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Morten84 · 17-05-2014, 12:35

Hello.

After hours and hours of planning, my brother and I have finally decided on making our dream of sailing the Caribbean come true!

We are two regular guys from Norway with a passion for sailing, adventures and the freedom that comes with sailing. We have both decided to take at least a year off from work, put our apartments up for rent and make our dream come true. All this is set to start in July/August next year, so we still have some time for preparations. We also plan to document our trip and post videos on youtube as we go :-)

At this point we have more or less decided to get a head start on our time in the Caribbean by buying a boat in the US, and make the boat seaworthy over there. And for a while now we have been following all the known boat classifieds like Yachtworld.com, Sailboatlisting and so on..
But as we are two relatively young guys with a limited budget, we soon realized that we were a few $ short on most of the boats for sale on these sites.

Anyway, let me give you an idea of what kind of boat we are looking for.

-Our budget for the boat is +/- 20.000 US $

-38-45 feet (need the space because we will have crew (friends) over from time to time).

-Steel hull with a long keel. (we are both experienced steel workers so its easier for us to do repairs with steel than with for example fiberglass).

-Preferably a boat with a pilothouse, however not a must.

-Preferably a sloop-cutter.

-Boat should be located on the East Coast. as far south as possible.

Due to our limited budget, we realize that the boat we find probably will need a fair amount of work done, for it to be ready for sailing.
In addition to all this we also need to find a nice DIY boatyard where we can live in the boat while working on it.

We hope that by asking you for help we could get some directions in our quest for finding the right boat. Where should we look, and what to look out for when buying in the US? We both want to have insurance and all the proper documents for the boat in place, so that we dont run into any problems when entering foreign ports etc.. We are thankful for all the information you provide, and thank you in advance.

Best regards Morten

**skipmac** · 17-05-2014, 12:53

Hi Morten and welcome to the forum.

Great plan but I'm afraid your budget is very seriously lacking. For what you can spend you would have to be incredibly lucky to find a boat that is not in terrible shape. It could happen but the odds are very, very small.

I think at best you would find a boat that would take major repairs and maintenance. Don't forget to factor in a lot of extra money for the repairs. Not only for parts and supplies but also rent for a space to keep the boat while you do the work. One thing to think about and this is not really a joke. I have done major overhauls on several boats over the years and at best it is going to cost you twice as much money as you estimate to fix up the boat and take twice as long to do it.

I suggest you think about a much smaller boat. Sure it will not be as spacious as you want but some smaller boats can carry a lot of people. I learned to sail on a Morgan OutIsland 36 and we several times cruised with 5-6 people on board.

BozSail · 17-05-2014, 13:01

There's an Endeavor 37 for sale for $20k on the boat classifiers board. I don't know anything about that particular boat, but I own a 1981 Endeavor 37 and it is a very seaworthy and sturdy boat.

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**skipmac** · 17-05-2014, 13:10

Bozsail brings up a good point. Why go for a steel boat just because you know how to do metal work? Most of the work you will do on any fixer upper boat will probably be wiring, plumbing, rigging, painting, wood repair and such. This will all be the same whether you have a steel hull, fiberglass hull, wood hull even ferrocement hull.

In your budget range I think you should be open to any kind of boat that is structurally sound. Buying a steel boat because you can do steel work implies to me a boat that needs a LOT of major repairs which means months or years of work and money.

Morten84 · 17-05-2014, 13:20

Thank you Skipmac, and I do agree that $20k is a bit short :-)

However we are aware of the costs of restoring a boat in that price range, and if we were able to find a boat for that price, we are prepared to spend around 20-30k on repairs before going to the caribbean.

Maybe we would be better off with buying a boat for around $40k to start with?

Paul L · 17-05-2014, 13:35

If you really want a steel boat, the US East Coast isn't really the spot for them. The US is very much fiberglass centric. Meal boats are much more favored in Europe than in the US. If your plans are primarily centered around the Caribbean and your time is limited, then you don't need a steel boat. The Carib is trade-wind sailing. Just about any production boat will handle it.

Morten84 · 17-05-2014, 13:52

Thank you Paul.

You guys may all be right in the matter of choosing hull material, and that we may eventually have to adjust our demands in boat type.

The reason we were set on a steel hull is not only because it lets us do most of the work ourselves, but also because we figured it would be a lot safer than other materials? bumping into a reef, crashing with logs floating in the water etc..

