Bluewater Cruisers for under $15,000

[scoobert]

hmmmm, look at the ferro's. they should be in your price range, and last a few years.
save $3000 for a good offshore life raft too.

[jhetfield]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

you can find a boat that will work for you for this kind of money,keep looking...

How about something like this?

A 1971 Tartan 34C in good condition for $9,500...

1971 Tartan 34C sailboat for sale in Maryland

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by jhetfield

What is the cheapest that you could get a bluewater cruiser in good to excellent condition?

40' really solid, "Bluewater Cruiser!" in excellent condition, with all new sails and navigation gear, everything you need, completely ready to sail away go for $200,000.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Lonestaralaskan

Ok so $15,000 is clearly too low for the size of boat the OP is looking for. What about double that to $30,000? Just wondering cuz I'll be looking for a boat of my own in approx. 19 months.

Of course $15,000 is not too low. I paid $2,000 for my 1974 Bristol 27 and wouldn't hesitate to take it to the Bahamas then sail further east and then South after that.

Now I did paint the bottom, added a new main and a new outboard plus this and that and have about $8,000 in it now. Then, I have sailed it for the past 2 years back and forth across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in all sorts of weather.

So, I'm not saying buy and go for goodness sakes..............but you can find good boats at a good price. But like the other guy said, it helps if you know boats. I bought my first boat at age 16 with no help and have been learning since. (I'll be 60 in a few years)

[barnakiel]

Maybe you can get something beaten up at around 30' but not likely at around 40'.

Frankly, I think you will be very lucky to find anything at this budget/size as the cheaper boats tend to require more repair and update before they become bluewater capable.

Unless you are bloody lucky or disproportionately skilled.

b.

[Stu Jackson]

Based on the OPs original question?

No way.

What's so hard about that?

It's pretty much what you all have been saying.

Cut to the chase.

[Airshac]

Originally Posted by boatman61

For example you don't need shiney new stainless swaged standing rigging... you can use galvanised and go down in size as its stronger, safer as its less brittle and will last 25-30 yrs to stainless's 10... and that's heavy use.. not piddling around doing 500 odd miles a year.
And the savings go on...
..

You sir have blown my mind with this information! I always ASSumed SS was the strongest/longest lasting form of steal. I need to look into that more.

[Cruiser2B]

Alberg 37 on Yachtworld for $6500, sure it needs work but looks like he has about 8500 left to put into the boat.....may make a nice bluewater boat for $15k

[WebWench]

How much would a good to excellent ready to go cruising boat cost?
I don't know if this forum does polls, but if it does, I wish someone would do one.

It would be nice to know, how big a boat, how much originally paid for it, how much more paid to get it ready to go cruising and then....how satisfied the people cruising on board are with their total investment.

I am sure that different people require different comfort levels. Example: A couple in their 60's or 70's would likely want the bigger boat with more systems where the single hander local cruiser could get by with much less. Not that this always applies.

That is why no one can answer the OP with a simple dollar figure. We need to know a whole lot more because what some people consider necessary others consider a waste of money. It would be nice if you could put a boat together with a basic, solid, boat and then check off all the optional equipment (which can cost more than the boat if you buy it all new! ) sort of like new car sites.

The best thing to do is read, research and talk to cruisers so you can get a feel for what is important to different people. None of them is right or wrong, that's why there are so many successful cruisers with hundreds of different boats.

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by boatman61

PS: Slocum and Mottesier were derelicts in their time... today they're famous..

And um, Chichester? $$$$$$$$$$$
and ummm...Crowhearst? (very famous)

[Dennis.G]

Yes you can buy a 30 to 40 foot boat for under $15k.

Yes you and others can call it a Bluewater Cruiser.

Likely most here, seeing the resulting boat, would call it something else however.

[JPA Cate]

jhetfield:

You'd really have to go see the boat. You know it's going to smell bad because of the unrepaired leaks, but how much actual water damage there is below decks would have an effect both on when you could move aboard and on how much it will cost to fix first. I promise you it's not a one day job nor as simple as the ad makes it sound to fix, or it would have been done prior to purchase. The fact that the ad mentions that the interior needs work leads me to suspect there is [B]a lot[B] of water damage. If it's been really wet below, the wiring, where exposed to moisture may have become copper oxide powder. Boat wiring is generally funky, and normally requires some work to get it up to a minimum for safety and functionality. Your own requirements and skills will have a lot to do with how much it will cost to fix up. The simpler and more functional you keep it the less spendy it will be.


The owner has disclosed about one spongy spot on the foredeck. Depends on how far the rot has progressed. Beware of the possibility of rot at the chain plates--all of them. Again, unless you acquire the skills, which you *can* do, but if you don't, expensive to repair. You do not know the rest of the boat is free of it just because one bit was disclosed.

This is nothing pro or con about the Tartan line. They used to have a good reputation, I do not know about now. Boatman 61 posted three links to different boats for you. That's real help, not just opinions. You might say thanks. People do spend time to answer questions. Their time has value.

Ann

[vRUN]

Food for thought ?

BEG BORROW (and it'll be a) STEAL

Sebastian (age 22) borrowed a 26ft (8m) Boheme la Grande
(marine plywood boat, assembled in kit form)
from his high school math teacher
worked for his expenses around a year
and circumnavigated (aug.2003-oct.2006)



That boat Kiwitt, had been sailed by that math teacher Bernhard Witt
from Germany to Spain where he found his (dutch) wife, she boarded
and together they 'almost' circumnavigated to New Zealand (via Panama).

What does this prove?
Nothing except it's probably not the amount of money that does it...


@BOATMAN
Magyar 7 - ahoyyyyy!!!

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by jhetfield

How about something like this?

A 1971 Tartan 34C in good condition for $9,500...

1971 Tartan 34C sailboat for sale in Maryland

I dont know it does "look" a little smelly,lol..nothing ventured ,nothing gained...never knew a "real sailior" that let a few "aromas" get in the way,you can do it..Do "smoke it over" before buying any boat,but dont spend all your time "smoking it over",make a move, there are lots and lots of sailboats out there,you will find a nice one if you keep looking ..

[Amapola]

The Tayana 37 is a great blue water boat.