Descripción
STEERING – ROLLER FURLING – INBOARD ENGINE – EXCELLENT MARINE STEREO SYSTEM WITH GOOD QUALITY WATERPROOF SPEAKERS – BIMINI FRAME – SET UP WITH AUTOPILOT SYSTEM ON THE WHEEL, SWIM LADDER – BEAUTIFUL
INTERIOR – GOOD STANDING RIGGING – ALL HALYARDS RUN TO COCKPIT – HULL AND DECK VERY GOOD – EXCELLENT WINCHES – NEEDS SAILS
WHICH CAN BE PURCHASED FROM BACON SAILS IN ANNAPOLIS FOR ABOUT $200 TO
$600 EACH DEPENDING ON AGE AND CONDITION.
As Is. The previous owner of this amazing classic vessel fell upon hard
times and left his storage bill unpaid at the boatyard for several
years. This is your opportunity to acquire a vessel valued thousands of dollars for fire sale Ebay auction prices. But here is
the fine print. You need to move it from the boatyard within 2 weeks or
you will lose out on this deal. Vessel must be paid for within 24 hours,
no exceptions. Then you have 2 weeks to either launch the boat and move
it away by water or arrange for a truck and trailer to move it by
land.
Bruce King and his team have designed some of the world’s most
remarkable yachts. His principles are simple: he and his team believe
that to be successful, a yacht must be beautiful. He was a prolific
designer for Ericson with his fiberglass racers and cruisers, but it was
his pioneering use of West System epoxy to construct large super yachts
in wood that allowed him to stay true to a classic design. This design
typically includes a long overhang and a low freeboard to accentuate the
classic sheer and has come to be a signature of many of his classically
beautiful yachts.
Notable awards:
- 1990 International Super Yacht Design Award – Signe
- 1993 International Super Yacht Design Award – Hetairos
- 1994 Show Boats, Best large sailing yacht interior – Alejandra
- 2000 Show Boats, Best sailing yacht 38 meters and under – Antonisa
- 2008 Maine Maritime museum Mariner’s Award
From 1964 to 2004, Bruce King produced boat designs of varied types,
reaching an incredible number of more than 7,000 existing boats. These
include the early production boats, built mostly by Ericson Yachts with
some by Islander, and the large custom sailing yachts. He also designed
some of the radical yachts of the early seventies, and more recently the
Hinckley water jet boats and the Bruce King Superyachts.
According to King, “We have always believed, where yachts are
concerned, that technology and utility are only part of the story. To
fulfill both the utility and technology requirements, and to do so in a
manner encompassing as much visual satisfaction as possible, must be the
goal of a skilled designer. Technology is fleeting; it is constantly
changing. Aesthetic beauty is timeless, and it alone provides the
motivation for preservation. It is hoped that as present technology
gives way to the new, we will continue to be able to impart to our
designs an appeal, both tangible and intangible, that will allow them to
endure.”
Following is an excerpt from an article on the site boattest.com
that was written about Whitehawk, a radical Bruce King-designed yacht
built in 1978. The article does a nice job of explaining many of the
features that set his boats apart from others, especially at that time.
Whitehawk was built in 1978 to a Bruce King design. King was a hot
yacht designer in that era and was most famous for the line of Ericson
fiberglass cruiser/racer sailboats which he had designed. Whitehawk was
built in Rockland, Maine, at Lees Boat-shop by O’Lie Neilson, and at the
time was the largest vessel ever built with the West System product
using the cold molding process. West System was in its infancy. In fact,
Whitehawk was one of the largest boats built in America in that decade
of any material and preceded the era of megayachts by a few years.
Origins of her Fame
Because she was so large, and because she was built all of wood in an
age of fiberglass, she caught the eye and imagination of the boating
press, and a number of articles were written about her. Month after
month, the yachting magazines chronicled her build progress until her
launch in 1978. As a result, generations of yachtsmen have followed her
ever since, and she is one of the most famous sailing yachts in America.
