The Search for the First Boat - long learning curves

[SailorMitch]

Pmoyer and Goose -- great posts. As for me, in my teens I spent time around powerboats my father owned on a lake in southern Virginia. I didn't catch the sailing bug until I came to Maryland in 1971 for a job and met some sailors at work. Then I spent quite a few years sailing other people's boats (OPBs) with the occasional charter of my own. After I decided I wanted my own boat, I spent a total of 5 years looking for one. I found it at the Annapolis show in 1987 -- a Pearson 27. Even at that, it took me 2 more years of looking before I bought a brand new P-27. I owned that boat for nearly 15 years. When I decided to move up, I looked hard for 3 years beore buying my current boat -- a 1988 Pearson 33-2. It does take patience, refining your needs, building the bank account, refining what your sailing goals really are, etc.

PMoyer -- if you haven't connected with some Triton owners, let me know. I know several owners.

[freddy4888]

pmoyer, your approach to boat buying is too involved. There is no perfect boat that will fit every need or want. Asking for advice and opinions on this forum is a start in the right direction but until you get on the water and start sailing will you determine you and your family needs in a boat. Find a boat that is a close fit and in good shape, buy it and go have a great time, you will be glad you did.

[PBzeer]

Depends on how you do it Sailhog. And how large of an area you're dealing with. Some just drill holes to allow the core to dry out and then fill with epoxy. To properly re-core, you need to remove the bottom skin and core, grind the upper layer, then put in new core and glass. And that doesn't even account for the stuff between you and the deck. There might be other ways, but that's the ways I know of.

[sailhog]

PBzeer,
Thanks for the note. There was a post a few weeks back by a fellow claiming his deck work was going to run him $22,000 on a smaller sailboat. Makes your blood run cold...

Originally Posted by freddy4888

pmoyer, your approach to boat buying is too involved. There is no perfect boat that will fit every need or want. Asking for advice and opinions on this forum is a start in the right direction but until you get on the water and start sailing will you determine you and your family needs in a boat. Find a boat that is a close fit and in good shape, buy it and go have a great time, you will be glad you did.

Freddy, you're outta your mind. Mr. Moyer is, in my opinion, just trying to make the best of the time he has here on planet earth. No better way of *ucking it up by spending tens of thousands of dollars on the wrong boat. Put the crack pipe down and think about what your next sailboat should be.

[bestfriend]

Freddy and Sailhog - I think it requires some of both for the first boat. No matter how much you know about sailing, its different when you own a boat. So you can sail every weekend, but when you step off the dock, the owner will still be there working. You don't realize how much work it requires and how much you WANT to work on her. But, you also need to do SOME research. If you have no requirements, like Goose, then maybe it works, and maybe some luck helps. For under 10k, you are going to be limited. IMHO the more you are going to pay, the more research you might want to do, especially when you get to the top of your budget. You don't want to be stuck.

[yotphix]

Originally Posted by sailhog

Freddy, you're outta your mind. Mr. Moyer is, in my opinion, just trying to make the best of the time he has here on planet earth. No better way of *ucking it up by spending tens of thousands of dollars on the wrong boat. Put the crack pipe down and think about what your next sailboat should be.

If he is enjoying the process of looking for his boat then he is doing the right thing. He is also not out sailing. If he bought something small and cheap he could be sailing now and thinking about his next boat from the cockpit of his first! He would also begin to establish a pattern of usage that might well influence his thoughts about the next. For some, the best advice might well be: Get a boat, any boat, go sailing! You only live so long.

[sailhog]

Originally Posted by bestfriend

If you have no requirements, like Goose, then maybe it works, and maybe some luck helps.... You don't want to be stuck.

Being stuck, it seems to me, is a real danger. If you've only got a couple of grand on the line, then you'll never be stuck. But if you're looking to buy something to live on, cruise on, explore on, etc., then you want to take a good hard look at what you're trying to do and what will get you there...
sailhog

[pmoyer]

Yotphix,

I agree! There's no "right way" and "wrong way." I would love to be able to just grab a boat, carefree, and take off. And if I were younger, I might just do that. I'm getting cautious in my old age.

Besides, if I'm not careful and it's a disaster, I might not get a second chance. I'd really rather not be one of those poor guys choosing between his boat and his wife.

I was just trying to share my experience with other first-time boat shoppers, in hopes that it's helpful.

It's like buying stocks - it's all a matter of personal risk aversion.

Cheers,
Phil

P.S. When I have enough saved up, I fully plan to go get a boat that's close enough, learn on her, have fun with her, and figure out what I'm going to do next. Fortunately, my boss has already said I can work anywhere in the world where we have offices. In over 90 countries, that's a lot of exploring.... So for now it's going to be fun and learn, and the next one will be a bluewater boat (first stop, South Hampton, UK).

[bestfriend]

Sailhog, I agree. If I had bought the wrong boat, I would be stuck, and maybe not sailing because the boat needed too much work and I bought at the top of my budget. But, I did enough research to find a combination of a solid boat that I could spend a lot of time on for a few years until I learned enough to narrow my search down even more.
pmoyer, its a great post, we all learn from each other. I may not know much, but i've got 41 years of opinions to back it up!

Oh, STOCKS! On the first read through, I thought you said "socks"....

[camaraderie]

Pmoyers...I understood your comments on money. My only point was that buying multiple boats as a path to getting a cruising boat is quite costly in terms of losses in value, fitting out costs and brokerage fees. If the ultimate boat is affordable now...then buy it without the interim steps. If it is not affordable now...then get something cheap...old...and re-saleable....and go sailing now!