Best place in USA/World to buy a used boat

[Night_Sailor]

It's said that Florida is 10% cheaper than anywhere else on the East Coast, South Florida is 10% cheaper still. And deep keel boats in South Florida are 10% cheaper than that. I found that to be true. Lots of boat move there by drunks, and lame sailors, and fall apart there, to be abandoned to put up for sale.

I was shopping for a boat decades back and was considering a Gallant 53 in South Florida. It had solo circumnavigated under the helm of the lovely New Zealnder Noami James who husband was a sailor and died offshore. She took to the sport and then later on quit. It had a deep keel 8'1" draft, relatively narrow beam and no one wanted the boat so it was priced cheap. I thought it would be a rather nice boat for New England and Ocean sailing. For one person it suited me. I liked the layout, which had a galley up and a sea berth with only a few steps up to the cockpit. I did not like the cockpit either. I can't remember exactly why I did not follow up on it. Perhaps the price was more than I could afford at the time and then there were the logistics involved in getting it and moving it, or it may have been the cockpit which did not look like a good place for someone tall like me to sleep. I remember trying to think of ways to modify it.

In any event, with a present day glut of mono-hulls on the market, I'd recommend avoiding a cheap boat. Better to have payments and a turn key boat. Yard bills will eat you alive. Let me be clear. YARD BILLS WILL EAT YOU ALIVE. They say there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes. There is: A cheap boat.

That being said, many boats built in this time period were overbuilt because builders thought fiberglass needed to be as thick as wood to be strong. So a hull that is 1.25" to 2.75" thick is nice to find.

If you can find a nice Bob Perry design, for example, in good condition, jump on it, make the payment. He is one of the nicest people I've ever met and is glad to provide support and answer questions as well.

Sail. Don't spend your life working on an older boat. Or consider a smaller boat. Lots of cool smaller boats.

As for catamarans. Lots of cheaper catamarans available. Buy a production boat so there is a resale market for it.

[Ranshiro]

Thank you all for the great info!

I appreciate that breakdown of what to expect in Texas vs the Northeast, very informative.

Yes I have been looking at Europe as not does that seem like the place to get some European boats I like, but it also seems like Greece/Croatia/Turkey have some good deals.

I have been looking in my own backyard and as you mentioned at least in my area of Asia it i has been hard to find places for parts and services. And finding a surveyor has been challenging as well.

It's funny you mention that. I've not only been interested in some of his designs, but I've actually reached out to Mr. Perry and he was nice enough to give me some thoughts on one of his boats I'm interested in. I agree, great guy.

[fnees]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

I'll add NZ on the list with Australia, and in your neck of the woods. Language not (much of) a problem for Americans, boatyard services and labor readily available and relatively inexpensive (we found these costs significantly less than Australia). Materials available, some reasonable and some dear. Lots of well equipped boats that have crossed the Pacific but with no desire to go further. Some in great shape, some ridden hard and put up wet.

Similar could be said of Thailand (Langkawi/Phuket) although language may be more of an issue.

Guys, sorry if the thread is old, but I am looking for a boat to a seabattical and through yachtworld AU and NZ (any would be the best for me) are the more expensive places. Can you direct me to where can I have it cheap?

[SuW]

I'll agree with the people who say the Great Lakes are a good region to look for used boats. Mostly sold online on Kijiji in Canada, at any rate. (However the listings are pretty quiet this time of year!)

Another place of interest may be Lake Champlain. It's in the US, but many of the boaters there are from Quebec.

I won't say that all of the boats in the North are in better shape than in the South; neglect and denial appear universal and are probably worse where is doesn't cost a lot to leave a boat fallow!

You didn't really describe the size or type of boat you wanted. There is an Endeavour catamaran and a Nauticat motorsailor for sale in my local boatyard - two extremes - for around $100K Canadian. Very different boating experiences.

[pbmaise]

Langkawi has dozens of used boats and I love cruising the area. Pickup your new catamaran in aluminum in the Philippines or fiberglass from Vietnam or Thailand.

[joe4yacht]

Originally Posted by Ranshiro

Wow thank you. I was figuring Florida but it was nice to get a breakdown of which ares are better than others. thank you for that.

I'm curious are the boat yards so expensive in Florida that it might make more sense to sail the boat up the coast a bit and work on repairs/upgrades more north? Or are the parts/labor in Florida so readily available and fair priced that it outweighs the boat yard costs?

And Chotu, thank you for mentioning Australia. I had never even thought about it before, I'll start doing some research.

I live in Thailand looking at boatshed Phuket. Langkawi is also good.I also want to buy a used yacht 50' or so. Another is the Phillipines. I know exactly what I want and previously had a yacht many years ago, so that makes it more difficult to choose as I'm in the yachting industry( not a broker). Good luck in your search