Genuine Tree Wood
She was designed like a classic wooden yacht with all of the
brightwork and luxury details that would have pleased the Astors,
Morgans, or Vanderbilts. On deck and below she looked and was built very
much like yachts or yore. But her hull was different. It was built with
a new process of cold molding that lightened the boat somewhat and made
her more seaworthy at the same time. This process was popularized by
the Gougeon Brothers and their development of the West System of
epoxy/wood construction in Whitehawk was the proof of concept.
Rather than being built in the conventional manner of planks — that
had to be caulked and nailed to heavy frames every few feet or so — cold
molding involves strips of epoxy saturated wood laid over a jig that
formed the hull’s shape. The epoxy not only glued the wood together, but
it also created an impenetrable barrier to water. It was a radical idea
at the time, but it turned out to be a good one and the West System
continues to be a popular method of wood construction.
Topside Finish
Multilayer-planked cold molding with epoxy eliminated the need for
many frames, which lightened the boat and also made her hull more
puncture-resistant. With the elimination of most frames, more livable
room was created inside of her 20’6” (6.25 m) beam. Her exterior surface
was faired and then painted. In one of her recent refits, her hull was
covered in Alexseal, a premium polyurethane topcoat technology that
employs UV absorbers. The result is a glass-like finish with high gloss.
We had the opportunity to inspect her hull from the waterline to her
rail both from the ship’s tender and when swimming around her and can
report that her topside finish is flawless.
Her Keel and Centerboard
Whitehawk draws 7’6” (2.28 m) which allows her to sail into many
places where a sailboat of this size might not be able to enter, thanks
to her stainless-steel centerboard. It increases her draft to 15’ (4.57
m) and improves her performance to windward. The hydraulic centerboard
has holes in the bottom, so it fills with water when deployed. The
combination of her cold molded hull and her centerboard make her
relatively fast off the wind, and while she is by no means a down-wind
sled like a Bruce Farr design, she is nevertheless competitive on the
classic yacht regattas that she enters most years at venues from Antigua
to Nantucket.
Built for Offshore Cruising
She displaces something on the order of 82 tons, which makes her a
substantial yacht, and means that it takes a bit of wind to move her
briskly. This makes her ideal for offshore work and, indeed, on her
delivery last winter from Newport, Rhode Island, to Antigua, she saw
winds up to 35 knots in the north Atlantic and a speedy passage south.
During our own sail south of Antigua, she handled winds from 15 to 25
knots (30 knots in squalls) on a close reach with ease, and we recorded
speeds up to 11.3 knots. Between the islands, seas often grew from four
to six feet and Whitehawk rode over them in comfort – something that can
only be enjoyed in a large, heavy sailboat with a 20’6” (6.25 m) beam.
A Partial list of Notable Bruce King Yachts:
- Whitehawk
- Signe
- Whitefin
- Alejandra
- Chanty
- Sophie
- Hetairos
- Antonisa
- Unicorn
- Terrorist
- Hawkeye
- Aggressive II
- Saskianna
- Liberty
- Maria Cattiva
- Scheherazade
Production Boats designed by Bruce King
- CAPE BAY 31 (1977)
- ERICSON 23-1 (1969)
- ERICSON 23-2 (1975)
- ERICSON 25 (1973)
- ERICSON 25+ (1978)
- ERICSON 26-2 (1972)
- ERICSON 27 (1971)
- ERICSON 28-2 (1986)
- ERICSON 28+ (1980)
- ERICSON 29 (1970)
- ERICSON 30-1 (1967)
- ERICSON 30-2 (1977)
- ERICSON 30+ (1979)
- ERICSON 31C
- INDEPENDENCE (1977)
- ERICSON 31 INDEPENDENCE (CUTTER) (1977)
- ERICSON 32-2 (1969)
- ERICSON 32-200 (1988)
- ERICSON 32-3 (1985)
- ERICSON 34 (1978)
- ERICSON 34-2 (1988)
- ERICSON 34T (1978)
- ERICSON 35-2 (1969)
- ERICSON 35-3 (1982)
- ERICSON 36C (1975)
- ERICSON 37 (1973)
- ERICSON 38 (1979)
- ERICSON 38-200 (1986)
- ERICSON 381 (1983)
- ERICSON 39 (1970)
- ERICSON 39 B (1975)
- ERICSON 41 (1968)
- ERICSON 46 (1971)
- ISLANDER 37 (1966)
- ISLANDER 37 MS (1974)
- ISLANDER 55 (1968)
- TRADEWINDS 55 (1980)
- YACHTCRAFT 37 (1966)
- ZAP 26 (1977)
- ZAP 29 (1978)
research these options and have both your funds in place and your plan
to move it in place prior to bidding. These are the terms of the auction
and this is the reason why you may be able to obtain a boat worth 8K or
10K for a fraction of that price. The boatyard deals in vessels
worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and needs their space in the
boatyard, so this is your opportunity. The easiest way to take
possession of the boat would be to sail it away with an outboard
motor mounted to the back and take possession of it immediately. The
Universal Atomic 4 Engine was reportedly working when the boat was last
used several years ago but that doesn’t mean anything until you come and
service it and test it out. Sold As Is Where Is.
