Hi everyone,
I want to start by promising you, I DID use the search tool which told me the word "old" didn't exist in a single thread on this forum, so since that's not working right, I also went through a few pages of backlog to see if I'm missing it, so I apologize since I'm almost SURE this is a double post, but I figure I might as well ask at this point, so disclaimers aside...
How old is too old to buy a boat?
I'm not talking about a classic wooden labor of love, but a fiberglass yacht to be used and which needs to be maintained by an individual.
I was looking at the Tartan 30, which seems like it would do everything I want, and it occurred to me that those boats are older than I am.
Obviously, it's going to vary based on the mfgr and how much they cared about putting together a boat that would last, but beyond that, is there a point at which the glass itself starts to become less trustworthy? Would you buy a boat from the 70s? the 60s?
If so, the idea of being able to pick up a boat for WELL under $20k seems pretty exciting to me. I know, of course, that the purchase price is never the end of the story, and there are always sails, rigging, engine issues (or replacement!) and all types of big issues, which is why, if I could find an older boat that was of solid construction, it seemed reasonable to find a well maintained boat at the high end of the price range for that particular type of boat, and spend less on bringing it up to where it's ready to go, rather than get a "fixer upper" and spend months and untold thousands in the boatyard trying to discover what the next thing to break is...
And the idea of spending hundreds of thousands on a new boat right now, while it would actually even be doable, would mean the entire purpose of the boat got thrown out with the cruising kitty. (and beside, I know enough people who've bought new boats to know that, like houses, new doesn't always mean trouble free either)
So... how old is too old? If you were looking for your first boat for extended semi-single-handed cruising, (read: I plan to bring people on for trips and almost never be single-handing, but I don't plan to have a partner in the venture) and had to do the "cruising kitty vs purchase price + outfitting" dance, what would you be looking at?
Thanks.
-- James
I want to start by promising you, I DID use the search tool which told me the word "old" didn't exist in a single thread on this forum, so since that's not working right, I also went through a few pages of backlog to see if I'm missing it, so I apologize since I'm almost SURE this is a double post, but I figure I might as well ask at this point, so disclaimers aside...
How old is too old to buy a boat?
I'm not talking about a classic wooden labor of love, but a fiberglass yacht to be used and which needs to be maintained by an individual.
I was looking at the Tartan 30, which seems like it would do everything I want, and it occurred to me that those boats are older than I am.
Obviously, it's going to vary based on the mfgr and how much they cared about putting together a boat that would last, but beyond that, is there a point at which the glass itself starts to become less trustworthy? Would you buy a boat from the 70s? the 60s?
If so, the idea of being able to pick up a boat for WELL under $20k seems pretty exciting to me. I know, of course, that the purchase price is never the end of the story, and there are always sails, rigging, engine issues (or replacement!) and all types of big issues, which is why, if I could find an older boat that was of solid construction, it seemed reasonable to find a well maintained boat at the high end of the price range for that particular type of boat, and spend less on bringing it up to where it's ready to go, rather than get a "fixer upper" and spend months and untold thousands in the boatyard trying to discover what the next thing to break is...
And the idea of spending hundreds of thousands on a new boat right now, while it would actually even be doable, would mean the entire purpose of the boat got thrown out with the cruising kitty. (and beside, I know enough people who've bought new boats to know that, like houses, new doesn't always mean trouble free either)
So... how old is too old? If you were looking for your first boat for extended semi-single-handed cruising, (read: I plan to bring people on for trips and almost never be single-handing, but I don't plan to have a partner in the venture) and had to do the "cruising kitty vs purchase price + outfitting" dance, what would you be looking at?
Thanks.
-- James