Advice on these two large cruisers: Endeavour 51 and Olympic 47

[sailingunity]

By the way, if anyone knows of any other boats for sale out there that sort of fit our criteria let me know. We are looking mainly at these two based on these criteria:

-In our price range (around 100k)
-3 plus cabins
-Not project boats
-No walkover to aft cabin (need to be near the kids since they are young)
-On the medium to heavy built side

[mboyte]

We have an 1975 Olympic Adventure that we have used in the Pacific Northwest for almost three years and will be departing for points south and west next year. All of the comments made by other forum members regarding the vessel are valid. She is a very safe, comfortable boat and her systems are easy to maintain.

We moved up from a Cal 34 which we loved and I must say that while I love our boat, having a 47 foot boat is a trade off. We have had some adventures docking a larger boat and in general, my wife is more anxious about manuevering the boat in tight spaces than she ever was with the Cal. I mention this as a general commentary on the process of owning a cruising a boat; the dynamic between you, your wife and the boat are important to acknowledge.

The recommendations of a 37 to 40 foot boat bear some consideration although with three children, things could get crowded.

We have maintained a blog of our adventures shopping for, buying and outfitting our boat (Galapagos) which you may find of some use http://littlecunningplan.com/boats/sv-galapagos/ In addition to this page, we have written numerous posts on repowering with a Betamarine 60hp engine, installing refrigeration, solar panels and numerous interior modifications. The blog is a combination of semi technical posts (usually by me) and more thoughtful ruminations (usually by wife) about preparing our boat and ourselves for cruising long term.

Finally, The engine room and the workshop make this boat a dream.



Feel free to contact me privately if you would like any additional information.

[hkolanski]

the endeavor is close to my boat. it is a lot of boat for the price. I like it. I think the mast is to tall for the icw, i.e. more then 65ft.

Originally Posted by sailingunity

Hey everyone, 2nd post here. My family and I are going to take up the cruising lifestyle soon and we're interested in a couple of boats I'm keen to get opinions on, I've searched on Google and can find very little info as far as first hand knowledge.

1974 Olympic 47 3 cabins
Ketch currently for sale in Maryland. Well outfitted and just completed a circumnavigation, systems are not new but doesn't need much work (from the listing). No genset or AC. No doubt built very seaworthy but has a more "full" keel. How well does it sail? Any issues with maneuvering in tight spaces? Our broker considers AC essential but is it really needed for tropical sailing?

1985 Endeavour 51 4 cabins
Sloop, this one is not as well equipped, but we like the layout and is close to home so I could fix it up while keeping my job. Would be great for our growing family plus have some extra room for visitors, large galley/dinette area. Needs SSB, AIS, dinghy, liferaft, solar, watermaker, spare sails, spare parts. Would wind up costing more than the Olympic once outfitted, but it is bigger, and newer, maybe too big? I don't know. Is it seaworthy?

Thanks all for your help. Michael.

[Kreef]

Just looking at the pics I say the 51 ft .

[Manos1955]

My first choice for a live aboard would be a cat
My second would be a Dufour Atol 3 or 4
I lived aboard an Atol 3 for 4 years What a boat !!!! The best among the 11 boats I had the past 40 years
I have seen an Olympic 47 last year on the hard at Willemstad Curacao Great boat , the guy sailed her single-handed from the Med to Curacao the guy was half Greek half local and a boat engineer
He had only the best to say about the boat
Cheers

[sailingunity]

Manos we are not strictly opposed to cats but haven't seriously looked at them for the price, they mostly seem to be out of our price range.

The Dufour boats are amazing, we had our eye on a 12000ct for a while but as we are not closing on our house until July 11 we missed it. Looking at some pictures it does seem like visibility would be impaired under sail on the atol, did you find that to be the case?

[sailingunity]

Just to let everyone know who is interested, we are flying to DC this weekend to meet the owners of the Olympic for a showing.

[ctl411]

Originally Posted by sailingunity

By the way, if anyone knows of any other boats for sale out there that sort of fit our criteria let me know. We are looking mainly at these two based on these criteria:

-In our price range (around 100k)
-3 plus cabins
-Not project boats
-No walkover to aft cabin (need to be near the kids since they are young)
-On the medium to heavy built side

You may like the larger Gulfstars also.
Same kind of layout.

[Ramblingman]

There area TON of boats in your price range and do not let asking make you think it is too much.

Here is an example;

1983 TAYANA 55 -- MUST SELL sailboat for sale in Maryland

At $125K you can probably snag anyone one of a number of boats this nice and be sure to crawl Herrington Harbor North. Annapolis has a tone of places to crawl.

At $100K I'd stretch up to 175K asking and negotiate.

As to Cat vs mono, you'll probably need a LOT more money for a cat that meets your needs but...

http://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/58105

At $129K asking this meets your specification of three cabins but only one head. Not necessarily a boat I'd cross in but equiped right I might and an amazing coastal island boat. It would easily be bogged down with a heavy load and still get there. Some have circumnavigated on Geminis and I love them but I'd take the Tayana at $4K less


Someone got a deal on an amazing Ted Brewer boat that was discussed on this forum for like 45 cents on the dollar asking.

[robert sailor]

Just be aware that most larger older boats are a big suck when outfitting, it is not out of this world to throw close to the purchase price at them before its really done right.