Best place on the east coast to start hunting for the killer deal

[FamilyVan]

Originally Posted by dbeausoleil

The best deal is where the most boats are. That's Florida.
The best maintained boats are held by retired people that spend all their time taking care of them/maintaining them. Florida.
The best deals are on boats where the owner can no longer operate them and/or died of old age and the family is disposing of them quickly and going back to their life in Wisconsin ASAP. Florida.
The DEA/ATF auctions are the lowest prices of any boat. My pal buys $1,500,000 boats at DEA actions in Miami where they are towed in for sale after confiscation, buys them for $500,000, tows them to RI, refits them for <$500,000, then sells them for $1,500,000. It's all he does.

Yes, there are some very nice boats in inland waterways and the Great Lakes. There's also a much smaller selection and transport costs to consider.

Conversely, on the west coast, DEA tows them into San Diego, but you're not looking there.

Not to say folks in RI, NH, Maine, CT and NJ don't grow old and frail and stop using their boats; Just that they (enmass) tend to retire in FL and take their boat down there until they end up limited to the land.

best of luck!

Smaller selection on the Great Lakes? Maybe- but the selection has a much better average condition for old boats, no warm salt air.

The great lakes have some pretty significant boating communities. Toronto, Chicago, Detroit River, Georgian Bay, Thousand Islands. Toronto alone has a massive selection of used boats I can think of 11 Yacht Clubs 6 marinas in the city proper, never mind the greater metropolitan area.

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[daniel even zur]

Here's a joke.
Two members heard that in America you can make money easily. When off the plane in New York, they found a $ 100 bill on the floor. One member wanted to pick it up, the second said to him stop..., we are not going to stat working!

[mariner36bob]

Visit New England in October as the end of the season approaches and the decommission/storage bills go out....


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[brownoarsman]

There are great deals in Florida, but it's a chance of luck if they come up when you're there. There was a Catalina 30 asking 12k but very open to offers that had been outfitted to cruise the Bahamas in January, and Canadian owners were selling in June due to family health in Canada.
However, what I found looking at boats in this price range was that most were absolute crap (rotted mast steps, corroded chain plates, wet decks, bilges awash in oil, Home Depot fixes as they were being used as liveaboards not sailing vessels,etc.)
With a van, you might be able to wait around long enough to pounce on one. With the cost of rental cars, I took the best I could find.
Your best bet may be to head to the keys, especially marathon, where boats are cheapish (beware liveaboards) and vans can be sold for good money!


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[jwcolby54]

Originally Posted by FamilyVan

Great deals on good old boats on the great lakes. No salt water, out of the water 6 months of the year. Its not the east coast, but is connected to the east coast. If you're in Illinois, not much of a road trip is necessary. Start in Chicago.

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What he said. ^

Seriously, I watch ebay.

Then I set up my browser for Craigslist, with a tab for each of the major areas on the east coast, all set up with filters to get at the size / cost I could even look for. I had a tab for the NJ coast, the Chesapeake bay, the NC coast, the SC coast, the north FL coast, the miami area, the keys, tampa bay, New Orleans and Houston.

Then I set up another browser with tabs for major markets for the great lakes.

This is important because it takes awhile of looking at things to really start to feel what is a good deal, what is a project, what I can afford, how far it is and how that is going to impact my cost. Also how the cost of boats vary by market. For example, South Fl is cheaper than New England for equivelent boats. Then I also set up a couple of browsers for the major yacht sales web sites, complete with filters.

PopYachts.com, YachtWorld.com, SailboatListings.com. If you are at the low end, some of those may not have the actual boats you are looking for, they like to sell high priced stuff, BUT they will have LOTS of the same model but priced high, which will allow you to look at pictures, layout, equipment listings etc.

So I could open my browser, load an entire set of tabs and just click through the tabs and check them out.

Once you do that, and after you get a feel for what is something you would actually want, start making offers. NOT asking price.

Part of the reason for setting up the browsers are that you can start to see how long the boats have been on the market. A boat priced high and put up last week is not one that is likely to be realistic about taking something less. A boat that has dropped 4 times in the last month... they want to sell. And yep, that happens.

And finally, try not to get locked in to a specific brand or model. Figure out what is important to you. Do you want speed (racing) or comfort? Lots of interior room? Long and heavy, short and light? Beamy (larger interior) or narrow (smaller interior). Shoal draft?

Look at SailBoatData to really LEARN what the data means. LOA vs LWL, Beam, Sail Area, Displacement, Ballast, DRAFT (CRITICAL) SA/Disp. Not to mention tank sizes (fuel / water). And sometimes to see the floor plan.

If you are into computers, set up Excel to do the calcs for you from those things listed above. You need to get MCR and CSF (look them up to see what they mean). Excel was my friend in analyzing the boats. I ended up putting SailBoatData stuff into Excel for about 60 boats.

And finally, be realistic about what you want vs can afford.

Just an FYI, it took me about 4 months to find the boat I wanted.

[daniel even zur]

UNCIVILIZED
Hi
You gave an amazing detailed reply . Charming that people invest time and empathy
to help

[laika]

Wookie, here you go: 1975 Bristol 27 sailboat for sale in North Carolina Ask a firm $10K and sail away.

