[Jasonfishing]

I'm looking for a short list of larger cheap fixable neat sensible fiberglass shoal draft boat.something with a pocket keel or a retractable keel.fiberglass.i.prefer a well rounded boat not a skinny Pete.
But run in very shallow water.
Prefer a pilot house but can build my own.prefer a rear pilot erea.with roomy roomy space.but cheap...so old boats along the east coast of USA prefer florida.must have small diesel.but years ago I wanted to do this so I looked at boats and I learned something.i was a roomy appeasing boat not a mass produced compromise that will never make me happy.
Cheap as in I'm selling a acre in east Tennessee and loosing huge money on it but for $15,000 I'm chipping some off my price for this boat I've just described.so i can use my skills in Mechanic's and fiberglass to make it work for me.
My goal: sell my fishing product touring the inlets of east coast florida.and in-between.prefer a 40-50+ so if anyone has a specific name of boat or just seen a old shell they remember please feel free to Intertainment my curiosity.
I saw a boat on YouTube a couple recently don't it was aluminum.but it was a fascinating flat bottom with a retractable keel.i wouldn't mind modifying a larger boat to make a retractable pocket keel.
Also a junk might Intrest me.but I'm not a sailboat owner( ever)but I know I prefer a regular sailboat sail design.could a person blend the two?a junk rig hull and a modern sailboat upper works?
Best regards.

 

[Overdue]

You have a skill-set better than many. I have seen a few references to the reality that in FL you can find "boat cemeteries" (similar I guess to automobile junk or salvage yards), loaded with boats damaged from hurricanes, or older neglected boats abandoned at marinas and hauled-off to die a quiet death. It should not be too difficult to search the internet to find a list, and then email/telephone call, asking about inventory of "repairables". The boats will certainly need a lot of work but will be priced accordingly. You will probably also need to transport it to a DIY yard. Good luck.

 

[Jasonfishing]

I oftened daydreamed being a residential years ago for 22+ years of buying a small waterfront strip of bare land just to build a haulout for my boats.😂
Not having a boat right now ...

 

[capta]

Most people who attempt to take an older boat and make it seaworthy, spend more money on the boat in the end, than buying a boat in better condition and salable at purchase. It seems you'd have to work to get more money, but it would be much more efficient and practical than your present plan.
I'm sure you'll find a boat for 15k, but it will probably be one that someone like you tried to do as you propose, perhaps even several owners who tried.
Yachtworld.com, facebook's marketplace and boat trader are good research sites to give you some idea no what's out there and the prices. Why are you looking for shoal draft?

 

[Jasonfishing]

Most people who attempt to take an older boat and make it seaworthy, spend more money on the boat in the end, than buying a boat in better condition and salable at purchase. It seems you'd have to work to get more money, but it would be much more efficient and practical than your present plan.
I'm sure you'll find a boat for 15k, but it will probably be one that someone like you tried to do as you propose, perhaps even several owners who tried.
Yachtworld.com, facebook's marketplace and boat trader are good research sites to give you some idea no what's out there and the prices. Why are you looking for shoal draft?

Because I'm going to be driving it around the lower east coast of Florida around the canals and inlets and fishing the keys alot.i want 3' or less draft yet a big boat.
I aim to put a bow thruster on it and remote pilot it while I hang off the back fishing on a custom platform I build.

 

[Sailormon6]

Finding a sailboat in the size you contemplate with less than 3' draft is probably hopeless. You might be able to find a fair sized trawler with shallow draft.

 

[Jasonfishing]

I'd consider a oriental design fishing smack I could add a sail to also.im very open minded by a odd hull.ive seen a cluster of three or 4 south of Cape Canaveral a long time ago.even inquired about them was told it was some rich guys tax write-off.but who knows people will tell ya anything.

 

[vbiz59]

As to the common advise cautioning that repairs can easily exceed the cost of a boat in better condition, I would second that. As a construction/fabricator with extensive fiberglass experience myself, I took on a project no where near as extensive as what you speak of and the costs are staggering in the current market.
That said, I got into a Krogen38 with similar intentions and a draft of 3'2". If you can find one of 86 made, jump on it

 

[Jasonfishing]

Yeah I learned that on the last few boats I did.
I've got my bearing on that situation quite well.and a better plan.
Who knows I might find a boat needing little if anything these days.
Where in another deep trough of 1984.🧐🏴‍☠️⚔can you feel it.i do 😂
Ultimately my goal is to show my fishing product and enjoy the salt life.

 

[vbiz59]

'84 could be the better prospect
What is the fishing product?

