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How did you get the money for your first sailboat?

13K views 102 replies 78 participants last post by  TheWollard 
#1 ·
So starting to really think I need to get a boat and just sail over doing all these courses, but being a full time student, money is an issue.

How did you come to take ownership of your first boat, and what do you suggest for someone looking to get their first? (Still want a contessa 26 or 32)

-Snow laden economics major, sailer to be.
 
#2 ·
Worked hard and worked lkots of overtime. My career and family the a house which can be an assset in most economies. came first so I settled for a hobie cat for 8 years, then a 25 footer, then a 28 footer, then a 35 footer.

I am conservative so I bought none on credit. I didnt go for immediate gratification as I had responsibilities so I defrred with a plan to work for in the future.

dave
 
#4 ·
Got the money for my first boat from the bank, then moved on the boat. Now the boat is paid for, oh I also have a house its on the water. Before you buy that first boat I would suggest you know what kind of sailing you want to do. Good luck.
 
#6 ·
While in college, I sailed on the inter-collegiate circuit and the family boat, then crewed on a Sabre 34, bought an old GP-14 to teach my new wife, then a Sabre 28, then a Sabre 38. All were bought used and I did my own work - all of it. That was what allowed us to afford a boat. Like Chef, we did this only after taking care of necessities - finishing our education, buying a home, and paying off cars. We also only bought what we could afford to maintain - we sailed for 20 years before we had A/C or pressure water. Also as Chef said, it took a lot of OT to get to this point, a lot of it.

Along with doing our own work, we keep scrupulous track of costs - no hiding anything. That is very important because while a lifestyle, boating is expensive and costs need to be managed. I would say that these two items are the principal reasons why we can afford a boat.

Use OPB's until you can afford it.
 
#8 ·
So starting to really think I need to get a boat and just sail over doing all these courses, but being a full time student, money is an issue.

How did you come to take ownership of your first boat, and what do you suggest for someone looking to get their first? (Still want a contessa 26 or 32)
As a student you may have some access to student body sailing clubs, which are the best deal around. The one associated with a local state college has student memberships that give you a year of unlimited access to boats for less than what I pay for a month of moorage.

The boat isn't the expensive part, you can easily find a 1970s 20-25' boat in safe enough condition to enjoy for a couple of thousand dollars or less. Frequent examples in Seattle would be Tanzer 22, Catalina 22, Santana 20, San Juan 24. The problem is the ongoing moorage costs. I'm going to guess that if you don't think you can afford the boat that moorage is going to be the real issue.

At my old marina (maximum boat size of 27') most of the boats were purchased for around $3000 or less, with the cheapest being $200 (but I didn't consider that boat safe) and the most expensive still being under $10,000. However everyone still had to come up with $2000-$3000/year for moorage.

The only way to make moorage cheap is through living aboard, and that has a different set of tradeoffs.
 
#9 ·
I got my first big (not dinghy) boat after I graduated from law school. Everyone in my law school class was dropping 3k+ on Bar study courses. I decided self study and take the $$$ I had saved for bar prep and buy a boat instead. Got the boat (27 foot Oday) and passed the bar...

Honestly, the boat is the cheap part. I got the boat for 1000 and since then (three years ago), I'm sure I've spent 4000 on engine parts, winter storage, paint, supplies, rigging, etc... And I have a free mooring. I could spend another 1k+ every year if I had to pay to keep it...
 
#11 ·
This will sound like a bad idea, but it's what I did...

Maxed out my 401K contributions for a couple of years while I figured out what I wanted and then took a 401K loan. At the time it seemed that my tax deffered savings was better than a bank account or savings bond. Better than trying to finance and older boat that I could have only gotten a high interest personal loan against. It worked out for me.

I got lucky, took the loan when the market was in great overall shape and new sailboats where selling faster than they could make them. This was a trade in for a new Catalina and the dealer just wanted to get rid of it before they had to start paying winter storage/haul out. So I got what I consider a very good deal.

The market soon tanked and I paid most of it back through a recession. That is not to say that it will always work out that way.

Fast forward 11 years and I sell the 40 year old boat for about 80% of what I have into it (not bad for 11 years of fantastic sailing) and use the money to put down on something newer and shinier.

Plus I made some great friends in the process of selling it.

Like I said, a bad idea that worked out well for me, but there might be better ways to do it.
 
#13 ·
In process of selling off assets of another expensive hobby to finance the new hole in the water. Have enuff now to make purchase, fund slip and store for next year and a grand'n'a half for immediate and necessary repairs and supplies. Still have 2/3 of THAT to get rid of and the rest of my 'junk' is on the block, too.:D
 
#14 ·
Hey,

In August of 2003 I paid $4000 for an old Catalina 22 in good condition. The boat was on a trailer (also in good condition) so I didn't need to pay for a slip. I sailed that boat all fall and then put her on a mooring the next spring.

That was a great first boat.

Sailing doesn't have to be expensive.

Barry
 
#15 ·
Worked my ass off, 7 days a week, found a 27 Catalina that was a derilict, picked it up for $2,000 from a charity organization, then dumped another $2,000 into it over a 5 year period. After 5 years of use, sold it for $4,000, and purchased my current boat, a 33-Morgan Out Island, 1973. The money for the Morgan was saved over the five years I owned the Catalina.

Good Luck,

Gary :cool:
 
#18 ·
I'm living on my boat. I work two full time jobs and go to university. I have no car, no TV, no Internet(except from my cell). I have had one evening out for two beers since the start of fall semester, with my boss, to talk about work some more. I parked my old travelling bike, and sold the fancy dual sport replacement I thought I'd ride around the world...
And I took out a loan.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Working very hard. I was 11. The boat was a neglected wooden 8' pram that needed the cb trunk replaced. Selling nightcrawlwes to a bait shop, shoveling snow, collecting deposit bottles and running a trap line for muskrats. Those pelts were like gold. $2.00 each for a prime! There were some wonderful sailing and other experiences in that boat, not to mention the ones earning the money to buy it. I wish I still had it. I taught myself to sail in it. It has been all downwind since then! Figuratively speaking, of course.

Down
 
#26 ·
I think my situation is not the norm, but I'll tell my story anyway:

I sold my townhouse inland, and bought a detached, single family home very close to the water, in a "water access community". Basically, that means that at the end of my street is a private beach and boat dock. I pay a small annual fee to use them.

I decided that since I had a dock available, it would be a shame not to fill it with a sailboat, so I took $2,000 of the townhouse proceeds and bought a good "training" sailboat off of Craigslist.

Fast forward two years:

I sold the training sailboat for a little less than what I paid, I sold my DeLorean and my motorcycle, and bought my Pearson 30. I didn't have to sell all of those things to meet the purchase price of the boat, I sold them to buy the boat, pay off bills, and have cash to upgrade the boat to my desires, and maintain it the way it deserves.

I'd sell pints of my blood to keep the boat.
 
#27 ·
I worked for the Fed Gov't, which meant frequent relocations. Since we had to sell our house and move across the country anyway, when we got to the new location we bought a house that was a significant downsize from our previous house and put the profit into a boat.
 
#28 ·
Found a boat within my financial means, worked hard to pay for it (....and ongoing maintenance and upgrades) and told my wife the new kitchen she wanted was in our new vacation home which has 360 degrees of waterfront.:D:laugher:hammer

PS, 10 years later we renovated our kitchen and first floor which cost more than the boat. (ouch!):(
 
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