Is this a bad idea?

[nuru05]

So the wife and I are planning on moving aboard sometime during early 2022. As such I've started to loosely look at boats for the last couple of months. I have found what looks (on paper) to be perfect for us a Moody 44 down in Granada.

So my question to you guys is how stupid would it be if I were to go down in like March and see if I can work out a deal? Is it a super bad idea to buy a boat that would then sit in storage for probably 8-14 months? Or is it just as likely that I'll find another one just as good in that time?

[tkeithlu]

A lot can happen in 8-14 months, especially if your plan includes retirement. I was lucky - I started building 11 years before retirement and still wanted the boat when the time came. If I were to do it again? I'd save my dollars and buy what I wanted when I was ready.

This is your choice. It's not a bad idea, it's a bit of a risk either way, since you might not find the perfect boat in 8-14 months, but if you buy now, you will be setting "perfect" in fiberglass for that time period while your "perfect" could still change, and you will be paying to store it.

[Quebramar]

Do current circumstances refraining cruising encourage people to sell their boat? If so, there might be more opportunities along the months/year(s) until the world gets freed up from COVID-19...

[sailingabe41ds]

Originally Posted by Quebramar

Do current circumstances refraining cruising encourage people to sell their boat? If so, there might be more opportunities along the months/year(s) until the world gets freed up from COVID-19...

I do not know about the rest of the world...but in the US it has been the opposite. With nowhere to travel....everyone has been buying boats and motorhomes. Its crazy.... Here, there will be more availability in one or two years.
Also, I do not see the purpose of having a boat sitting there for a year and a half. You may change your mind in which boat you want. I went from a used Regina 43, to lower end Hunter 41, 44 DS ,...to Jeanneau 45DS to what I finally purchased a Jeanneau 41DS over the last 2 years.
I would vote not to buy a boat until you are closer to using it.

IMHO

Abe

[SailingFan]

Agreed with holding off until ready to go. The problem is not only the storage issue (which can cost over a thousand dollars easily in no time at all with a vessel of that size) but also what can happen to the vessel that is just "sitting there", especially in somewhere tropical where the humidity and occasional severe weather event can make a real mess of things. Stuff growing on my boat right now made my brother-in-law almost cry because he and I did a great job of cleaning and brightening the hull, the vessel went into storage while my health and life got more amenable to using the boat, and now she looks like we just pulled her off the bottom from the outside. I pulled a mass of mud dauber condos off the bulkhead about a week ago-it weighed more than a pound (and most of that mass is AIR). Fortunately, everyone had hatched and left or was encased and not ready to leave yet. That was not the only one, either. Florida is great for that..

Add to this that anything taken apart and not labeled gets homeless when you come back... Ask how I figured that one out... Nothing like finding some odd washers that are not normal thicknesses for anything you would typically use them for. I have no idea what they are for. Maybe for the engine cylinder head bolts. Maybe for something else. But they are there, on the nav station, ready to be reinstalled...someplace...

No, wait until you are ready to go, maybe a month or so out, and THEN get something. You won't be as up to your neck in doo doo as I am in my process. I am weeks or maybe a month away from having her ready for water again, but she ended up stored over 4 YEARS... The yard bill... ugh... $350 per quarter. For 4 YEARS...for a boat I paid $2,400 US for... I used her to get home and for some minor running about that first few months, put her in the yard to fix the mast step and run halyards up. That is costing me TONS... Someone stole the sailboat outboard too... That will cost a couple cents to replace...

[Paul L]

I have a theory about cruising boats stored in the tropics. Exactly the same number of items will break during storage and just after launch as would have broken if you were full time cruising it.
If you store it that long plan on many months to get her ready to cruise.

So add a year of insurance, 12 months storage, 12 months caretaker, and repairs and you might be in the usd$10 - 20k range. So she better be a perfect deal.

[MicHughV]

To cut to the chase....buying a boat now and not using it....is crazy. and leaving it down there in Grenada for yet another hurricane season....double crazy. Any engine that sits that long without being turned over is going to be a headache. all the batteries will be dead. Anything on deck, sails, cordage, canvas, will be shot. You won't know if any hatches, portholes, etc, will leak. High humidity is gonna wreak havoc on the interior. There is absolutely nothing that makes sense doing it.

