Bluewater Boat for Under $40k

[dniello]

What about an Ericson 35 or 38?? Those from the late 70's or early 80's are in that range. Any thoughts??

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by dniello

What about an Ericson 35 or 38?? Those from the late 70's or early 80's are in that range. Any thoughts??

Agree the Ericsons are stoutly built boats with nice layout below.

[Curmudgeon]

Well I got a deal because the owner bought a bigger boat. Even then I paid too much lol.

IMHO 20% to get a boat ready for cruising is on the low side unless you are really handy, which I am not.

[SaltyMonkey]

20% is extremely low. I don't think you can estimate based on percent as a lot of equipment, which is where you will be spending the most money, if fixed cost.

[Curmudgeon]

It's not just equipment, it's routine maintenance and consumables: ablative paint, varnish, cleaning stuff, lubricants, filters...the list goes on and the price adds up.

[dniello]

Anyone got any thoughts on Ericsons??

[wolfenzee]

One of the biggest differences between a very nice, well equipped, affordable boat and one that falls way short of your expectations and budget is paying someone else to do the work for you and/or trying to find a "turn key" boat with all the bells and whistles ready to go.

[barnakiel]

Never ever get anybody to make the boat a 'turn key' for you.

DIY or die.

Have seen disastrous examples of boats made 'turn key' by others.

A couple of miles further down the track the owner asks everybody at the dock why things do not work and cries over not understanding why things do not work while he paid for them to work...

b.

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by wolfenzee

One of the biggest differences between a very nice, well equipped, affordable boat and one that falls way short of your expectations and budget is paying someone else to do the work for you and/or trying to find a "turn key" boat with all the bells and whistles ready to go.

This is what I've seen too, depending on how you define "well equipped, affordable boat". If you can do some or most of the work yourself, you realize it doesn't all have to be done before you can leave. And who says you need all the bells and whistles. Most out actually cruising don't have them. Its the ones back stuck at the dock that are loaded down and still need ... ONE more thing before they can leave.

Sorry for the rant ... guess we've all seen this ... just drives me crazy. Just go ... it isn't that hard.

[serah]

Hi, Just my $0.02 from a newbie to this forum. We just bought a 32' Douglas (heavy cruiser, with full keel with forefoot cutout) for $15000 CDN. It was on the hard, and the boatyard had estimated her repair bill for driveshaft issues at $9000+. We did the repairs ourselves for less than $1000 in parts. She's not offshore ready (yet) but she's a strong, seaworthy coastal cruiser for now. We figure an additional $45000 to get her to where we want her (with h20 maker, heat, refrigeration, new sails, etc. etc.) though most of those are comfort items, and not necessities.

All I'm trying to get at is that the deals are there. We looked at a lot of boats and did a lot of research. I would suggest looking at some of the non-production boats that don't have a big name associated with them. There are countless gems out there. We went into it with an open mind; if we came across a boat, we looked up what we could on them, ran her specs through various calculations, spent hours going over the boat itself, hired a trustworthy surveyor, and were prepared to work hard.

[Curmudgeon]

I envy those of you who have the skills and time to do mechanical and electrical work yourselves. I don't. I clean, paint and varnish when I can. But who enjoys taping? It's menial and boring.

So I pay the professionals to do it. The trick is to find a boatyard that will do good work for a reasonable price.

As for comforts vs necessities, it's a matter of taste and skill. The Pardeys consider an engine to be a luxury, but most of us would consider it to be a necessity. What about safety items, e.g. liferaft, EPIRB, SSB, etc.: luxuries or necessities? How about the autopilot? Joshua Slocum singlehanded around the world without one, but I doubt if I could.

And so it goes. Those of you with female companions, ask yourself what it takes to get her on the boat for an extended cruise. Most women tend to want a nest, not a den.

[malbert73]

You could always go with a Luders 33 like mine. Bought for far less than 20k. There is a nice one for sale in NE right now on cruisers forum. Then spend 15-20k on real cruising gear that you want- rigging, sails, engine overhaul, water maker, solar panels/wind.
Far better to spend well under your budget, then have plenty of money to make it what you want it.
I looked at an alberg 37 some time ago before i bought my current boat. Was about 35k vs 19k listing for my luders (and of course bought for less) Marginally increased space, no doubt, but also with old engine vs new Yanmar which mine had, and soggy decks, old sails, and questionable history. I am not long distance cruising for a while, and maybe not on the luders, but bottom line it has been much more relaxing to slowly spend part of the balance of my 35k budget bringing my boat up to snuff, rather than scrimping after i bought the biggest boat I could afford....

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Never ever get anybody to make the boat a 'turn key' for you.

DIY or die.

Have seen disastrous examples of boats made 'turn key' by others.

A couple of miles further down the track the owner asks everybody at the dock why things do not work and cries over not understanding why things do not work while he paid for them to work...

b.

There are a dozen boatyards within a 20 minute drive from my mooring in Narragansett Bay. If I get screwed by one, I'll find another. My experience has been good so far. The work has been competent.

And I guarantee that my boat is turnkey right now. Will full tanks and sufficient provisions she could sail anywhere in the world without spending a dime on maintenance or replacement items. The only thing lacking is the renewal FCC license for the SSB, which I don't need for the coastal sailing I'm doing now.

[wolfenzee]

As far as " having the skills" all of the stuff I am doing I had never done before, I am figuring out how to do it myself and doing it on my own. My only problems I have had so far was being cheated by the people that did now what they were doing. Now I am out of money to pay people and am doing a more extensive/better job than I could have ever afforded to pay. To pay to have all the work I am doing myself would have doubled the final cost of the boat and left me short of what I want in a boat. As far as what is "needed" there was extensive blue water cruising done in this boat the way it was designed in 1949, but it was intentionally designed to be "no frills".

[wolfenzee]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

I envy those of you who have the skills and time to do mechanical and electrical work yourselves. I don't. I clean, paint and varnish when I can. But who enjoys taping? It's menial and boring.

So I pay the professionals to do it. The trick is to find a boatyard that will do good work for a reasonable price.

As for comforts vs necessities, it's a matter of taste and skill. The Pardeys consider an engine to be a luxury, but most of us would consider it to be a necessity. What about safety items, e.g. liferaft, EPIRB, SSB, etc.: luxuries or necessities? How about the autopilot? Joshua Slocum singlehanded around the world without one, but I doubt if I could.

And so it goes. Those of you with female companions, ask yourself what it takes to get her on the boat for an extended cruise. Most women tend to want a nest, not a den.

I put a good auxiliary engine under the category of safety equipment (at least when I have a 50kt head wind and a lee shore)