Buying a small yacht

[Kelpie]

I should stress I have no real reason to worry about the engine, the vendor is a mechanic, it started first turn after months not running, it's internals are freshwater cooled and we will run it under load as part of sea trials

But my life contains a few comic "incidents" and I don't want to be "that headline"

Was thinking about the Uma option and thus a bigger 6hp engine but a 2.6m tender???

Diesel engines are pretty simple beasts. Give them clean fuel, enough oil, and cooling water, and they will just go on and on and on. Much simpler and longer lived than a large outboard.

Your sails are your primary means of propulsion, the engine is the auxiliary. If it's flat calm and for some reason you can't safely lie to anchor until help arrives, then maybe it's worth thinking of a way of using your tender to get you out of trouble, but it's pretty far down the list of things to worry about. I've towed larger boats than yours using a rubber dinghy and a pair of oars- not over any great distance of course, but it's feasible when there's not enough wind to fill the sails.

 

[SirMorris]

Other lift keels are available- e.g. my Deb 33 has draft of less than 1.2m with the keel up, and beaching legs for drying out. There's not many about but substantially cheaper than a Southerly. And (shameless plug) mine is coming on the market very soon!

is your DEB 33 on the market yet?

 

[Kelpie]

is your DEB 33 on the market yet?

I'm afraid you're a couple of weeks too late!

 

[Segart]

Interesting Thread. How goes it Grant. Any updates?
Cheers Rick

 

[Jim@sea]

Thanks BW

We've kind of assumed any boat at this level will be hard to sell unless we find a clean Centaur for 3k ?

I found that when I had a 24ft boat to sell buyers wanted Bilge Keels. The boat I had was unsuitable for a drying out mooring,. It needed to be kept in a marina either on a pontoon or on the hard standing. I guessed that people who could only afford a £5000 boat did not want to spend £2000 a year in a mearin.
So I ended up with a 24ft Trailer Sailer, lifting keel, and it came with a trailer.
I would like a Centaur but would want one which had a recent engine. I looked at an Achilles 24 Bilge Keel but the engine did not run and parts for the engines which were fitted from new are unobtainable. I don't see the point in buying a boat for £3000 spending £3500 on a new engine which would only put the value up to £5000. They did make Achilles 24's with an outboard but the ones which were for sale were hundreds of miles away so I did not bother.

 

[dgadee]

I found that when I had a 24ft boat to sell buyers wanted Bilge Keels. The boat I had was unsuitable for a drying out mooring,. It needed to be kept in a marina either on a pontoon or on the hard standing. I guessed that people who could only afford a £5000 boat did not want to spend £2000 a year in a mearin.
So I ended up with a 24ft Trailer Sailer, lifting keel, and it came with a trailer.
I would like a Centaur but would want one which had a recent engine. I looked at an Achilles 24 Bilge Keel but the engine did not run and parts for the engines which were fitted from new are unobtainable. I don't see the point in buying a boat for £3000 spending £3500 on a new engine which would only put the value up to £5000. They did make Achilles 24's with an outboard but the ones which were for sale were hundreds of miles away so I did not bother.

I am just putting a new engine into a twin keel Seawolf (bit bigger than an Achilles) and accept that I probably won't get the money back should I sell now. However, my half tide mooring is not very expensive and I have no intention of selling. If I was buying now, I would buy a twin keel boat with an older engine (not so many will want it) and expect to get it at a good price. I would then put a new engine in and be left with a boat which can use low cost moorings and where I get the benefit of a new engine for my period of ownership.. I probably kept the old engine for too long - I had to spend a few hundred on getting the head sorted - and although it was sold on with plenty of life left, it would have been a wiser investment to re-engine earlier rather than later. But it is always easy to be wise after the event.

All this, of course, only works if you can do the work yourself. Having it put in professionally changes the economics.

And, half tide moorings only work if you aren't using it for regular weekly racing. I cruise with the Seawolf so have no problem with the constraints.

 

[GrantD]

Interesting Thread. How goes it Grant. Any updates?
Cheers Rick

Hi Rick
Slowpoke reply......

We ended up with a Marcon Sabre for 5k decent survey sound engine, good sails etc

Lovely boat really and we were excited.

Then we did most things wrong, failed to get to grips with it (some good life related reasons for that) and basically neglected it for 4 years.

Anybody wants her now she's available free. Still sound but very shabby.

We bought ok but learned the craft of boat care too slowly.

Grant.