Cruising boat for under 20k?

[seanthedeane]

I know, I'm "that guy" again.

I'm looking for something between 29-36 foot that will happily sail me around the UK, down to the Med then a bit further afield down the line (I dream to cross a ocean alone).
My wants are very low, mainly saftey and decent sized water and fuel tanks. It will mainly be myself, my experienced friend this year, and sometimes my partner will tag along. I Went and viewed a westerly longbow with a 2 year old engine and most everything (rigging, sails, upholstery) replaced recently, It was under 17k. But is it good enough to cross an ocean latter on? Or is there a better alternative? I can't seem to find the Avs for the longbow but everything I've read supports their seaworthiness. Plus they're plenty of room inside and still seem to sail well with decent turn of speed.

Basically I'm mid 30's and I've cought the bug. Live in a van for the last few years and have saved the money for the boat. Will probably move onto the boat and sell the van to cruise for a while. I can jump back on land and work anytime as self employed. Spent a lot of time on boats but very limited time on sailing boats. But I am a Waterman, I live for surfing big winter waves, free diving, and everything in-between. I've got a very good, experienced sailer friend who is happy to jump aboard with another experienced friend and take over/teach me hands on, I thought thats got to be the best way to learn! I'm loosley based on Cornwall but will happily travel anywhere for the right boat, even abroad if it's worth it.

All constructive criticism is thoroughly welcomed.

 

[Minerva]

A Longbow with new engine and newish everything else for £17k sounds like a very good deal indeed! The new engine would be over half the asking price alone.

 

[geem]

Fulmar every time. Perfect boat for your requirements

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Fulmar every time. Perfect boat for your requirements

Only just in budget and not likely to have new anything let alone the big of an engine.

 

[geem]

Only just in budget and not likely to have new anything let alone the big of an engine.

My pal sold his about three years ago for £19k fully loaded, new engine. Even if you buy a new boat you will have a ton of expenditure if you want to prep it for long distance sailing. Either way, a Fulmar is hard to better

 

[doug748]

I know, I'm "that guy" again.

I'm looking for something between 29-36 foot that will happily sail me around the UK, down to the Med then a bit further afield down the line (I dream to cross a ocean alone).
My wants are very low, mainly saftey and decent sized water and fuel tanks. It will mainly be myself, my experienced friend this year, and sometimes my partner will tag along. I Went and viewed a westerly longbow with a 2 year old engine and most everything (rigging, sails, upholstery) replaced recently, It was under 17k. But is it good enough to cross an ocean latter on? Or is there a better alternative? I can't seem to find the Avs for the longbow but everything I've read supports their seaworthiness. Plus they're plenty of room inside and still seem to sail well with decent turn of speed.

Basically I'm mid 30's and I've cought the bug. Live in a van for the last few years and have saved the money for the boat. Will probably move onto the boat and sell the van to cruise for a while. I can jump back on land and work anytime as self employed. Spent a lot of time on boats but very limited time on sailing boats. But I am a Waterman, I live for surfing big winter waves, free diving, and everything in-between. I've got a very good, experienced sailer friend who is happy to jump aboard with another experienced friend and take over/teach me hands on, I thought thats got to be the best way to learn! I'm loosley based on Cornwall but will happily travel anywhere for the right boat, even abroad if it's worth it.

All constructive criticism is thoroughly welcomed.

Assuming you are real (as you hint, not all first posters are), welcome.

The Westerly will do what you want. You are very unlikely to find a "better" boat locally, at a similar price, with all those things done. Consider buying it but get it looked at to check it is what it seems to be.

Do you have money to spare? Have you a mooring for the boat? Do you really want to sail or have recently thought it would be a neat idea?

Boats change your life from the moment you take ownership, like having children. You will be either working on the boat, paying for the boat, worrying about the boat or earning cash to spend on the boat. Sometimes you will be aboard the boat sailing, a small amount of that time you will be enjoying it it favourable weather. Good luck, keep us in the picture.

.

 

[capnsensible]

I know, I'm "that guy" again.

