Boat buying help

[Flightime]

Sailors, I am about to jump off the dock and buy my first money pit (boat.) I don’t want to make the common first boat mistakes. So, I am asking you for your help in the matter. I am looking for a reliable boat that can cross the oceans safely. I do plan to live aboard. I currently live in Central Florida.

What boat type and manufacture should I be looking at?
Is there a good reputable dealer I should be in contact with?

Budget about $100k
Monohull
About 45’
Owners boat or large owner suite.

Thank you!

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by Flightime

Sailors, I am about to jump off the dock and buy my first money pit (boat.) I don’t want to make the common first boat mistakes. So, I am asking you for your help in the matter. I am looking for a reliable boat that can cross the oceans safely. I do plan to live aboard. I currently live in Central Florida.

What boat type and manufacture should I be looking at?
Is there a good reputable dealer I should be in contact with?

Budget about $100k
Monohull
About 45’
Owners boat or large owner suite.

Thank you!

The biggest rookie mistake is to buy a boat at the top of what you have to spend.


A budget of $100k = a boat that costs about 60K.


Start there.

[Flightime]

Thanks for the reply! That is great advice. That is how I came up with $100k. But saving $40k would be nice if I didn’t have to put $40k back into it. I understand all boats need work. My total budget is higher but I left room. To the point where I thought long and hard about a catamaran at $200k+. I didn’t want to have all the money strapped to the boat.

[dougweibel]

Flitetime,

Welcome to the forum.

You are probably the 19th person to ask basically the same question this week and there is no meaningful answer you will get. It is about like asking what pickup truck you should buy to haul lumber. Lots of opinions. No correct answer. The way you have worded your question implies that you have a lot of learning to do before you can even know what to really be asking. It reads as the typical "I want a boat to cross oceans with" question we hear so often on the forum, but even if that in reality turns out to be what you will use a boat for you are still back to a Ford/Chevy/Dodge/Toyota/Whatever question. We all started at zero at one point. It typically takes a fair amount of learning before you can have a true opinion about if you want a Ford or Toyota, or if you even actually want a pickup truck.

Good luck on your journey.

[Flightime]

Well, I am sorry for asking. I thought I could come here and learn, meat new friends and become part of the community and hopefully learn from mistakes of others. Sorry to bother you.

[Snore]

Tartan 37, but not are centerboard.

Tartan 34-2, will cost around $50, this will leave money for new sails ($6k for good ones) and $3-5k for electronics upgrade.

Might find a Tartan 372, but leave money for sails, electronics and “stuff”. As others said, if your kitty is $100, don’t spend it all on the boat!

At this price point you would be well served to identify 1 or 2 make and models you like. Then study them to find thier known defects. Shopping sub-100 tends to Require kissing a lot of frogs before you find your princes.

[Dymaxion]

Originally Posted by Flightime

Well, I am sorry for asking. I thought I could come here and learn, meat new friends and become part of the community and hopefully learn from mistakes of others. Sorry to bother you.

Slow down! Folks on here are extremely friendly and helpful. Extremely!! I'm a newbie on here, novice sailor who last sailed 40+ years ago on dinghys on a lake. I've never been made to feel unwelcome. Grab a coffee or a beer and start using the search engine here under say "purchase" or "first boat". Your question is a very common one, common enough that it does get a negative reaction often. How much sailing experience do you have, first money pit and crossing oceans are at opposite ends of the scale. There are also lots of online guides to buying a boat, repairing a boat, sailing and navigation techniques. If you can narrow down your question a bit you'll likely get better responses, say "best ketch for under $60k?". There isn't a 60 second answer to your question, never will be, so just be patient. Cheers

[Fore and Aft]

Flight time plenty of modern 40 foot monohulls have plenty of room as well. You just got to find the yacht that feels comfortable to you. Make sure you get a good survey and rig report. Good luck with your search.
Cheers

[Fore and Aft]

This boat seems to have a few good features, low hour motor, big owners cabin and shoal draft.
Cheers
https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/199...40-ds-3664442/

[Eleuthera 2014]

Amel Santorin ketch... if lucky you could find one in your price barcket.

