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What made you buy your boat?

5K views 46 replies 39 participants last post by  Tallswede 
#1 ·
I did a search and did not come with a thread about it.. so I thought I would ask: Why did you buy the boat you did?

In case anybody asks.. I am in the process of buying a shabby Sea Sprite 23. I adore full keels and classic looks. And this pocket cruiser has it in spades. However, it is only a stepping stone as I am looking further ahead to full time liveaboard/cruising on a larger boat.. so I am making the transition from a GP14 (racing/cruising dinghy) to a bigger boat in the hopes of not getting in over my head once I get my "big boat" (hopefully an alberg 37)

And I want to save this sprite.. it's solid but looks a lot worse for wear
 
#2 ·
I wanted something around the 24' size, something fairly quick, responsive, well built but with a decent amount of room below i.e. not a camper and not a full-keel "salty" looking thing.
Tangerine came up, looking rough but I saw the diamond underneath. Bought her, and with a lot of time, effort and probably too much money, took her from this:


to this:
 
#3 ·
The first boat I bought (Venture 2-22) because I wanted to learn how to sail as well as learn how to fix things myself. The boat was able to float and came with a set of sails and didn't cost too much so if I failed at teaching myself to fix things, I wouldn't be out too much money. It was also a manageable size for dealing with by myself.

The second boat we bought (two of us now) we bought after considerable research and looking at how we wanted to sail now and what we wanted to be different from the first boat. I am convinced that the right course for us is buying a boat for how we sail *now* and when we get to that other level, we'll buy a boat at that time for how we'll sail then.
 
#6 ·
I researched boats that could go anywhere and not too big for a first boat. I dreamed of escaping from my current routine to adventure, travel, and discovery.

I was about to look at a Cape Dory 27 but then a Norsea 27 came available near where I was moving to and decided to take a look. It needed some work and cleaning up (still does but not as much). I saw it looked to be a good boat and thought the asking price was reasonable so I went for it.

To get an idea of what it looked like when I got it, this first post in my blog could be a good start: Rhapsody: Things to do

Mainly, I had a bunch of cleaning to do because the previous owner had it stored on its trailer in Arizona and it got infested with bees. I had the (dis)pleasure of cleaning them up. The PO used a bug bomb and killed them all so I had a bunch of sticky bee bodies, wax and honeycomb to clean up. (Oh Joy!)

The mess from the bees:
Rhapsody: Bees!
Rhapsody: Beeswax

Also had other work like cleaning up the old varnish which is still in the works but stopping leaks were higher priority. I really like my little boat and I'm happy I got it.
 
#7 ·
When it came time to retire, having not lived in a house since 1969, it seemed logical to buy another boat, after all, I didn't know squat about houses. I've always said a house is a poorly built boat that won't go anywhere.
I wanted 5 things on my "last" boat, not necessarily in this order.
1) a real bed, center line and walk around
2) an engine room; I'm just too old to crawl around in confined spaces
3) all roller furling; the bee's knees, in my opinion, especially because I was single handing
4) electric winches; single handing a 50' ketch, I can use all the help I can get
5) a bridge; a real, enclosed steering station w/ heat & air
I got 4 of the 5 on the Pearson; no bridge, woe is me, no just kidding.
Been constantly sailing her since purchase w/ 2 trips to the Caribbean and one north, 4 round trips to Grenada from St. Thomas and heading for Grenada again next month, for the hurricane season.
So this boat worked out very well for me and I'm not a single-hander any more, which I have to credit the boat for, because I'm sure nothing special.
 
#9 ·
I wanted the most boat for the least money that met the following:
6' headroom.
Wheel steering.
Enclosed head.
Diesel inboard.
Dodger and bimini.
Decent sized v-berth.
Under 4' draft.

Found it in 2008.
been trying to find something better ever since. No luck.
We'd love to get just a little more room, just a little more speed, just a little more waterline, just a little more cockpit, a galley that could fit a stove, a cabin that could fit a bulkhead heater... but we don't want to have to leave our current idyllic Dock. We can't find the perfect boat, which is why I am (very slowly) building our perfect-to-us boat.
 
#10 ·
The first sailboat was a Catalina 27. Learned to sail on it, sailed around Chesapeake Bay for 5 years, then decided I needed something larger.

After lots of research, driving more than 5,000 miles looking at them, I found a 33 Morgan Out Island. It's big enough to live on, lots and lots of room, sails extremely well, and easily single handed. Morgan stopped making these boats many years ago, and finding one in decent shape was somewhat difficult, but I eventually found one just 50 miles from home in Rock Hall, MD.

Good luck on your search,

Gary :cool:
 
#11 ·
My Grandad made me buy his boat from him. He said since I was 18 and not going to join the ARMY and I was, at best, going to turn out to be a professional boat bum, I would at least, have a place to live. He told me If he passed before I paid him off, than I would'nt have to pay him.
 
#14 ·
We had been up to 40 feet and were looking for a couples' boat in the 30 foot range.. Your perspectives shift a lot when you've had a 40 footer's space, and we couldn't find anything in budget at 30 feet that didn't feel small...

