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MarkJ · 20-03-2016, 11:28

If a boat has been on the market for years it means it will take years for you to sell it.

I bought a boat in a market with liquidity. Not everyone favorite boat, but I can sell it immediately if/when I want to.

Mark

Sent from a stupid phone that replaces words with weird stuff.

Sailorbob8599 · 20-03-2016, 11:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by perrysplus

Hello all,
Been lurking around here for a while, shopping for boats and STILL cannot figure out what I want to get. One side of me says get something small to learn on and then get what I want. I have noticed that boats don't exactly sell fast, so if I get the wrong boat or one I out grow quickly I could be stuck.
The wife and I want something to learn on but having something big enough to camp on is required and in a few years when I retire I want to sail the caribbean and maybe more. I am not doing that with one of the many coastal cruisers. So, I have found this guy:
31 ft southern cross
Asking 28K at the moment, the price for this boat has slowly gone down over the past few years from 42K. However do I know if I am getting a decent deal on this boat? Sure, I am going to get a survey done and try to get some of my sailboat friends to check the boat out to make sure I am not throwing my money away on a haul and survey....Do you guys think this is a decent price? I saw the boat today, and it looks like the pics, even though the pics are almost 5years old! The boat is a little tight on space, but it sure is a solid boat compared to the coastal cruisers...Which quite frankly, seem a little cheaply made to me.
Thanks in advance!

The link in this posting for a SC 31 does not work. Is there another link available?

Xthewater · 20-03-2016, 11:42

"A few of the bolts leaking" indicates to me there could be core saturation in the cabin ceiling and usually resulting in core rot depending on how long this has been going on. Best to get a surveyor on that as it can be very expensive to repair.
Our first boat was a Newport 28 MKII we owned for about 4 yrs. and very delightful boat to learn to sail and go on trips for a few days. Recently sold as we've moved on to our Cape Doey 31, at a good price and only took 1.5 wks to sell via Craigslist and our linked illustrative blog site. Cash sale and no survey was needed by buyer, we sold for just under nada. Was a little sad to see her go as it was a sweet boat.
Highly recommend taking that route as your proposal to jump in to something major may sour your goal by becoming too difficult and constant struggle, maybe even overwhelming to reach.

**TrentePieds** · 20-03-2016, 13:10

IMO the notion that a novice can't learn to sail in a long-keeled double-ender simply doesn't hold water. Such a notion fails to recognize that what you do skippering a racer is vastly different from what you do skippering a cruiser. I have taught many people to sail, ab initio, in a LARGE double-ender. I will concede that the finer points of sail trimming you learn more quickly in a dinghy than in a cruiser, but for the man who wants to go cruising I think that is largely irrelevant. You don't have to know it all by the day after tomorrow!

The SC31 is a Gillmer design and we can therefore take it for granted that the finer points of her design have been well taken care of. Like the Eriks, the Astrids, and all other derivatives of Colin Archer's Redningssköite, the SC31 will give you a nice gentle and stable ride. She won't be as fast as some modern boats, but she will be impeccably mannered, and she will take care of you far better than you, as a novice, can take care of her.

As a type the SC31 offers a couple of vast boons for the cruising man: Because she is tiller steered (as opposed to wheel steered) and has a sternpost-hung rudder, she will tell you gently and politely what she is up to at any given moment in a manner that no wheel-steered boat ever can. Because her Sail Area/Displacement ratio is a modest 14 (as opposed to, say, 19) she is, in effect, permanently down to her first reef, and she will stay politely on her feet (and on course) long after the "modern" fin-keeled boats with their proportionately greater beam, their shallow dead-rise and their overabundance of canvas have begun to give their handlers a hard time.

Even though SC31 is a foot longer than TrentePieds, TrentePieds has the greater interior volume. Largely in consequence of that, MyBeloved, who is a still a landlubber who is just now, at retirement age, coming to the seafaring life, LOVES the spaces in TrentePieds. Were it not because of that, I would have chosen a Redningsköite derivative because boats with those design characteristics are simply, from a sailor's point of view, better, more easily handled cruising boats than a boat like TrentePieds could ever be.

The interior arrangements in SC31 and in TrentePieds are very nearly identical. The reason for that is that in thirty feet you really don't have many options other than the one that's evolved over many, many years and is exemplified by the arrangements of SC31. So in terms of accommodations there is really nothing to choose twixt one thirty-footer and another. The one hull trait that sets boats of this size apart from each other is interior volume. Greater "living space" is always bought at the cost of seaworthiness and ease of handling, and seaworthiness and ease of handling is always bought at the cost of "living space".

If your objective is to test yourself against the Power of the Elements, then by all means go to sea in a "modern" boat. If your objective is to live in peace and harmony with the Elements, then go for a Redningssköite derivative. This consideration is rather trivial in the benign waters of the Salish Sea where I will spend the rest of my seafaring life. But I DON'T think it is a trivial consideration if you are intending to make a home on the rolling deep.

TrentePieds

hamburking · 20-03-2016, 16:43

If your ultimate goal is to go island hopping in the Caribbean, and maybe a longer bluewater passage, then the SC31 is a good choice. But there is good reason those thin plastic, wide beam, coastal cruisers are so popular...tons of room below, spacious cockpits, modern amenities, pretty fast under sail...every boat is a compromise. In fact, my last boat was named Compromise! LOL!