Or go to NC, buy something like this, do all your work at Sailcraft Services in Oriental. Cheap living while you work, excellent knowledge around the yard.. full of qualified tradesmen glad to answer questions. Neuse River right outside good practice grounds.

With the three of you, spend the rest of the summer getting ready to go. Come fall, head south to islands.

[Wookiee_King]

Wow, I didn't expect this thread to take off so fast. I probably should have added a few more details about myself. As far as being able to make my own repairs, I am very confident in my ability to fix most anything that is fixable. I grew up on a farm, and have spent the last 6 years restoring pre 68 VWs and Porsches. Usually when I can't figure out how to do something I take a case of beer to the oldest grumpiest guy around and ask how he would do it and listen. You old timers love to tell young punks how to do stuff. We are looking at some boats in the great lakes region, but would prefer to start on the east coast. Thanks for all the info guys and gals, keep it coming.

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[FamilyVan]

Originally Posted by Wookiee_King

Wow, I didn't expect this thread to take off so fast. I probably should have added a few more details about myself. As far as being able to make my own repairs, I am very confident in my ability to fix most anything that is fixable. I grew up on a farm, and have spent the last 6 years restoring pre 68 VWs and Porsches. Usually when I can't figure out how to do something I take a case of beer to the oldest grumpiest guy around and ask how he would do it and listen. You old timers love to tell young punks how to do stuff. We are looking at some boats in the great lakes region, but would prefer to start on the east coast. Thanks for all the info guys and gals, keep it coming.

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We're not all old timers

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[laika]

32, w/ occasional minor backpains

[laika]

If this thing has 3 berths, you could be sittin pretty in FL before you know it: For Sale: CS 27 $15,000 - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

As the buyer, you're in a great position to take advantage of all the money other people have thrown at their boats. I just underwent an extensive refit myself and there's no way in hell I'll ever get even a fraction of the money back, much less all the time and sweat equity.

[jwcolby54]

Originally Posted by laika

As the buyer, you're in a great position to take advantage of all the money other people have thrown at their boats. I just underwent an extensive refit myself and there's no way in hell I'll ever get even a fraction of the money back, much less all the time and sweat equity.

Exactly!

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by dbeausoleil

The best deal is where the most boats are. That's Florida.
The best maintained boats are held by retired people that spend all their time taking care of them/maintaining them. Florida.
The best deals are on boats where the owner can no longer operate them and/or died of old age and the family is disposing of them quickly and going back to their life in Wisconsin ASAP. Florida.
The DEA/ATF auctions are the lowest prices of any boat. My pal buys $1,500,000 boats at DEA actions in Miami where they are towed in for sale after confiscation, buys them for $500,000, tows them to RI, refits them for <$500,000, then sells them for $1,500,000. It's all he does.

Yes, there are some very nice boats in inland waterways and the Great Lakes. There's also a much smaller selection and transport costs to consider.

Conversely, on the west coast, DEA tows them into San Diego, but you're not looking there.

Not to say folks in RI, NH, Maine, CT and NJ don't grow old and frail and stop using their boats; Just that they (enmass) tend to retire in FL and take their boat down there until they end up limited to the land.

best of luck!

While I agree the greatest concentration of cruising sailboats is in Florida. The quality was poor.

Our experience was lots of boats, very few sailors, and most boats were either poorly maintained or damaged by the humidity.

We looked at 125 yachts across the whole gulf coast, carribean, west coast and in Europe.

Finding a cheap uncomfortable boat is easy. Craigslist.

Living cheaply on the east coast will not be cheap. Clearly marinas are out.

If you want / need to fix a boat or get it bristol that will cost time and money.

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[Cap Erict3]

A lot of people in Texas buy and refit boats for cruising then never take them out past the jetties. Houston / Clear Lake area has many a jewel that just needs an owner.

There is a Wharram Cat, a trimaran, a yawl and a couple of others a short walk from me that could could be had by someone willing to call the owners with an offer.

A good thing about Houston is that jobs are here to support a boating addiction


------------------------------
Looking for another pretty place to work on the boat.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Here are my favorite "Wise Words" as relate to this topic by none other than Nigel Calder. A Refit Reality Check | Cruising World Including some of the Key ones in the article to which I should have paid heed to a couple of (very expensive) times.
"If structural integrity is at all in question, you should walk away from any deal."

Also, to the OP, take a read of my writeup on the Cal 29' in the thread which I linked to earlier. That, & some of the key & or critical qualities to look for in a (candidate) boat.
- Also, it's good to see (well, hear) that the Old School ways of acquiring wisdom haven't fallen totally by the wayside. Your "trick" of "listening" is still alive & well in the sailing community. Especially when it comes to how to pick, setup, & fix gear.

PS: I'm in the market for a set of wheels. You happen to know of a "re-loved" 911 in need of a home? Preferably one @ a reasonable price.

daniel even zur,
Thank you for the kind words. Courtesy of my starting sailing very young, with good mentors, & my time in the Navy. I learned pretty early on to "pay it forward", & a few other traits of character, which, when I remember to use them, are handy ones to have in my "toolbox".


PS: It's still fairly easy to find nicely fitted out Cal 29's on CL for $4-5k, BTW.