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yes another help me find the perfect boat....

9249 Views 67 Replies 26 Participants Last post by vtsailguy, Feb 16, 2015

NegotiatedDreams

Discussion Starter · Feb 11, 2015

so I have read several books and countless blogs and articles on the internet searching for the elusive "perfect boat". what I have gathered is, buying a boat is about finding not THE but MY "perfect boat". Ill be looking to buy in June I think (im planning my mid life crisis in my early 30’s because im impatient)
let me answer a few questions I see yall commonly ask when one of these posts go up.
• my intentions to circumnavigate in 2016-2017
• my budget for the boat/gear/journey/supplies/fuel etc. every penny I have to spend on this adventure is 160K
• I need a boat that the two of us can sail so im thinking in the 38-48 foot range. I understand that most boats this size if set up and handled correctly are safe so for lack of a better word I want a boat that is comfortable in seas. one we can cross 2 oceans in and we will still be a couple afterwards.
• age is not nearly as concerning to me as condition. although id prefer not to look at anything much before 1980.
• Speed is fun but im not looking to race, im looking to cruise so in the speed department ill take what I can get but its low on my list of wants.
• I have been told at least one bathroom with a dedicated shower(separate room from the head/sink)
• I am open to a fixer upper as well as a turnkey however my time to work on it will be a total of around 35 full days so even a fixer upper for a good deal I will probably have to contract out most of the work.
• I don’t like a pilothouse. Prefer aft cockpit.
• I prefer a deck material I can run around barefoot without burning the bottoms off my feet
Ive read all of the top picks and the lists upon lists. Here are a few of my favorites (I think?) yes, I know a bit eclectic of a list!

Cabo Rico
Fantasia
Tayana
Hylas
Hinckley Bermuda
Baba
Rival
Trintella
X-Yachts

just had the idea if I tried to give some personal specifications maybe id get a majority of votes for one, a few reasons or questions I have yet to ask myself or a few other models I hadn’t thought about….. Cheers!

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aeventyr60

· #21 · Feb 12, 2015

• I am open to a fixer upper as well as a turnkey however my time to work on it will be a total of around 35 full days so even a fixer upper for a good deal I will probably have to contract out most of the work.

This to me was the killer. Not sure how you got the 35 day idea. If you have to "contract" out the work, then your cruising buck is not going to go too far.
You will find out that most us have spent every waking hour for months on end, getting our boats ready to go. Once underway you will then again spend a lot of your time keeping it ready to go. If you don't like working on boats and fixing them in paradise then your dream may turn into a nightmare.

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blt2ski

· #22 · Feb 12, 2015

The Jeanneau SO37 and 40 from as early as 95 to about 06 have a seperate shower, some have the head in the show compartment, with the sink next to it in the same basic area if you get a 2 cabin/owners setup. Tartan, C&C, Beneteau, Dufour, Hanse, to name a few others, also have this option. I personally prefer the models where the shower is truly separate from the toilet and sink! Many of these models are in the 75-140K range. Some already to go, including an SO37 here in Seattle for 99K. Altho personally, I would try for the low 90's. This one does have a deep 6.5' keel. I have seen a number on the east coast with the 5' keel for 5-10K less, which is normal for the used market generally speaking. Even tho the shoal keel is more expensive up front.

As far as best boat......brand wise....... depends upon how much bling the wife likes. Mine is ok with some of the chevy/ford style brands. Others she needs the Cadillac or Mercedes brands........

At the end of the day tho. almost ALL boats are built to the same general specs, the extra cost is in the bling. Some cases like older swans, you get teak decks. but after 20 or so years, you pay a lot more, only to have to invest in repairing the deck at 20-30K as the core is rotted due to the screw holding the teak have leaked........A non teak deck boat at a cheaper cost, may be a better option!

Marty

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sandy stone

· #23 · Feb 12, 2015

tdw said:
Of all the reasons to not buy a specific boat, a separate shower has got to be way down the list.

While I happen to agree with you, I thought it would be a refreshing change to give the OP a direct answer to his question.

blt2ski

· #24 · Feb 12, 2015

tdw said:
Of all the reasons to not buy a specific boat, a separate shower has got to be way down the list.

