Buy a boat that is ready to sail or Renovate one

[Emouchet]

Get the boat that is as ready as possible, even if the cost is a bit higher.
You will save time, energy, money and frustration, and enjoy the boat earlier.

On all the part the previous owner upgraded or installed you will pay 10-20c/$ of the true price paid by the owner.

Sailing school forgot to tell you that a boat requires enormous hours of maintenance, and that sailing the boat is a rewarding time..

[thomm225]

Actually, the off season is the perfect time to work on your good ole boat.

You can sail it during the sailing season then do upkeep and repairs/upgrades when not sailing

There's really no lost sailing time unless you buy a really bad boat.

[Conradb]

thank you guys for all the advise, I have read through all of your comments and am taking it all to heart.

I have made a few calls to some of my older yachting friends(my ex-girlfriend's father, owns 3 yachts and been sailing for many years) After speaking to him, and some of his friends, they echo a lot of what you guys have said. Specifically finding someone who cared for their boat obsessively, sometimes those people cannot sail anymore or aren't married anymore and their wives sell the boat for a bargain. I am looking for one of those deals, haha

[DenverSailors]

If you aren’t in a hurry, take all of the foregoing advice AND look at boats for sale in the the Great Lakes area in October. If you don’t mind sailing in the cold you can get a great deal from a seller who doesn’t want to deal with another haul-out and winterization. We did just that by happy accident.

[Conradb]

Originally Posted by DenverSailors

If you aren’t in a hurry, take all of the foregoing advice AND look at boats for sale in the the Great Lakes area in October. If you don’t mind sailing in the cold you can get a great deal from a seller who doesn’t want to deal with another haul-out and winterization. We did just that by happy accident.

Travel to the states with visas can be quite expensive for us at the bottom of the world, not to mention the currency exchange rate... it would have to be a really good deal! I am seeing some boats in the 30” range going for R200k which is about $14k USD. Although we have very limited stock, for the most part the prices are pretty good around here.

Forgive my naivety, but is preparing for winter over there a big deal? Enough for people to sell. I am heading to the states next year for a wedding and could do some scouting between now and then.

[DenverSailors]

Originally Posted by Conradb

Travel to the states with visas can be quite expensive for us at the bottom of the world, not to mention the currency exchange rate... it would have to be a really good deal! I am seeing some boats in the 30” range going for R200k which is about $14k USD. Although we have very limited stock, for the most part the prices are pretty good around here.

Forgive my naivety, but is preparing for winter over there a big deal? Enough for people to sell. I am heading to the states next year for a wedding and could do some scouting between now and then.

We pulled out in Roger’s City, Michigan, in November which, if you don’t want to look it up, is almost Canada. They had 6’ of ice in the slips over the winter. We hauled out, winterized, and had her shrunk-wrapped. It was an unexpected expense and a great adventure. We received a gift-of-a-deal specifically because the PO was determined to sell the boat before winter thereby avoiding the aforementioned costs. I’d look; and if you want a boat delivered to you...just let me know...

[Conradb]

Oh wow. It is more north than buffalo(somewhere I've been before). Yeah, I can imagine the cold.

Thank you so much for the info, I will definitely factor that info into my search and decision making!

[Chotu]

I think the overall problem with this discussion is that there is no definition of ready to go.

No Boat will have everything working. No boat will come without a list of things to do. The question is what your intended use is, and how close any individual boat comes to this use the day you buy it.

[chowdan]

I was of the mindset of refit vs spending money on buying a sound boat.

Being in a refit for over a year, I've lost a ton of time from possible sailing. I've spend just about 30k and probably have another 20k to go at minimum, maybe 30-50k more.

Dont buy a fixer upper unless
A: it's on your bucket list
B: You have cash to spend on it
C: Your incredibly motivated to stay working on it

I work during the day, rebuild in the mornings/nights. I have A & C, while my day job pays for the the rebuild.

Overall would I do it again? NO! Why? Because I've spent the better part of a year rebuilding and not being able to sail.

If I did it over, I'd have spent the 50k-90k on buying a boat(with loan if need be), and go sail and do the minor upgrades and fixes that itd need.

[KTP]

Buy a new sailboat.

If you can't afford new, take what money you have and go to Vegas, put it on black and spin.

Then either buy a new sailboat with your winnings or forget about boating.

Either way you will be ahead of buying used.

[gulfislandfred]

If you find a boat that needs cosmetic work, or work on peripherals like refrigeration, but you can go sailing, have a comfortable, dry place to sleep, etc. that might be OK.


It is always cheaper to buy a ready to go boat, than to bring a project boat up to factory condition or better. If you can live with sagging headliner, cushions wrapped with cool cloth from the second hand store, and warm beer, (I can, and I've had years of great times on boats) you may find a project that's OK for you.