Anyway.. this is a boat similar to what we are looking for, or actually exactly what we are looking for. But we think this one is a bit overpriced?

1995 Treworgy Custom Steel Motor Sailer Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Cormorant · 17-05-2014, 14:20

In the June 2014 issue of Cruising World, which just arrived today, there's a brief article on p.16 titled "Take My Boat, Please!"

Basically an older cruiser is prepared to lend out his Albin Vega 27 for periods of about a year, with the only stipulation that you must go out cruising and return it so someone else can go do the same.

The boat is located in Virginia.

The contact is kreitrob (at) g mail (dot) com

I suspect there will be a rather long line of people hoping to borrow the boat, but it would be worth giving it a try.

Edit: Probably too short for your needs . . . but you would have enough cash left over to charter a spare boat when friends visit. . ..

CharlzO · 17-05-2014, 14:28

Another aspect of your budget, is that you'll either spend money now on the boat, or llater on repairs. I would set a "total" budget of your 40k or so, and go from there in regards to the boat. If you find a boat for say, 30k that you feel you can make and keep worthy for an additional 10k, it'd likely be a far better option than one for 20k that will need another 20k. Remember, the repairs are going to cost more than estimated in the long run, so the fewer repairs you need, the farther ahead you'll be. Plus, spending more up front takes out some of the worry down the road, gets you going faster, and will generally be a little less stressful in the grand scheme.

Morten84 · 17-05-2014, 14:29

This is the kind of boat we`re looking for, however this exact boat is a bit overpriced in my opinion.

1995 Treworgy Custom Steel Motor Sailer Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Morten84 · 17-05-2014, 14:31

Thank you charlz0. What you are saying makes alot of sense.

Kevin84 · 17-05-2014, 14:45

One other thing to consider, DIY boat yards are very much an endangered species in the US. The few that are still around charge in the neighborhood of $2/ft/day. In other words, $2,300/mo for yard storage. The cheaper rates for dry storage generally do not apply to DIY'ers. Also, finding one that will allow you to liveaboard while working on the boat is going to be next to impossible. Most boatyards do not allow owners to sleep aboard at any time, much less while working on the boat. I dont mean to rain on your parade, but just want to make sure you know that what you want is not going to be easy to find. Having said all that, if you can find what you're looking for, great! And I wish you luck!

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**boatman61** · 17-05-2014, 14:50

Know 4 Norwegian guys doing the S Pacific on a 32ftr.. young folk are hardy..

Try this..

1982 Catalina 30 low engine hours, easy sailing boat, spacious cockpit with cushions.

Attractive interior with double sinks, refrigerator, butane stove, battery charger.
Radio and GPS included
Very clean, well cared for boat.

Located in Vandemere, just north of Oriental.

$12,000

Tied in with this.. be solo sailors sailing in tandem..

The Bruce King designed 27' has a roomy cabin with 6' 1" headroom. See Ericson 27 on the internet for full specs., details,comments and interior layout. Power is an excellent 9.9 Hp. Johnson electric start O.B. with alternator, fitted with cockpit controls. A 9.9 Mercury 4 cycle electric start is also available.

Has an almost new marine head and holding tank with Y valve. All halyards and sheets lead to the cockpit, tiller auto pilot, bimini, plus additional equipment including 4 bags of sails and a good race record.

Please call: 252-665-1844 or 252-617-7567 for full details. I have an extremely low rental, secure, slip available for this boat if desired.

Price for this excellent Ericson reduced to: $5,495.00

nimblemotors · 17-05-2014, 14:57

In my experience with cars, the ones that are more expensive because supposedly in better shape, are not necessarily better or need any less work than the cheaper ones. You just don't find out what work is needed until later, whereas the cheap ones have a specific failure that make them cheap. Maybe not directly related to sailboats, but I would rather get something cheap and know I went through everything and made it working right.

In this case, given the short time frame, one doesn't have a lot of time to do repairs. Resell value is going to be a big factor in the end cost of the adventure. Buying a boat for $40k and then having to sell it for $20k later is a lot of expense, note you'll need to sell it quickly when done otherwise you can incur hefty marina expenses keeping it around.

I think this leads to going real cheap and try to fix it as little as possible but functional, so you can sell it quickly later by also selling it cheap.
Could go with an expensive highly desired boat that can sell quickly because people want them, but that isn't in the budget.

For example, this 33ft with bad engine for $7k in miami.
sailboat 71 PEARSON 33