I Do Not Want to Fix Things - What Boat ?

[senormechanico]

Buy a new DVD player and some cruising type DVD's.
Pop a cold one and imagine cruising...

[David M]

That's easy...keep it simple, small, very well engineered and time tested.

[mintyspilot]

OP - You must live on a different planet than me. Even on land I always have a list of things to fix. Doorframes, things that need painting, mow the lawn, maintain the garden, get the car serviced, fix the shed roof.

Everything needs fixing, all the time.

[kevin7500]

Originally Posted by ty.gregory

I don't want to have to fix things CONSTANTLY. I know the rigors of saltwater. I want to single-hand cruise the Caribe. I could go sail or power, but I would opt for sail. I just don't want to fix and fix and fix things! I am asking for paramaters on what kind/make/style of boat I should get with the least amount of perpetual problems. I am fine with constant MAINTANENCE. I can do that... I could live on 27 feet without a problem. I am a fifty-five year old, very adaptable man.

No problem. Pick up an older Pearson or Bristol in the 27 to 30 foot range ($20K) 1971 Bristol Masthead Sloop Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com and have someone replace everything with new. Even replace the diesel, regardless of how many hours they say are on it. At the end of the day you will still be way under 100K and have basically a modern boat with a bulletproof old hull. That leaves you 300K to live for 10 years. In my opinion, you should be able to live comfortably off of the interest produced from that 300K!

Also, your willingness to perform preventive maintenance should vastly reduce your need to repair.

If I had $400K I'd be retiring tomorrow and living aboard indefinitely.

[Christian Van H]

I see no problem here. You dont have to fix anything... you can simply replace it!

[DeepFrz]

seniormechanico said: Buy a new DVD player and some cruising type DVD's. Pop a cold one and imagine cruising...

And, to make it realistic, put on wet cold clothes and stand on a rocking horse while you drink the "cold one" or a coffee and do this all at 3 am for 3 hours at a stretch. Or another way, if you don't have a rocking horse, would be to sit in a straight backed chair while a friend kicks the back of it every few minutes (must be serious kicks).

Then after a few days of that nonsense, completely clean (including windows) and organize your apartment, change into clean dry clothes and go out to a bar that you have never gone to before to meet new and interesting people. On the way, splash cold water on your clean dry clothes.

Or forget about cruising and just got to the bar...

[gettinthere]

your $400,000 is for the boat and for 10 years of living & cruising.

so you have to also decide how primatively you want to live. Spending $30,000/year while cruising is not a lot. That means you need $300,000; not counting inflation. If inflation kicks up or any emergencies, you might very well need all of your $400,000 to live. That leaves nothing in the budget for the boat.
I think you only have money for boat plus 5 years of cruising, maybe 4.
But this all depends on how you want to live plus inflation.

[Mimsy]

Two words- Royal Caribbean.

[sarafina]

Boats are holes in that water into which you pour money. Or labour, or both usually.

I think boating does not sound like it's gonna be your thing.

The advice to sail other peoples boats is sound. Find out before you spend a hunka change how your idea of maintenance stack up against the reality.

Find a small club in your area and get to know folks and sail with them. Way less painful than investing in a hole in the water and finding that your drowning in it in six months!

Royal Caribbean

ok, that was funny. Cold, but funny Mimsy ; -) and after all. even on the cruise ships you have to maintain your credit limit!

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by Mimsy

Two words- Royal Caribbean.

Excellent!!

Actually, just thinking about it - I have heard of pensioners who cruise full time because the cruise is cheaper than the same period of time spent in a care home.

[Bash]

I can think of any number of sturdy, fiberglass rowboats upon which one could cruise for a very long time without having to fix things.

Best to keep the boat pointed downriver, just in case.

[sailingaway221]

No such boat.... always something to fix on every boat.

[Triton318]

Originally Posted by Pblais

$100,000 really won't buy anything really good.

I'm so flabbergasted I can't formulate a response. Really, Paul? Come on. Are you serious? Did you accidently put in an extra zero?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by ty.gregory

So, if you had $400K usd and wanted to spend lets say $100K on the boat and then just live your life as simply as possible for the next ten plus years, what would you buy?

That, good people, is my question!

I'd be tempted by something older and fundamentally bombproof around the 27 to 30 foot mark, keep her simple but make her a minter. Will only get your money back from use. Could spend $50k on the world's nicest $20k boat

Downside is kinda married to her for that 10 years...........

[rourkeh]

I am in the same situation as gregory. I wanted a certain type of boat with specific creature comforts and reasonably low down time for repairs in the first 2 years to interupt my enjoyment of crusing. I solved this by buying an older boat and doing a complete refit. I am going through every system on the boat and upgrading or repalcing it all. This way I will end up with exactly what I want and a running start on the constant repairs. This does not mean that things won't break. It just means that I have a smaller chance of things breaking constantly. I also get a higher tech newer type boat in an older shell. I also get more bang for my buck than buying a new boat and hopefully one day get most of my money back. Now this is a lot of work and is easier for me than some as I have alot of knowledge and was in the marine business for years. But you can produce the same results by using a yard, being your own project manager, and haggling, and negotiating every price. I bought my 44' boat for $40k and am doing a refit for $60k, total cost $100k. There are alot of nice boats for sale cheap and a lot of marine workers unemployed right now. There has never been a better time to do something like this. Or you can go and buy a new boat take a massive depreciation hit, and hope for the best. You do not get much new boat for $100k though. Good luck