Ended up with a 'smallish' 35 footer with most of our 'wishlist' items, chief of which were fin keel/spade, two doubles w/o breaking down a dinette, fractional rig, and reasonable galley. Happily she'd been nicely cleaned up already, so it's been easier to keep her that way than make her that way. Of course we've way more into her now than she's worth, but that's the way it is....
 
#16 · (Edited)
The biggest truly trailerable boat I could find that is fast and well designed, preferably with an inboard diesel in my price range. Something that would be fun to day sail and casually race while having enough room down below to accommodate two people for 1-2 week cruising trips. We ended up with a very nice S2 7.9, inboard diesel, on a trailer, with ten sails (4 mains, 3 155's, 1 105, and 2 spinnakers). She's sitting in the water at our sailing club now, and I have yet to see a boat in this size and price range I would rather own! :)

I mean, how could I pass THIS up!?

 
#17 ·
When I met my wife I had a Hotfoot 20 that we raced and camped out of, and we were ok with that. Once our son came along we weren't using the Hotfoot much because we weren't comfortable taking a baby/toddler on such a high strung, open transom boat, so we decided that we had to move into something more family friendly.

Our criteria, other than cost, was:

Decent performance -
-Fin keel
-good Sail area/displacement ratio
-not too heavy
-good quality rigging and hardware

Good sized berths.
-we both sprawl out when we sleep, so most v-berths are too small for us
-many dinette layouts in the 27-30' range are also small

Child Friendly decks and cockpit
-A cockpit free of hazards for little fingers
-A cockpit that has room enough for a toddler to move around, yet stay contained
- Side decks that are open and clear to move around without squeezing past rigging and obstacles. (That is my preference anyway!)

Enclosed head-The wife wasn't interested in a porta-pottie!

Inboard Diesel engine-A gas engine was a deal killer for me!

I also wanted something a little more unique. I really didn't want something that thousands of other people have.

We looked at alot of boats, and determined that the 27 footers were all too small, and we needed to go to 30'. Of course with our limited budget that narrowed our options. When a friend of mine showed me a Santana 30 I found that it filled our criteria quite well in all regards, and was within our price range. We got decent performance, yet still plenty of beautiful oiled teak in the cabin. With the parallel setee and fold up table I was able to design a bed that spanned the entire salon, giving us a near queen sized bed, and our son got the enclosed v-berth to keep him and all his stuff contained.

It's not perfect, but we have had many years of enjoyment out of her, and many great memories.

Of course after 9 years with this boat, we have a whole new list of prerequisites for our next boat, and many of those are going to require a MUCH larger budget!
 
#18 ·
First boat was a Hobie 16.

First keelboat was an Islander 28. Rare on the East Coasst. Nice lines. Perfect foe a family of three. Shoal draft. Great boat yo learn on. Beautiful teak interior with bambo inserts. Wheel steering, hank on sails, good build quilty. Ad her for 10 years and sailed her all over South Jersey, Barnegat Bay.

Current boat of 15 years is a C&C 35 MKIII. Great combo of a cruiser with real speed. Tradition build with stiffness added through balsa core above the waterline. Classic racing lines and performs well in light as well as med air. Comparable in speed to 40 ft modern production sailboats.
Sea kindly in larger seas
Pretty lines and my wife likes her

Rod rigged .
Inboard jib tracks for a high pointing ability.
Spinaker halyards and pole.
Large useable anchor locker.
Solid transom vs open.
Comfortable but safe smaller cockpit.
Wide gunwales for moving forward.
Engine power sufficient for size of the boat.
Spade rudder and fin keel for handling and speed.
Weighted heavy centerboard for pointing as well as higher winds.
Oversized winches and sailing equipment with multiple ST winches
Traveler on coach roof
Set up for singlehanding as well as for a couple
ICW friendly mast
Large holding tank
Large 8 foot V berth
Storage
Straight setees
Forward NAV station. Safe U galley with large refrigerator and 3burner Hillerange stove
No table in center of salon, but off to the side in a U
Handhold interior and exterior everywhere
Head with shower

Bought her t her 15 year mrk. like Jon said no payments. We have added davits, radar pole, lots of electronics tankage for cruising for one month at a time. Many of her upgraded systems are less than 5 years old.

Shortcoming
Shallow bilge
Med weight in large seas
Perfect size for couple cruising , small for more
Small head.
Tender till you learn how to handle her

She's has been a great boat for us nd our sailing style. We have put almost 30,000. NM on her he last ten years. We stay on her every weekend for 9 months and our friends have seen us in every nook and craney, river and creek in the northern and central Chessie averaging about 50 miles sailing a weekend. we also take a major 3 week coastal trip to NEngland or the LISound as well as a week in the Chesapeake vacation on her very year.

