Cheap boats. The end is nigh, The Cheap Boat Thread

[Resolution]

Many of us will have gone through our boating lives buying boats and selling them for roughly what we paid for them. I guess we still expect to do so

This was widely true back in the 1980s and 90s, with strong inflation and steady production costs. The inflation disguised the fall in the real value. However IMHO this came to an end in the first few years of this century when inflation flattened and real production improvements enabled the likes of Bavaria to drive down the real cost of new boats.

 

[doug748]

Useful Ballad here asking less than 9 grand:

Albin Ballad 30' sailing yacht. Seaworthy and very pretty boat. | eBay

Internal joinery needs sorting and, by the looks of it, electrics. Apart from that there seems to be a lot of positives.

.

 

[sails_02]

I think this thread is more interested in capitulation, but that looks nice. The survey is available for a nose through too.

 

[[165264]]

Sincerely, good luck and good choice of boat; albeit it's a plastic one
I'm not in the market for a new boat, but would love to be a punter for a boat right now, as I'm convinced that all boats up for sale are worthless, until someone puts in an offer. Until that point, they're consuming money and losing value.
One of the reasons that I'm not after any other boat is the profound loyalty that I feel for my own boat; it'd be a betrayal, but I'd still like a 42' with a shower and heating and a windlass and, and....
My BinL does up houses on the Western Isles, and has no shyness in approaching the owner of any property that's up for sale and offering £5K; never more than that. When the owner refuses, he doesn't take offence, and tells him that the offer's on the table, and if he changes his mind......?
Quite often, the property does become his, he does it up and 'recycles it'.

Music to my ears, as one who is watching and waiting.

 

[webcraft]

They make great cheap racing boats and can be moored in shallower locations but I have never seen anyone actually go inside the cabin of one (even the one I used to crew on). Sails, though, are where your money would go on that, I suspect.

.
We met someone in the Canaries who was doing an Atlantic circuit on an Achilles 24. We met up with him again in the Azores. I believe that after a stormy passage back to the UK he gave up sailing.

It was a tad cramped down below, and the skipper was 6ft.

- W

 

[monkfish24]

I tried to sell Diadem, my Seawolf 26 over a few months last year. It has a good engine, recent work to the mast and the hull is in fine fettle. I had it up for 2k, to try and weed out anyone who didn't know what they were looking at. The interior needs a complete rebuild but would have taken offers near the 1k mark and made that very clear to anyone who came to look at her. I didn't get any serious offers so after 2+ years of sitting in the boat yard, I have now decided to keep her and get her running again. I work abroad for 6 months of the year so it has been hard to find the time alongside renovating a farm.

The problem then is when boats like this come up.... I would love an old rustler next to do some serious cruising, I have the expertise to get a boat like this sorted but feel a certain loyalty to my Seawolf 26 after owning her for over 10 years.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/751287842283206/

 

[dgadee]

I tried to sell Diadem, my Seawolf 26 over a few months last year. It has a good engine, recent work to the mast and the hull is in fine fettle. I had it up for 2k, to try and weed out anyone who didn't know what they were looking at. The interior needs a complete rebuild but would have taken offers near the 1k mark and made that very clear to anyone who came to look at her. I didn't get any serious offers so after 2+ years of sitting in the boat yard, I have now decided to keep her and get her running again. I work abroad for 6 months of the year so it has been hard to find the time alongside renovating a farm.

The problem then is when boats like this come up.... I would love an old rustler next to do some serious cruising, I have the expertise to get a boat like this sorted but feel a certain loyalty to my Seawolf 26 after owning her for over 10 years.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/751287842283206/

Give it away for £1, perhaps? You will end up spending more on yard fees than you are losing.

 

[monkfish24]

Give it away for £1, perhaps? You will end up spending more on yard fees than you are losing.

Well, I've actually just spent a lot of money on getting her closer to seaworthiness and she will leave plymouth on the 21st to be nearer my home in Falmouth. I have a mooring sorted and so she will come out this winter at my farm for renovation, I worked on sailing yachts for a few years and moved over to motor boats 2 years ago so I am well and truly getting the sailing itch again.

 

[dgadee]

Well, I've actually just spent a lot of money on getting her closer to seaworthiness and she will leave plymouth on the 21st to be nearer my home in Falmouth. I have a mooring sorted and so she will come out this winter at my farm for renovation, I worked on sailing yachts for a few years and moved over to motor boats 2 years ago so I am well and truly getting the sailing itch again.

Sounds like the window has passed and you'll now have a smaller boat than you really want.

 

[dgadee]

Well, I've actually just spent a lot of money on getting her closer to seaworthiness and she will leave plymouth on the 21st to be nearer my home in Falmouth. I have a mooring sorted and so she will come out this winter at my farm for renovation, I worked on sailing yachts for a few years and moved over to motor boats 2 years ago so I am well and truly getting the sailing itch again.

