Buy a barebone or buy a loaded used boat?

[Don C L]

Yes, as a rule it is better to buy a boat that someone else has recently equipped, you will pay far less for all the equipment there.
Also, not just equipment but refitting the boat in general. There was beautiful old Columbia 38 listed here last year that had been completely refitted beautifully and was listed at $30K as I recall. Over $70K was put into it they said. I believe them.

[Jim Cate]

Over $70K was put into it they said. I believe them.

The tears in their eyes would lend veracity to their tale!

And such boats are the true bargains in the used boat market. Rare, but present if you keep searching. BTW, the chances of finding such a jewel are much better if you do not focus on specific models/years/configurations ect. An open mind will be a great help!

Jim

[roverhi]

Bought a boat that had everything I needed. Within a few years, had ditched or replaced almost everything except the hull and mast. Did keep the very low hour engine but pulled it out and totally did a reinstall. I'm in the 'buy a boat in decent condition, sail it, and add/change things as you see a need' boat. Stuff that many here see as must haves are just toys and simple things become necessities.

[Wallaby]

I don't know how anyone can answer this question because the answer lies in the details not provided, beginning with a Tartan 37 for $30K-$60K. This price range makes it an 1980s boat, most likely, with a whole set of aging equipment from spars to electronics, the condition of which will be different for every boat on the market.

My advice is go look at as many as you can, with a spreadsheet to check off what needs to done/added for each one to reach your desired standard. Just remember the seller will tell you what is good about the boat, not what is bad.

Then, there is commonsense stuff, such as if you get a dependable autopilot/drive unit do you really need the wind vane?
Finally, you might want that new $2K windlass, but what's the condition of the chain? What type of anchor?

[Cheechako]

Barebones. The added equipt is worth about zero and very often ofdubious condition. Especially watermakers and electronics. Add your own new stuff. Autopilots and radar may be an exception.
Also, it seems like barebones boats are not all beat up, dont have holes misdrilled and filled etc. Probably because they actually saw little use.

[Suijin]

It's generally accepted fact that you get more for your money if you buy a loaded boat vs. a bare bones one simply because the owner of the loaded one is never going to get their money back in the sale price for all the stuff they have added. This is true within reason; if a boat is loaded with 25 year old gear, like loran and a life raft that has not been inspected for 10 years, it's obviously not "well equipped".

That said, it all comes down to condition. I agree wholeheartedly that you should get the best kept, best maintained boat that you can find, not only because it speaks to the owner's commitment to keeping the boat in good shape, but because in a boat that is less well maintained you're not going to find all the things wrong with it during an inspection or even a survey.

The best deal is generally the boat that has just been refit, with various equipment added for a longer cruise, but then the owner needs to sell for whatever reason. They're going to take a bath on the costs of the refit, and you as the buyer benefit handsomely from that.

[TrentePieds]

Given the cost of these things, I think the trick is to buy a good (possibly near new) diesel to your liking. The make of boat it happens to be installed in is a secondary consideration as long as that boat is close to the TYPE of boat you want and fundamentally sound. The ancillary systems in whatever boat you get will get modified/replaced as you go along, and you develop your on-board work habits. We all have to adapt to our boats and the way they are, just as we adapt our boats to us as we go along.

Having regard to those things, you'll serve yourself well by eschewing complications of all kinds. Willy Occam is the best shipmate you can find. Ask him to bring his razor :-)!

TP

[sailingunity]

We bought a well equipped used boat. There were some things that need to be upgraded that we didn't expect (like the AIS, couldn't reprogram the MMSI), some things were sort of old that we can live with, and things like others have said don't really require upgrading (like a fridge, autopilot, anchor).

You def save money by buying a boat already equipped. I would try to make sure some of the equipment is updated if you can, but expect to find things after you buy that you want to upgrade or may need to replace.

[rabbi]

Example:
A couple of years ago we bought a well equipped Lagoon 410. Came with an almost unused 160l/h watermaker with under 20hrs on the meter. The previous owner had a professional repair it for handover, but by the time we needed it we had to replace the halfway clogged membrane, the motor and valves for the high pressure pump, plus a ton of small things to stop leaks.