handy with mechanical things I would guess that there is a likely possibility you may be able to get the engine running just with fresh fuel and a charged battery, but there
are no guarantees that the motor with run without significant cost and
effort. You can usually pick up a 6 to 10
hp long shaft outboard motor that isn’t pretty but will get the job
done for a few hundred bucks on FB marketplace or craigslist. Then you
will
have slow mobility and you can launch the boat and take it down the
Delaware river and either anchor it out somewhere in the Delaware or
Chesapeake Bay temporarily or preferably move it to a boatyard where you
can work on it in a boatyard or use it in the water and restore it to
its former glory.
us to discuss how to navigate these options (pun intended) if you are
not already a boater with many years experience talking with boatyards
and marinas. 970 319 6408
the Delaware Bay or in the Chesapeake Bay. You can move the boat through
the C and D canal to the Chesapeake and then find a place to restore it
down in Maryland or Virginia where there are far more affordable and
accessible options. Where the boat is currently located there are not
good options. This is why you must be prepared to move the vessel, using
the outboard motor option if there isn’t a better option.
you pay for the boat, you are paying with the understanding that you
will be moving the boat within 2 weeks. You will get the title from the
marina the same day that the boat leaves their dock and not a moment
sooner. If you don’t move the boat within the 2 weeks then you will lose
your opportunity and you will lose the money you have invested. Please
consider this before bidding. Moving the boat is part and parcel of your
contract to purchase the vessel. It doesn’t really belong to you until
you leave the dock and take possession of it or have it trucked away by a
boat mover or semi truck and low boy trailer.
Delaware river is a tidal estuary which flows both directions with each
movement of the tides, and the tides are around 6 feet. All of this goes without saying if you are an experienced
boater, but if you are new to boats you need to know this.
boat was last in use, but that was a number of years ago and at a bare
minimum you will need new batteries and fresh fuel from a temporary day
use jug and likely servicing the cooling system and changing the
impeller and possibly new starter or other things.
is impossible to know what the engine might need without
servicing and testing or having a marine mechanic do that for you.
Word is the engine was running when the boat was hauled out,
but that is no guarantee of anything. Vessel is sold As Is, where
is…hence the deep discount auction price.
Price Yachts
TRYING TO BUY TWICE
THE BOAT YOUR BUDGET CAN AFFORD?
NEED TO SELL RIGHT
AWAY NO MATTER THE PRICE?
GIVE US A CALL!
HALF PRICE YACHTS
(970) 319-6408
At Half Price Yachts
we specialize in helping normal people achieve exceptional purchasing
power. We help boat buyers embrace an exceptional lifestyle that
normally might be beyond their financial comfort zone.
We help boat owners
become boat sellers when they don’t want to spend another two years
of slip fees and maintenance costs waiting for a full price offer.