 

[Jasonfishing]

LoL keeping it under wraps for now.😳
Darn Shure isn't just another fishing lure.and as many of new ones I see YouTubers talking about there own must not be doing to bad.😂more in the line of a luxurious fishing accessory..

 

[capta]

Because I'm going to be driving it around the lower east coast of Florida around the canals and inlets and fishing the keys alot.i want 3' or less draft yet a big boat.
I aim to put a bow thruster on it and remote pilot it while I hang off the back fishing on a custom platform I build.

I've fished all over the world from sailboats, and never needed anything more than a good hand line. We have caught the fish pictured below on a handline sailing w/o a motor and the largest fish I caught on a good handline was a Yellowfin Tuna, around 350 pounds. I'm just stating that you don't need all that stuff to catch fish from a sailboat.
As for the Florida Keys, I've run charter fishing and diving boats and the back waters are indeed skinny water. 4 feet is about all you could take back there, and even that was a very small part of the back waters, so you are spot on with 3'. If you were considering fishing back there, you might want to have a nice fast skinny water center console boat, because I do not think I've ever seen a sail boat of the size you are looking for with that draft. Even if you found it, I have my doubts that she would be a good offshore boat. On the Caribbean side of the Keys There are two humps offshore from Islamorada and Marathon and a wreck off Marathon where fishing is very good. But I've run most of the way to Cuba when fishing wasn't good, trying to find fish for my clients.

 

[Jasonfishing]

Cool.intresting.but I'm Shure I can go many places in the right boat.im never going far from Florida lower east shores.ponce inlet is about the furthest north I'm planning to go.and sails to do it on a budget.saving on gas when I can.and I don't mind waiting on tide.i like sitting a night just looking in the water at what goes on.with a underwater light of course.😂so seeing bottom usually makes it much more interesting.like watching a nature video.never know what you will see.sets a great entertaining value for me personally.and I get bored I'm prone to toss a scrap in the water.
I did it a few times long ago but nair a nuff.

 

[Overdue]

Jason, if you are still looking for a "fixer-upper" in FL, maybe checkout this site (I am not endorsing, have no financial gain and no experience with, actually just stumbled upon the website): Salvage Boats for Sale - Online Auction | SalvageBoatsAuction.comWe bring you hundreds of boats from a facility near you to have at your disposal.
You can search their inventory with whatever parameters, such as only Florida.
I also found: Florida Marine Salvage
Good luck.

 

[nolatom]

Maybe a keel-centerboard Morgan-34? Only 3'3" with centerboard retracted. And they sail nicely:

morgan 34 keel - Google Search

 

[Jasonfishing]

Like the draft aspect but the rest is wrong for me.i don't want a 10' beam.
I need a wide back to build my display apparatus.ive been in a small old style sailboat like that.it felt like a toothpaste tube.
I'm at the mercy of whatever I get to pick through from my classified ads anyhow.
Strange things about certain boats even if there junk and has the slightest unique merit there owners seem to get jealous that someone might take it and restore the value in it which really makes them offensive even making them offers.
Ya dam Shure have to tippy toe around people.

 

[SanderO]

I am just curious. I have no issue with shoal and shallow draft sailboats. I am just wondering what are the depths you sail and anchor in that demand a very shallow draft?? Is there a tide range? What is it? I have never had a problem with a 6'-3" draft in LIS/ Southern NE... or the Caribbean.

 

[Jasonfishing]

As shallow as I safely can repeatedly through the keys ,inlets and canals to fish.moreso when in the keys get close to the patch reefs and then launch a small flat bottom to fish.

 

[SanderO]

As shallow as I safely can repeatedly through the keys ,inlets and canals to fish.moreso when in the keys get close to the patch reefs and then launch a small flat bottom to fish.

OK... I sail and don't fish. Thanks

 

[capta]

Cool.intresting.but I'm Shure I can go many places in the right boat.im never going far from Florida lower east shores.ponce inlet is about the furthest north I'm planning to go.and sails to do it on a budget.saving on gas when I can.and I don't mind waiting on tide.i like sitting a night just looking in the water at what goes on.with a underwater light of course.😂so seeing bottom usually makes it much more interesting.like watching a nature video.never know what you will see.sets a great entertaining value for me personally.and I get bored I'm prone to toss a scrap in the water.
I did it a few times long ago but nair a nuff.

"Florida lower east shores.ponce inlet " are some of the most dangerous places in the world to go boating. One may have to wait for a norther to kick up the Gulfstream along the SE coast of Florida, but offshore along the Keys the prevailing wind is from the east and the current runs to the west, meaning that most of the time boating there is unpleasant at best, and downright dangerous at others. I sure wouldn't want to be on a sail boat with a 3' draft in the Stream in that area.