YAY!
LIVE ABOARD ALLOWED FOR !!!FREE!!! on This Amazing Floating Residence
in the Florida Keys! Legal and Legitimate Live Aboard Status is Very
Rare to get in other parts of Florida. Where this boat is located is
only a short dinghy ride away from hot showers, cool tiki bars, live
music, amazing white sand and palm beaches and a few miles by water
from the crystal clear turquoise waters and brightly colored fishes
of some of Florida's premiere coral reefs for scuba and snorkel expeditions. 1997
CARVER Triple Stateroom Ocean Cruiser Yacht 500
TRUE
NO RESERVE AUCTION - 3Bed 2Bath 700 SQ FT Florida Keys WATERFRONT
RESIDENCE!!!!$200,000
Lux Yacht Before It Got Small Hole Above WaterlineI will assist you in coordinating a towing service to have the vessel towed to any location of your preference after it is paid for. It could be anchored for free in several nearby locations which allow Live-Aboard cruisers to stay on their boats. Call me if you want to discuss all the options available. The current location at a hotel marina could likely be rented for a few months but longer term the boat needs to be moved to a new location. There is a good boatyard in Islamorada FL, a few miles away by water that has a travel lift large enough to haul the boat out if you wish to clean and service the bottom and possibly install outboard motors etc. while on dry land. It will cost about $500 or $1000 to have a vessel this size towed that far, or perhaps if you have Sea Tow or Boat US towing insurance that might cover the bill.
AUCTION CLOSES ON SUNDAY NIGHT LATE JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT EASTERN TIME. If you truly want to win this No Reserve auction for this amazing project boat, then get your funds lined up and set the alarm on your phone to tune-in for the final few minutes of the auction. Occasionally the final few minutes can determine who actually wins the bidding. And if you can't get back online then or bid with your phone then make sure to get your best bid in early so this one doesn't pass you buy.
My kids are still in grade-school and we can't live full time in Florida right now, even as much as I wish that we could.
It's been a wonderful second home for myself and my two kids to live and play on, but we just can't get to Florida often enough to take advantage of it and complete the restoration, so we are passing the opportunity along to someone else to pursue their dream life in the islands.
C+ Condition Project Vessel. What would you pay to buy a 700 Sq Foot Condo on the water in Key West or Upper Keys -Try $800,000 to $1.5 Million to get into the game. This is a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to set up a similar lifestyle for yourself with this floating condo (aka 50 Foot 1997 Carver Yacht) Anybody can pick up a 1990s Carver 500 in pretty good shape for $250,000, even $120,000 if you really go bargain hunting & get one needing a re-model. Well, this one took a bath in the drink. It got a small hole just above the waterline from a dock piling & the tidal surge got in & filled her lower level with water. She was pumped, floated, patched & is as you see in the pix. She is the very best kind of project boat deal, on a type of boat that can almost never be found in any condition better than gutted & wrecked for under $80K. Structurally good! The most popular, spacious & well built production 50 foot power yacht ever made. The interior space is like three 40ft Sailboats!
You can check out the brochures for yourself on the Carver website. Just google search "Carver 500 Layout" and click the tabs for 1990s and 1997 to display it. Also check out the many video tours of other sisterships by searching for Carver 500 for sale at looking at the listings with the traditional yacht brokers. These were and still are a millionaires yacht. But due to the condition this is the opportunity for middle class folks to have the same opportunity in exchange for investing some sweat equity in the restoration.
INFO FROM THE CARVER 500 BROCHURE:
Carver's largest aft cabin cruiser, the 500 Cockpit Motor Yacht, blends true motor yacht luxury with open-air excitement. Topside, the 500's spacious cockpit, swim platform and integral staircase provide easy boarding, and the perfect stage for water sports. Below deck, the 500 offers two lavish staterooms, a large entertaining area, and the flexibility of a movable dinette and furniture.
Aft, the master stateroom offers a queen size, inner-spring island berth, private head with stall shower, and direct access to the cockpit. Forward, a second master stateroom features an island berth and private access to a complete head with stall shower. For the chef, 500's unique galley design offers a full complement of appliances, and convenient access from both topside and below. Combine these features with an oversized salon, aft deck hardtop, aft deck and bridge enclosures and the Carver 500 Cockpit MY becomes perfect for an evening cruise or that extended vacation.
