Halmatic 30 for sale. Too good to be true?

[High'n'Dry]

These days refits cost the same as the boat so check what needs replacing and see once added to the cost of the boat whether she still represents good value. There may be a higher priced but well equipped boat begging for a new owner.

 

[srm]

You need to go and look at it to assess what needs doing. Much depends on your own skill and confidence levels and how much you can do yourself.
North Wales to North Scotland is not all that far. My first two boats were bought on the south coast, the third in the Irish Sea and all sailed home to Shetland. Boats 4 and 5 were in Plymouth and sailed home to Orkney. Boat 5 had the standing rigging replaced before departure as I wanted to go up a size with the forestays, DIY mast up and on the hard, just needed a bit of pre-planning.
In each case I spent a few weeks working (and living) on the boat to get it ready before making the delivery trip.

 

[Refueler]

There are bargains out there ....

There's a Nicholson 32 for 3500 quid .... Owner cannot pay yard fees ... so Yard and Owner have agreed to sell to clear that debt. The boat is a bit scruffy from standing there so long ... but overall looks in redeemable shape for anyone wishing to put a bit of effort in.

Same I would say for this Halmatic.

I cannot help but feel some replies are based on 'perfection' ....

 

[steve yates]

I would buy the one in the se and then sail it back as your sea trials.
I bought an old 31 foot westerly for less than half the price of your welsh one, albeit luck, unusual circumstances, and a helpful forumite made that happen. It had new engine sails and standing rigging, and even then several issues turned up. Fuel tank replaced, morse cables snapped, seacocks were seized, heads didnt work, pumps and heater didnt work, electrics were shot and engine mounts twisted and snapped.
I did sail her for a year then sailed her south where i have competely stripped her interior and now have to refit and rebuild it. Id much prefer to be sailing, so unless you like boat fettling, get one thats already fettled and ready for sea.

 

[Tranona]

There are bargains out there ....

There's a Nicholson 32 for 3500 quid .... Owner cannot pay yard fees ... so Yard and Owner have agreed to sell to clear that debt. The boat is a bit scruffy from standing there so long ... but overall looks in redeemable shape for anyone wishing to put a bit of effort in.

Same I would say for this Halmatic.

I cannot help but feel some replies are based on 'perfection' ....

It is not a question of perfection. It is a question of whether a down at heel boat is sufficiently lower in cost than one that is essentially ready to go. In this case notionally £7k and this can easily be swallowed up with replacing essentials.

Not sure many of the boats that get to the semi abandoned state can be called bargains. The only figure that really matters is the total cost of getting the boat to a condition acceptable to you in the place that you want it. This in turn depends as much on your capability and time/effort you can put in. There is a Nic 32 near me that has been in this sort of state and for sale for several years, gradually getting worse and falling in price. Lots look at it and just come to the conclusion that it will never be worth what is required. These boats are dream boats and the number of people who are capable of turning one into reality is very small.

On the other hand in the same yard is a Nic 35 which has also been standing for years and has sold. The asking price was £10k and needs a new engine and complete refurbishment. However, unlike the 32 it was in good nick when it came out and has not deteriorated so much. The most important thing, though is that a decent 35 is in the £30-40k range compared with the typical sub £20k that gets a good 32.

These 2 examples really reinforce the fact that you have to look at project boats on an individual basis and what may be a bargain for one situation (boat and buyer) would not for another. However the odds are against actually turning one into a usable and saleable boat as evidenced by the number that never get finished and change hands more than once in the part done state.

 

[Refueler]

T - I don't disagree with you - there are horror stories and broken dreams out there. But also genuine bargains due to circumstances that we know nothing about.

I look at the photos for this Halmatic and then read some replies .. I wonder if authors of those replies are on same path !

 

[Minchsailor]

There are bargains out there ....

There's a Nicholson 32 for 3500 quid .... Owner cannot pay yard fees ... so Yard and Owner have agreed to sell to clear that debt. The boat is a bit scruffy from standing there so long ...

A Nic 32 has about 3 tonnes of lead in the keel, at that price it is little more than the scrap value of the lead. You get the rest of the boat for 'free'.