If you want to join
the yachting lifestyle or perhaps to make an upgrade in length or
quality from your existing yacht, but without paying full price, we
are America’s connection to affordable vessels that need a bit of
TLC and elbow grease investment in exchange for savings of tens of
thousands of dollars off fair retail market pricing for the same
vessel in turn-key condition.
Nearly every vessel
we sell has some amount of “elbow grease savings” built into its
situation. Usually this also comes with a backstory. We specialize in
yachts whose former owners fell on hard times for whatever reason
(divorces, estate sales, back surgery…all sorts of crazy stories).
Or sometimes they simply became too busy with work or had a spouse
that insists that it’s time to sell the boat for whatever price it
can fetch on a quick sale, as a compromise toward buying that new
beach condo.
Every vessel has a
story. The one criteria we have in picking which boats we either
purchase to re-sell or boats we represent, is that with a little
investment of sweat equity and a few bucks, a buyer will have the
opportunity to acquire a vessel for half the price of what every
other vessel of that make, year and model sells for through a
traditional yacht listing service or yacht brokerage.
If you want a 50%
off deal you’ve found your connection to make that possible.
Whether you want to
acquire a million dollar yacht for a mere 500K or to obtain a
$200,000 global cruiser for a mere hundred thousand or a real classic
FIXER-UPPER for a mere ten thousand, with a fair market value of
twenty thousand in its current “project” status…you have come
to the right place.
Our team has a
combined 45 plus years of experience in the used yacht marketplace in
the United States and Internationally, and through our carefully
cultivated network of connections we are the first folks who get an
opportunity to list vessels anywhere in the US or globally that are
able to be acquired for half off their fair market value.
We have vessels at
all stages of the acquisition and representation stage all across the
US and in your favorite cruising grounds.
If you have a vessel
you wish to sell quickly and easily and you are willing to accept
only 50% of its fair market value, give us a call and we will put it
on our fast-track to connect your vessel with one of our eager buyers
who are ready to drop quick cash to save 50% or more.
If you are in the
market to buy a particular type of yacht and you know that the boat
you really want will likely cost “fair market” twice what you can
afford to spend, give us a call 9-5 M-F (ET) and perhaps we will
already have an inside track on just such a vessel with the sort of
deep discount that will align your modest budget with your
exceptional dreams.
Half Price Yachts
(970) 319 6408
Vessel Owner
Responsibilities and Safe Use Agreement
By placing a legally
binding bid to participate in one of our online auction sales or in
making an agreement to purchase a vessel through Half Price Yachts,
you willingly agree to participate according to the terms of purchase
as described above and below. Your participation in this transaction
constitutes a legal contract to perform certain duties of vessel
ownership and safe use according to your voluntary participation in
this vessel acquisition contract.
Some
vessels may stay where they are with a signed slip rental or land
storage agreement and others must be moved within a short time frame.
Refer to the other details listed in the vessel description and assume
that whatever the shortest time frame listed in the description is the
one that applies to this particular vessel. If you have questions you
may call 970 319 6408.
Purchasing and
owning a marine vessel involves liabilities and obligations of boat
ownership. Neglecting to perform these duties of safe and responsible
boat ownership likewise can terminate your rights to ownership.
In making your
purchase you agree to perform the following actions:
Within 30 days
receipt of boat ownership papers you agree to complete application to
transfer vessel ownership into your name or into the name of your
chosen business or individually designated owner via state
registration or USCG Certificate or official vessel document of other
nation or territory.
You agree to take
physical possession of said vessel and transfer dockage contract or
mooring agreement with the marina or boatyard into your name and thus
assume responsibility for vessel storage charges.
If vessel is not
located at a marina or boatyard, you agree to take physical
possession of the vessel via moving it by water or via boat trailer
or other means to a location where you will be the responsible party
for vessel maintenance and storage. Be aware that certain marinas and
boatyards will require liability insurance in order to receive your
vessel, and obtaining liability insurance for your vessel is your
responsibility as an owner as part and parcel of the requirements of
vessel safe use if your vessel is located at a boatyard or marina
that requires such insurance.
