If you had 30-40 K to spend on a boat...

[biorapper]

and planned on spending 2- ? years with one other person staying mainly coastal; the carribean, coast of north america, maybe central too. No big ocean crossings, no desire/personality predisposition to spend time and energy on upkeep and maintenance, with more time spent at anchor than under sail (though, of course, some sail performance is desired )

What boat would you buy and why?

 

[Tim R.]

Sabre 34, Ericson 32, Pearson 32, Tartan 34. There are so many and your criteria are extremely vague.

Search on Yachtworld or give us some better info to go on.

Keel depth
Creature comforts
Rig type
What kind of experience do you have
So many questions

 

[48dodge]

The best way to spend 30-40k is to have someone give you a free fixer upper.

 

[biorapper]

Not really sure about the specifics...I would think a shallow draft keel, rig type just a main and jib w/ ability to be single handed, headroom with galley n shower, one larger berth and one very small.

I have been sailing for 5 years...mostly lakes but been to the gulf at least 7 times and charleston about 20. Farthest offshore was about 4-5 miles going to crooked island from panama city. Hit "washtub" like waves about 5-6' in pensacola bay...but haven't really been in close to big weather, have read about the tactics and gotten pretty good at heaving to (got to be able to go make a drink )

I am still in the speculative stage (need at least 2-5 more years of work..the longer I wait the more $). I guess I was wondering if a newer used production boat (hunter, catalina, beneteau) or an older less "production" boat...emphasizing my lack of ability and desire to fix things.

Your humor is funny but painfully true 48dodge...it can get pretty depressing, boat shopping, even speculatively. It will have taken me 28 (post 18) years to get what is a very humble amount of dough to get a boat n go...

 

[MacMikey]

If I had your bank roll I would buy a Flicka 20 and cast off the lines tomarrow.....but that's my dream....maybe not yours. Good luck spending the money. If you find you need help, please email me. I will be glad to sell you something for 30-40K....even my wife and dogs.

 

[biorapper]

I guess it is all relative MacMikey....I can assure you, however, that having spent 24 hard years, including 5 in the Navy, 6 years of college, and now 8 working; obtaining what really is not that much for a boat to travel for years on...that I will have no trouble spending it on my own! (once I get it...I am only 1/2 to 2/3rds there but I am saving the pennies...every time (actually some of the times) my girlfriend wants to eat out I say "boat fund"!!?!).

 

[Ron20324]

If I had your bank roll I would buy a Flicka 20 and cast off the lines tomarrow.....but that's my dream....maybe not yours. Good luck spending the money. If you find you need help, please email me. I will be glad to sell you something for 30-40K....even my wife and dogs.

Geeze, Mike- not the DOGS

 

[higgs]

I would consider a boat like Roger Long's endeavor 32, which can be bought for less than 30k. Good design and well built.

 

[Roger Long]

I would consider a boat like Roger Long's endeavor 32, which can be bought for less than 30k. Good design and well built.

If you can find one, you can probably get it for half that but should plan on putting the other half into upgrades and repairs.

If something happened to Strider and I ended up with the insurance and another 20 grand from an accident settlement, I would go right out and look for another 1980-81 E32. When buying older boats in the sub 50 grand range, it's a good rule of thumb to spend only half of your money on hand. I have yet to see another boat in this age and size range I would rather have. The design is better than the construction and it is a very intelligently laid out boat. The construction is crude but solid with some really weird detailing in places but the result is an easy to repair boat with great longevity.

For the kind of sailing you describe, it would be hard to find a better choice. It is a somewhat tender boat so will just flounder trying to drive to windward in heavy stuff with an inexperienced helmsman and too much sail. With proper reefing and a helmsman (or wind vane) that isn't afraid of the heel and able to drive hard to keep the speed up, she will surprise you with her ability to go to windward in tough conditions and is amazingly dry doing it. Driest boat I've ever sailed and hardly ever pounds.

 

[BobM]

That's a pretty tall order...no maintenance or upkeep? There is no such magical sailboat. The only thing close is to buy new and even then there are bugs to be ironed out. Plus you might have a hard time getting a bank to give a loan on a boat that is leaving the country.

 

[higgs]

I had an Irwin 32, which is the same mold as the E32, but the Endeavor is a better built boat than the Irwin. The design is Ted Irwin's. She was a good sailing boat, but would pound somewhat when beating into steep seas - say Lake Mich 6 footers. Reefing early is a good idea. My only complaint was the weather helm in heavy air.

 

[Ctskip]

