Beneteau 44, 51, or FEMA trailer ????

bayouelton · #1 (**permalink**) 08-30-2006

Little help here, please, folks. I'm a novice sailor wannabe'. Practiced with a rubber duck couple years back then studied my seamanship books and challenged the ASA 101 course. Kept puttin' off buying a sailboat for the dock in my back yard. But now however - thanks to Katrina - I've got a small chunk of change in the bank but no house. So build a big house, buy a small boat or build a small house and buy a big boat. What's a guy to do? Buying a lease back with the boat based in the Caribbean seems very attractive but then I only get to use it 2 to 10 weeks a year (which may or may not be a good thing). Has anyone here had any experience with buying a boat that way? I took a tour of the Beneteau factory in Marion S.C. several weeks ago and came up with a small laundry list of the optional goodies I'd like on my boat but then the leasing company told me I can't choose any of the specs! Bummer!! What's that all about?? Why any leasing company in the Caribbean would order boats without generators and bow thrusters I haven't got a clue. But anyway, all of that aside, what I'm primarily looking for is anyone out there who did the lease back purchase and later regretted it, or if they feel they got their money's worth. Any help, information, or feedback will be most appreciated. Thanks a bunch.

Elton Hartzler (p.s. - and what can I expect it to look like when I get it back in 5 yers and why are they all Beneteaus?)
bayouelton@aol.com

sailingdog · #2 (**permalink**) 08-31-2006

Personally, I would avoid buying a boat through the charter companies. The real problems I see with that are that the boats the charter companies want are often not laid out the way most private owners would want. If you look, you'll see a "charter boat" layout usually has more cabins, with fewer areas for storage. While more cabins sounds like a good idea...on most boats—less than 50' LOA, long-term travel with more than two couples is hopelessly optimistic. A family of four can cruise in a two-cabin boat relatively easily.

Also, it depends on what kind of sailing you want to do in the future. Most of the charter boats are coastal cruisers, without real bluewater capabilities. Most are of the "floating condo" variety—designed more for the stay at the mooring ball or dock than the passage between.

If I were you, I'd go for the small house, as you can always make it bigger later... and a large boat, but one designed specifically for your long-term sailing goals.

bayouelton · #3 (**permalink**) 08-31-2006

Thanks. That does make a lot of sense. I wondered why the sales lady made a point that at the end of the contract they would "retrofit" the boat by converting the 44 from 3 cabins to 2 cabins.

sailingdog · #4 (**permalink**) 08-31-2006

Do you really want a retro-fit boat—wouldn't it make more sense to go with a good used boat, that is setup the way you want it??? BTW, if the boat has a marine head and a full galley, it may qualify as a second home under IRS guidelines. YMMV.

cardiacpaul · #5 (**permalink**) 08-31-2006

heres the fema trailers! (not kiddin, here they are)

sailingdog · #6 (**permalink**) 08-31-2006

And these FEMA trailers are from what hurricane...the ones a year ago??? Took 'em long enough... The sad part is, there was a story on a lady down in Alabama, who bought trailers for the families of her students, and she got them in at a quarter the cost of the FEMA trailers, and apparently are about comparable in size and facilities.

cardiacpaul · #7 (**permalink**) 08-31-2006

forgot the link...

http://gsaauctions.gov/gsaauctions (under trailers) hey they've got a couple of boats too..