Best way to buy a boat in a foreign country?

[Sand crab]

You might want to consider some of the affordable tris. Many have folding amas and are trailerable. A survey becomes real easy at that point because the boat is out of the water. Plus you can trailer it back to Canada if you want. Check out the Performance cruising Telstar 28, and the various Farriers and Corsairs. There's a Corsair on YW in Toronto btw. These boats are light, the Telstar only weighs 3000#, and relatively easy to trailer.


Also the small cats like an older Gemini or a Prout Quest are worth a look. They are close to your price range and will have more interior space.

[TrentePieds]

Quote: “Haha I probably do need to slow down.“

This in response to Boatpoker's counsel in post #6, I assume. The tenor of the experienced people who have responded to you is, if not explicitly then implicitly, quite the same: Slow down! Your dream seems to me to be like a young horse that needs “breaking” to become a useful, disciplined workmate rather than a dangerous beast.!

Quote: “I've read most of Don Casey's books. If you can think or anything else that's a must read, link it. Please!”

If you have read – really read – Don Casey's books, you will know that HE is disciplined and structured. The book that comes immediately to mind is his “This Old Boat”, with its wonderful structure of eight “disciplines” that you must master if you wish to call yourself a sailor. So if you have the insight to realize that, as you say, “I'm finding that my brain can only [absorb/hold] so much knowledge.”, you may also have the insight to realize that “cramming” is no way to learn. You can (sometimes) pass an exam by cramming, but once out of the examination hall the “knowledge” acquired that way simply evaporates. The knowledge you must have to keep yourself and your ship safe at sea has to be absorbed SLOWLY. And inerradicably. Use Don Casey's structured approach in regard to ALL the OTHER disciplines that you must master to become a skipper, rather than just another diletante.

In conjuction with “This Old Boat” you must read Boatpoker's “Surveying 101” available for print-out via the link he gave you in post #6. For a man at your stage of development as a sailor Surveying 101 is required reading, and the fact that it is provided free of charge by Boatpoker blinds only the naive to its value. READ IT! UNDERSTAND IT (with the help of Casey)! Then, as Mike O'Reilly points out, you will need a bought-and-paid-for survey not for your own protection at all, but only to satisfy the insurance underwriters.

Quote “ How does an amateur remember the 100+ major inspection points in the sailboat? Do you just make a massive list and take it to each boat?”

That approarch is totally unrealistic! Not for nothing are ships (and boats) referred to as “she”. Would you take a checklist on a first date? Of course not! You know full well that each prospective companion must be explored having regard to her particular, peculiar qualities which will become apparent only as the exploration proceeds. Just so with boats. Again, structure, discipline and clear reasoning are the essential attributes of the explorer. You start with the obvious: “Oh, she's a cutter” which leads to: “How's the forestay fixed to the deck?”, which leads to “What is the structure underlying the deck pad eye?” And so on.

As that paragon of “free ennerprize” Malcolm Forbes – who was a good sailor – used to say in the “flag” of the magazine he published: “With all thy getting, get understanding”.

Now, when you can report here that you've learned to survey a boat so that you UNDERSTAND her condition without benefit of paid surveyor, then come back here and we will, using Don Casey's structured approach, tell you something about what you have to know and to do to become a respectable skipper.

TP

[model 10]

I have no interest in this but for your knowledge base, those boats in Guatemala all looked like they were about ready to go cruising. Even if you don't like any of them, you could use them as examples of a cruising boat you might be able to afford.

[SaltedEgg]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Surveys are not cheap. My last one ran ~$18/ft. This is why most people do their own pre-survey of any possible boat before calling in the expensive professional. And as the many threads here will attest, a clean survey doesn’t always mean there are no major problems with a boat.

As people have said, there are great deals to be had in the Great Lakes area. Since you have free rent there, why is this not your best place to begin?

Yes, I think I will have to create a check list for my amateur inspections.

Thoughtful question. There are definitely many pros when shopping in the Great Lakes area. It's the choice that makes the most sense (boat wise at least) for any type of long term sailing plans. In terms of cons: its cold, the Caribbean is far away, lack of job opportunities, and greater time commitment. My one year plan includes fixing up a boat, becoming a confident single handed sailor, and making my way around the Caribbean. I'm very good at being intensely dedicated to tasks for moderate periods of time. Therefore, I don't want to make a 3 year plan, only to not realize it.

Also, there are loads of international teaching opportunities in the Caribbean/Latin America. If money were to run short at any time, finding employment would ideally be a passage away. Finding a teaching gig in Ontario is difficult and I love teaching.