[Tripp Presnell]

We bought a well-maintained but bare-bones boat (Najad 343), and I spent 5 months refitting it for cruising, but I wouldn’t take on any boat that was neglected and in disrepair. It will cost more upfront to refit a boat for cruising, but having all new systems will save you from a constant stream of breakdown and repairs (and the costs) during your first few years of cruising. It took a huge effort, but while still working a full-time job I was able to complete all the following in 5 months and set sail: all new electrical system including panel, new battery bank and battery box, solar panels and regulator, radar arch, rebuild ice box, corian countertops, new refrigeration, new water heater, build and install a fiberglass hard-top bimini, new winches, new running rigging, new cushions, new instruments, new autopilot, and new canvass.

[pma_foyl]

NO boat is “ready to go” and I’ve never heard of a 2 month renovation. A very good condition boat will still likely take months to put into shape, depending on your plans. A fixer will take MUCH longer.

[exMaggieDrum]

Having worked for a few years in a significant boatyard I have seen plenty of boats that are "ready to go" that aren't. New ones are never ready to go unless you do the prep work to make them ready as I have not seen any manufacturer who builds and sells a boat new with all the "necessary" bells and whistles for offshore cruising. There may be some I haven't seen but doing a lot of reading of brochures, reviews, and such, there is always a ton of often expensive prep work to be done.



That usually includes canvas, electronics, all the personal gear, satellite and/or SSB radios, BBQ's, solar panels, autopilot, upgraded charging systems, a proper took kit, and on and on. This is for brand new boats of course. It's like buying a new house and then you remember you have to put in drapes, washer/dryer, etc. These can be major expenses and do take time. I see the a major boat seller doing all these upgrades to new boats on my dock daily. A lot of techs and contractors busy for weeks putting in propane systems, additional optional rigging, dodgers, autopilots, etc.



Buying a newer, but used and maintained by someone who knew what they were doing and did it well, could be the right way to go, provided they were outfitted with what you need for the cruising you want to do. There will always be things that need to be fixed and changes to be made even then but I would think this is the most bang for the money provided you have the right knowledge to evaluate it and get a really good survey and know the model, etc. And you have the money to get one of these.



I have bought boats that very "mature" but ones I could afford at the time. Older boats with some newer system upgrades and good design elements that I felt comfortable DIYing with skills I picked up. Even someone, a noob, who gets the "perfect" boat will still need to be able to master fixing things they have never ever seen before, with tools they don't know they will need. But I have spent a lot of time (a lot) doing this and spending a lot of money on upgrades and fixes.



But I like to customize a boat to what I want and I do that by getting in to the details of all the systems and making sure they are robust and do what needs to be done. I'm a bit anal about it. The owner of the boatyard I worked at bought a newish high quality 47' monohull. He was a serious ocean-crossing cruiser before he made it big by hard work by building up his boatyard. He had access to most everything at cost. The boat came with what many would call "all" the bells and whistles, and then he spent 3 years and a ton of money upgrading systems and adding things for ocean cruising. He knew what he wanted and had the bucks to do it. He did a lot of the installation work himself because he was good at it and liked it as a hobby. He was probably more anal than I was. His boat would be a good buy if he sold it.



I have done the "mature" boat thing because I didn't have the hundreds of thousands needed to buy a newer boat that had been well maintained and well sorted out by a knowledgeable and responsible owner. So I had to put in the extra $30,000 later over a few years to get what I wanted. And that was just the parts. The same things done in a boatyard would have been $100,000 to $150,000 with labor.



My suggestion would be to get a newish boat that has most of the goodies you need that were put on by professionals or a very competent owner who has spent the time sorting it all out. A new boat will need a lot of money too and you have to sort it out yourself. An older but goodie boat will need some system replacements unless it has gone through a thorough, competent complete refit by a knowledgeable owner/shipyard.


No one said this was easy.


Or, you can buy something with most of what you don't know you need and just go do it and learn how to fix the autopilot while you are on the way.

[gallatin1988]

IF you have a good idea of what kind(s) of sailing apppeals to you then have a hard look at your budget. Don't forget about some hidden costs: marinas/slip fees, lessons, surveys, travel to look at boats, transporting the boat to your home location. Try to factor all this in as best you can then add in a 10%-20% cushion. Include all these costs in the purchase price.

Then look for the best boat that fits within your overall budget. Get the better boat even if that means getting a smaller boat. Ongoing maintenance, repairsmarina fees, and upgrades will be an issue. Smaller boats generally translate into boats that are cheaper keep in good condition over the longer term.

Is the $10,000 local to you fixer-up a better buy than the in better condition $15,000 boat that takes $2500 to get to your locale? Who knows, depends on a lot of factors.

Thats why I think it is important to look at the purchase price within the context of your overall budget (in terms of both money and time).

But I do believe as others have said that generally you get a boat you can sail now and fix up as you go along.