About the Boat:
The engines may or may not be repairable. They were underwater in salt water as you can see in the engine photo, and rebuilding motors this large is still a fairly costly prospect even if its possible. So if you intend to just live aboard and do snorkel and restaurant trips rather than serious long distance cruising, the most economical option for re-powering would be reinforce the back swim platform with large stainless L brackets and then mount a heavy duty stainless dual motor bracket on the transom (available for about $500) and get a cheap 30' or so classifieds board power boat with one or two 80 or 100 hp or so outboard motors and take those motors off the smaller cheaper boat and then mount them on the bracket on this boat.You could also potentially re-power with two slightly smaller and cheaper inboard diesels such as Perkins or Yanmars and the boat would go a bit slower than they did from the factory but your would also save a lot of money that way on an inboard re-power and use a lot less diesel fuel getting from place to place.
That would enable you to cruise at 5 to 7 knots trawler/sailor speed but not the full 20 knots these vessels were designed to cruise at for longer passages. Other than re-powering, what this boat needs is just a full interior remodel the same as you would with a flipper real-estate investment. The photos were taken after the boat took on water but the reality up close probably looks a little worse than the photos imply because a lot of the plywood on walls and cabinets etc has moisture de-lamination and swelling and stains etc. which these wide photos don't really accurately show. But these pix will give you a sense of the possibilities and what this boat can easily be turned back into and better with a bit of sweat equity and marine plywood.
This boat should really be viewed as floating real estate because its really more accurate to think of it as a floating home than in the same category with much smaller vessels which don't really have elbow room and storage etc or room for entertaining inside.
It is as large inside as a small land condo, and totals about 700 sq ft total of living area inside, which is about three times the size of the interior of the average 40 foot cruising sailboat. Built in the United States by American workers to quality marine specifications, These are the only boats built and widely available that have both the two full staterooms plus crew cabin, vast interior living room, two bathrooms each with standing showers (one tub/shower) and the huge enclosed glass sun-room and solidly constructed and fully enclosed fly-bridge with forward and pilot position leather seating. Nearly every other 45 to 55 foot power yacht has "at most" a canvas enclosed fly-bridge. These two additional Glass and Fiberglass enclosed rooms on this model add immensely to the usable interior space of these very comfortable and sought after yachts.
VESSEL IS LISTED PRIVATELY FOR SALE FOR $85,000. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CANCEL THE LISTING UP TO 24 HOURS BEFORE CLOSE OF THE AUCTION IN THE EVENT THAT VESSEL SELLS ON THE PRIVATE YACHT MARKET.
INSIDE OF 24 HOURS THE E-BAY AUCTION WILL TAKE PRECEDENCE!
PLEASE HAVE FUNDS IN PLACE PRIOR TO BIDDING. THIS AUCTION IS A LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT TO PURCHASE THIS VESSEL AS YOU SEE IT IN THE PHOTOS. PLEASE CALL WITH ANY OF YOUR QUESTIONS IN ADVANCE. I AM HAPPY TO DISCUSS ALL THE DETAILS OF THE VESSEL AND MOORING, HAUL OUT OPTIONS BY PHONE, SO IF YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS OR THINGS YOU ARE WONDERING ABOUT PLEASE GET YOUR ANSWERS PRIOR TO BIDDING.
If bidding exceeds $30,000, the first $30K is required by certified funds but additional amounts above $30,000 I would be willing to finance for 12 months at 6% APR.
If you cannot afford at least $30K up front you probably should not be considering purchasing a vessel of this scale. Dockage, operating and maintenance fees escalate considerably with such a large vessel. This is not a "playing around" weekend boat. This is a serious floating home as considerable in scale as a land home and equally valuable once fully restored.
