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So You Want to Buy a Boat
Capt
Luciano (Lucky) Covati Basic Steps to buying your boat When you think about buying
a boat the first thing that comes to mind is calling a boat broker or
jumping on the internet and logging on to Boats.com, 2hulls.com,
Soundings.com, searching Google or driving to your nearest marina and
check out what’s for sale. There are really three steps to buying a boat:
The first and hardest step is yours. – You need to identify what features the boat must and those you would love it to have. The second is mostly the brokers: finding the boat. You can help if you like searching for boats. The third is mostly yours: agreeing the boat is what you really want and paying for it. The broker helps with coordinating the survey and doing the paperwork. Part 1: specifying the boat Buying any boat is easy, but buying the RIGHT boat is all together different! “Sensible Cruising: the Thoreau Approach” defines a sensible boat as: “The boat should not be too large to handle, too complex to maintain, or too expensive to afford.” The sensible boat for you is one which matches your budget, cruising area, capabilities and comfort needs. To buy this correct, sensible boat, there are lots of questions to answer. Here are a few major questions to consider: What is your boating dream? We’ll explain these questions in a sequence to lead you to a logical, sensible conclusion: a boat that will let you do what you want when you want to do it. What are your Dreams and when do you leave? Do you dream of taking day trips on the Neuse, short cruises around Pamlico/Albemarle Sounds, maybe up to the Chesapeake Bay, crossing the Gulf Stream to the Caribbean, Crossing the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and continuing around the world? When do you want to start: today, next year, some day soon? Each one of these boating dreams place different seaworthiness requirements on the boat you are looking to buy. But that is only the first piece for the requirements puzzle. Basic Definitions: Day tripping /cruise Short Cruising Coastal Cruising World Cruising How fast do you want your boat to move? Power: Sail: When do you want to leave? The answer to this question will define how much time you have to find your “perfect” boat. You should probably look for a boat that will satisfy your boating needs for the next five years, not of one to satisfy your needs 7 to 10 years from now. Conditions have a bad habit of changing in a way you least expect. Today Reality check How much boat do you need? Do you have the time to use it? How much money do you have for the boating experience? Do your personal circumstances permit you to boat the way you want? How much time Life has a way of putting limits on the time you can be detached. Can you get away from work or family long enough? Are there family situations (grand kids, elderly care…) that keep you near port? What other things will limit your time away? Don’t buy a live-aboard, long range cruiser if you can’t leave home for more than a week at any one time. You’re better off with a coastal cruiser, big enough to carry you, your crew and all they want to take along, and small enough to use when you have the time. How much money Boats are defined as: break out another thousand; a hole in the water into which you throw lots of money… What is your boating budget? Until you’ve done a bit more question answering you may not be able to answer the following critical questions: Can your budget support buying, maintaining and using the boat needed to satisfy your dreams? Are you willing to adjust your dreams to match your boating budget? If you match the boat to your budget you’ll enjoy boating a lot sooner and longer. You can always upgrade when/ if your budget improves. Personal limitations Health Is your health up for the projected boating experience? Do you or your partner have the strength to raise anchor or hoist sails? How immediate does critical health care need to be? Don’t count on the great job the USCG has been doing to get you there on time! Partner If your partner is going to be your primary crew member, she/he will have a lot to say about where, for how long, and in what fashion you’ll boat. Experience You don’t want to depend on “dumb luck” to get you through the tough situations! Do you and your crew have enough boating experience/ seamanship knowledge to undertake your dream?
Can either of you: Requirements A more distant your cruising ambition doesn’t imply a much larger boat then one for local cruises! People have crossed the Atlantic in a 16’ beach catamaran and 110’ + yachts. You should size the boat to the demands of your cruising ambitions for the next few year and most importantly, your budget and capabilities. Remember the words from Sensible Cruising: “The boat should not be too large to handle, too complex to maintain, or too expensive to afford.” If you buy a boat that you have to work three jobs to pay for and need the help of three people to get off the dock, you’re probably not going boating too often. If you are looking to cruise the world 10 years from now, don’t buy that boat now. Rather buy one to satisfy your boating needs for the next 2 to 5 years. Then upgrade if need be. You may find your current boat will do just well for the longer cruises. The cruising area selected imposes minimum basic requirements for seaworthiness, stowage, sensible accommodation and safety. You have to impose YOUR needs on these basic requirements by using the spreadsheet “So you want to buy a boat”. Once completed you have the specifications for boat. The elaborations below may help Cruising Seaworthiness (= safety) The boat must be designed and built to handle waters in which you are intending to cruise. You don’t want a sunfish for your 6 month cruise to the Bahamas. On the other hand you may use a blue water boat to cruise Pamlico Sound, as long as you mind the shallow waters and low bridges! The prudent seaman will err on the side of caution by selecting a boat capable of handling the worst that area can offer. But don’t go overboard, unless you do it knowing all that such a decision brings. A seaworthy boat capable of handling nominal weather for an area, but with sufficient speed (providing the captain departs in time) to outrun really bad weather will also work well. Stowage Storage is needed for a number of things on a
boat: When it comes to what you should take on your cruise, make a detailed plan and stick to the plan. The longer the cruise the more detailed the plan needs to be. The amount of food, drink, water, fuel, spares and personal item storage needed depends on how long and where you plan to cruise. Cruising along the US Ease Coast where you can provision as you desire takes much less storage for these items. Cruising in remote areas for long periods of time will require you to bring ALL you need for the time you’re there. Most people would prefer to err on the side of too much stowage for their needs rather than not having enough. But remember one tends to fill the space available; and the more you bring the heavier, slower and greater draft your boat will have. Take only what you will need, within your comfort limits. Accommodations What creature comforts do you and your
partner’s/crew’s require to make your boating experience enjoyable? Any of these take up space, add weight, increase
electrical demand and cost lots of money. More space and weight above
minimal needs translate to: Boat Configuration In gross terms boats come in one of three configurations: monohulls (one hull), catamarans (two hulls with an interconnecting additional living area), and trimarans (one main hull and two outer slammer hulls). The all have their pros/cons. The table below shows in very general terms how each rates compared to the monohull boat.
Safety The principal safety element to consider when selecting a boat is seaworthiness (covered above). However other safety items of the boat are discussed below. The USCG requirements are assumed to be met, so we will not consider them here. What we are going to consider at those items that will impact the cost and operation of your boat. Ground Tackle (anchor/rode) Anchoring can be essential to a safe overnight experience. The larger the boat the larger, and heavier, the ground tackle (anchor, chain, rode, windless). Can you or your partner/crew raise the anchor/rode or is a windless required. Will you need a storm anchor in addition to your standard anchor? How about a ‘lunch hook’? What type of anchor will you use? This depends on two factors: the bottom you’ll be cruising over, and your personal preference. Check out the Practical Sailor and BoatUS for their anchor evaluations then make your decision. How much and what type rode will you take for each anchor? Chain is best for choral or rock, but it’s heavy. A combination of 30’ chain and the rest twisted nylon is best all round. Windless |