I enjoy tinkering and doing things on my sailboat. Not that I'm any good at them and there are always things that need to be done, verses things that I want to do. Just to have money to spend without thought or a care would be like having a birthday when you are 8 yrs old. Ahhh to be 8 again. Back to reality.
I bought my sailboat several years ago and I wouldn't change it for another. Maybe to go much newer and bigger one, not by 5 or 10 feet, but up maybe 20 feet. Then I would be able to notice a difference. I have a Allmand 31 with 6'4 headroom and more storage than two people could use. The interior is comparable to most 40 footers and weights 11,000 empty, shallow 4 ft draft and a partial skeg hung rudder. I feel she's slightly under powered, @16 hp, but that can be rectified. 27 ft waterline and 11 ft beam with enough sail to get me where I want to go. She's a perfect coastal gunkholer. Made in Florida by a power boat company for the Islands. Over built and stout vessel. I love her, can you tell? From the propane locker out back and gimbaled stove and a well insulated ice box, to the captains quarters with chart table and she has at least six berths below and a head/shower with hot water and great ventilation, what more can one ask for?
And for the money, they are one of sailings best kept secret. Not fast, nor is she a slouch. Large cockpit w/ three scuppers and a offset companion way, so there's plenty of room both topsides and below. I can only imagine what I do differently, nothing but upgrade all the amenities she has now.(maybe a walk thru) Bank the rest and enjoy the coastal way of life.
For off shore, I'd want a steel hull. I'm in no hurry to go anywhere. For me, it's the ride.I would prefer a iron bath tub over a plastic bottle any day.

Keep it up,
Ctskip

 

[Mike H.]

Our shopping experience

We just bought our boat in March. We had a very similar list of criteria when we were shopping.

It became obvious after the first few days of looking at boats that we needed to spend about $ 75K to get anything that met our criteria that didn't need huge sums of money and time to repair, update, commission.

Unless you like to sand and varnish stay away from anything with wood on the topsides.

We were looking hard at Catalinas and Beneteaus, then we saw a 94 Hunter Vision 36 at a boat show/sale and my wife fell in love with it. It has a huge interior, european style. Very comfortable. A broker told us once that "the boat will find you", and in our case it was true.

We ended up buying it for $ 62,500., put about $ 25K down and financed the rest for 15 years. The payment is affordable and we are very happy.

We're still dumping in about $ 500./ per month in repairs, (holding tank, toilet, bilge pump, lights, electronics), but we are just about done with all that stuff.

$ 30 - $40 K is a great down payment. You might want to save about 1/2 of that for all the things you'll need to repair/upgrade.

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!

 

[biorapper]

Thanks for all the info.! I realize that my budget is sparse when it comes to a boat and ability to cruise with it. I, like MacMikey, wish I was shoving off today....but even in about 3 years I will only have maybe 35k with about 5 k for food expences (and no retirement fund...) But others have done more with less....right? I (and my girlfriend esp.) are just hoping to obtain some level of comfort. One way or another I will do it though.

It is better to have cruised and (take the risk of) suffered than never to have cruised at all...?

I guess when I am re-starting my career or working in a blockbuster store in my 60's I will have good memories to reflect on. Till then though...I am happy with trailoring to new waters to explore...planning on yellowstone lake and surrounding lakes for about two months next summer; and Charleston this weekend!!!

 

[biorapper]

That's a pretty tall order...no maintenance or upkeep? There is no such magical sailboat. The only thing close is to buy new and even then there are bugs to be ironed out. Plus you might have a hard time getting a bank to give a loan on a boat that is leaving the country.

never meant to convey "no maintenance and upkeep" just to minimize as much as possible the amount and probability of having to do it.

Now your "boat loan and leave the country" idea does have a tantalizing twang to it!!! If only it wasn't for those damned morals that don't really exist! (see war room for further on that one...)

 

[Bad Obsession]

THe Hunter 37 cutter is a good boat and can be found for around that price. Catalina 30 is a do-able boat and you can get an early 90's model in that range. An older but strong boat is a Pearson 365. The Pearson 365 is a very capable boat and it can do blue water.

Take a look around on Yachtworld.com and see what you find on there with your parameters.

 

[jibes138]

A few other suggestions

Has anyone ever looked at an Allied Seawindor Princess? The seawind is a 32 ketch rig and is built like a tank. I looked at one several years ago and while the interior wasn't quite as comfortable as other production boats it was functional and comfortable. It didn't have a quarter berth if I remember just the v-berth and main salon berths. Very heavy boat for the LOA. I'll bet you can get one for around 30K.
The O'day 34 is a pretty popular boat and you can get one in the 20's or low 30's, so even if you had to upgrade with another 10k it would meet your needs pretty well. I've seen Island Packet 31's for around 50K asking, so maybe mid-40's will get you one. Digging around and buying direct from an owner might save a little more. If you don't care about looks a boat with some cosmetic damage might get you a loy of boat for little money. I saw a Tartan 37 go for 50K once because it had a poor looking deck recore job, completely functional but looked bad because they didn't paint or gel coat the repair area to match the deck. That was at least 15 years ago so today that boat would be much less price and a pretty well respected boat. This is the original Tartan 37 with the skeg hung rudder.

 

[BobM]

I second Bad Obsessions Hunter 37 cutter. My friend stole one for $17K, but they can be had for relatively thin money. Cutter rig provides some flexibility. It is one of their old salty designs but still has many desirable features...tee shped cockpit...stand up shower...but no walk through transom.

 

[biorapper]

Thanks again for all the info. Still have lots to look and think about, but I like most of what I have read about the hunter 37...seems like a good blend of attributes and compromise that would leave me some money for recreational eating and beveraging in ports!!!

edit add...just looked on yachtworld...they actually are a bit more expensive than I had hoped.

 

[Guest]

Boats

Like us, look for a well taken care of ten year old Hunter in the 35 foot range. Minimal maintenance, strong, fast and a great value. That should fit within your suggested price point. Lots of good buys out there. Good luck.

Terry Cox