Should i purchase a 380 that was a Club Natico

[pdnervo]

My wife and i put an offer in on a 2000 380 Hunter Sailboat.
the boats first owner was the Club Natico and has had other owners. The price seems right. But it has an awful lot of visual wear and tear i.e. Sails are worn and frayed, halyards are browning (could be just crust), rubber grommets are brittle and break like glass to the touch, the wooden cabinets needs light sanding and re-oiling, etc, etc, in general the new owner just didn't take care of things... we can probably get things in order but wonder if it is wise to just go on to the next boat and not have to worry when we are out at sea about some hose or fitting that we missed to replace or fix....and yes we will have it surveyed .... any suggestions here,,,, thankx for your answers....

 

[Steve Dion]

You need to decide for yourself if the boat is really something that you want to live with. You can always make an offer that is low enough so you can replace all of the items that are suspect.

You may find that a survey may or may not turn up some other items that you have not detected.

Look around for a similar vessel that is in good condition so you have something to compare to.

You can price out new sails and running rigging on this website. They may not have all of the measurements, but you can call and speak to Dave G about any other rigging that you may need.

 

[pdnervo]

thanx info...pn

 

[seadaddler]

Compare

As already said compare other boats and the condition and price,a older boat is always going to need some work and spending money.
If you replace these things than you will know it is like new again,if it is normal wear and tear for a 2000 boat than go for it,make a low offer to compensate for the things needing replacing and than you will have a boat in good condition.
The older the boat the more repairs needed newer more $$$ cost and less repairs,once you replace the important things than you know you have a good safe boat.
Nick

 

[capejt]

Not trying to nix the deal or the dream, would you buy a used car from a rental agency? Just saying beware!

 

[Alex Dare]

380

Charter boats, especially in the Caribbean can get pretty hard use/abuse. On the other extreme I've seen seasonal club and fractional program boats that are almost indistinguishable from privately used boats. It really comes down to the amount of use, quality of the charter operation and where the boat was used.

If we're talking the former, some of this wear and tear can be remedied with $$$ and new parts but some like woodwork and gelcoat will probably never look as good as you might like.That you need to be prepared to live with. It is almost the rule that it's cheaper to buy a boat in good shape than it is to buy a tired boat and bring it up to where it should be (even if you bought it cheap)
If you go this route, get a good survey and be prepared to spend some $$ to get the systems up to snuff. My big concern would be the engine. If it's seen 4 or 5K hours of charter type operation you might need to figure in replacement cost. At the minimum if all else looks ok on the survey get an engine mechanic to go over it.

 

[Rick Sylvester]

If it were me

I'd pass.

The 380 is a perfectly fine boat but there's probably a bunch on the market in better condition. If there's plenty of stuff that you can see that's done for you have to wonder how much there is that will continue to show up that is way more serious.

Even if the numbers work, do you want to deal with this over the long haul?

 

[Alex Dare]

the 376

If you're trying to hit a particular price point below what most of the 380's are going for, don't ignore a good 376 if you come across one.