7. Searching for a Good Enough Cruising Sailboat
How to Find your GOOD ENOUGH Cruising Sailboat 1. Intro Introduce each other Talk about what the podcast is going to be about (The topics covered in the agenda) 2. Step 1: How do you even know what boat you want? Where to start… We started by watching a lot of sailing channels on YouTube and making a list of all the things we thought our boat needed to include. Initially, some of the priorities we had were: existing solar, refrigerator, electric windlass, self tailing winches, center cockpit or large aft berth, folding table, comfortable layout, and autopilot. After the initial “nice to have list,” we started to break it down and rank our list based on our budget. What is your budget realistically? How long do you plan to cruise? Are you going to be working from your boat remotely? Are you going to have to go to work physically? When you start looking at a boat think about thousands of dollars in upgrades that you will need to make to your boat based on your requirements and how you plan to use the boat. What are you going to do with your boat? Live on anchor? Travel the Caribbean? Stay in a marina all the time? Cross oceans? One thing to really think about is all the upgrades you will need for your boat depending on what you plan to do with it and add that into your budget. Now that you have an idea of what you want to do with your boat and how much you want to spend on one now you can start looking for the right model(s). For us finding the right model based on our priorities of how the boat needed to be outfitted changed over time. Looking at different boats, researching and learning about new things and becoming increasingly aware of what it would take to live aboard a boat. In the beginning I know I didn't really know what we needed so I was looking for a great cabin layout, nice kitchen,, great aft birth like a center console model and as far as the systems of the boat I was mostly looking to make sure they were clean. For me personally my priorities changed to not really care much about the interior and the layout of the cabin and focus more on the engine, the sail’s condition, furling mains and how easily the boat was to operate as a single handed sailor from the cockpit, anchor size and type and chain, windlass, autopilot, solar set up, wind generator, things like that. Luckily we found a boat that has a lot of those systems as well as a well maintained interior. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Is it a great boat for the price? I believe so. 3. Step 2: How do you actually find a boat? Where do I look? After you decide on a budget and some major things that you are looking for in your new floating home, start the search! I’m sure in the old days people used classifieds in the newspapers and word of mouth to find boats for sale but luckily you have the internet at your disposal. We used www.yachtworld.com , www.boattrader.com , facebook marketplace and we actually found our boat on www.sailboatlistings.com I would use these sites to get an idea of what is out there in your price range. Do some research online for some opinions and reviews on some models you find and see if others have historically used that boat for your intention as a guide Be patient, finding a boat can take a LONG time. If you live near boat yards you can take some strolls along the yards and there are normally quite a few boats for sale that you can take a look at in person. I think I probably looked online and in boat yards for about two months before we found the boat we wanted. I actually contacted an owner and stepped foot onto about 4 or 5 boats of all the ones WE looked at online. Luckily I lived in Florida so it was easy to see a lot of boats. Others who are planning on moving across the country to move onto their boat won’t have as much opportunity as someone already on the coast. 4. Step 3: What do you do when you find a boat you’re interested in? Call the broker or owner and set up a time to see the boat. Do some research on the boat and see what typical problems that specific boat may have from other owners. I joined facebook groups for owners of my boat. I read Inspecting the Aging Sailboat by Don Casey you can use our affiliate link here if you’d like to buy the book: https://amzn.to/2VwBY2W This book is all about how to do your own inspection and to recognize problems. This was huge for me because I had no idea what to look for. At the back of the book he gives you a quick inspection list that can be done in 30 minutes which is perfect for your first look at the boat. I would highly recommend you read this unless you have a lot of boat experience. Talk to people who actually know about boats! Emily’s grandfather has been a sailor all of his life and had a lot of important knowledge to share with us about boat systems and what to look for when buying a boat. Show up to the boat showing and get to work. Have a plan to cover every inch of the boat. Make sure the owner turns everything on and shows you that everything works. I mean EVERYTHING. There are things I find on my boat still that are not working as they should be and it is because I just FIGURED it would be functional. Just be very thorough is my point. If you are interested in the boat still after your quick inspection you can either ask to spend more time digging through everything or ask for another appointment where you can have a longer chunk of time to really get into the weeds. 5. Conclusion Looking for a boat is time consuming, can be a little stressful but is ultimately so much fun and something I will never forget! The key takeaways from the podcast should be this.. Do some research and make sure you know what type of boat you want and how you plan to use it. Find a boat that fits those needs and your realistic budget. Get on all of the boat listing websites and spend a lot of time looking at boats and comparing prices, models etc. Be patient and find what you actually want! Prepare yourself before you step foot on the boat. It could be yours soon and anything you miss you will inherit. Be very thorough and don’t feel bad about asking them to show you things are operational and don’t be afraid to dig through everything.