Online Book: How To Buy a Cruising Boat

Colin looked at the practicality of getting a real offshore boat for US$100,000. Now Matt goes hunting for a starter cruiser at US$30,000, all in and ready to go (US15,000 buy price). Is this possible? He thinks so and is willing to throw his own money into the project to prove it.

One of the most important things we need to think about when planning and budgeting a refit is what it will cost us if the keel must be removed for keel bolt inspection and repair, as is likely with many older boats.

One of the most important decisions we need to make when buying an offshore voyaging sailboat is how much sail area, in relation to displacement, boat type, and draft, is right for our style of cruising.

If we want to verify the integrity of our boat’s keel bolts, one option is to torque them and see what happens. Sounds great, but there are risks, complications, and lots of research that needs to be done first.

If you own and sail boats offshore for long enough, the likelihood is that sooner or later you will be faced with a difficult repair or refit decision. John explores a solution that all others being considered should always be measured against.

The vast majority of used boats out there, which might be bought for a low enough price to make the cost after refit attainable for many of us, have one of two keel types that can cause big-time trouble. So the big question becomes, can we check those bolts without removing the keel? John investigates two options.

John applies risk management thinking to the highly ambiguous subject of keel safety and longevity on older fibreglass boats, starting off with keel types to seek out and those to avoid.

There are few things more depressing in cruising than having to live with an unreliable engine. Colin takes a look at the options for rebuild or repower and what all this is going to cost.

John digs into upfront costs of buying and refitting a boat that will have to be paid before the real work gets started.

Now we know that a lot of the rudders out there on older fibreglass boats will need extensive repair or replacement, what’s the best course of action, and what’s it going to cost us? John provides the answers.

So we have found a great older boat to buy at a very reasonable price, perhaps recently refitted. But what about that item no one (least of all the broker) wants to talk about: the rudder? Here’s the real hard facts about rudders on old fibreglass boats, together with a step-by-step method to make sure we are not heading out with a ticking time bomb instead of a reliable rudder.

Before we start to build a refit budgeting and planning framework, we need to define the boat we will start off with as well as explore how we can correct numbers for other boats: smaller, bigger, and/or more complex.

John started out to write an article on budgeting for a refit, but ended up writing, based on personal experience, about something far more important: how to avoid the oh-so-common human failings that can turn a refit into a budget-busting rebuild, or even a total fail, as well as how to decide if a refit is something you even want to do.

Colin completes his four-part series on going offshore cruising in a boat for less than US$100,000, with a look at materials other than fibreglass, and then winds up with a summary ending on a positive note.