You agree not to
operate said vessel upon public waterways of the United States or in
the national waters of any other nation without first legally
transferring ownership into your own name or the name of your
represented entity of ownership. To operate the vessel in public
waters under the registration number or Certificate of Documentation
number of a previous owner causes liability to fall upon previous
owner for any of your negligence in vessel anchoring or operations.
Such illegal use under a prior owner’s name constitutes a violation
of your ownership contract and may result in vessel impoundment by
Coast Guard, DNR police, previous owner, or other agency with
responsibility to ensure safe and legal vessel use.
In making a purchase
from Half Price Yachts, you agree to the above terms of safe and
responsible marine vessel use. In the event that you do not perform
these duties of safe and legal vessel use and instead leave the
vessel abandoned at a marina or boatyard without paying your marina
or boatyard storage, and if slip rent or vessel storage fees become
more than 60 days past due, you agree to empower Half Price Yachts
with the legal right to seize the vessel, settle your outstanding
storage debts, and either dispose of or re-sell said vessel upon bill
of sale terms to a vessel disposal company or another buyer.
Note to buyers –
This sounds like a harsh clause, and yet many of the marina’s and
boatyards we deal with are often left with vessels that fall into
uncertain gray zones where a past owner purchases a vessel and then
falls upon hard times and allows slip rental payments to fall behind
to the point where they cannot afford to pay their vessel storage
current. This is very similar to renting a storage unit and then
neglecting to pay the bill. Like a storage unit (as seen in the TV
show “Storage Wars” your vessel may be seized and re-sold for
scrap value if you do not pay your slip rent or storage fees for more
than 60 days.
If you wish to avoid
losing the right to continued ownership, it is important that you
either pay your vessel storage at its current location. Do not let
such storage fees become more than 60 days past due. In the event
that you find it becomes financially inconvenient to maintain your
vessel storage payments current, it is your responsibility to settle
past due amounts with the boatyard or marina and then sail or motor
the vessel to a legal anchorage or otherwise re-locate the vessel to
a backyard storage or Boat/RV storage facility or hire a boat mover,
delivery captain, vessel tow captain or exercise any other vessel
storage option available to you in order to take possession and
responsibility of your vessel.
By moving the vessel
to a location under your own management and control and by placing
your own registration numbers and registration stickers on the bow or
by Coast Guard Documenting the vessel and listing the USCG
documentation number in the appropriate location inside the vessel
cabin, you will neutralize any risk of your vessel being re-possessed
and foreclosed by Half Price Yachts for failure to pay slip or
storage fees.
By paying for your
vessel and taking ownership you hereby agree to perform these
contractual duties. You understand that if you do not perform these
duties and responsibilities of safe and legal vessel ownership, you
are voluntarily waiving your rights to vessel ownership and you are
granting Half Price Yachts legal right to foreclose upon your vessel
and deal with these responsibilities in your stead.
In the event that
Half Price Vessels does not re-possess any abandoned vessel, you are
still the responsible party for such vessel even beyond 60 days.
Vessels must be legally registered and legally docked, anchored or
kept on trailer or jack-stands at a location that is under your
management and oversight.
Leaving a vessel
anchored and abandoned in a public anchorage with no-one to monitor
the status of it, does subject your vessel to seizure. However, if
USCG or state marine agencies or Half Price Yachts choose not to
seize said vessel for unsafe abandonment, you are still the legally
responsible party and damages caused by said vessel dragging anchor
or damaging other vessels or property or the natural environment due
to fuel leakage or dragging and collision with corals, sensitive sea
grass, docks, vessels or other real estate or public or private land
or property are the sole liability of the vessel’s most recent
owner of record.
This is why transfer
of vessel ownership is required within 30 days from receipt of vessel
papers and why you may forfeit ownership rights if you abandon your
vessel, anchor it illegally or neglect to pay your slip or storage
fees.
Boat ownership and
the use of public waters is no different than parking a car upon a
public street. If you leave it abandoned beyond the legal and
acceptable posted parking or anchoring limits your vessel or
automobile may be seized and you will forfeit your ownership rights
or be required to pay fees to retrieve your property.
