Want To Buy: New to Sailing Looking in Texas

[Braby73]

Hello everyone. I am fairly new to Sailing. I am looking for a good Bluewater boat that is close to sailing upon purchase. I have so many questions but first I need to know what to look for and what I can find under 40000 if that is even possible. Also, Is it recommended to look in other states and how would i get the boat back to my home town slip?

Thank you,
Brandon

[tkeithlu]

Welcome to the forum, Brandon.

You might consider the 26-30 foot pocket cruiser or weekender as a first boat. There should be some in any sailing area.

Yeah, don't buy a project - you'll end up spending all your sailing days and money in the yard fixing it up, and it'll end up costing more. Go for something modest but in good shape.

[LittleWing77]

Here's where you can start looking at boats close to you:

Sailing Texas
https://www.sailingtexas.com/cboats.html

Good luck!
LittleWing77

[Spot]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Yeah, don't buy a project - you'll end up spending all your sailing days and money in the yard fixing it up, and it'll end up costing more. Go for something modest but in good shape.

Well said TKL. I ignored this 'fixer-upper' truth and as a result my current trailer sailor boat is mostly under repair and refit in the driveway rather than underway in the water.

[Scubaseas]

Where is your home town slip?
At 40K you will be looking at older and smaller. Then of course Bluewater would need to be defined. Lots of boats in the Kemah/Seabrook area.

[MJH]

Originally Posted by Braby73

Hello everyone. I am fairly new to Sailing. I am looking for a good Bluewater boat that is close to sailing upon purchase. I have so many questions but first I need to know what to look for and what I can find under 40000 if that is even possible. Also, Is it recommended to look in other states and how would i get the boat back to my home town slip?

Thank you, Brandon

As you are looking for a previously owned sailboat you need to get off the couch and start looking at boats. A Bluewater boat ready for sailing for that price is likely to be on the small side and/or much older.

The requirements of a Bluewater boat are controversial and you will get many opinions...you will have to decide what is acceptable for your safety. I believe any boat can go anywhere given the acceptable weather and sea conditions...there lies the rub and stories of unsuitable craft having successfully crossed oceans...they were the outliers.

There are numerous books (visit your library, a great free place to start) with author recommendations for Bluewater sailboats. You can compare them and their ratios via sailboatdata.com to determine what might be acceptable to you but those boats might not be on the market or available in your area. Purchasing a boat outside your local area will present new challenges and increase your cost.

Enjoy your boat search.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[sinnerman]

Originally Posted by Spot

Well said TKL. I ignored this 'fixer-upper' truth and as a result my current trailer sailor boat is mostly under repair and refit in the driveway rather than underway in the water.

Me too. Although I enjoy working on the boat, since I have only weekends to do the "repairs", I do very little sailing

[sinnerman]

Where in Texas do you want to look? Gulf Coast (Port Aransas, Corpus Cristi)? Galveston Bay (Kemah, Seabrook, Galveston)? The lakes?

[Braby73]

Home town is the corpus area small town called port O’Connor. I don’t have a slip yet I’m doing long term planning to get there

[gulfcoastsailor]

Originally Posted by Braby73

Home town is the corpus area small town called port O’Connor. I don’t have a slip yet I’m doing long term planning to get there

Whoa!!!
You don’t have a slip yet? From what I read you don’t have a boat yet. Remember the cart n horse.
Some real good advice above. Try to reel in your enthusiasm just a bit. Focus. First boat is not an ocean liner. Either a trailer sailer up to 26 feet or something stays in the water to a max of 30.
Try to save half your booty on that purchase. Before finalizing the sale make sure you have a legitimate survey from a legitimate surveyor.
From the looks of your sailing area there’s a lot of protected water unless it’s only 15 inches deep from here I Can’t tell. Make most of your mistakes in the protected water. Venture beyond the barriers with an experienced sailing person before trying it on your own. Are you taking lessons or are you going to freestyle your basic sailing knowledge? For now forget all the electronics except a good compass, vhf, and chart.

One more thing. Add a grain of salt to all the free advice you are getting. Best of luck 😎

[sinnerman]

Boats today are selling at premiums due to the hot market.

Here near Houston, some people are getting their boats from Florida as there are more for sale there than locally here.

You will need patience to find a boat for a decent price that is well equipped, well-maintained and not requiring a lot of work etc. There are a lot of neglected boats currently for sale that normally would have zero chance of being purchased but today are selling in a few days...

If you are new to boats, I would walk the marinas looking at boats seeing what you like/dislike. Some boats may have for sale (by owner) signs on them that you could check out as a potential buyer.

I looked at a lot of boats before circling back to the one I currently own which needs work. It was listed on Craig's List... I enjoy fixing stuff, so working on it is not a problem. If you are not a handyman, average labor price is $85-125 per hour for work done by someone else. Additionally most shipyards (not marinas) will not permit you to work on your own boat when it is "on the hard" , so any underwater work has to be done by a third party.

If you come to Houston there are quite a few marinas to peruse.

cheers.

[B Tallent]

Hi,
I have a 34 IC in Kemah. Would like to take you out in bay for a run. She handles very well. If interested in sailing let me know.

[fgd3]

Originally Posted by Braby73

Hello everyone. I am fairly new to Sailing. I am looking for a good Bluewater boat that is close to sailing upon purchase. I have so many questions but first I need to know what to look for and what I can find under 40000 if that is even possible. Also, Is it recommended to look in other states and how would i get the boat back to my home town slip?

Thank you,
Brandon

You probably won't do it--almost no one does--but the smart approach would be to find an inexpensive trailer sailer 20-25 feet long with a cost under $5000 and learn to sail on it. Avoid expensive slip rent and boatyard fees. See how you like sailing on Corpus Christi Bay. After you've experienced a few squalls on the bay you'll be in a much better position to decide if you want to commit $40,000 to being miserable on the open ocean.


Sailing offers pleasures that offset the misery you can experience at sea but it would be wise to get a taste of each at a cheap price before you commit to the big purchase price and even higher life-cycle costs of a big boat.