....I know I would like more room INSIDE the boat, but as they get longer, they get wider and deeper, and more expensive to out haul out and have service work done below the waterline, more expensive to berth.. and bigger uses a bit more fuel. .....
Where we are they don't charge by the foot to put the boat in or out and up to three trips a year in and out our included in the monthly rental, but I know that could be different someplace else and also know you won't be leaving the boat like we do on stands in a yard.
The difference in bottom paint on a 34-37 foot boat is pretty negligible, especially if you are doing it yourself which I feel you would be. If you went from 34-36 to 40 and above then yes I think you would be spending quite a bit more. The point I was trying to make is to get a boat in the 70's and 80's with a 12 foot beam in the price you are looking for it will probably have to be a 37-38 foot boat. The newer ones these guys are talking about will probably be 50,000+ for most of them and actually 75,000+.
....you may be right that I wont find the boat of our dreams for the purchase price im hoping for, but I gotta keep looking and learning about the smaller midsize sailboats before deciding to budget more money to the cause..
I do think you could find the boats of your dreams for the purchase price you are hoping for. They are out there and it sounds like you have a good plan. Similar to what we did. When we use the boat we are not interested in slipping it so we need the boat setup to be on the anchor for extended periods. That meant solar, efficient refrigeration, larger head holding tank, a more efficient galley and more water and fuel storage. Chances were if we bought a boat in the $50,000+ range and up a lot of that would still have to be done to it so we would of had to added that cost to the purchase price and we didn't have that kind of money to spend.
Starting with a $30,000+ boat or even less and doing the work yourself, as you and I do, you can have a new bottom paint job, new thru hull, new plumbing, a well insulated fridge, etc. for $12,000 to $15,000 and have an old boat that is pretty much all refitted to your needs and ready to take you where you want to go.
There is a guy in the yard there that got an insurance totaled Cabo Rico 38 for under $10,000. It had filled with water when out of the water and the water and diesel had saturated everything in the boat about 5 feet high. I saw the pictures. He has over time removed all the wood and cleaned and sanded it and refinished it and the boat now is the prettiest boat I've ever seen inside and the outside is becoming the same way. He installs and repairs medical equipment for a guy and goes on the road for a while and between jobs, sometimes a month or so, he lives and works on the boat in the yard. Soon he will be ready to go on his 'world cruise'.
Now this is an extreme case and I wouldn't of had that dedication to the job but the point is you might not find a deal of a lifetime boat that is perfect for $30,000 but for that and another $10,000 to $15,000 over time you could have a mighty nice one. Just try and get one the right size to begin with. If we had the mindset of becoming full time cruisers, won't happen, but if we did we could live on the the Endeavour pretty easily.
Our problem has been we live so far from the boat it isn't convenient to work on it a little now and a little next month and so on. For you that is probably different and you can use it to your benefit. Good luck,
Sum
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