buying. how long did it take you

`bout 30 years,and still lookin`.Had about 20 boats in that time,some ok, some better.No matter what boat you eventually settle on, you`ll still look at all the rest, as your experience of ownership mounts,to find more desirable features, or less of some other features or design issues. It will consume your entire life............
Cheers
Pete
 
10 months of travelling all over the country... pouring over on-line descriptions and researching boat types, strengths and weaknesses...

actually quite enjoyed it....

but Pete is right.... once you've got it, and used it a bit, you realise why its not quite perfect, and start thinking about what you need in the next one.....
 
About 4 months.

Spent about 5 years chartering here and there. This gave the backgound for sort of thing we were after. Then decided about Xmas 4 years ago that we were ready to buy our first boat. Found boat about Feb (ie 2 months). If was quite different to the spec, by the way. We were looking for a motor sailor and were swept off our feet by a gem of a sigma 362: chalk and cheese or what? All done by Easter. On reflection, its a bit small below but we like it being fast. We are cruisers, not interested racing, but we can get where we want to go pretty quickly even though we still don't really know how to drive it to full advantage. We are also somewhat of impulse buyers. Still have have the boat though.

Regards
Peter
 
Less than 6 weeks from having the cash to spending it!
and the boat was excellent, one of the best I've sailed in over 25 years of sailing.

Oh and it wasn't on my list that I'd been thinking about for about 10 years.
 
took a LONG time researching what I wanted. Found a suitable boat for sale, viewed it in south of france and bought it there and then subject to satisfactory survey - that was 18 years ago and I still have the same boat.
 
Thanks for your replys,
It has taken me 4 months now,
I am getting to know all the brokerages or should i say they are getting to know me,
It is the most hardest thing to buy i am usually great at shopping LOL ,
 
You may not believe it but you'll have learnt a lot in those 4 months.
Don't be too impatient, you'll find the right one in the end.
 
having decided I couldn't afford what I wanted, even if it existed, it took 3 years to build (and probably the next 10 to finish it!)
 
I have learned loads,
Cant wait to get one,
Isaw one boat had a name catherina and liked her because of her name,
Ever brought a boat because of her name and thought it is fate you brought her?
when i first walked in looking for boats they must have thought great,
I didnt ask for any doccuments or anything,
Had i seen one i loved i would not have checked them out,

I have just seen another build of boat the hallberg rassy i really like,
But they seem a bit rare for sale in the uk for the price i have to spend,
Wow snow leopard you built your own boat thats great maybe you can build mine too,
 
Hi Mud,
You think most boat sellers expect to much,
I have noticed one thing is alot of them have very out of date saftey
equipment and if they are in date they are the boats that cost way over price,
And the specs sheets are always wrong ,
Also they are all selling due to ill health if i hear that 1 more time ill go mad LOL,
I even ask why now but they still tell me,
dont mean to sound uncaring but 99% of owners or brokers have told me this LOL,
 
[ QUOTE ]
Ever brought a boat because of her name and thought it is fate you brought her?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yup, we knew the yacht we wanted (Moody 346) and then found one called "Pentangle". Fate!!! one of my favourite folky groups of the late 60's; although this wasn't their reason for calling her that. The owners wanted to keep the name for their new yacht- reluctantly we agreed to rename her. And then we saw their new yacht a short time later - called Pentangle II. I was gutted /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

And the name we chose for our new purchase - Moondance (the song by Van Morrison).
 
Took me six months from the time of knowing I wanted to buy a boat to getting her in the water.
Scanned brokers throughout Europe and all the usual magasines and web sites..... Was very helpful for fixing price ranges and what I could get for my money.
One thing I found was that once I got interested in a particular boat model, trawling the internet for user groups very quickly gave me a lot of information on what to watch out for, and would it suit my particular needs etc....
I bought in Early March, by then the owner was getting desparate because he was looking at another bill for hard standing in the boatyard and the boat was beginning to look tatty after the winter. Without any haggling I had seen the selling price descend by 7000 pounds from November to March.
Not sure that others would agree but a good time to buy seems to be at the end of the season through to early Spring.... These times are when people want to get shot of the boat before the winter costs and innevitable deterioration hit them.
 
First boat took about 3 months (the first two months getting over the heartbreak of having my first two choices fail on survey!) in the end I chose the boat for its name Drunken Duck which was irrestible and luckliy it being an older version of the other two failures it passed its survey as it was made of sterner stuff!

The second boat took about 3 months. I knew which type I wanted and collected all the specs to find one that had exactly what I wanted. Luckily it came up and passed survey and the process of viewing to holding the keys took just over a month.

Third boat I had my eye for 8 months before I could get to see it, this purchase then took the longest, 4 months from start to finish, and I thought she was the perfect boat until boat number four turned up.

Boat four otherwise known as the dream boat, took 6 weeks from seeing it to buying it, and it crept in to surprise me as I had not even been looking for one.

The perfect boat however probably doesn't exist, as no sooner do you have what you thought was the perfect boat, you will soon start thinking about ways it could have been improved or others things that in practise would have been better!

Many owners sell due to ill health because they are now thoroughly sick of the boat as it is no longer the perfect boat to them! The actual number of ill healths is usually more like 20%!
 
Definitely do a lot of research before buying - visit second hand boat shows in the autumn and don't be afraid to offer less than the asking price, with a survey of course when you can sometimes negotiate more.
S/H boat shows are good as you can look at lots of boats in a day, several on the South Coast and on the East Coast - look in the ads in the yachting mags. When you see the boat you want you'll know straight away - don't hesitate - go for it! After my first 20 footer, I bought a 23' as a 'Best offer secures after xxx date' had to make a decision within 8 hours. Then looked for about 6 months before buying the 27', then made the fatal mistake of going to the East Coast Boat Show at Suffolk Yacht Harbour last autumn - made a 'silly' offer on a 33' and got it after a bit more haggling! I'm now poor!
 
We took 3 months to get Amber after 2 false starts (one failed survey, one vendor withdrawal). Gainsborough Lady, we weren't looking... The main comment is the general manky state people present boats in. Doesn't seem to make a difference to asking price.

There canbe no such thing as a perfect boat, because any boat is a compromise, and it's the way ones needs change and match or not those compromises.
 
About six months spent checking sites on the web, some driving around Holland, finally buying in UK. Then 4 months from initial view until sailing away. It was an interesting experience to try to bring a UK-registered boat to Holland for use on Belgian coast. This is 2.5 years ago and haven't regretted it.
Driving around looking sure helps to make up your mind on what you want.
Victor
 
From start to finish i.e from first looking to delivery of boat about 18 months. From order to delivery took about 6 months and from seeing the boat at Earls Court to test sailing it about 3 months. To sum up
Actively looking and test sailing various designs: 9 months
Time between spotting boat and test sailing: 3months
Delivery time after test sailing: 6 months.
Was it worth 18 months of my life? You bet it was !!!!!!!!
 
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