I'm looking for something between 29-36 foot that will happily sail me around the UK, down to the Med then a bit further afield down the line (I dream to cross a ocean alone).
My wants are very low, mainly saftey and decent sized water and fuel tanks. It will mainly be myself, my experienced friend this year, and sometimes my partner will tag along. I Went and viewed a westerly longbow with a 2 year old engine and most everything (rigging, sails, upholstery) replaced recently, It was under 17k. But is it good enough to cross an ocean latter on? Or is there a better alternative? I can't seem to find the Avs for the longbow but everything I've read supports their seaworthiness. Plus they're plenty of room inside and still seem to sail well with decent turn of speed.

Basically I'm mid 30's and I've cought the bug. Live in a van for the last few years and have saved the money for the boat. Will probably move onto the boat and sell the van to cruise for a while. I can jump back on land and work anytime as self employed. Spent a lot of time on boats but very limited time on sailing boats. But I am a Waterman, I live for surfing big winter waves, free diving, and everything in-between. I've got a very good, experienced sailer friend who is happy to jump aboard with another experienced friend and take over/teach me hands on, I thought thats got to be the best way to learn! I'm loosley based on Cornwall but will happily travel anywhere for the right boat, even abroad if it's worth it.

All constructive criticism is thoroughly welcomed.

We bought an older Moody 33. Then lived aboard for 23 years. Brilliant. Med and Caribbean. And Canaries. As you do.

 

[garymalmgren]

Hi Sean
RE: But is it good enough to cross an ocean latter on?
The real question is "Am I ready/good enough to cross an Ocean?
Experience is the one thing that you can't buy. It takes time and a lot of mistakes to gain the experience.
The ocean does not give itself easily.
Get your boat and sail. Sail in light winds. Sail in heavy winds. sail in scary winds. Sail on rainy days.
Anchor, moor, navigate tricky places, cook, repair, sail locally, then further.
Go for it.

 

[Tranona]

My pal sold his about three years ago for £19k fully loaded, new engine. Even if you buy a new boat you will have a ton of expenditure if you want to prep it for long distance sailing. Either way, a Fulmar is hard to better

Try doing that in today's market.

 

[Tranona]

Agree with the sentiments already expressed - success in such ventures is as much to do with you rather than the finer points of difference between different designs of boats. Almost any cruising boat in the 30-35' size range from the late 60s up to 80s will do the job. Designs of that time were more angled toward offshore sailing than more recent popular designs so generally have higher ballast ratios, narrower beams and more modest sail areas. Much more important when buying now is condition and equipment as replacing anything significant is out of proportion to the purchase cost of the boat. So the Longbow scores high. Would not worry about the AVS. It is a very singular measure and not a good indicator of seaworthiness on its own and don't suppose the designer ever really calculated it. It is only become important in recent times because there is regulation that uses it to determine the category the boat is placed in. Inevitably when there is a regulatory target to meet designers ensure they meet it even if it means compromising somewhere else in the design..

You will find that most of the popular boats from that era have been used successfully for what you aspire to and often the less common or underrated ones do it better or for lower cost. You don't say if your £20k includes preparation or for which part of your plan, but even for sailing round UK it is not difficult to spend £5k on an already up together boat, particularly if you want/need to add things like self steering or electronic navigation gear. This obviously varies from boat to boat, so best to daw up a list of must haves and use that to assess how close a boat is and cost to close the gap.

One thing to bear in mind is that the boats you will be looking at were designed for our rufty tufty northern waters and in general will lack features that make life bearable in hot climates. So cramped cockpits, difficult access to the water, poor ventilation, small fuel and water tanks, no fridge, small battery capacity, difficult to add shade and so on. More expenditure is required when preparing to move south. some of the deficiencies are structural so you just have to learn to work round them. Not too difficult if you are solo on this size boat as there is room to sacrifice berth space for storage and adding things like extra batteries and water tanks. Plenty of sources of information from blogs and youtubes showing how people have adapted their boats for long term cruising.

Good luck

 

[RogerJolly]

....

Boats change your life from the moment you take ownership, like having children. You will be either working on the boat, paying for the boat, worrying about the boat or earning cash to spend on the boat. Sometimes you will be aboard the boat sailing, a small amount of that time you will be enjoying it it favourable weather. Good luck, keep us in the picture.

