two companionway doors, one solid plexiglass, the other hardwood with a full bug screen.

New running rigging: Mainsail halyards led back to cockpit, and new topping lift May 2017.

Suede wrapped steering wheel, full cover for steering wheel, Edson pedestal and cockpit table.

2 year old Highfield CL310 double hulled aluminum dinghy with a brand new Nissan 18 hp outboard, as yet not even broken in.

Life raft, certification out of date mounted in front of mast.

100 hp Yanmar turbo engine, approximately 1582 hours.

5kw Kohler generator, 3 cylinder diesel with approximately 1400 hours.

Reverso oil change system for engine, tranmission and generator.

Spectra catalina 12 volt watermaker with a new membrane May 2017.

5 cubic foot freezer, 6 cubic foot refrigerator.

Lavac electric flush heads both fore and aft.

Splendide washer/dryer combo, dryer portion not used due to not being vented.

Bilge high level alarm. 1500 gph bilge pump and 750 gph bilge pump in aft bilge.

750 gph bilge pump in forward bilge.

150 gallons of fresh water storage, two tanks.

160 gallons of diesel storage, 3 tanks.

New Racor fuel filter system, 2 years old, one vacuum gauge.

20 gallon black water tank aft, 30 gallon black water tank forward.

20,000 btu air conditioning unit ducted throughout the boat.

New salon cushions and new foam March 2017.

Icom 710 SSB and tuner

Xantrex 3000 watt pure sine inverter, built in 150 amp 3 stage battery charger, 1.5 years old.

Xantrex 40 amp battery charger as a spare, wired in and ready to go if needed.

Xantrex Freedom battery monitor.

Raymarine chartplotter at navigation station.

Convection oven. Force 10 propane 3 burner stove, oven.

Two fibreglass 20 lb. propane tanks. New solenoid in propane locker, and new propane sniffer in galley May 2017.

Full inventory of spare parts including engine starter, alternator, filters, belts, pre shaped coolant hoses, impellors,
stainless steel nuts, bolts and screws. Wiring shrink wrap of various sizes, wiring terminals and connectors, o-rings, etc.
20 lb. bottle of Freon for refrigeration(couldn't pass up a great deal in Florida)
Stevens 47 Class "A" plan. Queen sized walk around aft cabin berth. Oversized vee berth forward, two bunks in 3rd cabin.
Walkaround galley, navigation station facing forward.

All AGM 31 batteries, 2 years old. 5 dedicated to house bank, one dedicated engine start, remaining generator/windlass.

Fortress FX37 mounted on a Mantus spare anchor holder on life line tubing aft, port side. 150 feet of 1" rode. Unused.

Safety equipment, surpasses requirements of USCG and Canadian CG.

All new LED light fixtures installed Nov./16 in salon, vee berth and aft cabin. Two flourescent fixtures remain in galley.

Manuals for engine, generator, watermaker, instruments, chartplotter etc.

"J" prop folding prop.

Wirie AP+ wifi extender

Owners personal items are not included.

There are many articles worth reading on the Stevens 47....Google it and see!

Asking price is 190k U.S. Any questions please email Moorahme82@gmail.com

[Lafitte 44]

Hello
please review details of my Bob Perry designed Lafitte 44 at
http://tevai.life
I have owed Tevai since 2005. She a stunning and rock sold vessel. As a USCG Capt with > 50000 miles, i can offer assistance in training and transition. Now in St Lucia. Headed for Trinidad for Haulout in May.


Website site should answer many questions. Thanks

[beachcraft]

Hi Adam
Congratulations!! We have owned boats all our lives. We did the same thing as you are now doing and have never regretted it. We have now lived aboard full time for 15 years and purchased our current boat after the first 3 years deciding to have all the amenities and comforts for full time cruising on a solid blue water sailboat.
At 43' feet it is larger than a typical 43 as you will see if you visit our websites. We are very particular and have maintained and upgraded her. Many people comment that she looks like she is less than 10 years old.
Take a look. We would be pleased to show her and share our experiences with you.

Taswell 43|for sale
www.sailblogs.com/member/onward

[JPA Cate]

First off, get some sailing experience, learn more about sailboats in general. Unless you are in the upper 6% income bracket, you will find yourselves needing to work on your own boat, but first you need to experience sailing on different kinds of boats. Offshore club racing as crew is one way to do this.

