First Boat

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Mr Mac

Here is the boat we're looking at to learn with. Again, she's a 1977 Hunter 27 and the current asking price is $2,500 (with the stand it sits on).

For $2,500 it looks cosmetically great. Just go in eyes wide open.

- Rig complete and serviceable?
- Sails?
- Through hulls and keep bolts?
- Engine?
- Hull - Which your son says is good.

Any of these or a combination of these could make this a $10,000 boat.

Just my preference but I would not buy it unless it was rigged and sailed - Or I just planned on $10k in repairs and if they don't happen, take it as a bonus.

[Celestialsailor]

Trust me...the broker is not a surveyor. I doubt he know what is wrong with the engine. Could be anything. Regardless, it's cheap enough you will get your money back if you want to re-sell.
By the way...you're doing the right thing by taking this intermediate step.

[Gabrieln]

Do u intend to work on the boat yourselves, as a couple project? If not, I'd buy a newer/better boat. You'd spend so much time and money on this boat and will not learn enough to make it worthwhile. Skip this to the fun part of having a boat. Go sail with your wife and make sure your first experiences are great.

[Adelie]

I concur that a survey is probably not worth the money for the price you will pay but that does not mean you should just walk into it with what you know now.

Don Casey's "Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual". First several chapters are about how to do your own preliminary survey to eliminate any obvious duds. $50ish.

From looking at the ballast, displacement, length and beam it looks like a fairly well built boat.

[Khagan1227]

I wouldn't sit on it too long, someone will buy that gem out from under you!

[boatsail]

Originally Posted by Khagan1227

I wouldn't sit on it too long, someone will buy that gem out from under you!

I agree

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Mr Mac

I think I'll just go ahead and buy it. For what I'll spend on refinishing the top and repairing the water pump I can always get my money right back out of it and then some!

I have no idea whether $2,500 is good value in your part of the world - but I suspect it is well within the ballpark.

If so, I would buy her . Ideally also having seen her in the water, rigged and under power (sails go up / engine works / water don't come in ).

To be blunt, even if she is a dog (or you get caned upon resale) your ownership of a boat will teach you a lot about.......owning a boat!.......which should save you more money than the cost of this boat when it comes to buying "the boat", simply from understanding what you are looking at and how much of a PITA certain things are to deal with (for you). And all that in addition to simply being no substitute for being skipper of own boat when it comes to gaining experiance - even if "only" pootling around the bay, it's still you who gets to swim home from own decisions!

My main caution would be not to get sucked into pouring too much money into her. she is a 35 yo boat, will never look factory fresh and no point adding every last bell and whistle - as anything you put into her will not be coming back, even if makes resale a tad easier (although not always!).........just accept her for what she is. and have fun .

[Sumner]

Just wondering where are you going to keep the boat?

It looks like that boat has been for sale since last May...

Hunter 27, 1977, Earth City, Missouri, sailboat for sale from Sailing Texas

...and started at $3700. There are other pre-80 Hunters in about the same price range. If you put anything into her you could be back up in that price range. I'm not saying the boat isn't a good deal, but I'd like to see it in the water rigged and the engine running like others have said,

Sum

[shorebird]

We had our impeller go this last summer, and ended up spending $300 on a water pump rebuild. It was money well spent, but many such failures in an old boat can lead to breakdowns, downtime, big bills and frustration. Its not about the low asking price, the boat is likely well worth the money, its about the possible friction and frustration and a bad sailing experience. I also wanted my wife and I to cruise on a 27 footer as a "beat-up boat" but went with a mid-eighties Hunter 31 instead with 500 hours on a major overhaul of the Yanmar. It cost much more than my original budget, but a reliable boat able to handle bigger weather in relative comfort has allowed us to gain valuable experience while enjoying the sailing.
On the flip side, I often see a beat up old 20 footer arrive at the dock, while 5 20-somethings pile out of the boat, onto the dock, and begin cooking weiners and beans on an old campstove, drink some beer, swim, have a great time, then raise ragged sails, start (often with some difficulty) a sputtering old outboard, and depart with smiles, looking forward to some sun, surf, and a great day of sailing.

[David_Old_Jersey]

I agree that the inboard will be a concern (the biggest unknown?) - but at that age and boat price point have to accept less than perfection and that will have to take a punt / keep fingers crossed on nothing wildly expensive / fundamental going pop. Would make sense to give the engine a major service - including likely replacing a few hoses.

But the good news with a boat of this size (and esoecially as intended as a day / weekend sailor) is that if the engine does go pop that an outboard can be hung on the back, whether permanently or simply as a temporary "fix" - if all you need is the last mile / power for docking then the limitations of an o/b don't really matters..........until you get to resale, and even then at this price / boat size point not such a biggie as it would be wth something $20k and 32 foot.

Would be interesting to hear if the boat gets bought.........

[Eleven]

At that price, buy now, worry later. If it's a bad one, or the wife doesn't take to it, then it's not a big loss. If she likes it, offset the cost of your next couple of holidays agianst that price.
It does need to be kept local if your going to get the best out of it. Hours and gallons to get to the boat are a big turn off. Spend what you save on eating out once a day.

[Mr Mac]

Well, now, after some careful consideration and another look at the boat we have decided to pass on this boat. It is a pretty decent boat for the price but there is the added expense of transporting it to a storage yard to do the few repairs it needs, the storage and repair costs, transporting it to the marina and the fees to moor it there and not be able to use it until May.

Instead, we'll keep all that money where it is and continue to let it grow as we save for the boat we really want a few years down the road. This also keeps us from having to sell one before we can buy one. In the interim, we have a boat we can use on occasion as well as some rentals at a couple of different lakes in the area.

I do want to thank everyone for their input and look forward to the day we're back down in Florida shopping!

Mac

[carstenb]

Well, at 2500 bucks, I'd say buy it. This is cheap enough that you should always be able to sell it again for the 2500. If not - well that's cheap money for gaining a lot of experience (just wait until you blow a hundred grand on a boat - then 2500 looks like cheap)

[David_Old_Jersey]

Sometimes the best answer is not to do anything - even if sometimes takes a bit of effort and thought to acheive that!

In your shoes (and starting point + timescale) I would keep my eyes out for a cheap boat. Indeed I would even go smaller and cheaper than this one! - as once you get into the cheap boat in the sub 20 foot you are entering the realms of folks who simply want something gone from driveway / have long since stopped seeing the boat as an asset / have got bored.

The price of that is likely to be condition, but with small and used for a bay / daysailer not a great deal that needs to be done or is greatly techinical or expensive with a bit of wit and effort (and e-bay!) - even if a lot that could be termed nice to do! Plus then nicely in the realms of an o/b on the back (which does not have to be bought or later sold with the boat). The big pluses with an o/b is unlikely to be the original 30+ yo engine! and that replacement with s/h is both easily acheivable and not a financial disaster!

Will learn a lot from own boat no matter the size.......including stuff that will save on a big boat purchase (mostly involving knowing when to say no to a purchase!).

[colemj]

The problem with first boats is that you usually make all kinds of mistakes with them and are forced to gain experience in maintenance, fixing broken things and just learning a lot about owning boats in general.

The second boat then teaches you how expensive stuff can get, and you still make some mistakes with it.

In my opinion, it is much better to just buy your 3rd boat first...

Mark