I'll probably find it a page or two back in this sub forum, but I recall a thread where a poster asked WHICH boats had this option. It may be for smaller than the OP wants, then again, I do not recall what size etc.

But could be worth searching for that thread to come up with a list. But this option is pretty prevalent in the last 20 yrs or so. Even my 85 boat has the correct floorplan, but no shower or running water via a power pump due to age and size. 32' is the smallest I have seen that has a seperate shower from the head/sink area.

Only real specific reason I know this, is SWMBO wants this option, if not a solely stinky style option boat....ie no rags to drive it.........what is this freaken world coming to.......oh I better be nice, 9 yrs ago today feb 11!........

marty

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bljones

· #25 · Feb 12, 2015

sandy stone said:
While I happen to agree with you, I thought it would be a refreshing change to give the OP a direct answer to his question.

Ooooh, passive/aggressive snark! I LIKE it.
Next time "refreshing" is on the shopping list, i am sure you will almost nearly for sure be contacted first for your valuable input.

Hey, how's it feel to catch instead of pitch?

That's what I thought.

blt2ski

· #26 · Feb 12, 2015

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/boat-review-purchase-forum/94526-aft-head-boats.html

SO had to go back to the middle of page 4, last post in november of 14, started in 2012........

Did not read it all, but I think it was aimed in the 28-32 or soo foot range. go read it, might have some good boats to look at!

Here is MY BOAT
SO37 in chicago.

Marty

NegotiatedDreams

Discussion Starter · #27 · Feb 12, 2015

~George
it is so hard to determine by simply reading how much this endeavor might well cost. i was thinking around 80k on the trip and 80k on the boat/upgrade. i wanted to do the trip in 12-18 months depending on weather/funds/other unforeseen factors. i was thinking if we leave from the caribbean and make it throughout the pacific and indian ocean....by the atlantic ocean we will be a couple old salts ourselves.....ha ha ha! she is great (i honestly couldn't believe she signed up for this but i think she is secretly more excited than i am)
thanks for the suggestions, ill start looking into them!

~Faster
fortunately, all of you telling me to forget the shower.....is exactly what i was hoping for in posting here, not that i didn't want it. just that if everyone telling me this same thing it makes it easy for me to eliminate that from my list. who needs showers anyways?! ha!
she has never been in weather but we aim to change that shortly. i have seen a few force 4-5 storms but never the really nasty stuff.
she has done some live aboard chartering buy the few have been under ideal conditions(which at the time we were really excited about)

~BlJones
lighten up my friend! you're a parrot head! "it depends" SO TRUE! haha. boneheaded? no need for name calling.... I'm skipping brokers, i don't mind doing the work of tracking down email addresses of listed boat owners and contacting directly. and i said my budget for this adventure was 160K. far from every penny i have, simply every penny i plan to put into a special fund my "face your fears, live your dream" fund. my excuse for not sailing was building a career, other priorities, paying off my house, blah blah not excuses just other focus. now my focus is back on my passion and i have the means(at least i thought 160 was enough) to shove off. not 2 years, more like 10 months from now. the bit about boat rich your are cruising kitty poor makes a lot of sense. the difficult part is finding that balance.
i think you went soft in the second half of your message.....was that encouragement? a bit of reminiscence? haha. i thank you! i am in my 30s and i still have your once upon a time, conquer the planet attitude!now help me pick a boat!

~Sandy Stone
thanks for the suggestion. ill look into that one!

~aeventyr
the project I'm on i work 7 days a week (construction industry) and my hours are 6am/6pm so daylight to work on a boat will be at a premium. 35 days is a guess of all of my vacation, holidays, and time between end of the project and leaving shore. i thought for 80k i could reasonably pick up a turnkey older well set up boat or a much cheaper project and have enough left to pay for the major work to be contracted. as far as working on it myself, given more time free i would be more than happy to put plenty of sweat into it. as for while cruising i fully intend to spend plenty energy showing my boat TLC. (i currently do industrial automation and controls work and am a licensed electrician with quite a mechanical aptitude.) so honestly look forward to live aboard upgrade and repair work.