 

[Tranona]

A Nic 32 has about 3 tonnes of lead in the keel, at that price it is little more than the scrap value of the lead. You get the rest of the boat for 'free'.

Yes, but what do you do with it? Bit too big to put on the mantlepiece as a trophy.

On a serious note even a breaker would probably not pay much for it particularly if it is located some way from their works because of the cost of moving it then dismantling to get at the valuable bits like the lead.

 

[srm]

Yes, but what do you do with it? Bit too big to put on the mantlepiece as a trophy.

A friend here is looking for an unwanted boat to plant in his children's holiday camp to use as an accommodation unit. Perhaps sell it to a politician as an alternative to a shepherd's hut/home office or whatever for writing their memoirs.

 

[TSB240]

Hello,

I'm keen to buy a boat next year for coastal and occasional offshore sailing.

The Halmatic 30 has always appealed to me and is high up the target list. This one has been on the market for some time and the price has been reduced at least once as far as I know.

With the caveat that the engine is 27 years old (hours unknown), the standing rigging should be replaced and the sails are of an unknown condition, it still seems like a lot of boat for the money. The exterior looks a bit tired cosmetically but the interior looks pretty good. I generally work on the principle that if it's too good to be true, it probably is. Any thoughts as to what the catch may be?

The few other Halmatics on the market are £6-7k more, so I can't help but wonder why this one is so cheap? And if there's nothing wrong with it, why someone hasn't snapped it up before now?

Many thanks,

Rob

This boat is right in front of my apartment. It is properly priced. I know the owner and some history. There is a local rigger who lives in a house a few yards to the right who can sort the standing rigging out.
She has been on the hard for some time and needs a good clean outside and in!
Paint job on hull might put some off.

 

[penfold]

Why bother taking photographs of jumbles of random paraphernalia? I want to see the bunks laid out as they should be so I can see if the upholstery is usable or not. Terrible presentation.

 

[steveeasy]

Why bother taking photographs of jumbles of random paraphernalia? I want to see the bunks laid out as they should be so I can see if the upholstery is usable or not. Terrible presentation.

This boat is right in front of my apartment. It is properly priced. I know the owner and some history. There is a local rigger who lives in a house a few yards to the right who can sort the standing rigging out.
She has been on the hard for some time and needs a good clean outside and in!
Paint job on hull might put some off.

Thats the thing. A poorly painted Hull costs lots of time and or money to fix. so does and engine, sails and any other key items. not that im saying any of these items are needed. but determining if a price is reasonable or not these things need to be considered carefully. I found a cheap boat once. needed repainting the hull and topsides. needed new engine and sails. actually everything was just old. it was cheap, but I could never justify the time and money as id never see it back.
However that mindset is a minority. every week I see owners pouring thousands in to their similar boats. they wont get it back, but I dont think they are bothered. It really comes down to what you can afford to loose, or how much you wish to pour in to your boat.

In the world of Twisterdom, I could play that game, just. In the world of Contessa 32s, Im out.

Steveeasy

 

[mrming]

I bought a slightly tired example of a popular 80s classic for just over 50% of the price of a “good” one.

I paid for essential work in the yard it was in (and did a deal to store it cheap until I could sail it back). That amounted to new seacocks, batteries, fitting AIS, and a basic check of engine and rig.

The deal was done in the winter and it took till end of April to get a weather window to bring her home, a sail of around 30 hours.

Since then I’ve paid someone to remove the knackered old treadmaster non slip (replaced with Kiwigrip), and renovate the small amount of teak on deck. The interior had been refurbished already and was in nice condition with good upholstery.

I was lucky enough to get relatively new sails and electronics, but the engine proved to have a lot of “deferred maintenance” which culminated in us pulling it this month for a full refurb (and a blast / respray while we’re at it). The original mild steel fuel tank had also rusted through and will be replaced by a modern plastic one with the luxury of a fuel gauge, no less.

By the time I’ve done the engine project the total expenditure on the boat will equal the cost of a “good” one.

It’s our family boat and we’ve used it without interruption so although there has been work ongoing it hasn’t stopped us sailing.

This is my second “fixer upper” yacht, and the first one with an inboard engine, so that has been the main learning curve.

