Ever bought a boat twice over?

[Tanqueray]

Based on the old adage that 'The best two days of boat ownership are the day you buy and the day you sell'

Has anybody ever sold their boat, regretted it, and bought it back again later? Are you planning to given the opportune moment? Did you get sued and have to buy it back ? Are you living in regret?

 

[Caraway]

I have done it twice.

That's all I will say

 

[wombat88]

I have bought exactly the same type of boat twice. The second one is worse but was a lot cheaper.

 

[Daydream believer]

My first Stella was brand new when i was 21 years old. No 104. I had it for 10 years. I tried to buy it back when i was 52 but could not. So i bought No 103 as a near wreck & stripped the inside & deck off of it down to just a bare hull & totally rebuilt it. I sheathed it in epoxy matt outside & epoxy resin inside. I replaced lots of rotten bits & broken ribs etc. When I launched her she was as near the same as my first boat. When I sailed it I realised how much it bruised me, so I had it for 3 years & sold her. I bought a new AWB.
Whilst my current boat is infinitely better, I have to admit that, (relatively speaking of course), the current boat does not sail as nice as my 2 stellas..

 

[Thistle]

Yes. A Laser. No regrets about the original purchase, the sale or the re-purchase.

 

[Robin]

my son was seriously considering buying the Liz 30 we owned in the 1970s and sold in 1987. His partner dissuaded him in favour of something more spacious and female friendly., but it was a token of how much we liked that boat.

 

[RJJ]

There's a spate among my generation of people trying to track down their old Cadet or Mirror so their kids can sail them. A couple have succeeded.

 

[johnalison]

There is the famous case of Helen Tew buying back her father's pre-war boat 'Helen' in order to fulfil her dream of crossing the Altlantic when she was 89 (I think). I never saw her but we met one of the sons on board Helen once in St Helier about fifteen years ago.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Seajet (where is he?) sold his Anderson 22 and bought her back again a couple of years later.

 

[Tranona]

I think nostalgia (and maybe a bit of rose tinted spectacle) plays a big part in this dilemma.

As I recounted elsewhere I recently sold my Eventide after nearly 40 years ownership. I loved that boat for all its faults. I had not actually sailed it for the last 9 years but when I got it back together I seriously considered keeping it and selling my Bavaria. However, like Daydream believer a few bumps on the head, cricks in the back and particularly a bashed shin that took 4 months to heal plus trying to get it to go backwards or turn neatly into a berth on a windy day soon removed the rose tints. I had also conveniently forgotten about the annual maintenance routine necessary to keep her up to scratch. Not quite "buying the same boat twice" but close.

Despite all that I still dip into the Eventides site and hanker after maybe buying one of her bigger sisters, a GH 31. Much the same feel, particularly one of the earlier ones. Solves the bumps and scrapes bit as much more roomy, but does not deal with the handling issues nor the maintenance. When I have these urges, which tend to be in the winter I usually pop down to the club and go aboard Symphony. This usually sorts me out. However with lockdown I can't do that, but equally I can't pop in the car and go to look at all the bargains available.

 

[Fascadale]

I had a Mk1 Gull as a child. I have now bought and restored another, almost identical Mk1 Gull in which to teach the grandchildren.

 

[Rappey]

My first boat was a bilge keel ply hurley felicity. Needed some repairs but sailed it for 2 years.
A better boat came along so sold the felicity.
Some 4 years later I bumped into the guy I sold the boat too. He asked if I wanted to buy it ?
I did as it was still sound, looking tatty but really cheap.
Worked my magic on it and was just about to put it up for sale when the same guy wanted to buy it again !
Must have been another 6 years later and guess who I bumped into again and he asked if I wanted to buy the boat.
I had a quick look but decided a 3rd time was not worth it !

 

[doug748]

.......................
Whilst my current boat is infinitely better, I have to admit that, (relatively speaking of course), the current boat does not sail as nice as my 2 stellas..

About sums it up.

My new boat is excellent in every way but don't sail too good. ?

.