$1000
deposit is not refundable and due right after the auction closes. Remaining balance
is due within 24 hours by Zelle, Cash
App, cash
in hand, cashiers check or personal check (once cleared–for an in
person closing) or via direct bank transfer to our Wells Fargo
business account if you do not use any of the financial apps
mentioned above.
IF
A BOAT INSPECTION IS NECESSARY FOR YOU TO FEEL CONFIDENT ABOUT
COMMITTING TO A PURCHASE PLEASE CALL TO ARRANGE A BOAT INSPECTION
PRIOR TO PLACING YOUR BID. YOUR BID IS A LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT TO
PURCHASE THIS VESSEL IN AS IS CONDITION. PLEASE SCHEDULE YOUR BOAT
INSPECTION PRIOR TO PLACING YOUR BID IF THAT IS A CRITERIA FOR YOUR
DECISION MAKING PROCESS.
Half
Price Yachts
970 319 6408
If
you are the high bidder at the close of the auction please call right
after auction closes to discuss the details of the transaction &
tell us what name/ address you want on the Bill of Sale. 970 319-6408
CLEAR OWNERSHIP PAPERS.
If
you want to call and discuss your cruising or cruising plans and
dreams and whether or not this boat might actually work to suit your
needs we will be happy to speak with you and give you my honest
opinion about the feasibility of your plans and whether this vessel
might or might not work for you. Feel free to call and chat.
MOVING
A BIG YACHT WITH A BOAT MOVER CAN BE VERY EXPENSIVE. OFTEN $4 OR MORE
PER MILE. WE ARE HAPPY
TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE OPTIONS IN THAT REGARD IF YOU WANT TO GIVE
US A CALL.
By far the most affordable way to move a boat is by water, so please
consider whether your location is accessible to move the boat by
water or whether you will need to pay the higher cost of having it
moved by truck and trailer. Also consider the time it will take to
prepare for a voyage and whether your sailing skills or those of
friends or other sailors you might find through the yacht crew
websites are at the level necessary to make a safe voyage from the
ocean where the boat is located to your home port.
NOW
IF YOU AREN’T YET TIRED OF READING, HERE ARE A FEW INSIGHTS TO SHARE
ABOUT BUYING BOATS AND CHOOSING THE RIGHT BOAT FOR OCEAN FISHING OR
LIVE-ABOARD CRUISING FROM ONE OF OUR FOUNDING PARTNERS:
Our
passion is to assist folks who are making a transition from day
sailing or coastal cruising to becoming full-time live-aboard world
cruisers. We also assist new sailors or boaters who are just getting
into the sport of yachting by advising them on how to develop their
skills and how to make plans to pursue the dream of cruising and
world traveling full-time.
We
have extensive contacts and resources for finding good world cruising
boats, fishing boats and pleasure yachts at far below their fair
market value, and occasionally we discover an amazing neglected
vessel at a price that we know may enable a cruising family or a
retired couple on fixed income the ability to pursue the dream of
cruising without the sort of means and savings normally associated
with pursuing this lifestyle.
In
those cases, like this boat, we work to try and find a new home for a
good “below market value” boat, with people who will fully
restore the vessel, and hopefully use it for the serious cruising
that the boat was designed for.
There
are many aspects of life where experience really matters, but none so
much as global cruising or offshore fishing. When you are planning to
take a small boat across vast oceans and visit foreign ports of call
on your own terms you must truly learn to become Master’s of your Own
Destiny. It doesn’t matter how wealthy you are or how talented you
are at managing large organizations or companies with dozens of staff
people.
When
you are on a boat in the middle of the ocean, the choices you have
made, the choices you will make and your own internal skills and the
undeniable truth of how well or poorly you have planned for your
expedition, are the factors that will determine whether your
experiences become a positive adventure or a frightening (or even
life threatening) catastrophe.
