Buying a boat with broken engine?

[Pete7]

So we need a cheap yacht preferably in Europe suitable for EP and presumably with sufficient space to do a really big solar installation. How about this:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...code=undefined

Add 4 or 5 of these solar panels whilst you are in the UK:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...code=undefined

Pete

[StoneCrab]

Boat yards often have what you want. Ask around.

I know of a beautiful 35' classic design, full keel boat in St Joseph, MI that was abandoned in the yard because its engine went bad. The owner stopped paying the yard bills and has never been seen since. I'm sure the yard would love to get a few dollars for it or have somebody start paying yard storage fees.

Laws vary from state to state with some states requiring that abandoned boats be auctioned off. Although not many people bid on the auction boats.

For a fact, I know of auction boats have gone for $1.

[tnerual]

Originally Posted by StoneCrab

For a fact, I know of auction boats have gone for $1.

I know someone who's gonna pay a visit to the boat yards nearby this weekend


Thanks for the tips, it is super encouraging!

[Kd9truck]

Great thread, hats off to the OP and the contributors, my humble suggestions are for your height your in a longer vessel over 35 ft. Very few short vessels have height in the mono hull sailboat category new or old.
While I have never sailed a Catamaran above the size of a hobbie 18 of which I put 10 years on, this might be your best choice when faced with the functionality of energy to load consumption? Not sure if I said that right but it’s easier to push a vessel on top of the water, than though the water. There rarely if ever are cats that have both engines fail at the same time but you may very well find one that has 1 motor in need of replacement. Then switching to EP (just learned that one here��) would mean a smaller motor to replace. You could than work/tweak the system you put in place with the safety of a back up fuel engine.
Cats also have a greater solar panel surface area, AND I think more head room.

Please keep us posted.

[flee27]

In older boats the engine is a huge factor (at least it was to me). I recently purchased a 1987 boat with a new Beta 43 installed (9.9 hours). After reviewing the invoice for the engine and install it re confirms what a massive project it is unless you are swapping for the exact same engine. Even then it is going to be expensive to do correctly. The invoice is about 1/4" thick with page after page of misc. parts for the swap. And totals $35,000. Not interested in the debate of that being a good price or not, don't care. What it does confirm is that repowering is a huge amount of work and expensive. Don't underestimate the costs of repowering and its effects both good and bad on the value of a boat.

Foster

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by tnerual

Wow, all these answers are fantastic! So much to think about, but so many helpful ideas. I would most likely be looking in Europe, though I keep seeing that prices are much lower on the other side of the pond, and that keeps me thinking


On the size aspect, my main concern is my own height above water (1.97/6"6), and the idea of living aboard a yacht where I can't stand below does not excite me, but that's for a separate thread.

What kind of budget are you talking about?

You can find a lot of under 30ft boats for next to nothing but at 6'6", they are unlikely to have the interior head room you are looking for (don't forget looking at berth length).

With marginal motoring ability, you are going to want a boat that sails well. Critical to that is a good set of sails. If you move up to a 40ft boat to get good headroom, a new set of sails is in the thousands of dollars and kills much of the savings on a dirt cheap boat.

Biggest issue I see as a newbie is buying a boat that belongs on the scrap heap because you didn't know what to look for. A large percentage of boats where it's not worth the owner repowering before putting it up for sale, have lots of other problems.

[tnerual]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

What kind of budget are you talking about?

You can find a lot of under 30ft boats for next to nothing but at 6'6", they are unlikely to have the interior head room you are looking for (don't forget looking at berth length).

With marginal motoring ability, you are going to want a boat that sails well. Critical to that is a good set of sails. If you move up to a 40ft boat to get good headroom, a new set of sails is in the thousands of dollars and kills much of the savings on a dirt cheap boat.

Biggest issue I see as a newbie is buying a boat that belongs on the scrap heap because you didn't know what to look for. A large percentage of boats where it's not worth the owner repowering before putting it up for sale, have lots of other problems.

Having spent quite a few hours lurking on yachtworld and co., and considering my own experience of headbanging and comments found around various threads on this forum, I get the impression that I'll need something around 40ft to be able to stand. In Europe, a base budget for that seems to be around 50k€ (once fixed/repowered). I can do that with a few more months of savings. I realise it's not "dirt cheap", but I also would like to limit initial work to repowering and some simple stuff (I don't think I'm ready to rebuild a hard grounded keel/hull for instance).

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by tnerual

Having spent quite a few hours lurking on yachtworld and co., and considering my own experience of headbanging and comments found around various threads on this forum, I get the impression that I'll need something around 40ft to be able to stand. In Europe, a base budget for that seems to be around 50k€ (once fixed/repowered). I can do that with a few more months of savings. I realise it's not "dirt cheap", but I also would like to limit initial work to repowering and some simple stuff (I don't think I'm ready to rebuild a hard grounded keel/hull for instance).

