I’m not exactly sure what your definition of ‘nice’ here is, but I hope it doesn’t include ‘fast.’
Typically the more hp the outboard has, the bigger it is. On a sailboat, a large outboard is just impractical, and often, impossible. (I think a typical outboard on a larger boat would be in the 9-15 hp range.)
The kind of boat you’re thinking about would most likely have an inboard.
Well, with the kind of boat he’s thinking about, it’ll be slightly bigger than a 9-15 hp job. But your point is well taken - the engines on sailboats are puny compared to their powered cousins.
Even trawlers?
One option I’ve frequently heard mentioned to people interested in cruising for a living is a heavy or medium displacement trawler: A boat designed strictly for displacement sailing at a relatively slow speed (6-12 knots). Typically, they seem to have relatively low horsepower marine diesels (because there’d be no point in having a larger one, given that the the speed of a heavy displacement hull is limted largely by physics). I’ve heard (though have no hard evidence to back it up) that they can actually be cheaper to operate then a sail boat–the wind may be free, but sails and rigging aren’t…
lol. I must be confused. At this point I’m not really sure I know what kind of boat Roland is thinking about.
But my post was specifically referring to a sailboat with an outboard engine. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen much more than a 12 hp outboard on one (excluding powersailers/hybrids), there’s just no need for it.
I do realize (again, if we’re talking sailboats) he has the option of a bigger, (and presumably) diesel inboard. In the size range he mentioned, I think this would be more likely, but, I’m no salty dog.
What if I could talk my wife into buying a really nice boat and renting a small apartment in Oahu rather than buying a house. This would mean that I could afford something closer to 300K. Could we live in such a boat (again I’m thinking Cruiser here rather than Sloop for the most part)?
Also do several families ever combine their resources to buy a boat they could not otherwise afford? If three families pitched in $125,000 each you could have a much nicer boat than would otherwise be possible (and still have use of it for about three months a year allowing three months per year in repair/down time). Plus it would actually be alot more fun in many cases to have someone else along for the trips.
Alright, maybe someone can hit me with a clue stick. The kind of boat I want would just be for cruising the Chesapeake Bay during the summer. I have no inkling of heading out for England. I am sure there are a million reasons why this is not a very good deal. Can someone tell me what they are? (BTW, I’m just asking, boat isn’t in the budget for another couple of years) Yea, it’s almost as old as I am, and it’s wood, and I get the impression that that’s not a good thing(why), but it’s got a head, a galley and bunks and it costs less than my car. It looks like just the thing to sail around the bay for weekend getaways on the Eastern Shore or even for a trip downy oshun, hon.
I’m really interested in this one!!
http://www.b-americanboats.com/byowner1941.html
Screw buying a house, I’m just gonna buy that thing!!
There’s really nothing wrong with wooden boats, provided they’ve been cared for accordingly, and they were built real well to begin with. Chris Craft is a big name in wooden boats, so that particular boat was probably well built. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend an old wooden boat to a first time boat owner, simply because the time and effort (and money) to care for it properly can be overwhelming.
Wood hulls are suject to “wet rot”. (No, not dry rot - wet rot. Moisture makes that happen, not dryness) More often than not, this will start occurring in the most impossible places to find - dark, damp and unventilated areas down below. Once this starts, it never does get any better by itself. Once it gets bad enough, you have to replace the wood, or it just turns into dirt.
Also, there’s the time and stress factors that plague every wooden boat. In addition to wet-rot, the fasteners will go over time. Fasteners can’t be inspected unless you pull them. Wood boat owners aren’t real big on pulling fasteners to inspect them, so they may be all but gone, and you’ll never know it until you lose a plank. And if you lose a plank below the waterline, I guarantee you don’t have enough pumps on board to deal with that rate of flow. The best tool to have with you when inspecting a wood boat, is a crewdriver with the head cut off. Then take that blunt end and start poking. Everywhere. A solid thud and no penetration is good wood. (For the most part). Once you start making indents, or even going into the wood, you got rot or excessive moisture.
Wood hulls can be more difficult to repair as well. By comparison, FRP is a snap compared to repairing some wood damage. You’ve got planks, frames, fasteners, caulking, paint, etc.
Then there’s the marine borers. Worms. Teredo and Bankia. Plus termites, for the topside wood. All these things eat your friggin boat.
Wood boats can and do last generations. But there’s an awful lot of blood sweat and tears that makes that happen.
