I've posted other topics about my shopping for my first "real" sailboat. Although we have all winter to find a boat, at the moment we have two favorites that we like enough to consider moving quickly on. One of the key differences is the apparent maintenance requirements for the two.
First, to recap our situation:
- Where to sail: Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington for at least the first year. If we don't like that location, we could consider relocating it to Rock Hall (if we get the larger boat) or Lake Wallenpaupack (if we get the smaller boat)
- Type of sailing: 90% daysailing, maybe an occasional overnight. We might grow into inland cruising if the boat accommodated it, but not at all sure our personal situation would allow it
- How many in the boat: Usually just me and my wife. Don't anticipate any singlehanding unless someone gets sick. 13 y.o. son may be with us sometimes. 20 y.o. son wants to take his friends out on it (yeah, sure!) We might take other couples on it occasionally, so typically less than 6 for daysails, and 3 on the occasional overnight.
- Sailing experience: 10 years with a Phantom, 20 years with a Trophy outboard motorboat, grew up on powerboats in the Chesapeake/Potomac. Almost no sloop experience (rented a sloop-rigged Hobie about 20 years ago)
The two boats that we have our eyes on right now are:
- 1997 Catalina 250 - broker asking $14k but says he has room to negotiate because it's a trade. Haven't tested him yet to see how low - prefer to decide which boat we really want, then worry about price. Very simple boat, no through-hull fittings under the waterline, Porta Potti, Honda outboard (pull start, no remote controls), no shore power, rudimentary electronics. Nice open cabin, very roomy aft berth and adequate V-berth would make this OK for overnights unless the cabin is unbearably hot. Walk-through transom and aft corner seats look like they could be a lot of fun. This boat appears to be very low maintenance - no exterior teak, dry bilge, and I'm familiar with outboards so I am comfortable working with them. However, lack of remote controls and need to climb on cabin bulkhead (with no handrails) to reach the bow could make docking maneuvers tricky in the Delaware River currents.
- Catalina 27 - private sale, mid-80s vintage, well under $10k. We visited this boat today and got a motored test drive. Condition looks outstanding - the owner has used it regularly and really worked over every detail (new sails, rebuilt pedestal, throttle/shift controls, and masthead, new toilet, etc. etc.). Diesel engine ran great. Bilge was dry. Newly replaced keel bolts and faired the hull at the seam (could this be a red flag for something?) He showed me a survey from 2008 that looked excellent for a boat of this age - but it was not sail tested nor hauled out for bottom check. (If I decided to make an offer I would hire my own surveyor.) At this point, this boat looks to be a great bargain as far as initial investment, selling for 1/2 what brokers are asking for similar vintage/condition
So my question is this: As I was talking to this guy about all the things he had done to improve/maintain the boat, I grew concerned that I would not be able to spend as much time tinkering as he had. I want to sail. I do accept that I must do maintenance and/or hire some of it out, but I don't want to end up hating the boat because of the drudgery of keeping it up.
The biggest unknown for me is maintenance of the more complex systems in the C27, especially of the diesel engine. I have no experience with diesels, and no experience with inboards of any type and the transmissions, packing boxes, shaft alignment, winterization, etc. that go along with them. For those of you who have similar boats, what am I in for? (I am an engineer, so I do have some mechanical skills - just not infinite time to practice my skills on the boat.) On the surface, the C250 looks to be much lower maintenance, but also much less boat as well. The "cost per pound" is much higher on the C250 - but it is also a much newer boat, so with proper maintenance its expected lifetime could be longer.
Also, I am not sure of this but I think that by 1997 most boat builders had switched to vinyl ester resins which are less prone to osmotic blistering, so hull durability may be better for the C250 than for the C27. Can anyone confirm this?
Any comments you can offer to refute (or confirm) my fears over this would be greatly appreciated!