But like re-modelling any house, this will take many weeks of work to complete all the aspects of a full restoration, and most of it is basically all the same work as remodeling a land based home--carpentry, plumbing, electrical and painting. If you can remodel a land home to save $100k on the purchase price then you can do the same with this yacht. However, if you aren't that handy and you want something turn-key, you should probably consider getting a loan for the additional $100,000 price difference and purchase one of these that is ready to go. There are a number of them for sale on the web between $150,000 to $250,000. Just google "Carver 500 for sale" to check them out.
WILLIAM phone
PAYPAL DEPOSIT IS DUE RIGHT AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE AUCTION. REMAINING BALANCE IS DUE BY CERTIFIED FUNDS the following banking day AND MAY BE DEPOSITED INTO WELLS FARGO OR US-BANK WITH BANK MANAGER'S RECEIPT FOR YOUR SECURITY. Vessel has clear ownership papers through the state of Colorado where I live, which will be sent by overnight FedX after payment is received. See Payment Terms for Details.
THE NITTY-GRITTY LOW-DOWN AND DIRTY OF SAVING A SMALL FORTUNE BUYING A REPAIRABLE YACHT ON classifieds board FOR PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR:
1997 Carver 500 (50 Ft) is normally a 150K to 250K Yacht.
PLEASE RESPECT TERMS OF THE AUCTION
PAYMENT DUE IN FULL WITHIN 24 HRS FOR THIS NO RESERVE PROJECT VESSEL. No Exceptions. These are the terms of the Auction. If you do not have access to funds on hand to complete a transaction WITHIN 24 HRS then you likely do not have enough liquidity to responsibly restore and safely maintain a vessel of this size and scale. If that is your reality, don't let your ambitions get the best of you...buy a smaller boat!!
Please call if you have any questions. William phone
That is why I have that bidding rule. I am looking for responsible new owner to take on this amazing floating house project. I am seeking to find a good new owner who understands that it will not be cheap or easy to restore such a large yacht to its former glory. For that reason if you have any doubts about what the nature of restoring a large yacht really involves or how to anchor or moor or dry store a boat this large responsibly, please call me in advance to discuss those questions or reservations prior to placing a legally binding contract bid to purchase this vessel.
The cost to safely moor or re-locate the vessel and do all the work necessary could easily exceed the total purchase price here on classifieds board. Please understand that and be prepared for those additional expenses prior to participating in the auction.
Getting an outboard motor mounted on the back with a stainless steel motor bracket, (brackets available for approx. $500--and 25 to 100 hp motor used for $500 to $1800) is required short term to make the vessel legal and safely moveable according to local anchorage rules even if you do plan to eventually replace or rebuild the inboard Cummins Diesel engines. If you want to have it towed to a boatyard then you can do what you like, but the vessel does not currently have a working motor and local anchorage rules require a working motor...although that could be as simple as 25 or 40 Horsepower motor on a stainless bracket to bring vessel into local compliance.
(The Engines were completely submerged in salt water and were not immediately pickled so they may or may not be repairable). Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Please understand that this vessel is for sale to a responsible new owner (No Reserve) only because someone is getting the opportunity to purchase a vessel easily worth $50,000 or $75,000 even in its current condition, at a fraction of that because the boat needs someone to take responsibility for it. It is located in a public anchorage where live-aboard sailors are required by local regulations to monitor and keep their vessels safe.
You can keep the vessel near where it is if you want to spend time in the Florida Keys and use the yacht as your residence, but if you do not plan to make it your primary residence you need to move it to a boatyard where it is safer rather than leaving it anchored out. It is currently located at a rented dock at a waterfront hotel. The hotel owner may agree to rent the dock for a matter of weeks or a couple months but they have expressed a desire to free up the dock space to make room for visiting vessels. I do not have any firm commitment about it being able to stay there, so be prepared that you or I or both of us may need to go and move it within a matter of weeks to a new location, either anchored out for a short term or to one of the several nearby public anchorages if you wish to live aboard, or to a boatyard where the boat can be safe on jackstands if you do not plan to stay aboard.
In the Florida Keys a Vessel this size, (once the interior is restored) could rent out for about $300 to $700 nightly on AirBNB. But you would either need to be on site yourself to change the linens and fill water tanks or get a local Air BandB entrepreneur to partner with. This is what I was planning to do with the boat, but I live in Colorado, 2000 miles away with kids in school, and cannot manage it easily from that distance I have realized.
