I Do Not Want to Fix Things - What Boat ?

[rebel heart]

As my dad used to tell me: "People in hell want ice water."

[Panaseaya]

Part of the pleasure of cruising is overcoming the seemingly insurmountable challanges involved with keeping the boat more or less together without the benefit of proper tools or a grasp of the local language. Think of it as fun!

[ty.gregory]

I said that I was adaptable, but I forgot to mention I was also adoptable. Please PM me!!!!!

[Sam Plan B]

You could do okay to buy an older GRP boat, say a Morgan 41. Those can be found for as little as $35k. Then have the boat hauled and refitted from bow to stern. That would cost you another $65k. The refit would include an new 12v system, propultion system, new galley with propane system, head & holding tank, new sails, standing & running rigging, etc. etc. At the end of the day you would have a new boat with new systems professionally installed with warantees. With luck, it should all hold together for the ten years you are planning on.

[DeepFrz]

At the end of the day you would have a new boat with new systems professionally installed with warantees. With luck, it should all hold together for the ten years you are planning on.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa,,,,,

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by annk

Sorry, but quite honestly if you don't want to fix things then cruising is not for you...

Unfortunately, I think this is true.

A blue-water cruising sailboat, big or small, simple or complex, demands a really extraordinary amount of labor (and parts and materials) to keep up. The word "constant" is not an exaggeration. I think there are really only two realistic options: (1) have professional crew and mechanics to do it all for you; or (2) enjoy -- not tolerate, but enjoy! -- doing most of it yourself.

You can't really make a hard distinction between repairs and maintenance. Things break, things start to break, things threaten to start to break in the future, things wear out, and all demand attention and money -- and "things" here means every single element of your boat.

On our boat I reckon two or three hours of repairs, maintenance, cleaning, etc. are spent for every one hour of sailing, at least, and I have done a lot of sailing this year (about fifty days at sea so far since March). If that gives you any idea. Merely tolerating it is not enough, if you want to enjoy cruising. You would want to actually enjoy it, and preferably more than one of you (one pair of hands is rather little, for one boat). If you have an actual aversion to it, and can't afford professional crew, it's hard for me to see a solution for you, frankly.

[Boracay]

Ok, how about this one...



32' Beneteau Oceanus 323, 2006

Sails only a few years old, 4 year old boat, fixable at any charter base.

Any problems found by survey should be fixed.

If you really want reliable a new engine would be one idea.

[nonam]

Buy an Island Packet.With a $100k budget you should be able to find a few of the smaller ones in decent shape.

[Tempest245]

Boracay's solution looks good to me.....plus it's already in the islands..good size for single handing and enough left in the budget for canvas or running rigging...or a new engine

[Hud3]

If you want to start with a boat with sound rigging, fittings and hull, an IP is a good choice. We bought our IP 380 "new". The dealer had installed a few goodies on her and showed her at three boat shows, so I got a good discount off the list price. The dealer punch list was very short and easily handled to my satisfaction, so we were sailing from day one.

We installed more stuff for offshore sailing, and for my wife's comfort level (like a VacuFlush toilet). We sold after owning her for eight years and 16,000 nm in salt water. Other than replacing the AGM batteries once ($1,100) and having the Frigoboat reefer/freezer worked on ($800), I really didn't have to spend much at all on maintenance. The buyer got a boat in "almost new" condition.

Based on my experience on the old IP Internet discussion group which had thousands of threads on owning and sailing these boats, I believe that IP owners tend to take better than average care of their boats. Most IPs you see advertised are in excellent condition for their age. Worth a look.

[lorenzo b]

I went with a large used commercial fishing boat built on the beach by a bunch of cajun welders and powered by a DD 71 series diesel. Tough, simple and reliable. Rebuilt most of the systems from Home Depot. Huge fuel and water tanks, 1000 sq ft of living space, and cheap.
So far we've been from La. to Key West and up the coast to summer on Cape Cod in about a year, very happy.
My big problem with factory made sailboats and yachts is that all the systems are specialized and compacted and impossible to get to and find parts for and if you get a used 20 yr old boat just about everything is ready to fail.

[denverd0n]

Buy a brand new boat, with everything working perfectly, get really lucky and have no warranty issues at all, and you will STILL have to "fix" things before 10 years is up!

Sorry, but what you are asking for is simply and completely impossible.

[mrohr]

Hi; Your desire to go must exceed your aversion to " fix things", its that simple.
There is a reason most of us live on land and not on a boat. There is an old saying: "there are no plumbers at sea".








there is a reason why paratroopers pack their own parachute.

[fishwife]

I read the title of this post and thought, 'yes. so do I and so do most of us'. I want to be out on the water so I've had to learn to fix things. It's as simple as that, which desire is greater?

P.

[Charlie]

If you don't want to fix things I don't think it is possible. If you want to keep the amount of time fixing things to a minimum. Get a newish boat less than 35' and don't add a lot of the niceties. The more things you have on your boat the more things there are to fix.