From your initial posts, I thought you were talking about under 10k, maybe as low as 5k.

At 50k, no need to buy a boat with a dead engine. At that price, get a boat that is solid and functional just needs some cosmetic works. Then you can do the upgrades if and when you feel like it.

For example, we owned a Catalac 10m for a few years in Spain. Bought it for 25k. Not the greatest cosmetically but everything was solid and functional. It would also work for you at 6'6".

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Pete7

So we need a cheap yacht preferably in Europe suitable for EP and presumably with sufficient space to do a really big solar installation. How about this:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...code=undefined

Add 4 or 5 of these solar panels whilst you are in the UK:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...code=undefined

Pete

I am 6ft 2" and found these cramped in every way..

[tnerual]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

From your initial posts, I thought you were talking about under 10k, maybe as low as 5k.

At 50k, no need to buy a boat with a dead engine. At that price, get a boat that is solid and functional just needs some cosmetic works. Then you can do the upgrades if and when you feel like it.

For example, we owned a Catalac 10m for a few years in Spain. Bought it for 25k. Not the greatest cosmetically but everything was solid and functional. It would also work for you at 6'6".

I would love it if I could find something for under 20k€. I probably have not looked hard enough! But armed with all the tips I've seen here, I'm starting to think it might actually be possible, even in the 40ft range.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by tnerual

I would love it if I could find something for under 20k€. I probably have not looked hard enough! But armed with all the tips I've seen here, I'm starting to think it might actually be possible, even in the 40ft range.

At 20k, you are going to have to date a lot of pigs before you find one that is solid and can be used right away but if you have a total budget of 50k, you can accept some minor issues.

Be very careful thinking with a 30k refit budget you are going to fix a lot of major issues. It takes very little to burn thru that much if you buy one of said pigs.

As a newbie, I would push towards the upper end of the budget with fewer problems (even at 50k, you will need to look closely and get a good independent survey)

[daniTS]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

Another option might be to look for a good boat with a highly desirable motor and sell the motor.

I don't know much about it but just another way of thinking about it.

We did that--we're doing a lifeboat conversion with electric engine, but we bought the boat for 5500, then sold the basically new dry stack bukh 36 for 4500 the next weekend (to a guy with a crane truck, so he could come get it out). Everyone was thrilled!

[Manrico]

Hi, I have a 1975 Cape Dory 28 electric powered at Indiantown FL with a lot of brand new acessories into. Due to Covid closed frontiers from Brazil I cannot go there, so, if you are really interested I can sell my dream boat for you. WhatsApp +55 48 999-111-933. Nice regards.

[Happ]

Originally Posted by tnerual

I'm exploring options to live aboard, and how to get a boat for "cheap". I'm very eager to go full electric (propulsion, cooking...) for a variety of reasons (environmental, noise, smell, risks with gas onboard...). This thread is not intended to revive the debate around elec vs diesel, I've read a bunch of posts about the issue, I understand there are drawbacks. Let's assume that I'm happy with them.


I think it's pretty safe to assume I won't find a used monohull for sale with an electric motor installed, so I'm imagining I'd have to look for one with (ideally) a broken diesel that would need fixing. Benefit for me would also be that the boat would probably sell for cheapish.


What would be the (typical) reasons a boat would sell with a broken diesel, and where would I have higher odds of finding them? For instance, I've heard of people getting one where the motor has died due to bad winterization, so I thought colder climates might see more of that than, say, Greece


I'm not after a complete project boat that needs rebuilding almost entirely, things like the Expedition Evans youtube adventure is not what I want.


Thanks for any thoughts!

Depending on how big of a boat you want there is an Alberg 30 with an electric motor on it that looks pretty new. Last I looked it was $35k ask on a reasonably new trailer. It’s on yachtworld. This compares to a boat that needs work and an Atomic 4 (Gas) that is asking $8k.

[carstendenmark]

OP, when Europe opens up again, consider only Europe for buying, as you will have to CE certify ANY boat coming from outside of EU, no matter the age ! That can end up being VERY expensive.

If you buy a boat inside EU, it must be of a certain age to avoid a certification.

In all cases, you'll need a proof of paid VAT (best is the original purchase bill, issued when the boat was new).

I am 9'3", and my boat (Maxi 87) has a headroom of 9'2".
I do NOT want to spend thousands of €'s just to be able to stand fully upright in the center of the cabin.
Anywhere, exept in the center, I have to bend anyway.
Afraid of your scalp ? Put a helmet on, and save yourself tons of money ;-)

After a long time of consideration, I chose a 29' boat, because it is very easy to sail singlehanded.
No need to ask anyone to come along, if you want to sail right away.
Just go.