It could also be an absolutely fantastic retirement home on the water. With a 60HP outboard motor mounted (Which can be purchased in good running condition on classifieds board for about $1000) you would be able to motor about at around 4 to 7 knots, which is not as fast as these boats were made to go but it is a good cruisable trawler or sailboat speed.
Paypal is only for the deposit. Balance must be paid by Certified Funds such as Cashier's Check or Direct Bank To Bank Transfer.
Please call if you have any questions. William phone
This is an opportunity vessel for a serious cruiser or marine professional who has significant marine experience. The scale of this vessel makes it inappropriate as a first vessel for someone with a Big Dream but No Experience. If you do not already have years of experience with ocean going vessels please call me before placing a bid, OR PLEASE (FOR BOTH YOURSELF AND ME), DO US BOTH A FAVOR AND START WITH A SMALLER BOAT AND GET SOME REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE WITH LARGE MOTORS, ANCHORING AND SEAMANSHIP BEFORE TRYING TO TAKE ON THE RESPONSIBILITY AND EXPENSE OF RESTORING AND MAINTAINING WHAT IS LITERALLY A FLOATING FULL-SIZE HOUSE.
?s Call Will phone -Go see video tours of several for sale on Yachtworld & other sites. Like a house that you can park in the most desirable waterfront harbors where condos often rent for $500 or $1000 per night to be in the same neighborhood. This one is located in the Florida Keys just 30 miles east of Key West. One of the most spacious 50 foot power yachts ever built. Fully enclosed Flybridge & Glass enclosed Deck House make these as large inside as many land based condos & larger than most large RVs. This Incredible Opportunity Vessel took on water at the dock from a broken dock piling that rubbed a hole just by the waterline. The hole has been repaired & water pumped out, but the patch job was with rough fiberglass & has not professionally faired. It was't' gashed or bashed but just a small puncture hole a bit larger than your fist. SERIOUS BIDDERS ONLY. PAYMENT DUE IN FULL IN 24hrs. Needs motors & Interior restored.
The first set of photos of the vessel interior were taken a few months ago. The interior condition is still very similar but the refrigerator has been removed and some of the decorations and bedding has been removed to facilitate working on projects. The faux leather cover on the salon sofa is torn now also. Overall, assume the photos look slightly better than reality. Interior definitely has had water damage and needs to be removed and rebuilt but can be made livable to stay on while you are performing the restoration work and the photos that are here are from after the dock incident and are relatively accurate representation of the vessel as she is now but there are likely more stains on the walls etc that don't really show up in these pix.
THE WATERLINE AFTER THE INCIDENT WAS MID WAY UP THE WALLS IN THE MAIN SALON AND COMPLETELY OVER THE FLOORS AND BEDS IN THE TWO MASTER CABINS. YOU WILL LIKELY WANT TO RE-BUILD THOSE BEDS AND SHELVES ETC. DUE TO WATER DAMAGE IN THE PLYWOOD ETC.
The damaged spot on the hull is visible as the dark green spot at the waterline on the starboard side of the boat. Also the bathrooms and bedrooms have water stains on the walls etc. which don't really show in the photo because it was overexposed.
The exterior of the boat is just as you see it in the photos.
WHO YOU ARE BUYING FROM:
We are serious blue water ocean sailors with thousands of miles and many years experience offshore and doing coastal cruising. It is our passion to help other people discover the sailing lifestyle, and especially the more serious cruising lifestyle.
Sailing and Cruising are typically considered a rich man's sport, and it certainly is if you pay full price for everything and make the necessary investments in proper off-shore equipment and a safe Blue Water Capable vessel in turn key condition. However, there are ways to make this lifestyle possible and affordable to middle class people and retirees who dont possess a three million dollar investment portfolio. But doing that properly and safely and knowing where to find your savings and where to not skimp is the knowledge that can sometimes make the difference between catastrophe or pleasant exploring once you set out on your adventure of a lifetime. We are passionate about sharing our knowledge and helping people discover this amazing lifestyle...and doing so in a way that keeps them safe, happy and in the black.
