The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Pitfalls to Avoid When Buying a New Voyaging Boat

P1010821I think we have pretty much established to everyone’s satisfaction that refitting old boats, while possible, is difficult and time consuming to do, sometimes financially disastrous, and fraught with the risk of finding serious things wrong that were missed in the survey.

But the biggest problem with refits is that doing one well requires a lot of knowledge that is best gained by owning a voyaging boat—Catch 22. Even Poor Stupid Bob (alias John) has since done a not too painful refit using what he learned the hard way the first time.

But how do you get your first boat and get out there? What about buying a brand new boat? That should be great if you have the money, right?

Let me tell you a story about my friends Paul and Pam (not their real names).


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More Articles From Online Book: How To Buy a Cruising Boat:

  1. The Right Way to Buy a Boat…And The Wrong Way
  2. Is It a Need or a Want?
  3. Buying a Boat—A Different Way To Think About Price
  4. Buying a Cruising Boat—Five Tips for The Half-Assed Option
  5. Are Refits Worth It?
  6. Buying a Boat—Never Say Never
  7. Selecting The Right Hull Form
  8. Five Ways That Bad Boats Happen
  9. How Weight Affects Boat Performance and Motion Comfort
  10. Easily Driven Boats Are Better
  11. 12 Tips To Avoid Ruining Our Easily Driven Sailboat
  12. Learn From The Designers
  13. You May Need a Bigger Boat Than You Think
  14. Sail Area: Overlap, Multihulls, And Racing Rules
  15. 8 Tips For a Great Cruising Boat Interior Arrangement
  16. Of Cockpits, Wheelhouses And Engine Rooms
  17. Offshore Sailboat Keel Types
  18. Cockpits—Part 1, Safe and Seamanlike
  19. Cockpits—Part 2, Visibility and Ergonomics
  20. Offshore Sailboat Winches, Selection and Positioning
  21. Choosing a Cruising Boat—Shelter
  22. Choosing A Cruising Boat—Shade and Ventilation
  23. Pitfalls to Avoid When Buying a New Voyaging Boat
  24. Cyclical Loading: Why Offshore Sailing Is So Hard On A Boat
  25. Cycle Loading—8 Tips for Boat and Gear Purchases
  26. Characteristics of Boat Building Materials
  27. Impact Resistance—How Hull Materials Respond to Impacts
  28. Impact Resistance—Two Collision Scenarios
  29. Hull Materials, Which Is Best?
  30. The Five Things We Need to Check When Buying a Boat
  31. Six Warnings About Buying Fibreglass Boats
  32. Buying a Fibreglass Boat—Hiring a Surveyor and Managing the Survey
  33. What We Need to Know About Moisture Meters and Wet Fibreglass Laminate
  34. US$30,000 Starter Cruiser—Part 1, How We Shopped For Our First Cruising Sailboat
  35. US$30,000 Starter Cruiser—Part 2, The Boat We Bought
  36. US$30,000 Starter Cruiser—How It’s Working Out
  37. Q&A, What’s the Maximum Sailboat Size For a Couple?
  38. At What Age should You Stop Sailing And Buy a Motorboat?
  39. A Motorsailer For Offshore Voyaging?
  40. The Two Biggest Lies Yacht Brokers Tell
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Scott

While I would not expect you to name the couple, I wish you had named the builder and gear manufacturers. I’m considering a generator, and I want to know which brand to avoid!

Jerry Levy

Who was the manufacturer and what was the model? Different boatbuilders, after all, have different reputations and boatbuilding practices.

Brian

Perhaps you could name the names of the “very few” builders that do not have these problems? It is always good to reward the virtuous even if you do not want to name those more questionable.

RDE

Thought that Lewmar V2 windlass looked familiar! Last spring at about this time I arrived in Panama to join a nearly new custom 63′ Bob Perry designed ULDB cruiser for a sail up through the Caribbean. Of course there were a few things that needed to be fixed on the boat—–. Foremost among them, the windlass that had stopped working in the San Blas a couple of months ago and hadn’t fixed itself while sitting in the marina waiting for the owners to return from the states.

Check out the size of the sealing flange where it contacts the deck, then consider the force applied when pulling the anchor that is hooked behind a coral head—. (even though the windlass is only 1/2 the size needed for a 63′ boat.) Now try to remove the rusted bolts (remember the salt water that entered through that undersized sealing flange?)

Oh well, we’ll fix it in the Caymans. The crew can haul the anchor by hand—that is what we have crew for, right! Fortunately one other crew was smaller in girth than I and manged to get in position to remove the bolts. Now the only thing holding it together was rust. All it took to separate the windlass was a spinaker pole as spreader, very strong masthead halyard, and an electric winch.

I wonder how long it will be until the replacement V2 Lewmar strips its drive gears?

I think my next windlass will be a Lighthouse.

Tim Akey

We could never afford a new boat and are outfitting some 30 year old classic plastic to live on. I have spent a life time in aviation; pilot / mechanic / manager. In my humble opinion the sailboat world is seriously broken; shoddy designs, amateur installations, non-existent quality control, and product support that is nothing of the kind. Surveys are an expensive joke and “technicians” appear to be those who flunked High School shop class. There have been exceptions but at this point, anytime I have to deal with anyone in the sailing “industry” I assume I am being lied to, deliberately mislead, and overcharged (by a factor of at least 4). A used car salesperson would be embarrassed by what passes as ethics in the sailboat world and, though I read them all, I don’t belive much of anything that is printed in the industry magazines. (When is the last time you saw anything negative written on any boat in one of them?)

Off shore sailing is not for the faint of heart – and that starts the first time one even thinks about buying a boat.

Wm. Douglas Muir

I have noticed in other industries, automotive and photography for example, that usually the only time trade publications list product deficiencies is when the manufacturer offers a new improved version.