Great passage makers.

GL

[ChrisJD]

This is such a "how long is a piece of string" question as currently stated. There are all different types, makes and models that would meet those criteria; it's a bit like saying "I'd like to buy a car with four doors for $25k, what should I buy?" It could be anything from a new Honda Accord to a 1990 Grand Wagoneer, depending on what you're looking for.

Questions:
- What's your sailing experience?
- Where do you want to sail with it?
- How handy are you with mechanics and electronics?
- What's your taste aesthetically?
- How much do you care about sailing performance?

Depending on the answers to the above, I could see anything from a 1970s CSY to a 1980s Bristol or Passport to a 1990s Caliber or J/ to a 2000s French plastic fantastic boat (take your pick).

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by Flightime

Sailors, I am about to jump off the dock and buy my first money pit (boat.) I don’t want to make the common first boat mistakes.
Thank you!

Among the common first mistakes people make are:

Spending money on a boat based solely on an uninformed perception of what offshore sailing entails,

Not taking the time to first gain some sailing experience,

Buying a boat with no prior knowledge or understanding of construction quality, maintenance, outfitting or upgrading needs,

What it’s like to live on a boat.

[Mag3]

best advice i ever got..

0) give yourself a year to come to a decision
1) read through the 100+ threads/posts on this very question on cruisers forum
2) buy a ticket and go to both the annapolis boat show and boot in dussseldorf.. basically crawl over every boat boat you can find
3) write a list of needs, wants, and wishes... and go back to amend/adjust that list monthly based on what you find in numbers 1 and 2 above.
4) go sailing on every type of boat you can talk yourself onto for a day.

best of luck!

Cheers,
-Justin

Originally Posted by Flightime

Sailors, I am about to jump off the dock and buy my first money pit (boat.) I don’t want to make the common first boat mistakes. So, I am asking you for your help in the matter. I am looking for a reliable boat that can cross the oceans safely. I do plan to live aboard. I currently live in Central Florida.

What boat type and manufacture should I be looking at?
Is there a good reputable dealer I should be in contact with?

Budget about $100k
Monohull
About 45’
Owners boat or large owner suite.

Thank you!

[dougweibel]

Originally Posted by Mag3

best advice i ever got..

0) give yourself a year to come to a decision
1) read through the 100+ threads/posts on this very question on cruisers forum
2) buy a ticket and go to both the annapolis boat show and boot in dussseldorf.. basically crawl over every boat boat you can find
3) write a list of needs, wants, and wishes... and go back to amend/adjust that list monthly based on what you find in numbers 1 and 2 above.
4) go sailing on every type of boat you can talk yourself onto for a day.

best of luck!

Cheers,
-Justin

Not a bad list Justin, but I think your order is backwards to their relative importance. There is no substitute for time on the water on different boats to get a feeling for what the differences between boats actually mean to an owner. Ideally a person can spend more than a day on the water on a boat to see things in a variety of conditions.

The only item I might disagree with is #0 and that depends on a person's temperament and resources. There is nothing wrong, and a lot right, with buying a starter boat and sailing it for a year with the general intention of "trading up" (not necessarily in size). Spending significant time actually sailing and cruising on a boat really makes your #3 a lot more meaningful.

[Mag3]

ha! definitely not in priority order per se... i agree nothing beats time on water, though it can be hard to really see (crawl all over) a boat that isn't yours.. i've found shows invaluable as you can in 2 days step all over and crawl all through 30+ boats!

as for 0 - i simply mean don't make the big choice too fast... unloading a boat you don't love can take a long time!

-mag3

Originally Posted by dougweibel

Not a bad list Justin, but I think your order is backwards to their relative importance. There is no substitute for time on the water on different boats to get a feeling for what the differences between boats actually mean to an owner. Ideally a person can spend more than a day on the water on a boat to see things in a variety of conditions.

The only item I might disagree with is #0 and that depends on a person's temperament and resources. There is nothing wrong, and a lot right, with buying a starter boat and sailing it for a year with the general intention of "trading up" (not necessarily in size). Spending significant time actually sailing and cruising on a boat really makes your #3 a lot more meaningful.