Overall the boat had a ton of almost unused 4 year old equipment that we did not want / need: SSB, aircondition, big genset, watermaker, dive compressor, a 3 kW inverter to name a few.
That made resale easy because many people just looked at the impressive equipment list, and ignored the maintenance efforts required.


My next boat came with nothing and I equipped her to my liking in a completely different way. For example the new watermaker cost as much as the maintenance bill for the 410's watermaker over just two years.

[jackheape]

There is not a hard and accurate answer to your question (as you can see from the replies here). My two cents is, first, what kind of person are you. If you are very particular about you want out of your boat and equipment, then you will never be satisfied buying a boat not set up like you want. For some people, "good enough" just isn't good enough. However, if you are more accepting of different equipment setups, then buying a loaded used boat is the only way to go in my opinion. You will never, ever recapture the costs of installing new than you get with buying used. And that includes even if you do all the work yourself. I suggest you look long and hard, find a good used boat whose specifics (length/draft/sail plan) generally meet you requirements, that already has most if not all of the equipment you need already installed. Choose a boat where the owner has kept receipts and all the equipment manuals. Get a survey! Believe me you will save a bunch of time and money. I have bought new, bought used, and just recent completed a complete refurbishment of the boat I have now. I will never, ever refurb a boat again (excepting maybe just cosmetic stuff and bottom jobs, etc). If I had spent 10k more at the beginning I could have had a really good boat and been sailing it these last 2 years rather than working in the boatyard replacing and fixing everything.

[Emouchet]

People that upgrade boat equipment and then selling the whole makes cent on the dollar.

Better get an upgraded boat if everything else is fine: you will save time, money. Assuming everything upgrade is really working, as it will eventually failed!

[AmirB]

Thank you all for your insight.
Amir

[laika]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Bought a boat that had everything I needed. Within a few years, had ditched or replaced almost everything except the hull and mast. Did keep the very low hour engine but pulled it out and totally did a reinstall. I'm in the 'buy a boat in decent condition, sail it, and add/change things as you see a need' boat. Stuff that many here see as must haves are just toys and simple things become necessities.

Ditto. Even the stuff I kept.. Being able to vouch for everything myself is worth more than anything. Certainly didn't come cheap tho.

And it's hard to know what you want until you're out there. Even then it's a moving target.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by AmirB

I understand that I am ignoring the labor. But my list is about half of the 30k figure. Even with rigging replaced,dingy,and water maker it is still less than 30k.

Yes, but you didn't include Solar, inverters, battery banks, shorepower chargers, didn't look but what about refrigeration, watermaker?
Big alternator, serpentine drive belt, external regulators, spares? You can put quite a lot of money in spares.
Good ground tackle, parachute anchor, storm sails, led lights can cost more than you might think, SSB alone is over $3,000 and that is without pactor modem, windvane or back up autopilot? Handheld VHF, EPIRB, liferaft?
Generator? AIS, Radar.
Of course a huge amount is how do you want to cruise? Some go without refrigeration, without that and costs go way down as many systems are needed to support a fridge

Then there is the inevitable refit costs, chainplates, rigging maybe new sails, waste water system, hoses, tank, macerator? Pretty much every pump there is will likely need replacing or rebuilding.
Price all new exterior canvas, dodger, Bimini, sail covers, hatch covers etc. sit down though when you see the price, it's shocking.
Then what about all the interior cushions and fabrics? Again sit down it isn't cheap.

I really have not kept track, but bet I have spent as much on my boat as I paid for her, or close to it anyway.
However, that means everything except the engine is at most around two years old and run just enough to shake out the bugs, and since I put it all in, I ought to know where the wires run and hopefully can fix it, whatever it is.

[aquadreams]

I've started a spreadsheet of the upgrades I might want along with the cost. When I buy a boat I'll have a good idea of my upgrade costs will be, based on what the boat is missing or what I think will need upgrading. Then I'll upgrade some systems right away and others over time.

I agree with a64, you left a lot of things off your list.

Personally, I want newer electronics, not anything 10 years old.

- Joe