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Island Time O25 · 07-07-2018, 10:54

Not all free boats are to be avoided. My own criteria of taking a freebie (after some experience with 3 or 4 such free or almost free ones) - 1) if that particular nodel is a decent/comfortable sailer to begin with, 2) If I can do the needed work myself, 3) if I have a yard/place it can stay in for free while I tinker with what needs to be fixed, 4) engine and sails are in either decent or easily repairable state, 5) have time to work on the boat.

All boats 20/30/40+ years old will require some extensive and expensive this or that work in the first few seasons of one's "new to me" ownership. With my listed criteria one is way ahead of the game by getting the boat and storage for free or next to free (cost of hauling to one's place of storage, etc). Most expenses even of well surveyed 40 year old boat are still there whether you got it for free or paid $5-10-20K for it. And for many who are not making 6 figure incomes such free boats are the only way to get on the water.

Empty Pockets · 07-07-2018, 11:07

Lotta negativity here. Maybe they’re jealous? You were interested in the boat for $8000. You got it for free! Strut and associated repairs won’t be $8k, maybe not even close.

Island Time O25 · 07-07-2018, 11:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Empty Pockets

Lotta negativity here. Maybe they’re jealous? You were interested in the boat for $8000. You got it for free! Strut and associated repairs won’t be $8k, maybe not even close.

It's easy to understand why. Most people here got similarly shaped boats for $XXX so it gauls them if someone can get a similar boat for free.

Empty Pockets · 07-07-2018, 11:22

That’s kinda what I was thinking. Haha. I think the OP did fine if he’s willing to do a little work. Had to replace the strut on my boat, not that big a deal.

Maka · 07-07-2018, 12:30

Get a servey and then decide.

Olddan1943 · 07-07-2018, 12:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Empty Pockets

Lotta negativity here. Maybe they’re jealous? You were interested in the boat for $8000. You got it for free! Strut and associated repairs won’t be $8k, maybe not even close.

I am not being negative. Let's assume after a visual survey, it was a total loss or the cost and time is more than you want to invest it costs money to dispose of the hull.
So get it out of the water, see what it needs, costs and if you want to invest that much of your own time.

jmschmidt · 07-07-2018, 12:52

Boy what a bunch of kill-joys. It's a free boat. Ted Irwin was an acquaintance of mine who built over 4500 boats, most of them pretty good. As Dirty Harry said, "You have to ask yourself, Do you feel luck to day punk? Well do ya?" Go for it and do the work yourself. There are plenty of guys and gals on this forum and around every boat yard that will help you out. Learn the way the most of us did, OJT.

hellosailor · 07-07-2018, 13:10

The problem with a free boat (despite a number of happy outcomes from Vbloggers) is that most newbs forget the boat *will* usually need sails. Could be a fast five grand. The perfectly good forty year old sails on a free boat are good only for pillowcases. And then, it often needs standing rigging, that doesn't last forever, could be another fast three grand (all numbers are terribly vague ballpark only). And running rigging, all new lines. Oh, yeah, maybe an anchor and chain. Odds are the deck fittings or portlights are leaking, and possibly there's rot in some wood. VERY easy for, say, a young couple worth three months of hard work to refit the boat...Three months out of your life, yard fees, tools, materials, learning curve...And if the story doesn't have a happy ending, then you first have to figure out how to dispose of five or ten thousand pounds of what is considered HAZMAT rubbish, not something you can just put out on the curb.
Some folks walk down the street and find rolls of twenty dollar bills. Some folks...just find out there were dogs walking there earlier. All depends on how lucky you are, how much aversion to risk. If you don't know anything about boats, well, you're placing one big bet.

SV_Harbinger · 07-07-2018, 13:19

If everything else on board is up to snuff and the only damage she has is to the strut and drive train you may come out ahead of your original 8k. On a side not I used to have an old C&C25 that had an outboard (Tohatsu 8) and that came in handy when moving in and around marinas and such, turn the engine and the rudder and you can make some impressively tight turns, so I wouldn't think going that way would be necessarily a bad thing, and if the engine proves to be junk, well there's still the outboard, lots of boats that size have em, and while you will never move as well in a chop it does work. Just some food for thought.

Also the boat on the mooring next to mine, used to be an inboard, PO removed it and her current owner added the outboard and bracket, and put a fridge under the companionway where the engine used to be.

However if you can't afford to pay someone to do the work for you or you can't do the work yourself for whatever reason, I would run, run so fast I would need to buy new shoes after.

Sailorbob8599 · 07-07-2018, 13:42

Yup, a typical example of the general negativity frequently displayed by the braying masses. One can only speculate as to why. Is it jealousy, intuition or what? After all, they haven't even seen the boat in question. As someone has already said, perhaps it is an owner who just wants out of ownership. Maybe it's a hell of a deal … we'll never know unless someone investigates further.

Stu Jackson · 07-07-2018, 14:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailorbob8599

Yup, a typical example of the general negativity frequently displayed by the braying masses. One can only speculate as to why. Is it jealousy, intuition or what? After all, they haven't even seen the boat in question. As someone has already said, perhaps it is an owner who just wants out of ownership. Maybe it's a hell of a deal … we'll never know unless someone investigates further.

Perhaps it is not negativity, but experience.

Of course, if he wants to find out more than he originally told us that would be very helpful.

I've been boating for 50+ years and reading various boating forums since the BBS was invented (by Al Gore, right?).

The issues with boats that are under-priced is that there are reasons for it. The easiest answers are health forces sale, I can't afford it anymore, those kinda things.

But the majority of those who report back all say it took four times as long, cost three times as much and took a year outta my life and I never got to sail for two years.

Others who report back, and they're rare but, thankfully there are quite a few right here on CF, tell us about the time, cost and loss of sailing but are glad they did it. Why? Because they knew what they were getting into. And they bother to document their work which is pretty cool.

When an OP doesn't know, and is honest enough about their lack of boating knowledge, unless it's a small boat, it IS generally the wrong thing to do UNLESS they are willing to only do it to learn. RARELY DO WE EVER SEE THAT AS A MOTIVATION. Usually it's the "I wanna save $$," and if that's the case, folks, it simply ain't gonna happen.

That's why we caution them.

That's why "Run..." is a not unreasonable response.

oldcal46skipper · 07-07-2018, 14:11

FREE! WHAT is difficult about that?

After Hurricane Ivan in 2004 Pensacola, FL it took on 13 FREE boats. Some I cleaned, got the engine running, inventoried sails and gear and SOLD for $$.

Some I pulled all the salvageable gear out, engines, anchors, etc and loaded on my flatbed. The rest I had my worker cut up into pieces he could carry and toss in my rented 30 yard dumpster. I then cut out the lead keel and sold it $$$'

I made money on all of these boats, but I am a formally trained diesel, outboard, transmission technician and have a business repairing boats about 40 years. In addition I was only 65 years old in 2004.

I will be 80 years young 27 July, so if the boat was near Bayou Chico, I would take it.

hellosailor · 07-07-2018, 15:15

Negativity?
We ALL start out thinking there are bargain boats galore out there.
And after wasting a couple of dozen days making trips to see the little things that weren't mentioned...the negativity is simply reality shock.

The broker gets paid to sell the boat. If he discloses all the possible problems, he gets paid less, and he sells less. That's just reality. Then there's Craigslist and ebay...where no one has ever been known to post a lie or fraud. Never.