For most people, they don't know enough in the beginning to choose a boat that will help a beginner succeed. My own suggestion would be to plan on buying the simplest, smallest boat you can bear, and sail the heck out of it. Crew on OPB's boats, and learn about maintaining your own.

It is your mental strength, flexibility, and good sense that will see you through, but it is a very big ask of yourself to become an offshore cruiser when you have never owned a boat before, and writing "learn stuff" isn't really telling us what you need to learn about yet: it could be only a little, or there may be a very great deal you need to learn.

I was talking about this issue the other day with a circumnavigator we know, and he said that it is our younger sailing years when we learn the routines that see us through
the times in our later years when we are weaker and less balanced, those routines see us through. You learn how to move and what to do when, and all about caring for the vessel and crew..... You are prepared for the odd unexpected breakage and able to contain the situation. This guy is a talented mechanical engineer who designed and he and his wife built his aluminum sailing yacht from him designing the rollers for her to roll the sheets that made up the hull.

Ann

[Lonestaralaskan]

Just wanted to say congrats! I read your initial thread with a bit of envy - I look forward to the day when I can also give my resignation and start on a new adventure. Hope to see you out there someday!

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

For most people, they don't know enough in the beginning to choose a boat that will help a beginner succeed. My own suggestion would be to plan on buying the simplest, smallest boat you can bear, and sail the heck out of it. Crew on OPB's boats, and learn about maintaining your own.

Ann

I must agree with Ann. I searched for 10 years before I finally bought my boat. I looked at a Ginn Fizz, then Amel 47/53/39, a Cal 39, then a Stevens 47, Hylas 47, Caliber 40 LRC, Pearson 422, Hylas 49, Kelly Peterson 46, Passport 40. I would be happy with any one of them, but my favorite was a Stevens 47 (I would seriously consider the one for sale on this thread).

I finally bought a bare bones without most of the whistles Hylas 44. Not too big, but big enough to live on. It was not too complex, but still complex for a first boat (unfortunately the Stevens 47 is a highly complex boat for a first timer). Keep in mind all the stuff on a boat must be maintained, fixed/replaced at some point.

It is hard to comprehend how all the stuff on the boat works, what is connected to what , how to turn stuff on, make it work right etc. Sailing a boat is the easy part, mastering all the systems is the hard part. You will spend lots of time reading manuals. Even more time if you get a complex boat. Electronics (chartplotter, AIS, Radar, SSB, VHF etc.) is mind boggling. It took me 3 months to get a fair understanding of my head, (vacu head, holding tank, treat and hold sanitation system, pump out, discharge etc).

I paid a mechanic a full days wages just to show me how the systems worked, and that was not nearly enough time.

I hired a sailing instructor to show me how to sail my boat, I learned on a Dufour 43, but things are similar but different on my boat.

Yes you can learn it all, but don't expect to buy a Stevens 47 and the next weekend cruise to ......? it will take time and experience.

I am still trying to figure out what's the difference between a scupper and a drain?

If I had the money, it would be a Stevens 47.

[gunkylump]

Good insights on the above post.

I am more than willing to spend a week with the new owners to show them the boat, teach them the systems, and make sure that they are comfortable with it all.

Love our Stevens 47, it is just time for something else...and the Great Loop is calling.

[BlackHeron]

Maybe we are just very conservative here, but I think that one should spend about 10% of their kitty on the boat, and save half of even that back from the purchase price for upgrades, repairs, safety equipment, new boat costs and such. I can't even imagine spending more than 25% of the kitty on the boat and necessary extras, unless there is a steady source of reliable income backing this dream up.

Boats cost a LOT to maintain and keep up, much less maintain a cruising lifestyle. (oh, there are ways to live cheaply, but you have to really be prepared to cut down to the bone to be successful at it.) Budget for this, and realize that bigger boats cost exponentially more money to keep up than smaller ones. Unless you have a source of income that will continue on into your cruising life that means someone looking at a $200k boat should have a couple of million in the bank earmarked for cruising (not including bail-out money and retirement once you can no longer sail for health or sanity reasons.)

I have to agree with most of the excellent comments above. New sailors really do not know enough to really make good informed decisions on the right boat to buy for the type of cruising they want to do, and do not expect brokers to help steer you to the right buy either. Add to this fact that getting the right boat for the type of cruising you want to do is even harder when you don't even know what type of cruising you really like or want to do. At this point most people are just guessing.

