boat buying mode

[anneminix]

we are in a live-a-board ,offshore, sail boat, inspection mode. price range $1.00 to 100,000 . suggestions on area of most boats of this type wanted. tks, tc us.

[Jeff_H]

I guess the first question is where do plan to live and sail this Under $100K live-a-board ,offshore, sailboat? I really do not know what to advise you if you are on the US west coast, but on the east coast there are a number of concentrated areas that you can look.

North to South:
Maine- Boats that I have seen that have lived thier life in Maine tend to be in better shape than many boats from more southern areas. High quality maintenance yards are comparatively inexpensive and the sailing season short. They often have a lot of navigation gear because the area fogs in and the bottom is unforgiving.

Boston: This is a moderately big sailing center. Over the years I have noticed quite a few interesting boats listed in that area.

Newport: This is a major sailing center and again I have seen a lot of listings in that area. The prices seem a little high compared to my area.

Long Island Sound: LIS seems to have the largest concentration of boats anywhere that I know of BUT it is not an area that I would naturally think of as a home base for a high propostion of liveaboard offshore type boats.

Annapolis: The Chesapeake is packed with boats of every shape and size. It is a good liveaboard area and so liveaboards are pretty common. Boats are used year round and so tend to have a little more use than more northern boats, which is offset by our lower salt content. Prices on the Chesapeake seem to be quite competitive.

Carolinas:
There are a lot of live aboards in the Carolinas but they seem to be spread out and not as well cared for.

Ft Lauderdale/ Miami used to be the meca of beat to death older cruisers. These were go anywhere boats that had gone everywhere and showed it. You used to be able to buy some of these pretty cheaply but I have not looked at boats down there in 25 years or so.

Jeff