~Marty
thanks for the ideas. ill put those on my list hunt through. she doesn't need a cadillac when it comes to bling, for her I'm more concerned with one she will find less uncomfortable in heavy seas(relatively speaking) the deck can be made of whatever as long as it doesn't get tooooo hot(learned that lesson the hard way) in my limited experience. haha

~Marty
thanks for the link. I'm gonna go check it out now!

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bljones

· #28 · Feb 12, 2015

okay, he called me a parrot head. he's all yours.

NegotiatedDreams

Discussion Starter · #29 · Feb 12, 2015

i do appreciate all of your time and sage wisdom (especially bljones). i have a list you have all given my of several boats to look at putting on my short list. id like to know what y'all think of the ones i listed, do they fit? are they feasible? will i survive the ocean? haha. are there questions I'm not asking? are there decisions i need to make to narrow down my search? whats anyones thought on how much of my funds to spend on what part of this endeavor?

Nias

· #30 · Feb 12, 2015

This page might be useful in your search:

Mahina Expedition - Selecting A Boat for Offshore Cruising

And have a look at CS36T. Offshore capable, roomy, and comfortable boat that would fit your budget with enough left over for refit and outfit.

Reactions: 1

NegotiatedDreams

Discussion Starter · #31 · Feb 12, 2015

bljones said:
okay, he called me a parrot head. he's all yours.

you have a jimmy buffet song quote a the end of every post....would you prefer land shark?

TakeFive

· #32 · Feb 12, 2015

NegotiatedDreams said:
.... I'm skipping brokers, i don't mind doing the work of tracking down email addresses of listed boat owners and contacting directly...

If you're thinking about cutting the broker out of the deal on a boat that he has listed (and that you found thanks to the advertising that he paid for), do note that his brokerage contract probably guarantees that he get his commission anyway. In addition to violating his contract, it is also unethical (good brokers work hard for their commissions). I am not sure you would want to go offshore with all that bad karma.

If I have my boat listed with a broker and someone called me to try to cut him out, my response would be "call my broker." I wouldn't want to screw around with someone looking to cut out my hired expert so he can make a low-ball offer to me directly.

If you want to find a Craigslist boat or other non-brokered arrangement, that's fine. But if you want a brokered boat, you should work through the broker. Given some of the naive things you've said, you might be better served by getting a buyers' broker to represent you. He would probably be paid by getting half the broker's commission, so you'd be getting some benefit from that money.

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bljones

· #33 · Feb 12, 2015

NegotiatedDreams said:
you have a jimmy buffet song quote a the end of every post....would you prefer land shark?

Actually, it is a Hiassen quote, attributed to Hemingway, popularized in an Alan Jackson song borrowed by Buffet for his first hit in 20 years.

Boat recommendation- Spend $10-12K on a decent late 70s Catalina 30.

Reactions: 1

NegotiatedDreams

Discussion Starter · #34 · Feb 12, 2015

TakeFive said:
If you're thinking about cutting the broker out of the deal on a boat that he has listed (and that you found thanks to the advertising that he paid for), do note that his brokerage contract probably guarantees that he get his commission anyway. In addition to violating his contract, it is also unethical (good brokers work hard for their commissions). I am not sure you would want to go offshore with all that bad karma.

If I have my boat listed with a broker and someone called me to try to cut him out, my response would be "call my broker." I wouldn't want to screw around with someone looking to cut out my hired expert so he can make a low-ball offer to me directly.

If you want to find a Craigslist boat or other non-brokered arrangement, that's fine. But if you want a brokered boat, you should work through the broker. Given some of the naive things you've said, you might be better served by getting a buyers' broker to represent you. He would probably be paid by getting half the broker's commission, so you'd be getting some benefit from that money.

not looking to cheat anyone. to clarify, by saying "I'm skipping brokers, i don't mind doing the work" i mean just that i don't mind doing the leg work myself to find sellers. i don't feel there is anything inappropriate in trying to buy direct from a seller if i do the work to find them and broker the deal. the same as it is perfectly acceptable to buy a house without hiring a realtor.

