Will Someone Talk Me Out Of This Refit Plan Please

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by Scaramanga F25

Search yacht World and see what 40 to 60K pounds sterling will buy.

Sell. Boats have improved since then.

Incorrect. Boats have "changed" since then. Whether this changes are "improvements" are a matter of opinion.

My boat (very similar to yours) turned 40 in 2015 . We purchased her for $C15K. When done with the running refit, over a 10 year period (due to our rule that the refit can't interfere with our boating season) we will have $60K into her. Fair market value will be about C$27K.

BUT, we have enjoyed 10 years sailing a constantly improving boat, that I am proud to call mine, and that I could not buy elsewhere for any amount.

I am in the biz and constantly coming across great boats are terrific prices.

[Copacabana]

Much of the stuff on your list you can do yourself (like painting the inside of the water tank with food-grade epoxy). The painting of the boat is by far the most exciting part of the refit. When you see your boat in shining white, you'll be even more in love with your Contessa. By all means, do the paint job. It's very satisfying!

[redhead]

My first reaction is curiosity:

Will you be able to continue paying all your mandatory bills? mortgage,car(s),children?

If your answer is yes, my answer is why not? If you're asking just because no one else you know would do it - who cares? We're not talking about a logical decision here, if you're looking for logic you're on the wrong forum. We are all loony-tunes about boats and yours is a fine one and you are obviously hopelessly smitten , so as long as you can afford it in addition to all your land based expenses - go ahead.

(Disclaimer: the above is from someone who is 3 years into a 6 month refit of a 35 year old boat she fell in love with.)

Good luck~

[AKA-None]

My c&c 27 cost $3500 and I probably have &5k in it with more to come but I like it and it works for me right now. So ....

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by Raylden

I've owned my Contessa 32 for 16 years and absolutely love her. She's taken us safely on many long cruises and my daughters grew up with her. To me, she is the perfect small yacht - fast, seaworthy, safe and beautiful. She's going to be 40 next year and I have found myself planning a major £40k birthday refit. I'm 54 and plan to keep her for as long as I am able to sail her. Re-wire, new rudder, new cabin sole, water tank, teak cockpit, re-spray decks and coachroof, solar power, shore power, partial new galley etc. Surely it's bonkers to spend this amount on a little yacht that's probably only worth £20k? Isn't it? So why am I even considering it? Help!

Hi, Raylden,

Welcome aboard CF.. You came to the wrong place to be told to not do what you want!!

Do most of it yourself, and learn along the way. If necessary, pay someone to teach you how, then you finish. Now, there is a caveat here: you will need to have somewhere to work on and store items in progress. If your home isn't set up that way, perhaps doing it yourself isn't on. Fair enough.

Prioritize: Some of your projects require either a boat shed or good weather. Winter's coming up... Rudder first, as while you're letting chemicals set up, you can be plugging away at the wiring. Same deal with the cockpit sole, you can be making and varnishing or painting cabin sole pieces, and wire when it's drying.

The sink: I favor s/s myself. The water tank: remove it, or its top, and install a new plastic one or s/s. The s/s will be made custom for you, but there are lots of plastic ones online, you do want food grade for drinking water.

Before you undertake to paint, realize that paint, even good LPU, deteriorates over time, it is fragile, and can chip. It is not as "forever" as gelcoat. Possibly a polymerization process would bring back your gelcoat. Also, gelcoat can be re-sprayed. Do consider automotive LPU for the topsides. We used marine two pack for our deck and coachroof, and it has not held up nearly as well as the automotive LPU on the topsides: it is chalky, and has lost its gloss, whereas the topsides are still quite shiny. The success of most paint jobs is in the prep: the surface must be smooth. That takes a lot of sanding to accomplish, you'll get lots stronger from working on your boat, but pay in sore muscles. You will also gain in confidence and self esteem.

Ann

I see I didn't mention the cockpit non-teak. If you could live with paint there, it would be less overall maintenance than installing and keeping up teak out there.

A.

[Mike Banks]

As long as you can get her under cover and do all of the work yourself--refit her.

The boat you will have in the finish will be as-new.

Of course--it will not sell for much more than any other well-kept vessel--so from a dollars and cents perspective, it leads to the dilemma you face.

If it were I, I would do the re-fit, but shopping around and buying well, I am pretty sure I could refit her as new for much less than the price you mention except for replacement of the diesel engine and controls with an out-of-the case new one and instruments the same.

If you can recondition the engine and gearbox, winches, rigging and her mast and the sails are OK--and the other safety equipment is up to SOLAS standards--I think it is worth doing.

The other advice I received when faced with the same dilemma was to keep the money for the proposed upgrade, sell the current vessel, add the proceeds of the sale to the proposed upgrade--then buy another newer vessel.

I suppose it is one of those decisions only you can make, it it makes no sense to spend on the vessel more money than the completed project will be worth.

But when did those in love with the ocean and their boats have any financial sense anyway?

[Scout 30]

I'm doing a refit right now & it's tough to get it done when you work full time but paying someone else to do it is crazy expensive & most of the time you won't be happy with the results. For the decks you might consider Kiwi Grip, an easy do it yourselfer job. For the water tank, which is almost 25% of your budget & about 95% labor costs, I'd really try to come up with a cheaper way to do that. If you can upload some pics of the tank or area we might be able to help.

[Greg Mason]

Refits and renovations are 2 things that do not return 100% of investment. If your plans are to keep and use the vessel for as long as you can, likely these 'new' items will be aged when you sell. Use up the investment and think maybe more of the amortization costs, or cost per year of use in the end. I sold my offshore vessel for exactly what I paid, after 14 years, minus the $75K investment in the first year, and the boat was also 14 years older.

[Fore and Aft]

You may as well do the refit. I have been involved with plenty of boat projects that make no financial sense. But at the end of the day the owner has a Gem of a boat that ticks all their boxes and is often the envy of all their friends.
One yacht project I was involved with the owner said to me it was easier to hide the bills from his wife than buy a new yacht!
Cheers

[alexanick]

Loving someone/something means you invest in it without expecting anything back. You obviously love this boat for what it has already done for you and your family. You have two options. Putting x amount of money into this one and you know what you have. There's a lot of peace and comfort in that. Putting the same amount of money into another boat might not get you the equivalent. Food for thought.

[Scout 30]

For anyone who thinks a newer design would be an improvement I suggest they read this. For me, when the **** hits the fan, I'd rather be in this boat than one of the newer, lighter bolt on fin keel boats.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contessa_32

[Kalinowski]

You can't take it with you when you merge with the universe!

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

For anyone who thinks a newer design would be an improvement I suggest they read this. For me, when the **** hits the fan, I'd rather be in this boat than one of the newer, lighter bolt on fin keel boats.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contessa_32

Amen!

[greybeardloon]

I just spent about 30K refitting my boat. I have big plans for the future of sailing her. I just think it’s such a joy to see things work in the way that they should and for an older, solid, beautiful boat to look the way they are supposed to. Sailing and knowing every system, the boat is a living breathing thing that you’ve put your blood, sweat and tears into. With you it sounds like a family connection too. It’s been one of the most fulfilling and enjoyable experiences in my life. So with due respect no, I will not be talking you out of it sir

I was looking into Contessa 32s myself as everyone does because of Fastnet and also John Kretschmer’s books and just missed a good one, but I’m kind of happy where I landed.

Fair winds and good luck bringing her back into perfect shape. Post pics and enjoy the sailing life!

[vtomanov]

Try something in teh middle - e.g. Jeanneau Sun Liberty 34 - I really love it...