When
you are looking at a boat parked peacefully at a dock or on jack
stands at a boat yard, you will be tempted to judge it based on
whether the lines are nice and whether it is pretty or ugly and
whether it is new or old and well kept or run down.
The
ocean however, operates according to immutable laws of physics. The
ocean does not care whether it sinks a pretty boat or keeps an ugly
one floating. It does not care whether you are a skilled sailor with
dozens or years experience under your shade hat or whether you are an
amateur on your first weekend pleasure cruise. You will be served
exactly the same conditions of wind and waves whether you were born
wealthy or if you were raised in a cave by baboons.
The
only control you have over these situations is knowing when to sail
and when not to sail, and you can prepare yourself so that when the
wrong situation strikes, if it ever does, you are skilled and
prepared to deal with it and have a vessel that is prepared to handle
the same.
For
people who are wanting to go cruising full-time, or who want to go
from being pleasure sailors to competent seamen and seawomen,
choosing the right boat is the first and sometimes ultimately most
important decision of their nautical lives.
Of
course you can always sell or trade a boat and then buy a different
one, but still the choice of each boat will influence the experiences
you have and it will determine in many ways the capabilities or
limitations of what you can or can’t do while you have that boat for
your home—even if it is only home for a few weekends here and
there.
There
are many nuances and subtleties to sailing and power yachting, as
well as to each individual vessel. A boat that may be just exactly
perfect for one sailor or family of sailors, may be completely the
wrong boat to suit another person’s dreams.
By
nature, boats require a lot of maintenance and upgrades, and if you
are someone who wants all the possible bells and whistles, boating
can be a very expensive occupation.
However,
there are also ways to save a lot of money and still pursue the dream
effectively and safely and create a new floating paradise for
yourself. But each person or each couple’s needs are different.
There
is no such boat as a boat that is not a project boat.
A
cruiser friend I know well (a relatively wealthy man at the time)
purchased a brand new 46 footy yacht for his family to live on for
years and to cruise the world on, the first thing he did to a brand
new half million dollar boat was to spend another $27K on equipment
upgrades, new electronics installations and custom modifications.
No
boat, no matter how shiny and brand new, is exactly right for
everyone’s individual tastes and needs, and no boat comes straight
from the factory completely ready to do anything other than Wednesday
afternoon beer can races or weekend pleasure cruising.
I
often get asked by people who are shopping for a used boat to go
cruising the world, “Is this boat ready to cross the Atlantic?”
or “Does it need anything before it is ‘Ready to Sail.”
The
very nature of that question is a showcase of their naivety. Even if
the answer were “Yes, the boat is ready.” (which would be
impossible to have any boat ready unless you have spent thousands of
dollars on a cruising chandlery and provisioning service ahead of
time) the greater question is “Are such ignorant sailors who need
to ask such questions ready themselves?”
Even
if they had the absolutely perfect boat, prepared ahead of time by
die-hard professionals to get it ready to cast off the lines and sail
to points distant and exotic, would the sailors know where everything
is at on the boat and how to operate those systems and how not to
break them with ignorant mistakes or how to fix them once broken? And
if they knew all those things, would the boat be equipped with the
necessary repair tools and supplies as part of the process of getting
it ready to sail?
So
all these are big questions, and the only easy answer is that any
sailor must become intimately familiar with their vessel prior to
making long voyages beyond sight of land.
The
easiest way to become familiar with a boat so that it is not a
stranger but rather a trusted old friend is to do a lot of weekend
coastal cruising with it, while you work all the bugs out.
Also,
the more projects and upgrades you do yourself the more familiar you
will be with how they work, how to maintain them and how to fix them
again if anything every goes wrong. To depend on the expertise of
professionals left behind in a port in a distant country you cleared
out of months ago is only to invite future disaster…and its also
much harder on the wallet.
So
any time you can add to your own skills and knowledge of your own
boat by doing your own work, or hiring a professional to help you do
it yourself, you are preparing yourself for future success as a
cruiser.
Any
boat, even a brand new boat, will have things about it that you want
to change or upgrade or move or install prior to making long voyages.