.

What a great piece of writing.

Boat ownership in a concise nutshell.

 

[V1701]

Yes you'll struggle to beat that, I'd jump on it in your position (assuming it's as described, etc). I wouldn't bother with a survey either if one or both your experienced sailing buddies can go look at it with you. Particularly look at through hulls, make sure they all operate, not sure of keel arrangement on Longbow but keel bolts if it has them. Keep an eye out for second hand windvane steering gears, they come up on ebay occasionally. Worth putting your parameters in to Apollo Duck if you haven't already, you never know. Good luck...

 

[Refueler]

First of all - its going to be an older boat of the late 70's to very early 90's - brings us to

Moody
Westerly
Colvic

Those 3 would be my first to look at .. proven designs with family in mind. All have choice of Keel config ... single mast or ketch ... generally touch heavier construction ... rigging is usually over engineered .... often for sale with replaced engine / rig etc.

For me - I would want something strong and dependable under me - then consider its sail performance.

Of course there are many other brands / models out there ...

 

[geem]

Assuming you are real (as you hint, not all first posters are), welcome.

The Westerly will do what you want. You are very unlikely to find a "better" boat locally, at a similar price, with all those things done. Consider buying it but get it looked at to check it is what it seems to be.

Do you have money to spare? Have you a mooring for the boat? Do you really want to sail or have recently thought it would be a neat idea?

Boats change your life from the moment you take ownership, like having children. You will be either working on the boat, paying for the boat, worrying about the boat or earning cash to spend on the boat. Sometimes you will be aboard the boat sailing, a small amount of that time you will be enjoying it it favourable weather. Good luck, keep us in the picture.

.

The bit about the weather. You don't realise how crap the UK weather is until you leave. Once you have left you really wonder how you ever thought having a boat in a country with predominantly cloudy skies ever made sense

 

[Minerva]

The bit about the weather. You don't realise how crap the UK weather is until you leave. Once you have left you really wonder how you ever thought having a boat in a country with predominantly cloudy skies ever made sense

I sail in the UK as my work is in the UK and without the job I couldn't afford the boat (and mortgage, and cars and....)

Horrible catch 22 really!

 

[geem]

I sail in the UK as my work is in the UK and without the job I couldn't afford the boat (and mortgage, and cars and....)

Horrible catch 22 really!

So did I for many years. You can't beat not working

 

[mattonthesea]

I did what you're thinking of in a Rival 32. Not that comfortable inside and suffers Tranona's raised issues - but really comfortable in a big sea and ready to sail short-handed.
PS I'm on my second one!

 

[MisterBaxter]

Westerly Konsort would also be worth a look, you could buy a good one and still have some money in hand for the inevitable upgrades and improvements. There's an article out there somewhere by a guy who got caught in a Biscay storm in a Konsort and rated its seaworthiness very highly.

 

[Concerto]

I have to agree the Westerly Fulmar would be an ideal boat, but I doubt if you could get one in reasonable condition for under £25,000. How do I know, I am a Westerly Owners Association Boat Line member for the Fulmar. For details and videos of my Fulmar, follow the link in my signature.

The Longbow would certainly suit your needs. A Konsort would also work as it has a larger volume hull with a slightly shorter length. The Moody 29/30/33 would also suit. You might find a Sadler 32 in your budget.

My advice would be to view the Longbow and if it feels right then negociate buy it. Join the Westerly Owners Association (WOA) for £17.50 pa and participate in some of their rallies. Join / Renew WOA Membership - You will need insurance and WOA have a special scheme with Navigators and General with a discount that is larger than the membership fee. The policy will cover sailing UK waters and northern European waters from Brest. They will require a recent survey, so budget for about £400-500 pounds for a survey.

Once you start travelling, then I would recommend joining the Cruising Association as they have connections all over the UK and the world. CA

 

[V1701]

I also wouldn't discount '70's/80's 30 something footers from the likes of Dufour, Jeanneau et al, like this example. Shame it has an old Volvo MD engine though. Significantly more comfortable to live on such in warmer climes, remember you're not sailing most of the time. Personally I'd be looking for tiller not wheel steering, easier all round to achieve self steering...