Boat wanted Australia

[MrChris]

Hi everyone, I see many posts here from people who have little experience or knowledge and plan to buy a boat and sail off into the sunset. This is such a good idea thar i plan to do the same in the new year. I have spent most of my life on or in the sea but not sailing. Ideally i would be looking for a cheap 20 odd foot basic liveaboard that in Australia that i can buy on arrival (or before). I guess with my budget it will be like me, old but serviceable, and preferably owned by a nice person who will be able to show me how to make it stop and go, etc.
Living in hope

[moctrams]

https://www.boatsales.com.au/boats/s...et/?sort=Price

[undercutter]

Originally Posted by MrChris

Hi everyone, I see many posts here from people who have little experience or knowledge and plan to buy a boat and sail off into the sunset. This is such a good idea thar i plan to do the same in the new year. I have spent most of my life on or in the sea but not sailing. Ideally i would be looking for a cheap 20 odd foot basic liveaboard that in Australia that i can buy on arrival (or before). I guess with my budget it will be like me, old but serviceable, and preferably owned by a nice person who will be able to show me how to make it stop and go, etc.
Living in hope

There is no such thing as a cheap boat in Australia.



Not to buy, not to maintain and not to moor. Good luck to you but I would bring one with me and sell it when your done. Better to stop in Asia and sail one over.

[MrChris]

Originally Posted by undercutter

There is no such thing as a cheap boat in Australia.



Not to buy, not to maintain and not to moor. Good luck to you but I would bring one with me and sell it when your done. Better to stop in Asia and sail one over.

Cheaper to buy in Asia? Any suggestions as to where I might look, even recommendations?

[undercutter]

Originally Posted by MrChris

Cheaper to buy in Asia? Any suggestions as to where I might look, even recommendations?

Probably Langkawi or even Phuket. Lot's of cruisers get hung up here and are looking to sell. Maybe not as good as a few years ago when the red sea was so full of pirates but some good deals to be had.


Maybe Paul Jackson at YBC in Langkawi.


I can assure you that anything cheap in Australia is not worth buying and the run down to Oz Jan to end of April is a piece of cake. Your timing would be impeccable. Just make sure that you beat the onset of the SE trades heading to Queensland.


I hear Fiji is also a possible place to buy a little cheaper than Oz but I think Asia is best.


Others here could give you some leads for a broker in these areas.

[MrChris]

Originally Posted by undercutter

Probably Langkawi or even Phuket. Lot's of cruisers get hung up here and are looking to sell. Maybe not as good as a few years ago when the red sea was so full of pirates but some good deals to be had.


Maybe Paul Jackson at YBC in Langkawi.


I can assure you that anything cheap in Australia is not worth buying and the run down to Oz Jan to end of April is a piece of cake. Your timing would be impeccable. Just make sure that you beat the onset of the SE trades heading to Queensland.


I hear Fiji is also a possible place to buy a little cheaper than Oz but I think Asia is best.


Others here could give you some leads for a broker in these areas.

Thanks for great advice! I need to go China first for week or two, any point in looking there i wonder

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by MrChris

Thanks for great advice! I need to go China first for week or two, any point in looking there i wonder

Nope, nothing but junk in China.............

.....

[MrChris]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Nope, nothing but junk in China.............

.....

Ha ha ha, do you get a smack for that........

[JPA Cate]

A plan that might suit you, MrChris, would be to buy a trailerable small boat, and sail it along the East Coast of Australia. At that point, having enjoyed a season, for a small investment, you will be in a position to decide whether it is for you at all. Some people don't really care for sailing itself, don't care to become proficient, just have a dream of mai tai's in the sunset. Which some of us give up on entirely because it's scary to be tipsy during a frontal passage. Although touted a lot on you tube, cruising really isn't for everyone.

Anyhow, one time met a lovely Canadian couple who went the trailer sailer route here, and sold the boat at the end of the cruise. Didn't spend a whole lot and had a wonderful holiday.....and went on to do the very same approach all over the world.

Ann

[MrChris]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

A plan that might suit you, MrChris, would be to buy a trailerable small boat, and sail it along the East Coast of Australia. At that point, having enjoyed a season, for a small investment, you will be in a position to decide whether it is for you at all. Some people don't really care for sailing itself, don't care to become proficient, just have a dream of mai tai's in the sunset. Which some of us give up on entirely because it's scary to be tipsy during a frontal passage. Although touted a lot on you tube, cruising really isn't for everyone.

Anyhow, one time met a lovely Canadian couple who went the trailer sailer route here, and sold the boat at the end of the cruise. Didn't spend a whole lot and had a wonderful holiday.....and went on to do the very same approach all over the world.

Ann

Thanks for the very solid advice, but i am a marine civil engineer on a mission, a feasibility study for an islands project. I need to familiarise myself with the area of study and run some local tests etc, so this trip is part pleasure and part work with a schedule. I need a cheap enough boat that will sleep me and get me from place to place at least as far as the bottom of the Solomon Islands, further if I feel safe enough.

[JPA Cate]

Okay, then, check out a S & S 34. It will be (if well maintained) up to the job, and sail well. Or, for less $$ an S&S 30. A Swanson 28 would also do. It is a little hard, you've little time to put a boat right, and ones that are already ready to go, not nearly so available.

Ann

[undercutter]

Here is link to a site in Thailand.


1 Us = 30 Thai Baht


https://www.bahtsold.com

[GILow]

Originally Posted by MrChris

... Ideally i would be looking for a cheap 20 odd foot basic liveaboard that in Australia that i can buy on arrival (or before)....

Originally Posted by MrChris

Cheaper to buy in Asia? Any suggestions as to where I might look, even recommendations?

So... you are going to live aboard a cheap 20-odd footer that you are going to sail from somewhere in Asia to Australia...?

Might I suggest that's just a tiny bit ambitious?

[Jim Cate]

Hmmm... the more you tell us about this plan the worse it sounds to me:

1. Don't know how to sail yet, so zero experience with sailboats.
2. Somewhat limited budget, as evidenced by the "20 odd foot" size envisioned.
3. On a schedule dictated by a job.
4. Needing to sail to the Solomons more or less immediately after purchase... certainly without time for a good shakedown and the refitting of the things the shakedown reveals as wanting... and I am quite sure that there will be some of those!
5. No mention of the time of year involved... and if you are starting in Oz there are cyclones to consider.

I'm not a chronic nay-sayer, but those words are slipping out of my mouth relative to your scheme.

Jim

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Hmmm... the more you tell us about this plan the worse it sounds to me:

1. Don't know how to sail yet, so zero experience with sailboats.
2. Somewhat limited budget, as evidenced by the "20 odd foot" size envisioned.
3. On a schedule dictated by a job.
4. Needing to sail to the Solomons more or less immediately after purchase... certainly without time for a good shakedown and the refitting of the things the shakedown reveals as wanting... and I am quite sure that there will be some of those!
5. No mention of the time of year involved... and if you are starting in Oz there are cyclones to consider.

I'm not a chronic nay-sayer, but those words are slipping out of my mouth relative to your scheme.

Jim

could not agree more. suggest to think / plan very carefully before taking on something you may not live to regret

but if you do go ahead, and decide to import a boat into Oz, don't forget duty and GST...

good luck !

cheers,

chris