NegotiatedDreams

Discussion Starter · #35 · Feb 12, 2015

my apologies sir, i had no idea the Etymology of what i thought to be nothing more than a fun song lyric.

bljones

· #36 · Feb 12, 2015

NegotiatedDreams said:
my apologies sir, i had no idea the Etymology of what i thought to be nothing more than a fun song lyric.

it's all good- I apparently need to add smileys to my posts in february. you still need a catalina 30.
if a separate shower is a huge dealmaker, buy an S2 9.2C- it has a bathtub.

bljones

· #37 · Feb 12, 2015

NegotiatedDreams said:
not looking to cheat anyone. to clarify, by saying "I'm skipping brokers, i don't mind doing the work" i mean just that i don't mind doing the leg work myself to find sellers. i don't feel there is anything inappropriate in trying to buy direct from a seller if i do the work to find them and broker the deal. the same as it is perfectly acceptable to buy a house without hiring a realtor.

Yeah, sunshine, that little backpedal would pass survey if your original line hadn't read 'LISTED boat owners'. if it is listed by a broker, bypassing the broker is a ***** move.

no smiley.

Rhapsody-NS27

· #38 · Feb 12, 2015

What you really need to do is a HELL of a lot of research. Which sounds like you've started, but it doesn't end even after you buy. Gotta research how to fix/maintain things too.

Get ON the boats you are considering. See for yourself the layout, space, storage and anything else you feel is important to YOU. It's going to be YOUR boat so find what works for you.

Also remember, where ever you go in the world, larger boat means higher fees for everything. While you talk about 38+ ft. boat is what you want, you may start getting on the boats and find a 35 or 36 ft boat suits you fine.

You can look at pictures and ask others their opinions but it really comes down to you getting your butt on some of them to see what works for you.

While I would love to get a 36-40' Cape George Cutter, I feel I already got the perfect boat for ME at 27'.

Best of luck in searching for your boat.

Reactions: 1

SHNOOL

· #39 · Feb 12, 2015

TakeFive said:
If you're thinking about cutting the broker out of the deal on a boat that he has listed (and that you found thanks to the advertising that he paid for), do note that his brokerage contract probably guarantees that he get his commission anyway. In addition to violating his contract, it is also unethical (good brokers work hard for their commissions). I am not sure you would want to go offshore with all that bad karma.

If I have my boat listed with a broker and someone called me to try to cut him out, my response would be "call my broker." I wouldn't want to screw around with someone looking to cut out my hired expert so he can make a low-ball offer to me directly.

If you want to find a Craigslist boat or other non-brokered arrangement, that's fine. But if you want a brokered boat, you should work through the broker. Given some of the naive things you've said, you might be better served by getting a buyers' broker to represent you. He would probably be paid by getting half the broker's commission, so you'd be getting some benefit from that money.

Entertaining story... I had one of my prior houses listed, for nearly 2 years. With 2 different real estate brokers... On the last week of my contract, I had a buyer come contact me directly (drove up my driveway), and asked when my contract expired. I stated that I was presently under contract, and it was totally my decision as to when and where my contract would expire. She persisted that she'd buy my house once it was off contract. I persisted and said my present broker had spent countless dollars advertising my house, and showing it to many tire kickers. That time was worth SOMETHING to them and that if she were to buy from me at ANY time, since she first looked at the house under contract with this broker, that even if I hadn't had a contract I'd be negotiating for paying their commission anyway. She was totally ticked off. She eventually bought the house, and paid the fees.

By the way, the last 4 boats I've purchased, had no broker. That being said, I contacted and dealt with many brokers in my quest to find this boat. I actually found all of them to be very helpful, useful, and willing to give me as much information over the phone as possible to help me make an informed decision. While I am sure there are brokers that aren't real forthcoming with information on problems with boats, I found these to be nothing but honest. I even had one that was unwilling to try to sell me a boat without a trailer (despite my insistence that I would be buying a new trailer as part of the deal). Honestly I think brokers provide a benefit to both buyers AND sellers.

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NegotiatedDreams

Discussion Starter · #40 · Feb 12, 2015

bljones said:
Yeah, sunshine, that little backpedal would pass survey if your original line hadn't read 'LISTED boat owners'. if it is listed by a broker, bypassing the broker is a ***** move.

no smiley.

i believe you are reading a bit much into one word. would it be better if i used advertised boats? how else would describe it if you put your boat for sale on the internet? listed was the first word that came to mind.

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