A Buying Methodology...

Consultant speak for "how we intend to buy a boat'!

As we plan on jumping off to the Caribbean and starting small, we have had to take a different approach to sourcing yachts.

• First we sat down and discussed what we THOUGHT we wanted from a yacht based on what we planned to do with it and where we wanted to go. Cruising, not day sailing. Comfort, safety, space, performance, turn-key, etc - We soon found out that there is no such thing as "turn-key" when it comes to things that float...
• Then we identified a specification that met our requirements. Deciding on all those features like size, build, equipment, specification, pedigree etc
• I subscribed to Yachting Monthly Magazine and a number of online newsletters
• We started reading blog postings of Lin and Larry Pardey, Beth and Evan, Morgans Cloud, Mahina.com and other such authors and evangelists
• The Q&A with my parents increased 10 fold as we drilled them for information
• We started looking at boats and models that we knew of. Generally UK or South African designs. This expanded to US and Canadian boats as we realised that most UK / South African designs were mainly in the UK / South Africa. Buying in the US, you are better off looking at US designs
• We viewed a number of yachts in our nearby vicinity (of London / Solent) to learn more about boats, speak to owners, brokers etc. You can read a million books, articles and magazines but there is no substitute for actually stepping on board to take a look first hand. We were surprised just how many yachts looked good online and were far from it in reality!
• Online shortlist - created a Excel spreadsheet of a number of potential yachts in our proposed jump off area. Listing out kit it has and does not have. Pro's and Cons to provide a tool for side by side comparison
• On the list we identified nice to haves vs necessities. A radar is a nice to have in my book not a necessity, whereas a bimini (awning) to keep the sun out the cockpit is a necessity in the tropics. Sure you can get one made, but it will cost you thousands of dollars and weeks to accomplish
• We worked out that a cheaper boat with less spec, will often cost more in the long run than a more expensive vessel with all the kit. This even more so if you consider the time involved. Also remember that kit does not tend to affect the overall resale price of the boat. Just because you added a $5000 dodger does not increase its value by $5k...unfortunately
• Arranged viewings with those on the shortlist. All this involves significant time and expense as we hire cars and trains and aeroplanes to do this...The boat is getting more expensive by the day and we have not even bought one yet...
• We would view each boat and weigh up the options. Every boat has its value. Some however are just not appealing and don't fit the criteria. Others need more than just a polish and would be "project boats" for a long time before we could set off. Too long in some cases
• Every now and then you find the right boat but at the wrong price. As we are in a buyers market (the American economy - and the world economy - is in a poor place at the moment) we have considered a few yachts with prices in excess of our budget. Sometime a seemingly cheeky offer is accepted with the right timing and the right seller
• The most difficult part is realising that whatever you spend on a boat, you will spend an additional 40 - 50% on getting her cruising ready. I never thought about this until this was called out by my parents and seconded by John Neal - from Mahina.com. I started doing the math...no dingy, + $1000. No outboard engine for dingy, + $1000, no self-steering, + $2000 etc etc - THAT affected the boat budget!
• When we found one that we did like on paper, but it was far away, we made a few calls to the owners / brokers to find out all about the boat and what the condition was of the big ticket items Namely - the engine, hull, rig, sails etc. An engine rebuild can costs tens of thousand. Delamination on the deck costs thousands to fix. Chainplates are a mission and costly to replace etc
• If we liked what we heard we would go away and research the make, design. There are loads of forums with information from owners. Also some have websites dedicated to the design. We also emailed owners to ask their advice and what to look out for when considering the boat
• If all was to our liking, we would then make a preliminary offer. "Based on the information you have provided I would like to offer you $X for her...subject to viewing, survey and sea trial"
• If the offer was accepted, we would make our way to the boat and view her
• We would have a full survey done and would do this every time from now on. Preferably with the owner present for both the out the water survey and the sea trial. Together we can identify and discuss in an open forum any issues with the boat and it adds a bit of realism to the deal
• If there are any major issues that will require additional capital that you have not budgeted for, negotiate with the seller on price

The yacht specification...

We have spent numerous hours trawling sailing magazines, cruising blogs and many hours talking to my parents who have done this all before.
They recommended we look at yachts in the UK to further identify likes and dislikes with regards to designs, size, space, performance etc.

Many of our weekends were spent travelling down to the Solent (Portsmouth, Southampton etc) to view yachts from 30 foot, up to 40 foot to get a picture of what is on the market and to create a short list of makes, models, preferences and sizes.

As a pair of consultants, we are fairly analytical when it comes to these sorts of decisions so created our own criteria.

1. Used yacht preferably not older than 30 years
2. Monohull
3. Between 30 and 40 foot (any larger and the costs go up exponentially and any smaller and it would be tricky to store all our possessions and live comfortably)
4. Of a suitable cruising pedigree from a recognised designer. (Many yachts are built for many different purposes. Not all are suitable cruising yachts)
5. Fin and skeg design (personal preference as I believe long keel yachts not as manoeuvrable or have the same performance as more modern fin keel). As we will be sailing in the tropics there is not much tidal fluctuation and hence a bilge keel is not an option.
6. Hull can be Aluminium, cold moulded wood or GRP (Fibre Glass). Steel is also an option above 37 feet.
7. Sloop or cutter rig
8. Low maintenance yacht with few "toys". i.e. electronic water makers, water pumps, hot water etc.
9. Medium / heavy displacement yacht (too heavy and she will probably have poor performance and too light and she will be thrown around in a heavy sea)
10. Decent sized water tanks for longer range cruising
11. Interior should be open and well ventilated with a decent master berth for in port use
12. Suitable opening ports and hatches for ventilation in the tropics. (Some UK yachts did not have many hatches or had small hatches as they were not a huge requirement in that region of the world)
13. Adequate stowage space for clothes, tools, spares, food, sundry kit (older designed yachts like the Nicholson 35, although beautiful yachts were quite restricted in the amount of stowage space below)
14. Single head (I don't have 2 loo's in my house, why would I want 2 on a small yacht...and 2 more holes in the hull too!)

Hood 38

Certain preferences come into the mix too:

1. No traveller in the cockpit (great if you are single handing, but a pain as it takes up space, more ropes to foul the cockpit, limits use of a Bimini)
2. Manual water pumps in the galley and head
3. Centre cockpit generally means larger internal space and a drier boat, however this is not a requirement as most yachts in our bracket are aft cockpit

Nice to haves but no deal breakers included:
1. Self tailing winches
2. Dodger and Bimini (to keep the sun and spray away)
3. Windvane self steering is a big plus
4. Up to date electronics (in our searches, very few boats have modern electronics so we opted to factor in that all electronics would probably need to be replaced)
5. Fridge
6. Radar
7. Lazy Jacks
8. Spinnaker
9. Generator

With these points in my mind we commenced our search using the internet (yachtworld.com and sailboatlistings.com) to create a shortlist of yachts in Florida prior to travelling down there to view.