Looking for a final cruising boat in 42 ft range, but haven't pulled the trigger yet because we haven't found the right boat able to replace Haleakula. Will be a bittersweet moment when it happens

What made us buy her. Many memories for my wife and I to enjoy together.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Our current boat, an I-28, a hurricane and a po with little interest and opportunity. While hauling our Marshal Cat one November I was approached at the town dock by a guy who had just sailed it up from Boston. He had flooded the a-4, scared himself out of his interest for sailing and had no place to put the boat. It was barely tied to one of the moorings that had been vacated for the season. At the time we were keeping an eye out for a small cruising boat to enjoy our coast. He offered me the boat, Avon, tools, Mustang gear, everything that was tied to the mooring for $1500.00. I told him I would move it to a safe mooring and secure it for the coming storm, which I did, and that I would take a look at it so I could consider his offer. It sounded fishy to me. I moved it using the Marshall and then hauled my little boat. After the blow I went aboard (by canoe) to inspect what was there. Everything was there from harnesses, Mustang suits, a 2 hp obm for the Avon. GPS, VHF, spin pole, whisker pole, sails in good condition, spares for the engine, etc. I did some checking into the boat and the po. He had purchased it from a school where it had been donated after spending 20 years on the hard. He had some work done in Boston and decided to start his adventure into sailing. He decided he preferred downhill skiing. I bought it and we have enjoyed sailing it for 6 years this year. (I replaced the A-4 with a Moyer rebuilt, fw cooled engine) The price was a factor.;) It turned out to be a great small cruiser. Perfect for short cruises here along the Maine coast. It isn't as painful to upgrade things given the starting point and the Admiral wants to keep it when we buy a larger boat? I don't think I am going to try to keep up with two!:eek:

Down
 
#23 ·
On topic...
I wanted a wheel, diesel, and roller furler so when I saw this for short money and the PO included $700 worth of storage, launch, and spring commissioning assistance it was a no-brainer.

 
#24 ·
We had some smaller boats before but I set myself a smallish list of non negotiables.

Had to be 40 feet or bigger
Had to be a sloop
Keel had to be encapsulated (not bolt on and the concept excludes fin keels)
Rudder had to be skeg hung - spade rudder would not do
Centre cockpit - yes I know all the reasons why some folks on this board won't have them - don't care.
Aft cabin with en-suite head and island bunk
A second double cabin and another head
Head room that would allow me (6'4") to stand up straight almost anywhere.
U shaped galley.
Had to be a passagemaker

Anything else I would live with or change.

It is remarkable how few designs contain all this stuff. Then I set about looking for one and found the Morgan 44 CC, watched several of them on the net for a year or more and finally singled out the one we have now. We have had her for 7 years and still have no reason to regret the decision.
 
#25 ·
My weakness for browsing Craigslist for things I don't really need but the price is right, I thought. Wanted a cheap place to stay at the water. Nope!
Bought a S2 8.0B, never sailed before and she is close to splashing soon. Sailboats are a lot of work. Sand, fill, fare, paint, polish, and hopefully a lot of beer in the icebox.
Need to name her "Gold Digger"
 
#26 ·
LOL! Dude, you are only just getting started! So far you have done cosmetic stuff, wait until the real projects come up! The purchase price is just the price of admission. There is nothing cheap about owning boats.

The impulse buy has got to be the WORST way to get into boating, and is probably the single biggest source of all the abandoned and neglected boats we see. Having said that, I hope you stick with it long enough to reap the rewards that make it all worth it!
 
#27 ·
I bought my Catalina 25 because I wanted a boat that could let me try racing, cruising, and would be forgiving to my novice sailing skills. I looked at about a dozen boats and knew that I wanted an outboard and simple systems to keep the costs down. The Catalina 25 had the best bones of everything that I looked at and was a pretty good price. I learned a lot on it despite only owning it under a year and a few hundred hours of sailng. I still sail on it all the time since a friend bought it from me.

I bought my Pearson 28-2 because two weeks of cruising on the Catalina 25 made it feel too small and I got sick of not being able to stand up. I knew that I loved sailing from owning the Catalina and was willing to buy a much more expensive boat. However I hate high ongoing costs and in Seattle it is considerably cheaper to own a bit just under 30' than a 30' boat (due to how Shilshole Marina prices slips). I like the big open layout of the Pearson, the lack of interior bulkheads made it feel larger than any of the 30' boats that we looked at. A friend and good sailor had one so I got a personal opinion from a local as well as being able to go on internet reviews. It was also in much better condition than the dozen or so other 28-32' boats that we looked at and asking price was only a little more. Other leading contenders were an Islander 30 Bahama and C&C 30. Now that I've owned it for about 7 months and have sailed it quite a bit I think it was the right choice for us. It is a great boat for a cruising couple.

I've always been very interested in sailing, but finally got into it when I learned that I was going to get a long leave at work. I love "slow travel" where the method of travel is more than just getting to the destination. Sailing is really my new bike touring.
 
#28 ·
My wife and I had a few requirements, one , it had to have standing room in the cabin, second, it had to be big enough that we wouldn't " outgrow" it in a few years . Three, as this would be our first boat period we wanted a boat that if we decided this wasn't for us it we could discount it heavily if we decided to sell it rather than incur storage fees and without having a large amount invested in the boat. After looking at many boats the reasoning of buying our c&c30 was that it fit the above, and the attitude of the owner was really great, it was in a DIY friendly yard with good prices, and is located in a awesome slice of sailing heaven on the Connecticut coast....no regrets!
 
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