We already have our keeper boat and don't need another one, but every once in a while we discover through our friends and connections at boatyards, marinas and marine insurance companies a boat that is a terrific bargain that isn't getting the love and attention and exercise that it deserves, and we will try to help find a new home for it. This is one of those rare boats.
If you want to call me and discuss your cruising or sailing plans and dreams and whether or not this boat might actually work to suit your needs I will be happy to speak with you and give you my honest opinion about the feasibility of your plans and whether this vessel might or might not work for you. Feel free to call and chat. William phoneATTENTION: THIS IS A SERIOUS LISTING FOR A SERIOUS BOAT. YOUR BID IS A LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT TO PURCHASE THIS YACHT THE SAME AS A CONTRACT TO PURCHASE REAL ESTATE OR A NEW CAR. BY PLACING YOUR BID YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THE AUCTION AND THE PAYMENT TERMS. PLEASE CONSIDER ALL OF THIS PRIOR TO CLICKING THE PURCHASE BUTTON. PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE TEXT PRIOR TO BIDDING AND MAKE SURE YOU THAT YOU HAVE AS MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR PURCHASE AS POSSIBLE. I AM HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BOAT AND YOU ARE WELCOME TO GO AND SEE IT IN PERSON PRIOR TO BIDDING IF YOU LIKE. CALL ME IF YOU WANT TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO VIEW THE BOAT PRIOR TO THE END OF THE AUCTION.
WILLIAM AT phone.
PAYMENT IS DUE IN FULL WITHIN 24 HOURS. SEE PAYMENT TERMS.
CLEAR OWNERSHIP PAPERS ARE AVAILABLE. MOVING A BIG BOAT WITH A BOAT MOVER CAN BE VERY EXPENSIVE. OFTEN $6 OR MORE PER MILE FOR A VESSEL THIS SIZE. I AM HAPPY TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE OPTIONS IN THAT REGARD IF YOU WANT TO GIVE ME A CALL. By far the most affordable way to move a large yacht is by water, so please consider whether your location is accessible to move the boat by water or whether you will need to pay the higher cost of having it moved by truck and trailer. Also consider the time it will take to prepare for a voyage and whether your nautical skills or those of friends or other sailors you might find through the yacht crew websites are at the level necessary to make a safe voyage from the ocean where the boat is located to your home port. AND NOW IF YOU AREN'T YET TIRED OF READING A FEW INSIGHTS TO SHARE ABOUT BUYING BOATS AND CHOOSING THE RIGHT BOAT FOR GLOBAL CRUISING:
A little about what we do:
Our passion is to assist folks who are making a transition from day sailing or coastal cruising to becoming full-time live-aboard world cruisers. We also assist ew sailors and power boat enthusiasts who are just getting into the full time live-aboard cruising life-style by advising them on how to develop their skills and how to make plans to pursue the dream of cruising and world traveling full-time.
We have extensive contacts and resources for finding good world cruising boats at far below their fair market value, and occasionally we discover an amazing neglected vessel at a price that we know may enable a cruising family or a retired couple on fixed income the ability to pursue the dream of cruising without the sort of means and savings normally associated with pursuing this lifestyle.
In those cases, like this boat, we work to try and find a new home for a good below market value boat, with people who will fully restore the vessel, and hopefully use it for the serious cruising that the boat was designed for.
There are many aspects of life where experience really matters, but none so much as global cruising. When you are planning to take a small boat across vast oceans and visit foreign ports of call on your own terms you must truly learn to become Master's of your Own Destiny. It doesn't matter how wealthy you are or how talented you are at managing large organizations or companies with dozens of staff people.
When you are on a boat in the middle of the ocean, the choices you have made, the choices you will make and your own internal skills and the undeniable truth of how well or poorly you have planned for your expedition, are the factors that will determine whether your experiences become a positive adventure or a frightening (or even life threatening) catastrophe.
When you are looking at a boat parked peacefully at a dock or on jack stands at a boat yard, you will be tempted to judge it based on whether the lines are nice and whether it is pretty or ugly and whether it is new or old and well kept or run down.