Sounds like the window has passed and you'll now have a smaller boat than you really want.

 

[monkfish24]

Sounds like the window has passed and you'll now have a smaller boat than you really want.

No, I'm very happy with the Seawolf and plan to refit it based on my new solo sailing needs, she is seaworthy, fast and more than comfortable for me on my own with a few creature comforts added like a diesel heater and some tech to allow me to sail without the need for too much "paperwork". Also, being a superyachty, some memory foam mattresses wouldn't go amiss!

 

[dgadee]

No, I'm very happy with the Seawolf and plan to refit it based on my new solo sailing needs, she is seaworthy, fast and more than comfortable for me on my own with a few creature comforts added like a diesel heater and some tech to allow me to sail without the need for too much "paperwork". Also, being a superyachty, some memory foam mattresses wouldn't go amiss!

I have the Seawolf 30. Very nice sailing boat and cheap mooring with the twin keels. Comfort has been upgraded, too.

 

[NotBirdseye]

I tried to sell Diadem, my Seawolf 26 over a few months last year. It has a good engine, recent work to the mast and the hull is in fine fettle. I had it up for 2k, to try and weed out anyone who didn't know what they were looking at. The interior needs a complete rebuild but would have taken offers near the 1k mark and made that very clear to anyone who came to look at her.

Yeah this tends to be a problem with some sellers. That they think potential buyers need to be weeded out. Someone like me for example could have come along but because the boat was obviously priced outside of its value, why bother bartering when I could easily go find a boat in much better condition for the same price.

If you want to sell the boat, you can't be fussy who you sell it to. The best you can hope for is that you're not messed around and the only way to avoid that is to set a price and claim none negotiable. (Met someone recently who took that very same position, was very much refreshing from a buyers perspective).

 

[Koeketiene]

If you want to sell the boat, you can't be fussy who you sell it to. The best you can hope for is that you're not messed around and the only way to avoid that is to set a price and claim none negotiable. (Met someone recently who took that very same position, was very much refreshing from a buyers perspective).

Exactly.
Sold my previous boat in a month.
Be honest/straightforward and provide as many details as possible.
Good boats, realistically priced to sell.
And in todays market, they sell fast.
Overpriced tat will linger.

 

[davidej]

I think Folkboats like Contessa 32s are a bit of a special case. Classic with a very big C and an equally devoted following

 

[steve yates]

Spoke to a polish lad at Leigh Marina the other day, him and his pal bought a newbridge venturer a few weeks ago in pretty good nick for £500, because whoever was selling it needed some cash fast and couldnt afford mooring fees thanks to lockdown. The ob in the well would be worth that alone!

So the bargains are there.

 

[dgadee]

Spoke to a polish lad at Leigh Marina the other day, him and his pal bought a newbridge venturer a few weeks ago in pretty good nick for £500, because whoever was selling it needed some cash fast and couldnt afford mooring fees thanks to lockdown. The ob in the well would be worth that alone!

So the bargains are there.

I suspect every yard has these. Usually, though, they are tired - poor sails, but often good engines. But if you can afford the mooring fees it's a good way to learn how to sail.

 

[monkfish24]

Yeah this tends to be a problem with some sellers. That they think potential buyers need to be weeded out. Someone like me for example could have come along but because the boat was obviously priced outside of its value, why bother bartering when I could easily go find a boat in much better condition for the same price.

If you want to sell the boat, you can't be fussy who you sell it to. The best you can hope for is that you're not messed around and the only way to avoid that is to set a price and claim none negotiable. (Met someone recently who took that very same position, was very much refreshing from a buyers perspective).

I get your point here, still I'm glad it hasn't sold and it was nowhere near unusable as after 5 days of work, I sailed it quite happily from Plymouth to Falmouth. It still is the perfect boat for me after 11 years of ownership and I will refit it this winter to take me further afield with more solo sailing.

 

[dgadee]

I get your point here, still I'm glad it hasn't sold and it was nowhere near unusable as after 5 days of work, I sailed it quite happily from Plymouth to Falmouth. It still is the perfect boat for me after 11 years of ownership and I will refit it this winter to take me further afield with more solo sailing.

I was just thinking today that my Seawolf is 37 years old. You would never think it - a reasonably modern looking design. And it always gets a kind comment from passers by. Loads of life left in it.

 

[Koeketiene]

I was just thinking today that my Seawolf is 37 years old. You would never think it - a reasonably modern looking design. And it always gets a kind comment from passers by. Loads of life left in it

It's is only a figure.
What matters more is how the boat is kept and maintained.
I just bought a 43 year old boat I am hoping will last me another 10-15 years.