Can a refit be financially worth it?

[Sailorsam101]

I've started spending a bit of money on my targa 33. Yes it is old and the angled styling might not suit everybody buts i really like it.

I know it will last a long time if i look after it. I could spend 60k and boat the same size but newer and in better condition..but give it five or ten years and i will still have to start to spend money.

I ride motorbikes as well..all my bikes are pre 2006..which if you don;t know is when new EU rules came in that killed many a nice bike and made it into an electronic pig. My bikes are older but simple and i can fix anything that breaks myself.

My approach to boats is the same. I choose a style i wanted and a condition that fitted my budget..now i will update and maintain it to a standard that is what i want and need.

I don't need that latest curved this and that and underwater lights..not for me..in the Solent anyway.

As an earlier post said...i can cruise in comfort at 20kts for 40lph..and for a boat of this size i think is OK. What would a newish Targa 36 give me that a 25 year old targa 33 would not?

And anyway it's always a very bad idea to link boats a value for money together...!!!

 

[KevB]

This looks a nice boat that could do with a very minor refit. It won't put anything onto the value but what a great boat it'll be for an all in updated price of less than £100k. Looks much bigger than it's advertised 46' too

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OCEAN-ALEXANDER-46FT-FLYBRIDGE-CRUISER-/162043240798?hash=item25ba87a15e:g:SeoAAOSwMmBVzIYY

 

[Hurricane]

Mike, forgetting depreciation and man-maths.
What about reliability?
The older boats might be more of a problem mechanically - generally speaking.

I seem to remember at LIBS we agreed with JTB that we all have different views anyway.
You seem to buy well at about 4 or 5 years old.
Some buy new and sell after 3 or 4 years - some even after a season.
Some buy old and spend the difference on refits - just like your OP
If you remember, you both looked at me and said that I buy new and never sell.
Lots of different views and different reasons for these very different strategies.

 

[jfm]

I buy new and never sell.

I'm thinking of joining you in that camp Mike

Even if I don't have an AncamVoiceEdition®

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

What about reliability?
The older boats might be more of a problem mechanically - generally speaking.

Yup fair point but then you'd assume that a major refit would involve refitting all the oily bits but yes I agree a refit is not going to replace every single mechanical or electrical item on a boat and therefore a refitted older boat might prove less reliable than a newer one

You seem to buy well at about 4 or 5 years old.
Some buy new and sell after 3 or 4 years - some even after a season.
Some buy old and spend the difference on refits - just like your OP
If you remember, you both looked at me and said that I buy new and never sell.
Lots of different views and different reasons for these very different strategies.

Yup also fair point. Unlike you, I am a habitual changer of boats, cars and bikes. If I could afford to, I'd buy a new boat every few years but I can't so I've found that with boats a strategy of buying at 5yrs and selling before 10yrs strikes a balance between affordability and feeding my habit. But I've still lost a lot of money on used boats in recent years because the market has deteriorated so badly which is why, after reading this article, I started wondering about whether an older boat + refit makes more sense.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

I think in your case it might have meant not needing or wanting to sell and purchase again. So if it means you keep the boat another 3-5 years man maths begins to work.

If the alternative is selling one boat and buying another bigger boat to get a bigger bathing platform / new interior or whatever then the way boats are priced you spend a fortune at £100k plus per metre!

Henry

Yep, there was a bit of that - I own my berth in SoF so really it was about the whole boat/berth package. I couldn't think of a boat that I'd rather have that would fit on my current berth; and the resale market for smaller berths such as mine in PV has completely stalled because the end of the lease is only about 5 years away.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Love it! Can I just say that you would have got your money back if you'd chosen SideviewAncam®

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

When I saw the Tecnomar in the mag my immediate reaction was 'That'll take some selling when the time comes' but as others have commented it depends what use he gets out of it. If he spends 3 or 4 weeks and a dozen weekends a year on it he could probably justify (to himself) the spend. If, on the other hand, you buy a mainstream boat and keep the upgrades on the right side of the curve it won't get your money back but you will be able to shift it a bit easier when your man maths is no longer justified.

Yeah, although on the other hand (1) he's done it before, by the sounds of it (2) he's sold his previous boats to his mates and (3) he's a property developer so my guess would be that he's already got a pretty good idea of how he's going to get out of it, in due course.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

He's waiting till he gets delivery of his helicopter :encouragement:

Talking of which, are you down for the bank hol weekend (30/4-2/5)?

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Jimmy, have you furnished us with pics of JTB being served afternoon tea on the bathing platform yet?

Good point Raf, no, not yet. I refer you to jfm's reply below

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

What about the extra value of a talking chain counting SideviewAncam®

Anyway, whats all this copyright® business - whose idea was it?

You definitely need to go to specsavers Hurricane, that's not a copyright symbol, it's a registered trademark symbol. And I think it might have been jfm!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

This looks a nice boat that could do with a very minor refit. It won't put anything onto the value but what a great boat it'll be for an all in updated price of less than £100k. Looks much bigger than it's advertised 46' too

I nearly bought one of those many years ago. The Cat 3208TA engines should still be in good nick if they've been well looked after. Yup a good candidate for a modest refit (although it still looks good inside) if you could buy it for say £55-60k

 

[jfm]

Talking of which, are you down for the bank hol weekend (30/4-2/5)?

Yep. Lift out for annuals is Saturday am 30/4. I week. EME and I are installing 12 new intergalactic power level lumishores, with RGBW not just RGB. Total is quarter million fixture Lumens, which should feel like the sun.:encouragement:

 

[benjenbav]

I think we're all agreed that the principal justification for spending a ton of money that you aren't going to get back is the enjoyment of the finished item? That's forgetting the enjoyment of the project itself. From scouring brochures, to hairsplitting over the right version of Ancam, to spending hours trying to finish a 10 minute item on a freezing February day (JTB?): that's a real payback on the investment.

 

[Whitelighter]

Yep. Lift out for annuals is Saturday am 30/4. I week. EME and I are installing 12 new intergalactic power level lumishores, with RGBW not just RGB. Total is quarter million fixture Lumens, which should feel like the sun.:encouragement:

Is this in addition to the RGB lights or are you moving them somewhere else?

 

[Cheery]

Total is quarter million fixture Lumens, which should feel like the sun.:encouragement:

That's very public spirited of you. People will be able to snorkel on the other side of the bay at midnight. :encouragement:

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Yep. Lift out for annuals is Saturday am 30/4. I week. EME and I are installing 12 new intergalactic power level lumishores, with RGBW not just RGB. Total is quarter million fixture Lumens, which should feel like the sun.:encouragement:

Is there a risk here that you'll just evaporate the sea from behind the boat every time you switch them on?

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

I think we're all agreed that the principal justification for spending a ton of money that you aren't going to get back is the enjoyment of the finished item? That's forgetting the enjoyment of the project itself. From scouring brochures, to hairsplitting over the right version of Ancam, to spending hours trying to finish a 10 minute item on a freezing February day (JTB?): that's a real payback on the investment.

Radar cable. Three days. Thanks for reminding me!

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Is this in addition to the RGB lights or are you moving them somewhere else?

Tee-hee, are you about to suggest a 'good home' for them??

 

[MapisM]

You definitely need to go to specsavers Hurricane, that's not a copyright symbol, it's a registered trademark symbol. And I think it might have been jfm!

I can see why jfm springs to mind when talking of the AnCam, but at least for the name as such I claim the property of the idea - see this post in Match build thread.
The invoice with the fees for the name usage is in the post!