The
better questions to ask are:
What
is the proper amount of maintenance and upgrades that I will make to
my vessel prior to setting sail?
How
many things need to be changed or fixed before I leave the
continental US?
How
many projects will I work on, as little projects along the way, when
I have a slow day at a boring anchorage and there are no cruiser
parties to attend and no interesting conversations of the side
channels of the VHF?
How
many projects are absolutely vital to get accomplished before I begin
actively using the boat as a full time residence and a floating RV
that can sail to any country with a coastline?
How
many projects do I want to tackle myself if it means I can save
literally tens of thousands of dollars on the purchase price of a
boat, and how much more ultimate value do I get for my money by
buying a larger or more seaworthy boat with a few bigger projects to
tackle than if I buy a smaller or more flimsy boat that is cleaned up
nicer and has fewer problems to address?
Remember
the ultimate cosmic law of boating – even if you can’t see any
problems at all with a boat, and no projects needing doing, as soon
as you own it and begin to sail it, you will start to find those
quirks and bugs. So don’t fool yourself into believing that you can
simply buy a shiny new boat from a broker at full market value, or
even by paying more than boat blue book value, to avoid ever having
to make repairs or upgrades.
Any
experienced sailor or boating professional other than someone selling
fancy new boats will admit to you that there is no such boat other
than a “project boat.” The only question is “What are the
projects and how much money will I save by doing them myself versus
hiring someone else to complete them?”
Every
boat that I have ever bought or ever sold, which is now many dozens
of them, had varying degrees of things needing to be improved about
it. Even the brand new boats straight from the showroom floor or boat
show sales dock will need bottom painting and new zincs and fuel
cleansing treatments and oil changes and manifold and riser
inspections within a matter or months of casual weekend use.
The
longer any boat sits without the proper level of loving regular
maintenance the faster it will deteriorate, and tiny 15 minute
projects will turn into hour-long projects and hour-long projects
will turn into day-long or week-long projects due to continuing
neglect.
The
quality of the build is also important. A cheap boat will have cheap
boat problems, and it will have serious issues far faster and more
frequently than a very well built boat from an esteemed yacht
designer and builder even if the better boat looks worse initially.
In
many ways you are better off to buy an older and more well regarded
vessel in worse “first impressions” condition than to buy a shiny
and well kept cheaper new boat. In the long run the better boat will
cause far fewer headaches once you have it restored fully and you are
taking care of it yourself, whereas the cheap but glossy boat may
still look new and shiny for years, but begin having serious and
costly problems that cannot be seen even while it still looks great
in Facebook boat pictures.
Boating
is like riding a horse or driving a high performance sports car. You
always have to be involved in the life of your boat whether you use
it frequently or not.
But
this is not a bad thing, because it is part of the pride of
ownership, and the regular maintenance and upkeep and small projects
is what enables you to avoid the big ones or to at least know which
big ones you need to do sooner and which ones can wait till later.
Having
realistic expectations and entering these boating decisions
thoughtfully, considering your many choices on the front end will
help you to achieve your dreams in a practical and realistic way
without surprises.
Standard
Legal Disclaimer – Vessels are sold “As Is” with no
warranty either express or implied. The Company listing this vessel
for sale offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot
guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the
condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his
surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires
validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price
change, or withdrawal without notice.
Vessel launch or loading onto a trailer (to be provided by you – no trailer is included with the boat) is pre-paid. 7 days of free storage is included with the auction. After the initial 7 days you will be charged a $30 per day storage fee, so please have your arrangements in place to launch or load and haul the boat by land quickly before storage fees become excessive.
Vessel cannot stay in its current location long term as the boatyard is located in premium waterfront real estate district where land storage availability is hard to come by. They have a policy against storing vessels over 10 years old for over-winter storage and they need the boatyard space to accommodate other newer vessels which have already paid their winter storage contracts.
Note – The vessel seen sailing in the photos is a sistership photo from old brochures just to show what these fine boats look like when underway. The other photos were taken just last week and are the actual photos of the vessel in its current condition.
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