Please let us know what happens. You have a reasonable budget. As an alternative, you might consider a 198x Hunter 34. Same price (or less) and a lot of space and comforts. Might be worth a look just for the knowledge.

hamburking · 20-03-2016, 16:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkJ

If a boat has been on the market for years it means it will take years for you to sell it.

I bought a boat in a market with liquidity. Not everyone favorite boat, but I can sell it immediately if/when I want to.

Its all about the price.

If you buy a boat for very little money, its a lot easier to sell, unless you are trying to make a big profit.

I've had very good luck selling my boats (8 so far) because I bought low, so could sell low too. I've sold every boat within a few weeks. Sure, I likely could have made a few more dollars by holding out...but the cost of continued ownership would likely eaten that profit, and more. And why not give the new owner a break, like I got. No one should spoil that great feeling of getting a new boat by asking too much $.

There's plenty of $ in the world, but only so many boats.

Back to the SC31 asking $27,000. He's asking too much, otherwise it would have sold long ago. Is he just fishing? If he wants to sell, he'll take a reasonable offer.

Bobbyewe · 20-03-2016, 17:01

Join a sailing club before you buy a boat. Learn to sail first, buy a boat second.
Trust me you will be happy you did!

perrysplus · 20-03-2016, 20:34

He took the posting off craigslist...maybe he is on these forums and is irritated now

Anyways, here it is on sailboat listings:1980 southern cross sailboat for sale in Florida

I think I have decided to pass on this boat, as much as it is a beautiful boat and I really like it, it is just too darn small. Trying to fathom living on this boat while going around the world....If I was alone, maybe, not with the wife onboard.

Again, thanks everyone for the advice, I will take it all for consideration for sure. Something I am noticing, is a lot of the guys listing their boats don't seem to pay much attention to the NADA value, no bank will give a loan above that and I think we are unwise to buy a boat that is above it. If I do a cash buy...IE...A cheap boat to learn on (been close a few times!) I won't bother with a survey.

MikePz · 21-03-2016, 03:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by perrysplus

You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for all the replies. So, I have no sailing experience... Not really anyways, I just need to lean the finer points of sailing but I know enough that I love sailing

And I saw that other boat for 17.5k and that's why I'm asking this question. The 17.5k boat isn't as nice as this one, but then again the nada value of this boat is just 20k so that is probably a big reason why he hasn't sold the boat yet, along with the fact, around here anyways, most want a coastal cruiser.
Thanks for the info on the island packet, that is one boat I really want to look at, need to see if any are around here or not.
The only flaws I noticed with this sc31 is a few of the bolts in the ceiling were leaking a very little about the of water. (not chain plates) I mean a drop of two and we had a pretty bad remain storm the other day (no water damage inside). The owner didn't think this was a big deal at all and said he would call his boat guy and have it fixed.
As far as the room inside the boat... It is small! The wife wanted something bigger, as did I, but as I said, this boat (compared to the costal cruisers, including an Erickson 30) just seems so much more solid, and more importantly, it's in the price range I wanted to pay.

I own an Island Packet-31, 1984 HIN 15. A very nice and sea worthy boat. Big enough for two to cruise on. The only problem I see is the price you will pay will be 40K plus for an IP-31 in good shape.

**HappyMdRSailor** · 21-03-2016, 05:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by perrysplus

...... If I do a cash buy...IE...A cheap boat to learn on (been close a few times!) I won't bother with a survey.

Skip the survey if you're willing to take a 50% hit and have a terribly hard boat to get rid of should there be problems you are not experienced enough to discover...

PLUS... there are a myriad of inherently dangerous conditions that could make a boat have a one way trip on your maiden voyage...

MarkJ · 21-03-2016, 06:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xthewater

"A few of the bolts leaking" indicates to me there could be core saturation in the cabin ceiling and usually resulting in core rot depending on how long this has been going on. Best to get a surveyor on that as it can be very expensive to repair.
h.

I hope the OP read this.

Sent from a stupid phone that replaces words with weird stuff.

Lizzy Belle · 21-03-2016, 06:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by hamburking

If you buy a boat for very little money, its a lot easier to sell, unless you are trying to make a big profit.

I've had very good luck selling my boats (8 so far) because I bought low, so could sell low too. I've sold every boat within a few weeks.

Not necessarily so.

I could list LB for very little money and she'd probably take a long, long time to sell.
At least here in the Netherlands, there are many smaller boats for sale and few people who still buy boats under, say, 32' ...
Especially little 29' boats with a keel stepped mast and relatively deep keel - not very practical unless you take her to sea. But she's too small for that

hamburking · 21-03-2016, 06:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lizzy Belle

Not necessarily so.

I could list LB for very little money and she'd probably take a long, long time to sell.

Of course there are exceptions to every rule. Let common sense prevail.

I understand the OP's desire to go directly to his "forever boat". But I would rather see him get one of those cheap coastal cruisers and start learning to sail already. He'll have a better idea of what really matters to him once he gets out on the water, and he'll have a ton of fun doing it too. A cheap boat is fun to sail...scratch the paint, no big deal.