The ocean however, operates according to immutable laws of physics. The ocean does not care whether it sinks a pretty boat or keeps an ugly one floating. It does not care whether you are a skilled sailor with dozens or years experience under your shade hat or whether you are an amateur on your first weekend pleasure cruise. You will be served exactly the same conditions of wind and waves whether you were born wealthy or if you were raised in a cave by baboons.
The only control you have over these situations is knowing when to sail and when not to sail, and you can prepare yourself so that when the wrong situation strikes, if it ever does, you are skilled and prepared to deal with it and have a vessel that is prepared to handle the same.
For people who are wanting to go cruising full-time, or who want to go from being pleasure sailors to competent seamen and seawomen, choosing the right boat is the first and sometimes ultimately most important decision of their nautical lives.
Of course you can always sell or trade a boat and then buy a different one, but still the choice of each boat will influence the experiences you have and it will determine in many ways the capabilities or limitations of what you can or can't do while you have that boat for your homeeven if it is only home for a few weekends here and there.
There are many nuances and subtleties to sailing, as well as to each individual vessel. A boat that may be just exactly perfect for one sailor or family of sailors, may be completely the wrong boat to suit another person's dreams.
By nature, boats require a lot of maintenance and upgrades, and if you are someone who wants all the possible bells and whistles, boating can be a very expensive occupation.
However, there are also ways to save a lot of money and still pursue the dream effectively and safely and create a new floating paradise for yourself. But each person or each couple's needs are different.
There is no such boat as a boat that is not a project boat.
A cruiser friend I know well (a relatively wealthy man at the time) purchased a brand new Beneteau 46 for his family to live on for years and to cruise the world on, the first thing he did to a brand new half million dollar boat was to spend another $27K on equipment upgrades, new electronics installations and custom modifications.
No boat, no matter how shiny and brand new, is exactly right for everyone's individual tastes and needs, and no boat comes straight from the factory completely ready to do anything other than Wednesday afternoon beer can races.
I often get asked by people who are shopping for a used boat to go cruising the world, Is this boat ready to cross the Atlantic? or Does it need anything before it is 'Ready to Sail.
The very nature of that question is a showcase of their naivety. Even if the answer were Yes, the boat is ready. (which would be impossible to have any boat ready unless you have spent thousands of dollars on a cruising chandlery and provisioning service ahead of time) the greater question is Are such ignorant sailors who need to ask such questions ready themselves?
Even if they had the absolutely perfect boat, prepared ahead of time by die-hard professionals to get it ready to cast off the lines and sail to points distant and exotic, would the sailors know where everything is at on the boat and how to operate those systems and how not to break them with ignorant mistakes or how to fix them once broken? And if they knew all those things, would the boat be equipped with the necessary repair tools and supplies as part of the process of getting it ready to sail?
So all these are big questions, and the only easy answer is that any sailor must become intimately familiar with their vessel prior to making long voyages beyond sight of land. The easiest way to become familiar with a boat so that it is not a stranger but rather a trusted old friend is to do a lot of weekend coastal cruising with it, while you work all the bugs out. Also, the more projects and upgrades you do yourself the more familiar you will be with how they work, how to maintain them and how to fix them again if anything every goes wrong. To depend on the expertise of professionals left behind in a port in a distant country you cleared out of months ago is only to invite future disaster...and its also much harder on the wallet.
So any time you can add to your own skills and knowledge of your own boat by doing your own work, or hiring a professional to help you do it yourself, you are preparing yourself for future success as a cruiser.
Any boat, even a brand new boat, will have things about it that you want to change or upgrade or move or install prior to making long voyages.
The better questions to ask are:
What is the proper amount of maintenance and upgrades that I will make to my vessel prior to setting sail?
How many things need to be changed or fixed before I leave the continental US?
How many projects will I work on, as little projects along the way, when I have a slow day at a boring anchorage and there are no cruiser parties to attend and no interesting conversations of the side channels of the VHF.
How many projects are absolutely vital to get accomplished before I begin actively using the boat as a full time residence and a floating RV that can sail to any country with a coastline?