Spending $200k on a starter/first sailboat seems like a pretty large learning curve to take the plunge into. Trading up, or sideways, or even down later can be a financial disaster and maybe add years to your plans waiting for your albatross of a first boat to sell so you can start looking for another. Sailboats make pretty poor investments, with regards to capital.

Don't let me throw cold water on your dreams, but be advised that there is a lot of homework that needs to be done before even thinking of buying a boat. Asking questions on an internet forum might be a good place to start, but that is only a very tiny first step.

[ascarswell]

Wow - lots of great insight and information to digest, so thank you. That said, perhaps some clarification is in order.

1. I've grown up as a sailor - lasers, hobbies, CL 16s, crewing, etc. I've spent a LOT of time on the water on my family's boats growing up, and my wife and I and our daughter have always had power boats until recently when we've been sailing a Sabre 27. Our family of 3 also completed ASA 101 & 103, and are members of a local sailing club (HISC) where we crew regularly on others' larger boats. In fact, we just spent 3-days aboard a friend's boat doing the Miami to Key Largo race. So...although there's always plenty to learn (hence my post), were not without any experience.

2. Our intent is to cruise for a few years and then re-evaluate next steps. We feel comfortable boat schooling our 11-year old through middle school (I'm an elementary school principal and former 5th grade teacher), but not sure we're equipped to adequately boat school her when she hits high school. So...our $200k boat budget does not imply that we've got enough of a sailing kitty to cruise indefinitely - but my sense is we'll be good for a few years.

3. Although I'm not a diesel mechanic, plumber, or electrician, I am pretty handy and confident with tools, diagnosing issues, and reading manuals (& Google!). I'm fully aware of the principle whereby boats are giant holes into which one throws money. I'm meticulous in maintaining my cars and home, and fully prepared to do the same with our new floating home.

I'll let that sit for now and see what other comments are elicited. With that context, maybe I'll share in my next post a bit about my thoughts with regard to my current thinking on boat parameters and why I'm leaning in a particular direction.

Thanks for everyone's input! [emoji106]

[ptgautreaux]

Adam,
It sounds like you and your family have a wonderful experience in line for you. My husband and myself both wanted to do a lot of the same you want to do, however; we did not get to live out the dream. We bought the boat and life issues kept us from sailing to our dream. My husband just passed before Xmas and now I have a boat to sell. She meets a lot of what you want . I would be willing to work with you on the price. I have a 51.9 1987 ted brewer custom design sailboat . I would be happy to send you the results of the survey when we purchased the boat. Asking price is $225 but will negotiate .

Regards,
Pat

[JPA Cate]

Well, ascarswell,

Your post #11 makes you sound better prepared for this undertaking than post #1. I'll hang out and see what else you have to let us know.

Ann

[ascarswell]

Pat, I'm sorry for your loss and that you and your husband weren't able to live out your sailing dreams. Please feel free to send me more info about your boat, although we're leaning toward a catamaran or newer mono-hull.

Ann, my attempt at humor in the first post was a bust - my apologies. We're closing at the end of May and will be ready to buy our new floating home in no time. We've still got more questions than answers, but are moving forward with our adventure.

If someone's reading this and has a 44'+ mono-hull or a 40'-44' that's less than 10-years old for sale, please reach out...I'd like to hear about it!

[JPA Cate]

Hi, ascarswell,

No worries. Internet humor is very hard to do well. I'm hopeless at it.

A comment about older boats, though, a well maintained one can be just as good as one within your 10 yr. boundary. If you're open to considering monohulls, you might consider an aluminum or modern timber composite one like a Van de Stadt Samoa (47'). Or, a boat built by a shipwright for his own usage, which is what we decided on. Oddly, we were almost ready to put in an offer on a Catana 46, when this one became available, and we pounced on it. No sense wasting 25 yrs of monohull experience. Another one we would consider would be a South African Compass 47. Not new, but pretty nice sailing boats, imo.

Should you want to venture that far out of the envelope, send me a PM, and I'm happy to tell you the advice we received for looking at alloy boats.

This may be too beginner-ish for you, but you should maybe take a look at the thread: "Marine Survey 101", http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...1-a-78671.html

Ann