Boats for sale: mostly beat, leaking, wasted UGH

[drewm3i]

We looked at 15 boats before we found our Ericson 38, which was in better shape than some of the much newer boats we looked at! Take your time, be patient , and be willing to drive a ways!

[George DuBose]

Skylark is a 1973 Pearson 36-1. Her second PO did nothing for maintenance, but he did have the A4 swapped for a new Yanmar 3GM30F.

The surveyor suggested that if I passed on the boat and he didn't have to write a report, I could save half of the survey fee.

The chainplates were all leaking and caused the veneer hull liner to warp. Skylark was put together with silicone used as a sealant and after 30+ years all the silicone was failing.

I knew that all the leaks were repairable and Skylark was one boat that could be renovated back to new. In fact, she is now better than new.

Sikaflex systems, 3M systems are vastly superior to silicone and I have recently been using Pantera 3000 that was specified when sealing the seam between the real teak toerail and the Flexiteek that was recently installed.

So don't write off classic plastics, some of them can be brought back...

[Captain Anthony]

ROUKEH, Ahoy, you listed some very expensive and well constructed boats. I am looking all over for a good Tartan 37 built in that era in Ohio. I live on the South shore of Long Island and 4.6 is the deepest draft that I can safely sail in the Great South Bay. These Tartans have a 4.2 draft, board up.


Do you ( and all of you other sailors) consider the Tartan 37 built from 1976 through 1987 to be a " quality and well constructed" boat ? ALL OF YOUR OPIONS WILL BE GREATLY APPRICIATED

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by ajaddeo

ROUKEH,
Do you ( and all of you other sailors) consider the Tartan 37 built from 1976 through 1987 to be a " quality and well constructed" boat ? ALL OF YOUR OPIONS WILL BE GREATLY APPRICIATED

Well, I just looked at the photos of the two lowest price 37s on YW, and I didn't see any bukwards rotted out. Drip damage from ports/windows yes.


Tartan has always made a nice boat. STILL always check the saturation in the deck.

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Pay the yard $5000 to rebed everything when the problem starts...won't a seller eventually get that $5000 back out at resale?

. . . DREAMER . . .

[rbk]

What disappoints me is people trying to pass off poor maintenance on the builder. Anyone who expects that deck hardware will stay properly bedded while being abused and exposed to the elements for 40 years is delusional. Same goes for all other components. Yes there are better quality builds than others and sealants have come along way but you still have to maintain things FFS.

[Sailorbob8599]

The greatest deterrent to many when it comes to "property" be it Real Estate, Motor Homes, Cars or Boats is the maintenance required to "keep 'em lookin' purdy." . . . because maintenance means WORK & maybe you've noticed, many folk, especially the Nouveau Riche appear to have an aversion to work.
As soon as their property starts showing signs of needing attention, they up & sell it off if they can & buy a new item that is not in need of work . . . yet.

Meanwhile, here am I, trying desperately to sell my custom built 24' cutter (same hull dimensions as Seraffyn) only to hear "oh, she's got teak decks, I hear they are a lot of work" . . . yeah but . . . my teak decks are vacuum bagged & bonded to a complete f/g deck . . . no fasteners, no holes to cause leaks. Cost me $15k on a 24' x 9' deck where the coach house takes up a good portion of that area. Teak laid parallel to the curvature of the hull nib'd in to a lovely King Plank. She's beautiful. But then I know most of you guys aren't into Teak Decks . . . I get that, but surely I'm not the only old fart in N.America who loves tradition looking boats??? If I am, why do so many people go to the Wooden Boat Festival at Port Townsend?

A marine Surveyor gave her a $140k "replacement" value when first launched August 2015, so please tell me why I'm having trouble finding a buyer at $35K ??? Yeah, I know, it's a traditional looking boat & not a race boat. It's a small cruiser for gosh sakes, Lin & Larry were not big people. Great for a young couple to go sailing immediately, & I can almost guarantee they will have no replacement costs for at least 3 years or more because everything is basically new. Much is even unused. Engine has only 15 hrs on it. All quality cruising sails, hoisted only 4 times. One of those hoists was the sailmaker to see if they fit ok.
She was built to go cruising, but poor health prevents me from having that pleasure. I sure hope someone comes along with the same dream I once had for her.

[john61ct]

There are thousands of beautiful, heartachingly gorgeous things I could spend lifetimes enjoying looking at.

But I would not want the responsibility of owning or even just taking care of.

[john61ct]

And even the Pardy's traded up from Seraffyn to the bigger Taleisin, and how many years ago was that?

Me? I'd love to RTW in a tiny bluewater cruiser, but I'm a very odd fellow, and my living situation at the moment means I couldn't even pay half your asking price, and that would need to include the trailer.

[Tetepare]

SailorBob, how about a photo? She sound gorgeous!


Speaking of which- I think people like teak decks. I would LOVE a teak deck. But a teak deck is like a 24 YO in heels and a miniskirt, which means trouble.


Today's teak decks are bonded, like yours. I'm OK with that...just not the added $60,000 cost. Teak decks on "vintage" boats were screwed in, and they leak- most anyway. And that was part of my point- nobody bothered to address the problem when it was small, now it's big and the boats are ruined.

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

SailorBob, how about a photo? She sound gorgeous!


Speaking of which- I think people like teak decks. I would LOVE a teak deck. But a teak deck is like a 24 YO in heels and a miniskirt, which means trouble.


Today's teak decks are bonded, like yours. I'm OK with that...just not the added $60,000 cost. Teak decks on "vintage" boats were screwed in, and they leak- most anyway. And that was part of my point- nobody bothered to address the problem when it was small, now it's big and the boats are ruined.

