5 Ways to Get a Boat
With
a little lateral thinking, you may be able to
start sailing sooner than you think
Buying a sailboat
and getting on the water can look like a pretty formidable exercise,
especially if you’re looking at a fairly modern 30 footer with all
the bells and whistles. Prices start at around $50,000 for 10 year
old boats. And
don’t even think of a brand new 30 footer unless you’re willing
to part with $150,000 plus, pay serious insurance premiums and drop
$15,000 the day you launch it.
In today’s economic
environment, over-extending on any consumer item, particularly a
boat, is economic madness. In fact, if you have some spare cash
and are willing to wait a few months, there will almost certainly
be some fairly new sailboats coming on to the market soon at very
distressed prices.
So, assuming
you’re not about to spend $50K or more, how can you get sailing
at a reasonable price? Here are a few ideas.
1.
Buy less boat.
You’ll have
just as much fun on a 22ft sailboat as you’ll have on a 30 footer
– more if you’re still learning the ropes. Unless you’re fairly
experienced and you need the room for the family I’d recommend you
don’t buy the biggest boat you can afford.
Think carefully
about how you’re going to use the boat – you’ll always use it less
than you think – and remember that the rule of thumb on the running
costs of a sailboat is:
“Running
costs are proportional to the cube of the waterline length”
For
a 25 footer: (25x25x25) = 15625
For a 30 footer: (30x30x30) = 27000
So a 30 footer
costs nearly twice as much to run as a 25 footer. And a 40 footer
costs more than twice as much as a 30 footer.
2.
Buy an older boat
There are plenty
of good solid sailboats built in the 60’s, and 70’s available on
the market for less than $10,000. You can get some good examples
for less than $5,000.
I will admit
you’re not going to get a bright, shiny sailboat for that money,
but if you select carefully, you will get an honest, seaworthy boat
that will give you lots of pleasure, and get you home safely.
In this category
I would include the classic Catalinas, Pearsons, Cals, Ericsons,
O’Days, Cape Dorys, C&Cs, Tartans and any small boat designed by
Alden, Alberg, Crealock, Hess, Herreshoff, Perry, Paine or S&S.
You’re probably
also going to have to spend some time and a little money to bring
the boat up to an acceptable standard, but that’s a good thing.
By spending time on the systems of the boat, you’ll become familiar
with the way they work and the way the boat’s put together.
All of which
will give you confidence and make you a better sailor.
3.
Build your boat
I’ve done this.
I built a 26ft plywood sailboat many years ago and vowed never to
do it again. That said, I did learn a lot of new skills that have
been a great help to me over the years.
Skills such
as woodworking, ropework (splicing and knotting), rigging, marine
electrics, fiberglassing, deck hardware repair and marine plumbing
are very useful if you intend to mess around in boats.
These days you
can buy a small boat in kit form and build it in a backyard shed
if you want to. Many kits come with pre-cut panels, so you need
very basic woodwork skills to get started. The downside is that
although you can save on the cost of the hull; your mast, hardware
and sails will still cost you an arm and a leg if you buy them retail.
One way to solve
this is to buy a wrecked boat about the same size from an insurance
company and use the mast, rigging and fittings on your own boat.
4.
Form a partnership
Form a partnership?
I can’t believe I said that.
Whatever you
do, don’t enter into a partnership on a sailboat. Partners are individually
liable for the whole of a partnership’s debts and the internet is
awash with dire stories about sailboat partnerships gone wrong.
If you want
to split the cost of buying, maintaining and repairing a sailboat
with someone else. get a good attorney to set up a separate entity
that owns the boat, and have shares in that entity. Make sure there’s
a binding agreement on how the entity is to be funded, how the maintenance
is to be undertaken and funded and how, and to whom, a shareholder
can transfer their shares before you sign on the dotted line.
And don’t say
you weren’t warned.
5.
Think laterally
Look in the
boat trading magazines and web sites and there are thousands of
boats for sale. These boats are all owned by people who don’t want
them. And most of them won’t be sold easily.
Many of them
won’t be sold at all. They’ll
end up sitting in a shed, or on a mooring, unwanted and neglected.
If you’ve got
any tradeable skill or saleable goods, you may be able to get hold
of one of these boats without spending any money.
Consider this.
Joe A. has a
1975 25ft Catalina that he’s had on the market for a long time.
It’s worth about $7000, but he’s had no offers and so the boat sits
there tying up his money.
Now if you approached
Joe A. maybe you could do a deal with him. Depending on your skills
you may be able to barter with Joe for the boat.
You might be
able to:
- renovate
his kitchen
-
rewire his house
-
paint his house
- fix
his kids teeth
-
do his taxes for 5 years or more
-
service and repair his car for 3 years
-
give him your second car or pick-up
- give
him the use of your holiday house
or provide some
other goods or services for the boat, with a cash adjustment if
necessary.
This concept
could be extended to a 3 way barter. What if Joe had a brother who
wanted a new kitchen?
You get the
idea.
It is possible
to get on the water without spending a small fortune, you just have
to work at it a little bit harder.
And you can
always tell your partner that you’ll be saving money on holiday
accommodation and travel once you have the boat.
....and maybe
you'll be believed.
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