How many projects do I want to tackle myself if it means I can save literally tens of thousands of dollars on the purchase price of a boat, and how much more ultimate value do I get for my money by buying a larger or more seaworthy boat with a few bigger projects to tackle than if I buy a smaller or more flimsy boat that is cleaned up nicer and has fewer problems to address. (Remember the ultimate cosmic law of boating even if you can't see any problems at all with a boat, and no projects needing doing, as soon as you own it and begin to sail it, you will start to find those quirks and bugs) So don't fool yourself into believing that you can simply buy a shiny new boat from a broker at full market value, or even by paying more than boat blue book value, to avoid ever having to make repairs or upgrades.
Any experienced sailor or boating professional other than someone selling fancy new boats will admit to you that there is no such boat other than a project boat. The only question is What are the projects and how much money will I save by doing them myself versus hiring someone else to complete them?
Every boat that I have ever bought or ever sold, which is now many dozens of them, had varying degrees of things needing to be improved about it. Even the brand new boats straight from the showroom floor or boat show sales dock will need bottom painting and new zincs and fuel cleansing treatments and oil changes and manifold and riser inspections within a matter or months of casual weekend use.
The longer any boat sits without the proper level of loving regular maintenance the faster it will deteriorate, and tiny 15 minute projects will turn into hour-long projects and hour-long projects will turn into day-long or week-long projects due to continuing neglect.
The quality of the build is also important. A cheap boat will have cheap boat problems, and it will have serious issues far faster and more frequently than a very well built boat from an esteemed yacht designer and builder even if the better boat looks worse initially.
In many ways you are better off to buy an older and more well regarded vessel in worse first impressions condition than to buy a shiny and well kept cheaper new boat. In the long run the better boat will cause far fewer headaches once you have it restored fully and you are taking care of it yourself, whereas the cheap but glossy boat may still look new and shiny for years, but begin having serious and costly problems that cannot be seen even while it still looks great in Facebook boat pictures.
Boating is like riding a horse or driving a high performance sports car. You always have to be involved in the life of your boat whether you use it frequently or not.
But this is not a bad thing, because it is part of the pride of ownership, and the regular maintenance and upkeep and small projects is what enables you to avoid the big ones or to at least know which big ones you need to do sooner and which ones can wait till later.
--
As you will guess by now, I'm a bit of a philosopher sailor when it comes to helping folks find just the right boat to serve their needs.
I am currently writing a book on that very topic which will be called, The Seven Questions of Cruising (or) the Seven Questions you should ask yourself before buying a Boat. Here is a quick preview of the questions you should be trying to answer from the introduction to my new book.
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When you go to buy a boat, especially if it is your first boat, there are a lot of decisions to be made and hard choices to figure out.
Before you begin searching for the correct vessel to serve your needs, you need to first ask yourself, (and your cruising partners/ spouse etc) some important questions which will help you immensely in the quest to find the perfect small ship to suit your needs.
Question # 1- Where do you want to sail to (now and also possibly in the future)?
#2 Who might be going with you and/or who might want to visit you and stay on the boat with you once you get to that exotic foreign port (if global cruising is your goal) or that incredible weekend getaway spot (if weekend cruising is your thing).
#3 How much do you want to spend on this adventure called boating/sailing/?
Also, how much can you afford to spend if you happen to take a wrong turn with the adventure and need to spend more money to fix a problem or get yourself or your stalwart side-kick (your boat) out of trouble?
#4 How handy are you? (i.e. - Are you someone who naturally takes pride in your ability to figure it out yourself, or are you the person who would rather call an expert and pay them to solve whatever problem you are having?
#5 How much time do you have to save yourself money, because in sailing, as well as in life in general time often equals money.
#6 Are you a weekend warrior and/or charter sailor, or do you want to cruise full time?
#7 Do you care more about Getting There or more about Being There once you have arrived?
Thanks, William phone
Payment due within 24 hours after close of auction via Paypal or Counter Deposit with managers receipt as proof of payment at Wells Fargo Bank or US Bank or via Wire Transfer. If you are the high bidder at the close of the auction please call me right after auction closes to discuss the details of the transaction & tell me what name/ address you want on the Bill of Sale. CLEAR OWNERSHIP PAPERS.
Add new question to the seller