All that being said, the Great Lakes seed has been planted and is growing.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by SaltedEgg

Yes, I think I will have to create a check list for my amateur inspections.

Thoughtful question. There are definitely many pros when shopping in the Great Lakes area. It's the choice that makes the most sense (boat wise at least) for any type of long term sailing plans. In terms of cons: its cold, the Caribbean is far away, lack of job opportunities, and greater time commitment. My one year plan includes fixing up a boat, becoming a confident single handed sailor, and making my way around the Caribbean. I'm very good at being intensely dedicated to tasks for moderate periods of time. Therefore, I don't want to make a 3 year plan, only to not realize it.

Also, there are loads of international teaching opportunities in the Caribbean/Latin America. If money were to run short at any time, finding employment would ideally be a passage away. Finding a teaching gig in Ontario is difficult and I love teaching.

All that being said, the Great Lakes seed has been planted and is growing.

Well, it sounds like you have a complex calculation to make — only you can make it. I don’t know you, but what you propose is very ambitious. Going from zero to successful cruising takes most people far more than one year. From my perspective this timeline near-guarantees failure (in the sense of not achieving the plan), but you may be different — you’re obviously quite adventurous, and willing to take big risks.

So … whatever you do, how about keeping us posted here. I’d love to hear how things work out.

[SaltedEgg]

Mike, your wisdom is sinking in. My tendency to over complicate things to reach an idealized dream needs to be checked. Thank you for doing that.

I now realize that my plan is risky and prone to failure.

I'm going to start looking for cruising communities close to international schools in warm climates. Maybe this idea is also flawed but it feels like an improvement from sleeping in a car.

To anyone who took a minute or 10 to offer advice, thank you!

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by SaltedEgg

Mike, your wisdom is sinking in. My tendency to over complicate things to reach an idealized dream needs to be checked. Thank you for doing that.

I now realize that my plan is risky and prone to failure.

I'm going to start looking for cruising communities close to international schools in warm climates. Maybe this idea is also flawed but it feels like an improvement from sleeping in a car.

To anyone who took a minute or 10 to offer advice, thank you!

This does sound more doable. With work you will have resources which will give you more time. With time, you can start to learn all the unknown-unknowns in your plan, and it won’t cost you your nest egg to do so.

Hope you keep posting here though. There are lots of experienced folk who have been down your path. And good luck. Life is a grand adventure.

[Sdwcheney]

Last year I hosted a Colorado couple who came to Florida to buy a Trawler and learn how to handle their boat. I went with them to inspect the boat that they decided on, a Mainship 34. After the purchase, I spent two weeks with them on the boat, learning how to handle the boat, and docking in various situations, wind and current. I then went with them until Brunswick Georgia, they went on to do the "Great Loop" and I was there when they "Crossed their wake". So I say you can do what you want, but I suggest that you have a place to stay until you find and take possession of the boat. Good luck, and if you need a place to stay feel free to contact me. Stephen Wright SV Hitch.

[quiesence65]

First things first!
If you tell Homeland Security your plan at the border, that will be as far as you go.....they will not let you enter the US.
OK......the internet is a wonderful thing....search out several boats that fit the bill, then make arrangements via email/telephone to see them. Give yourself a two/three week vacation, and go and look at them, choose one, buy it (subject to a survey), and it is yours.
How you explain now what you are doing to HomeLand Security when you enter the US again is beyond me....unless you plan to immediately depart the US for the Bahamas, etc. The US border officials can, if they don't buy your story, simply turn you back again, and then you have a boat in Florida that you cannot get to.
Think this through......or do not do it.

[Cabot36]

You should consider buying a Canadian boat, it is a lot easier!! Check out my Cabot 36 (an excellent cruising boat) listed on Yachtworld. Canadian registered boat presently in Florida. Due for a reduction in the asking price.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Cabot36

You should consider buying a Canadian boat, it is a lot easier!! Check out my Cabot 36 (an excellent cruising boat) listed on Yachtworld. Canadian registered boat presently in Florida. Due for a reduction in the asking price.

Wow, 45k ! that's 17k more than any Cabot 36 has sold for in the last 10 years. She must be really special.

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Wow, 45k ! that's 17k more than any Cabot 36 has sold for in the last 10 years. She must be really special.

Not that special - the winches are not self tailers for example.

[lucasch46]

If you are in Mslaysia you should try Phuket for 2nd hand boats. I m presently refitting sn old cat not far from there😊