Well I screwed that all up. This should be at the end of the second paragraph, vice third:
The best tool to have with you when inspecting a wood boat, is a screwdriver with the head cut off. Then take that blunt end and start poking. Everywhere. A solid thud and no penetration is good wood. (For the most part). Once you start making indents, or even going into the wood, you got rot or excessive moisture.
You ought to go to a sailboat show if there’s ever one in your area. At the very least it’s a fun afternoon and you get to hang out in boats you’ll never have an opportunity to hang out in in real life. The one I used to go to had everything from dingies and Lasers up to 50+ foot cruisers.
I took the learn to sail course at The Offshore Sailing School. You do classroom work in the am and go out and sail 26 foot sloops in the pm. It’s a good intro to the basics and you learn how friggin’ cold you can get when you’re on the water.
Sure, you can live in them, provided that your wife is OK with that. I would imagine that living on a boat can be a little claustrophobic in the long run, though. I mean, the kitchen is usually tiny compared to what you’d find in almost any apartment. It probably wouldn’t take long for the missus (or yourself, whoever does the cooking) to dream about the seemingly endless counterspace a condo ro house would have. And the beds - while comfy enough for a few week’s trip - might make you long for a good ol’ Serta. Don’t get me wrong, thousands of people live on boats full-time, I’m just saying it’s not for everyone.
I know you’re talking about Hawaii - and presumably talking about living on the ocean - but read up on any local laws about living on inland waters just in case. You’re not allowed to live “full-time” on Lake Lanier (which is just north of Atlanta). One local weatherman’s claim to fame was that he lived on a houseboat on the lake, but had to stay in a hotel one weekend a month (or something like that) to meet the Army Corps of Engineers’ definition of “full-time resident”. He claimed even more fame when his girlfriend “mysteriously” disappared from the houseboat, but that’s a different story (although that’s why I know that he had to live on shore occasionally).
And yes, sometimes families do go in together on boat purchases. My dad’s first boat was a houseboat he went in on with his best friend. It was funny because the best friend is only “marginally Jewish” but his wife was hardcore Orthodox - so we had to bring our own dishes and pans. But I’m getting off-topic here…
Scruloose did a great job with the wooden boats question. The short answer is “because they’re a huge pain in the ass compared to fiberglass boats”, and read his post for the long answer.
Onshore sailing???
My 1975 Chrysler Cordoba is a 18 foot boat that’s capable of onshore (only) sailing and I only paid $1200 for it…Corinthian Leather and woodgrain included! 
Heh, I get the joke, but:
onshore boating - toward (near) the shore; land in sight
offshore boating - away from the shore; no land in sight
Roland, you might want to read some books by sailors (check out Tristan Jones), if you haven’t already, and/or check out some books about cruising/living aboard.
I know some people in this area ‘timeshare’ boats, but I don’t know anything about how they arrange it.
I’ve sailed a 41’ sloop in 55-knot winds, with sprindrift and howling winds. Scary as hell. And this was in a bay. Can’t imagine what it would be like 1,500 miles from a port.
Out in deep ocean, I would want at least 70 feet, plus the best radar/weather forecasting, several experienced hands–and a transporter beam.
My sailboat (Whitby 42 center cockpit ketch) had a 65 hp inboard diesel.
Exactly! Thank you!
Seventy foot and a crew is just not going to happen unless I win the lottery. Also, I’m probably not going to talk the wife into liviing on a boat full time. On the other hand I think the South Pacific is generally a picnic compared to the Atlantic and most of the boating I want to do will be within twenty miles of shore. Don’t get me wrong if I am able to realize this dream there is still a 50/50 chance that I’ll end up dying at sea even with the best possible preparation. I have this recurring vision of being in the path of a Pacific Typhoon typing feverishly on my lap top with satellite uplink to Straightdope with the question something like…“What’s my best chance for surviving a class III Typhoon offshore in a forty foot piece of crap…” I’m sure there will be some excellent advice which I probably won’t have the time to read.
Then after I’m swimming with Sponge Bob “Down, Down, Down…to the bottom of the Sea.” someone can start a Pit thread about that idiot who spent two decades saving and planning so he could drown at sea.
Now’s the time to get a really good deal on a fixer-upper boat if you are willing to come to Florida. Around here there are hundreds of really nice boats that are being auctioned off because of damage from the two hurricanes that hit over summer.
Here’s a
Forbes Article, and here’s one of the many salvage yards that have sprung up around here. But like the other posters said, boats can be a money pit, especially on repairs.