 

[TernVI]

I have a GRP tender which I bought, sold, acquired a half share in, got given the other half share, bartered for some mooring parts and then scrounged back with a hole in it.
I've owned a lot of boats, mostly racing dinghies, the only one I would want back is a Merlin Rocket.

 

[Daydream believer]

About sums it up.
My new boat is excellent in every way but don't sail too good. ?
./QUOTE]
Don't get me wrong. i would not want any other 31 ft boat. I would change it for bigger one if i had more sailing years left in me & i was fit enough. I may have to get a new engine soon so i will get one with bigger HP so i can motor much more rather than sell it & buy a motor boat because I like it so much.
But my old long keeled Stella would sail to windward without me helming, would heave too in an instant & stay there safely in F9 ( It did whilst i slept for 4.5hours) It tracked as if on rails. It was faily quick for an old wooded design ( Twisters were derived from them) .It heeled a lot & was really wet, but It just felt good to sail & looked good as well.
My current boat is a comparative race horse & one needs to watch every move else it will bite. It goes where I point it, but if I do not point it, then it will run amok .It is far drier than the Stella , more comfortable as well. It should be, it is bigger. It will leave most 31 ft boats behind & is excellent in heavy weather. Except it will not heave too so can be tiring to sail.
But when Richard Mathews, of Oyster fame, bought his father's old Stella, Scorpio, back & had his yard refurbish her, he sailed it at Burnham week with his wife. He later said that he enjoyed that as much as he did sailing his own Oysters - And he had a choice of boats up to 80 feet long. Must tell you something about the Stella.

 

[Tanqueray]

Seajet (where is he?) sold his Anderson 22 and bought her back again a couple of years later.

Someone told me that those Anderson's are so fast that it's possible to own it the second time before you've owned it the first time..........

 

[doug748]

"Don't get me wrong. i would not want any other 31 ft boat. I would change it for bigger one if i had more sailing years left in me & i was fit enough. I may have to get a new engine soon so i will get one with bigger HP so i can motor much more rather than sell it & buy a motor boat because I like it so much.
But my old long keeled Stella would sail to windward without me helming, would heave too in an instant & stay there safely in F9 ( It did whilst i slept for 4.5hours) It tracked as if on rails. It was faily quick for an old wooded design ( Twisters were derived from them) .It heeled a lot & was really wet, but It just felt good to sail & looked good as well.
My current boat is a comparative race horse & one needs to watch every move else it will bite. It goes where I point it, but if I do not point it, then it will run amok .It is far drier than the Stella , more comfortable as well. It should be, it is bigger. It will leave most 31 ft boats behind & is excellent in heavy weather. Except it will not heave too so can be tiring to sail.
But when Richard Mathews, of Oyster fame, bought his father's old Stella, Scorpio, back & had his yard refurbish her, he sailed it at Burnham week with his wife. He later said that he enjoyed that as much as he did sailing his own Oysters - And he had a choice of boats up to 80 feet long. Must tell you something about the Stella. "



Yes, no single boat does it all. A shame the days of the cruiser/racer fleets, which every port had, seem to be over but there we are.

.

 

[jimi]

I've sold my Laser then bought another (Black Magic both times) about 5 years later.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Not quite the same, but the intent of the OP is met. I used to sail for a living, full time and had a long stint on a Rival 41C an age ago, sailing all over the place, then sailed many, many other boats through the late 80's 90's before a new career took me far and wide, and away from sailing. When it came to buy my first boat I looked at a lot with LadyOldBoots, now had two young kids. Nothing really grabbed me and I came by chance upon a different Rival 41C very near to my home. Market was right for buying, recession had hit hard and this boat had been for sale for a while. Interestingly LadyOldBoots liked it and it had the space we needed. I bought it and that was that, still have the boat; 12 years now.

 

[ProDave]

I sold my own boat 2 years ago (now sail a shared ownership boat)

I was very tempted to buy it back last year then by chance I found my old boat was very much unloved and deteriorating and I could have bought it back for 1/3 what I sold it for. But buying it back would only have been to give it some TLC and try and sell it on again at a profit.