Shopping for Cheap Sailboats

[ZoroMan]

Originally Posted by gonesail

i'm curious .. what heat wouldn't be dry heat?

Another solid comment.

There are two effects that are taking place when you have a warm boat and cold exterior. The first most are familiar with and that is air infiltration. Your warm moist air is leaving the boat through air leaks and cold dry air is replacing it. The second effect is condensation. Your walls, windows and every other surface that is colder than the air in your boat is experiencing condensation. On the windows it might be most visible. Heating with wood or fire makes it seem more dry. But your question is acute because heat is actually not changing the relative humidity it is just warming up the air. It is not making it more dry or more humid by the act of heating. Infrared would be the only "benign" source. Since the air is not heated (infrared radiation directly heats people and objects), the relative humidity does not change.

I do know that when I heat with my sardine wood stove in a small space, I have less condensation issues than when I heat with a small electric heater... and now that I ponder it more closely I realize that is because I always ensure there is even the smallest amount of an opening to allow air from outside in when I heat with wood or candles while I had a tendency to seal things up with the electric heater and WALLAH--- condensation and more moisture in my boat!

Thanks for the push to investigate and ponder this more.

[thomm225]

Here's an example of how one local marina gets rid of old/derelict boats.

Public Auction.

This one already occurred, but the Ad was still up on Craigslist.

https://norfolk.craigslist.org/boa/d...678210904.html

[Sailing August]

Check Green Cove Springs in Jacksonville, FL. There are hundreds of derelict sail boats that will never see the water again without an intervention.

[wyb2]

Originally Posted by gonesail

i'm curious .. what heat wouldn't be dry heat?

Propane.

Most fuels really, but it generally doesn’t matter because you have to vent them outside anyway so they don’t poison you. But if burning cleanly, propane produces only water and CO2.

It’s not completely illogical for someone with a propane galley to think they can run their stove/oven to warm up the cabin a little. But each molecule of propane produces four water molecules. Someone who knows more than me could probably say what volume of liquid water that is per gallon of propane. But it’s more than you are going to want floating around, condensing on everything.

[Traveler7]

Originally Posted by SailorRye

I really do appreciate everyone's help but perhaps I just was not clear enough. I've already found myself a slip with water hookups and electricity. That subject was not my question. I have no intentions of living in NJ or anywhere near. I do not expect to live for free.

Everyone is hanging on this you have to spend $10k business. This just is not the case. I've got a liveaboard in the family who has done the exact thing I'm trying to do and they did it with a similar wallet. Yes free boats will have problems, we can all agree on that. Just because you get a free boat does not mean you have to drop 10,000 dollars in the first day of ownership to be able to move it to your slip. I have found multiple boats that fit exactly what I'm looking for and 2 of them were basically free. I am mechanic with fiber glassing and sewing experience... whatever problems come up I will have no problem fixing or finding workarounds for those issues. When I absolutely need to spend money on those problems, then I will. I'm just looking for a cheap to near free boat that I can beat the **** out of until I'm ready to upgrade. I don't need to have all the bells and whistles that I have to dump money into. I'll fix it as I go and have some fun with it. People seems to have high standards I guess, mine are quite low. My head is not in the clouds, I just asked a simple question with very little context to my specifics.

The heating situation I didn't want to get carried away explaining. I have all the electrical equipment for keeping myself warm and dry. Unbelievably I will somehow survive the winter. /s I simply wanted to state that I had that sorted out and it was a non-issue for me. I will not be at anchor, that is just a terrible idea in the winter with anything but the most comfortable of boats. Let me worry about the intricacies of keeping it afloat and my survival on board. Now back to what I asked...

My original question is that I was looking for recommendations of what boat manufacturer and model to go with. I need some descent headroom on a shorter 28-32ft boat. I was also asking for recommendations on where to look for said boat on the super cheap side. I've already had some excellent suggestions on where to look, in this thread. A few I was looking at were the Sabre, Catalina, Hunter and Island Packet all around the 30ft region. Obviously want to stick on the shorter side to keep the cost per foot fees down. I haven't had the opportunity to walk through each of these boats to see if I would be bumping my head constantly and was hoping for some of cruisersforum experience on the matter. I am 6'1" or 185cm. Any other manufacturer ideas are welcome. Thanks again for the help and suggestions.

Lots of Catalina 30's for cheap. Spacious for a 30! Nice galley...could be good!

[louisstubb]

How about a 29'9" sailboat with little work needed. It has been on hard for 5 years anticipating my return - not happening.
All equipment has been new in past 10 years.
5 sails all original but in good shape . Reconditioned in past 10-12 years.
roomy living space, headroom 6'-1", 6 bunks, cushions are recovered.
It would require nothing to relaunch it. It would require several areas of repair: sole, leak from cockpit sliding cover. other than that cleaning and some repaint. I would launch it myself if I could stand up long enough.
Engine (Yanmar YSM-12 was rebuilt by Yanmar in 2015 - runs great).
If you are looking for a great live-on boat, it's the best.

I have pictures if you are interested.