Buy Your First Sailboat? Episode 123 - Lady K Sailing

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[caesarforlife]

The best video I've seen for newbies buying their first sailboat - entertaining, clear, straight to the point and informative. 👍

[james]

No bs; just straight forward, clear and concise information. Thank you!

[davidabatangelo]

Hi Tim, thanks for the pointers on buying a first sailboat. I am watching after the fact. I already purchased a boat last Fall. I feel like I must have gotten lucky because the boat matched most of your tips. It was a 1985 Catalina 25 that I purchased at an auction for $100. It was out of commission for about 10 years. It came with sails, rigging, anchor, cushions (cabin and cockpit). It had about a foot of old water inside and needed a lot of cleaning. I found a running 1978 Johnson 9.9 with electric start for $650 over the winter. This Spring I have been working on painting the haul. It was partially sandblasted by the previous owner. The marina required plastic covering on the ground and a shop vac connected to the sander. I purchased a sander $85, shop vac $60, generator $465, and sandpaper for about $50. Paint was not cheep either. I have about $700 in barrier and bottom paint. In addition to these expenses, I have another $100 in cleaning supplies. This puts me in at about $2, 210. I still need at least one battery (the boat had two; one for the boat and the other for the motor). I also need an electric cord (for electric from the dock), probably a mast light and plug, and some wiring. Say maybe another $500. Oh, I almost forgot about oil and grease for the winches $35 and rigging tape $15. I was given a tiller as the boat was missing one but purchase the connection plates for $60. A boat title and license another $75. Gas just to get to the marina and work on the boat (about 20 time) $200. So, the cost of my $100 boat is now $3, 095; just about where you said it should be. I will still need a radio, lifejackets, and other safety gear. The yearly cost: insurance $170, dock $1300, winter storage $230, launching $210, and pull out $210. I expect to pay about $2, 120 total each year. There will also be oil, gas and maintenance. For the first year I will be in for over $5, 215. The best part is that I am excited about it and cannot wait to get on the water! The best thing that the boat had going for it was that it was already at a local lake and did not need transported. Another lucky plus was that it had a lead keel. If I, did it again, I would look for a boat that was already in service, even if the cost were higher.

[moriver]

I started sailing years ago, mostly dinghys and for 20 years always wanted to have my own boat, and live in the boat. So at age 56, I skipped the 20 plus foot boat and wasn't for a 35 foot. Big difference obviously and fortunately I am very mechanically inclined with lots of experience working on airplanes, motorcycles, cars, machinery, etc. Your advice is sound and hopefully your audience is much younger than me, but I love the Catalina 22, swing keel, and if I was doing it all over and at a much younger age, that would be my boat. Your channel is awesome.

[pepperjake]

Sorry to be repetitive, but another great video. You captured 95% of the concerns a first time boater should consider. Your honesty is a testament to your character. I hope this video gets others excited about sailing. I bought my sailboat at the age of 62 and now wish I’d have done it 40 years sooner.

[frankbalazs]

A 20 ft or under to just cruise around the Great lakes with my wife and go fishing

[trentbush]

Tim, great advice. Here is a topic request: A review of the several 6/12/15 or so books that every hands on, thrifty minded, somewhat ambitious sailor should own. A library for the serious, active sailor. Thanks again for these videos!

[markberger]

So let's say you are working through a long term plan to liveaboard cruise - get training, go crew, buy boat, sail ocean regionally then circumnavigate.
You know you like comfort, space & toys so are ultimately aiming for a large catamaran, however want to be able to be independant & single-hand for as long as needed.
Dilemma - do you sink money into a probably too small mono to get experience or do you simply go for the cat in the first place & spend the mono money customizing & upgrading etc?
Either way it's going to be ab old boat due to finances & not wanting huge depreciation.

[traviskreger]

If one ends up with a gas onboard. Never activate any electrical/spark creating item until you have verified there is no gas fumes present. Then activate a ventilation system for the below decks for five minutes or longer. It take some time but you can be loading supplies etc. The five minutes may have changed. Look for a Power Squadron or Coast Guard Auxiliary course. Use same fumes and ventilation after refueling. Tim thanks for the channel.

[bikepacker]

Thanks for the advice... I'll go and "crew" in a race. That's something I can do..

[colrodrick]

I’m not in the market, but you gave some sage advice. Not going to big or too complex or too expensive or buying and then sinking huge amounts into it. All very good advice.

[kennethvannorsdall]

Tim, such sage advice!
I'm a 69 year old solo sailor.
If you're a newbie, start small and enjoy the learning curve.

A few points. Bigger isn't always better, but it is always more expensive.

Secondly, you can pay to much for junk. You can't pay to much for a quality boat.

Tall rig Catalina 25, no worries. A standard rig vs tall rig. There both a pain in the Butt to raise or drop.

Boats I've owned. 13 ft AMF Sunbird, 21 ft W D Shook, Santana, 23 O'Day, 25 Catalina and for the last 32 years A 30 Catalina Tall rig. Its been a great life. Come on April 2nd.

Ken V
Windsong, Sailing the north Coast of Ohio. Lake Erie

[sollasollew]

Expansive subject to cover but you did an excellent job. Cheers from down under.

[tharney]

First boat was a sailing canoe. Second was a Morgan OI 36. Wife and i lived n it for 5 years with our daughter (13 months when we moved aboard). Next was a Bayliner power boat because we wanted to fish & dive and didn't have time to sail over to the islands (So Cal). We are now looking for our last boat, a world cruiser. Hope to retire in 2 years and go cruising for a few years while we can still do it.

[liveaboardsailor]

Great Vid! One thing I’ll add is the SAFETY factor of diesel v petrol on an inboard of ANY sized vessel. Diesel is much safer to deal with!

[mymiami]

Looking for a new boat now! Want only a outboard. Going to make sure there is not one threw hull fitting on it any place. I will plug and patch any that are below the water line. Never ever want to worry about it taking on water.

[peeterleppik]

Spot on in every way. Maybe another video, more emphasis on safety....radio use (certificate) navigation (operator card)... how to get experience (meaning the scary rough stuff) ...don't want to scare anyone away it's real.

[ORClimber]

Straight shooter with no nonsense advice. Thanks!

[kubotaman]

Great advice, I am a seasoned saltwater boat owner but want to get into sailing. I have had a 22' Center console the past 20 years so don't want to start with something that size so I decided to get a 28 footer to start out. Pretty close to your advice but my wife and I are comfortable enough spending a little more money because we already know we love being on the water for countless hours straight. So this is really like a small boat camper that is focused on sailing and not all the amenities that comes with boats. I was drowning in that with my search until I found this little boat. It is a sellers market right now so finding the right boat can be very challenging. Happy searching for everyone!

[TomDyerBartender]

nice, just the video I was looking for. Thank you.