You havn't even seen the boat. Nuts !! If it is priced so low as to interest you, there will likely be a reason. Could be all sorts of damage to the hull, keel, driveshaft, etc, etc.

You don't say what year the boat is, you don't know the engine hours, what equipment, electronics....etc, etc...

You asked how stupid it would be....???
Very !!!

[PLANET EXPRESS]

Buy the boat quit your job now and go.

[Dsanduril]

I think I'm with the general consensus, not a great idea, but....

The boat we were interested in came on the market in December '15 in NZ. We were in California. Flew down over New Year's to look at her. Came home, decided yes, took about 30 days to close, flew back down for the final handover and the hauled her and put her on the hard. Back home again it took about 10 months to wind up our affairs and get everything ready for the transition. When we got back boat was fine.

We had laid her up just as if it was for a winter haulout - engines stored properly, all sails and lines down, cleaned, and stored neatly. Electrical system off but batteries with maintenance charge from solar. Had a local hand come by to open up hatches regularly when the weather was good.

Took a week or 10 days when we got back to whip her into shape and another couple of weeks to deal with some upgrades we knew we wanted to make.

I wouldn't say it's the smartest way we've ever done things, but it all worked out fine, the boat was fine, and since what we were looking for wasn't frequently on the market we decided that was the way for us. It definitely adds costs, a little painful to write those checks every month when you're not getting any use out of the boat.

This wasn't our first rodeo, so getting the boat ready for a long sleep wasn't something new or foreign. YMMV

[Fatboypaul]

Grenada, the locals are wonderful but........

Storage fees.
Dishonest yard owners.
And termites, yes termites.

A properly laid up boat will be fine. The boat will probably still be for sale when you are ready to buy it.

[MicHughV]

I gotta agree with Fatboypaul, that boat will likely still be there, a year from now....I will presume at this point, the boat has been hauled out and is on the hard somewhere...go take a look at it then..

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by nuru05

So the wife and I are planning on moving aboard sometime during early 2022. As such I've started to loosely look at boats for the last couple of months. I have found what looks (on paper) to be perfect for us a Moody 44 down in Granada.

So my question to you guys is how stupid would it be if I were to go down in like March and see if I can work out a deal? Is it a super bad idea to buy a boat that would then sit in storage for probably 8-14 months? Or is it just as likely that I'll find another one just as good in that time?

If it ticks you heart I feel there is nothing wrong with it. Yes other boats will come available, but you face getting a boat you don't like as much. Added bonus is it is already there in caribbean, and of course it got there (as long as it hasn't just been sitting there rotting)

So it is just a money issue really and that is completely up to you

[Clivevon]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

If it ticks you heart I feel there is nothing wrong with it. Yes other boats will come available, but you face getting a boat you don't like as much. Added bonus is it is already there in caribbean, and of course it got there (as long as it hasn't just been sitting there rotting)

So it is just a money issue really and that is completely up to you

+1

First thing i did on my boat was a total refit - took 2 years. Still have the same boat 22 years later though. Still lifts the heart when I step on board. I have no knowledge of advisability of storage in a hurricane zone though..

[Cadence]

In short. it is a bad idea. JMHO

[ArlyB]

Nuru05: I understand why you are interested in the Moody 44; it is a well-made production boat. However, you and/or a surveyor do need to look at the boat closely to assess and record the condition of the boat as purchased. Many important items are not apparent from photos. Should you choose to buy, you should then have a paid representative monitor the boat during your absence. If it is not on the hard when you purchase it, have it pulled and professionally stored until you and wife are ready to get aboard. Parts have a habit of disappearing from boats, particularly nicer boats, left unused and unattended. It won't be difficult to arrange for someone in the yard to watch your boat. A small issue such as a leaking port light seal can do major damage over a few months. Then there is the issue of tropical storms/hurricanes that frequently hit that region. Be reasonable and prudent about your decision on the Moody. It could be a very nice retirement/vacation home, but there will be other such items available when you actually retire.