The positive of buying cheap and correcting the various issues is I now know the boat really well, having gone through most of it’s main systems. The negative is mostly the amount of admin it all creates - I have a young family and work full time so I don’t have a ton of spare time.

What I would say is, if you do fork out for a “good” one, make sure it really is good. The worst case scenario would be to pay more and still have a ton of systems to replace or improve.

Hope this helps!

 

[Tranona]

The negative is mostly the amount of admin it all creates .


Hope this helps!

That is something most people don't appreciate until they undertake such a project. I spent 3 hours today sourcing less than 10 items to a value of less than £200. Deciding which to buy when there were alternatives, identifying suppliers, finding best price and ordering/paying. Only positive is that one of the items is in short supply and I found one in Swanwick which gives me an excuse to have lunch with my granddaughter in the Jolly Sailor when I collect it.

Seriously. I reckon on my refit there is a 60/40 split between doing direct work on the boat and the "management" tasks of deciding what to do then sourcing materials and contractors. Fortunately I live close to the boat and less than 30 minutes from loading the car to being on board.

 

[penfold]

There are also perverts like my father who enjoy "fitting out" at least as much as actually sailing.

 

[Rab87]

The Yanmar 3GM is a robust little engine but often look awful like that one and a good cleanup, oil and filter change etc maybe all that is required.

Buying a boat a long way from where you want it does present challenges. I bought a boat, also in Wales in somewhat similar condition except that it had been in use. I live in Poole so facing a similar sea journey to you. The survey showed nothing major but everything just tired. My initial thoughts were to leave it there over the winter then spend a few days getting it back together before sailing it back Surveyor strongly advised not to, but bite the bullet and have it trucked back so that I could work on it at my pace (I live 15 minutes from the Yard). Best thing I did.

A boat like that Halmatic that has effectively been abandoned is a very different prospect from the one in Plymouth that had led a fairly cosseted life and regularly updated would be as close as you could get to ready to go. Couple of days to get ready for launch then a couple more local sailing and you could be ready for the trip north. That is what makes the £7k difference. On the other hand if you have the capability and time 2 or 3 weeks may get the bargain boat up and running if the survey does not show up any fundamental nasties.

Good luck

Thanks for your thoughts, I think you're spot on.

 

[Rab87]

I had a Mk2 for some years, only sold it as we (wife & I) wanted bigger accomodation.
Well balanced, magic upwind, comfortable motion. Roomy heads, lots of stowage. I liked the stand up chart table.
If there is no structural problem it looks a very god buy. If you get it I have a servicable old main in my garage you could have!

Good to hear. Don't think I've heard a bad word about the Halmatic. And thanks for the sail offer, I'll let you know!

 

[Rab87]

You need to go and look at it to assess what needs doing. Much depends on your own skill and confidence levels and how much you can do yourself.
North Wales to North Scotland is not all that far. My first two boats were bought on the south coast, the third in the Irish Sea and all sailed home to Shetland. Boats 4 and 5 were in Plymouth and sailed home to Orkney. Boat 5 had the standing rigging replaced before departure as I wanted to go up a size with the forestays, DIY mast up and on the hard, just needed a bit of pre-planning.
In each case I spent a few weeks working (and living) on the boat to get it ready before making the delivery trip.

When you put it like that, it's not that far! Time is the limiting factor for me, rather than distance.

 

[Rab87]

This boat is right in front of my apartment. It is properly priced. I know the owner and some history. There is a local rigger who lives in a house a few yards to the right who can sort the standing rigging out.
She has been on the hard for some time and needs a good clean outside and in!
Paint job on hull might put some off.

Intriguing. Might be PM you for more information.

 

[Rab87]

Thank you all- lots of wise words here and food for thought, which was exactly what I was looking for.

I'm sure the 'fixer upper' vs. 'ready to sail away' argument will rumble on indefinitely. As for which camp I'm in, I'm not quite sure any more! I've bought smaller boats in the past and they weren't all great experiences, so I'm aware of some of the pitfalls. Trying to approach things in a pragmatic way this time round.

The Halmatic in North Wales is a tough call- need to give it some serious thought before pursuing any further...