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Bit by bigger boat bug - strip the old boat or refit new one?

2K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  SloopJonB 
#1 ·
I found a Venture 21 in good shape and bought it to replace my Venture 17. It still fits in my garage too! If my V17 has 100,000 miles on it, this 21 has 10,000 miles. It looks like someone bought it in 1976 and parked it under a tree and never used it. There isn't a single modification to anything - no compass, no extra add-ons, nothing. It has a 2011 VA registration sticker so someone kept registering it every year, but it couldn't have been used more than once a season. All 3 original sails in great shape in original bags.

Here's the query - My 17 (bought in '09) came with a lot of the random stuff one accumulates on a sailboat - swim ladder, emergency paddle, spare parts and hardware, more life preservers than 3 boats should have, etc.. And I added a few things like a sail feeder, expensive cam cleats, LED Nav lights, a handheld VHF, and more.

The new 21, has nothing other than a fire extinguisher and a VHF from 1976 that I have no faith in working.

My budget for sailing things is very tight so I'm looking at the most frugal way to equip the new boat and sell the old boat. I've made the old boat quite nice - I made a new rudder and replaced all the wood with teak - its very pretty now.

Have you been in a similar situation where you sold the old boat loaded down with gear and pulled out the catalogs and started shopping? Or did you strip the old boat back to nothing? The V17 I have for sale locally for $1750.

Either way the 17 will be in ready-to-sail condition - at least by the manufacturers definition. (but likely not the coast guards)

I'm thinking of things like "I can take the new LED trailer lights off the 17 and put this old pair back on it - that will save me $40" but I can't grasp the point at which removing all the nickels and dimes from the old one hurts it's value to the point where it's no longer a good deal. There are no comparables around - not in Pennsylvania in early March, at least. If someone in this county wants to spend their tax refund on a sailboat for overnighting with their spouse and a kid out on the lake and then tow it home with a minivan - I've got the only one in sail away condition.
 
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#2 ·
If you are trying to be as frugal as possible, I would swap everything in better condition off the old boat on to the new. It won't cost you as much in value as buying new will, unless you cause a serious safety deficiency to the old boat.

However, you will now have stuff on your new boat that is going to need to be replaced again and sooner than if you bought new now. You'll have to decide the balance.
 
#3 ·
I should have added that whatever I sell the old boat and Honda BF2 for should pretty much cover a 6-8HP long shaft for the new boat, and whatever is needed to get the new boat equipped for sailing. (It's missing some blocks and halyards and sheets, needs a keel winch and the trailer needs lights, a strap winch and I haven't inspected the bearings yet)

A brand new leftover 6 for $1300 seems like the way to go compared to a 15 year old 2 stroke for $800 that's an hour away on Craigslist.
 
#6 ·
Other than maybe the hand held VHF...there is not much to take off the old boat without toolage and reconstruction that you mentioned in OP...

At that point not worth the effort...
 
#7 ·
The stuff you leave on the old boat probably won't add much, if any, to the selling price. It may make it easier to sell, however, esp if there are a few other similar models for sale nearby that are lesser equipped.

Some things make sense to transfer, other stuff maybe not.

As an aside.. in '92 we made an offer on a 40' sloop, surveyed and proceeded to sea trial. When it came time to put the genoa cars on the track, both cars were undersized, the tracks were 1 1/4", the cars 1".... wtf?? The mildly embarrassed seller (a two boat owner) had tried to swap the cars with inferior ones from his other boat. Clearly he hadn't tried them out. After an hour's delay as he went home to 'find' the parts, in the end we proceeded with the deal and had a great 12 years with the boat.
 
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#8 ·
We've been there and decided that except for a few personal and family heirlooms (ship's clock, bell from my dad's boats, etc) , we sold the old boat as is. The upgrades were what make her what she was and she sold quickly.

I understand your quandry. In my case we boat a larger version of the same boat (moved from Sabre 28 to 38), so all the stuff that I did to the old boat I had to buy again and do over. It was discouraging for a few weeks but after a couple of seasons, things were right.

We tend toward a minimalist approach, tending to remove extraneous gear and simplifying the boat. I removed a lot of stuff including lazy jacks, a hot water heater, dead engine-driven reefer, LORAN, ancient GPS, old VHF, etc.
 
#9 ·
If money is tight, keep the gear you need and can use. On a 17' boat, the extra gear will add little or nothing to the price you'll get so you'll be "giving it away". I'd leave enough gear to make it functional and take anything else I could use on the new boat.

On the other hand, the pile of excess gear onboard swung the decision for me once on a purchase so...... :)
 
#10 ·
I would take expensive personal gear off the boat. I would also take expensive boat gear off, if you know you need it on the other boat and the old boat is in sailable (trailerable) condition. I sold a boat that I had put some work into. I felt like the buyer was getting a good deal b/c I was selling for what I bought it for... Sale went through, and he sank it a few months later:(
 
#12 ·
Unbolting stuff is downright tacky - like taking the fixtures when you move houses. I think we are only talking about loose gear here aren't we?

Anything you plan to keep should be off the boat before you show it to any prospective buyers.
 
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