Hey, would love to post a pic but unfortunately, I've never succeeded in posting pics due to my limited skills with the computer. I barely understand the terminology let alone doing anything beyond my search & pick typing. For some reason, I find posting pics on this forum very confusing. I have no problem posting pics on Craigslist, but that's about my limit. I dislike computers.

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by john61ct

And even the Pardy's traded up from Seraffyn to the bigger Taleisin, and how many years ago was that?

Me? I'd love to RTW in a tiny bluewater cruiser, but I'm a very odd fellow, and my living situation at the moment means I couldn't even pay half your asking price, and that would need to include the trailer.

Yes, they did build a larger boat named Taleisin, but for how long & how far did they sail Seraffyn all in complete safety & affordable maintenance. It was their book that sold me on a pocket cruiser.
I could afford to buy a bigger boat, but moorage, insurance & regular maintenance would probably put me in the poor house. Besides which, I have to keep in mind my first mate also has a hobby that makes demands on the shared bank account.
She just bought another sewing machine for a shocking price. Of course, it is all computerised & does embroidery & a whole lot of other fancy things. I think I could have bought a new car for the same amount . . . not to mention the reels of thread required to make full use of this expensive piece of equipment. How about $700 just for thread?
The trouble is, she can make money with her toy while mine always demands expenditures.

[14murs14]

Originally Posted by Sailorbob8599

The greatest deterrent to many when it comes to "property" be it Real Estate, Motor Homes, Cars or Boats is the maintenance required to "keep 'em lookin' purdy." . . . because maintenance means WORK & maybe you've noticed, many folk, especially the Nouveau Riche appear to have an aversion to work.
As soon as their property starts showing signs of needing attention, they up & sell it off if they can & buy a new item that is not in need of work . . . yet.

Meanwhile, here am I, trying desperately to sell my custom built 24' cutter (same hull dimensions as Seraffyn) only to hear "oh, she's got teak decks, I hear they are a lot of work" . . . yeah but . . . my teak decks are vacuum bagged & bonded to a complete f/g deck . . . no fasteners, no holes to cause leaks. Cost me $15k on a 24' x 9' deck where the coach house takes up a good portion of that area. Teak laid parallel to the curvature of the hull nib'd in to a lovely King Plank. She's beautiful. But then I know most of you guys aren't into Teak Decks . . . I get that, but surely I'm not the only old fart in N.America who loves tradition looking boats??? If I am, why do so many people go to the Wooden Boat Festival at Port Townsend?

A marine Surveyor gave her a $140k "replacement" value when first launched August 2015, so please tell me why I'm having trouble finding a buyer at $35K ??? Yeah, I know, it's a traditional looking boat & not a race boat. It's a small cruiser for gosh sakes, Lin & Larry were not big people. Great for a young couple to go sailing immediately, & I can almost guarantee they will have no replacement costs for at least 3 years or more because everything is basically new. Much is even unused. Engine has only 15 hrs on it. All quality cruising sails, hoisted only 4 times. One of those hoists was the sailmaker to see if they fit ok.
She was built to go cruising, but poor health prevents me from having that pleasure. I sure hope someone comes along with the same dream I once had for her.

So I may be way off base, but the troubles you're having seem so closely related to the vibe you're putting out that I feel it's just mean not to be brutally honest and let you know.

I'm one of those "Nouveau Riche" you seem to hold in such contempt. Newly rich means I earned my money, in my case by starting and running a company,. That doesn't make me or any of the thousands like me lazy, good for nothing fools with an aversion to work, quite the contrary. What it does accomplish is to teach us the value of each hour of our time. I can fix a diesel and do fiberglass work and sew a sail and re-bed a fitting - 20 years running aircraft maintenance programs in the Coast Guard made me pretty handy. But if I'm truthful it will take me at least twice as long to do any of those tasks as someone who is skilled in performing them, and my job will be half as good. On the flip side, I'm pretty good at leveraging software and my team to make money. So if I'm making $500-$1000 for every hour I'm at work, it's frankly just fiscally irresponsible for me to engage in a bunch of sweaty, back breaking work I don't enjoy on the boat to ensure it lives for 40 years when I could spend a fraction of that time doing what I'm best at which will allow me to simply save enough to buy a new one every few years. Same as most of us do with cars. I spend a couple of the hours I would be doing all the hard WORK on the boat earning money instead and that allows me to spend the rest out sailing with my family instead of doing engine compartment yoga in 95 degrees.
You may be in a different situation and value your time differently. That's absolutely fine, I certainly won't be judging you and everyone like you as you seem to judge me and everyone like me. On the positive side, I also don't come across like a grumpy old man yelling at the "kids these days" to get off my lawn, which you're finding out first hand makes it hard to accomplish what you want in life, like selling a boat, for example. As a related aside, you certainly don't have to learn to become proficient in using a computer because it "means WORK" and you may "have an aversion to work" (funny how we can ignore a trait we have but the exact same trait is a powerful negative in others isn't it?). If you don't, however, you're voluntarily restricting yourself largely to the company of others like you. Again, I'll be the last to judge you for that, it may make you much happier in which case more power to you. But don't expect a "young couple" to come knocking your door down to buy your boat when you've effectively isolated yourself in almost an entirely different world from them.

[john61ct]

My dad's got a beautiful stationary steam engine used for a portable sawmill operation 150 years ago needs 4 oxen to move it.

He fixed it up so it works great, very pretty too.

It would cost more time and money to find a buyer than you'd ever get for it.