shopping suggestions

[shawnkillam]

The admiral and I are taking the entire month of February to head to the south east and try and find the boat. I have been through yachtworld so often that I pretty much have it memorized and have been in contact with several brokers requesting input and appointments to see boats.

BUT I don't want to spend that much time and money and then miss a boat that is for sale privtely. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to find the private sales in the south east. If we can't find anything in Florida we will go on to the islands but that may have to be another trip.

thanks for any suggestions sk

[Lodesman]

Sorry I don't have any suggestions, but will eventually be doing the same, so would love to hear any "lessons learned" when you finish. Good luck and good hunting.


Kevin

[Scott730]

Tell me what you are looking for and I maybe able to help.

[shawnkillam]

Our criteria is pretty loose. Safety is of course number one. We strongly prefer a multihull but if we can not find the right boat we will consider a mono, but we aren't willing to pay as much for it. Tri's are just fine by me but the admiral has never been aboard one so that has yet to be approved.
Price point around 250K a little higher if the boat is litterally in sail away condition, including at least one bottle of good rum in the cabinet. Galley up, as a great deal of our social life revolves around dinner parties and the preparation there off. After that everything is flexible.
If it is to be a mono then probably a pilot house with a large cockpit. Again something where a table could sit eight people. Something with shallow draft and or centerboard.
I am not adverse to a bit of a project but I do not want to take on any structural work.
At least part of the year we will be living on board and working in a city (need a depressed face here) and the rest of the time we want to be in those little anchorages that deep draft boats can't get to.
We are both in our fifties and relatively small people so we don't need the headroom that taller folks need. In fact if it is too tall and the admiral cannot reach the grab rails that would not be good either.
That is all I can think of, and thanks to everyone for their suggestions.
sk

[Pblais]

BUT I don't want to spend that much time and money and then miss a boat that is for sale privately.

Things change every day. You need a boat you like and can afford more than you need the boat you didn't buy. I think it is a mistake to attempt to feel you know of every boat. Too many of the ads are not accurate and accuracy can cut both ways. You can't track down every possible lead unless you artificially remove candidates from the list using bogus criteria. With that you seem to feel only two boats will meet your criteria.

I think the whole process changes once you graduate beyond mastering yachtworld. I know it did for me when I did it. The exercise is invaluable in that you learn what boats are at least in general terms you can understand. Mastering yachtworld has it's own level too but it's a great way to sort of see a lot of boats. It's not complete though.

I think if you continue with what you started you can start to evaluate boats in person and get into another level of what you like and don't like. From pictures and a lack of experience the perspective is distorted. The in person part of the search adds more dimensions to the choice. I think it is great you have done so much homework. You will learn how much it paid off and the things you will avoid now because of it. It's not the end and adding more boats won't really help. You could continue looking at boat ads forever.

I think you don't need more suggestions. You should have seen enough of them by now. You really need more than suggestions and I have none to offer. What will another 20 do that it hasn't done? I'm afraid there will be a lot of boats you won't know about but knowing even 10,000 boats will take more time than you have. You already threw out 49 other states for no real good reason. I would start with your first 5 boats, take stock on your preconceptions and go to another 5. After a few it starts to feel better. A normal person can look at 5 boats at a time, but not many more. You need to write off all of them to move to the next 5 and learn why!

You can then reach a point where you can see no boat is perfect. When you get that far you know you are close. It can then be a process more about you than the boats. In the end it's your ideals and perceptions that have to get brought to the forefront and not the stats of the boats. You need to do this in a way that works. You know the stats and the Admiral tells you which boat. It's a joint decision not a computed solution.

If you can do all the homework you are allowed to get the boat that you like and works out for you. At 50+ you should have the maturity to do it, know it, and be happy about it too.

We are both in our fifties and relatively small people so we don't need the headroom that taller folks need. In fact if it is too tall and the admiral cannot reach the grab rails that would not be good either.

Hey, it's not that hard and there are quite a few of us. I wouldn't worry that a boat has too much headroom unless you are both under 5 feet. At that point you might need to change some equipment and gear. The truth is they get a lot smaller after you sail them a year. Other than putting it in a slip with a stiff crosswind it looks a lot smaller than it did to us 2 years ago.

[sandy daugherty]

Other than Yachtworld, you should check Craig's List, local shopper's mags, and newspaper classified ads. If you harbor the idea that there might still be a bird's nest on the ground, be warned, what you buy from a fool is a a fool's prize. You get what you pay for. If you are buying a foreign flagged vessel a buyer's rep would pay for himself.

[Tropic Cat]

Yacht world is a collection of broker listed boats. To have a look at private sellers, you need to check out sites like these.

Florida New & Used Boats for Sale - Current Listing of FL Yachts for sale - BoatQuest.com

New Boats And Used Boats For Sale By Owner And From Dealers

Buy a Boat- Boat Classifieds - Buy Used Boats - Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, Bayliner, Grady White, Wellcraft, Florida, Michigan, California, Texas, New York and More - Sell a Boat Too

Boats for sale Florida, used boats Florida, new boats sales, free photo ads - Sailing Yachts - Apollo Duck

[shawnkillam]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. sk

[David M]

Those are some great links Tropic. I bookmarked all four. Its nice to know of some sources outside of YachtWorld. Thanks

I saw that Gunboat listing. $2.9 million...yikes!

[Captain Bill]

I found mine on Boats.com

[ocean.jedi]

I am in the process of having a catamaran built in Peru by Ballota. By using resin fusion techniques, smaller manufacturers with cheaper labor (i.e. 3rd world) can compete in building a "one off" semi custom design with production shops that use more heavy capital intensive techniques. So far, we are on budget and the price and time seems very reasonable. Check out Kelsall's website Catamarans - Kelsall Catamarans - Boat Designs and/or Ballota's at Kelsall Catamarans - Ballotta Catamarans - Custom built catamarans

[kevingy]

Originally Posted by shawnkillam

We strongly prefer a multihull ... Price point around 250K ... Galley up

I'm in the market to buy also. We're generally looking for the same thing, except your price point is a little higher than mine. There are a few Leopard 38's and Athena 38's out there under $250K, as you know from your YachtWorld research. The Athena 38 is too small for me, but I'm 6'3". What size cat are you looking for?

I continue to be stunned by how few cats there are available compared to monos - and therefore (at least in part), how cheap monos look compared to cats. My wife won't go unless it's flat, so I'm still looking for a cat.

Originally Posted by shawnkillam

At least part of the year we will be living on board and working in a city (need a depressed face here)

Same here, except my "part of the year" is one week a month. I have to be close enough to an airport every three weeks to get to the office.

Kevin

[kevingy]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

I found mine on Boats.com

FWIW- Boats.com and YachtWorld.com are the same company - Dominion Enterprises of Seattle, Washington. It seems like all of the boats on Boats.com are on YachtWorld.com, but not all boats on YachtWorld.com are on Boats.com.

[Scott730]

Kevingy
I noticed where you live, we are in Mount Dora, right down the road. I have a Mahe 36 and it has 6' 7" headroom in the saloon and no less than 6' 3" which is in the shower stall. We are leaving for the Bahamas tomorrow for a month or so, if your interested in seeing the boat when we get back let me know.

Scott

[shawnkillam]

It is my understanding that Boats.com allows private ads, although there does not appear to be very many. Yachtworld is brokers only. sk