Drive to new area, buy a boat, cruise, sell it, drive home

[Frank]

I was recently out west for our anual "boys week" up he BC coast on my buddy's trawler.
Near his dock in Pender Harbour was a nice, older 24ft sailboat. I got talking to the owner and he told me he had paid $1000 for it and all it needed was a good clean up.
A few days later, further up the coast at Powell River there was a very nice, older 24 or 25 footer that looked prestige for sale...."asking $3500"
Remember....Canadian funds.
Got thinking that, if a fellow had time, drive to where you want to cruise, shop Craig's list, kijiji, whatever, before getting there so you know what to look at. Spend a day or 2 looking at the list, local marinas and boatyards to make your buy. Cash is always King and deals can be had. Cruise for a month or 2 (3,4). If purchased right, should be able to get close to or maybe even more than you paid. Start advertizing before you leave on the freebee sites.
Was just a thought, but I pondered what a neat way it would be to cruise far away cruising grounds for minimal investment.
Easy to poke holes in the concept....but worth a thought or 2 if you're thinking other coasts.

[lance on cloud nine]

agree totally! better yet, split the cost of boat and usage with 3 friends. use it sometimes together, sometimes alone. agree to sell in a year, or move it to another location. keep it tidy and operable, but don't worry about pristine. take turns so each person gets some choice dates. I would be open to anyone here making a suggestion. I too, may make a future proposal

it would be fun to start now, to have a small boat in the north channel next summer...where we were organized enough to just keep handing it off to the next friend.

[maxiSwede]

Sounds like a nice idea!  ;D

[ralay]

Works great for bike touring, cause bikes are so cheap and easy to fix up.  You could probably put a bike together from parts in a day. 

In my limited experience with boats, the time and work involved in shopping for, selling, and fixing up boats makes is something I want to avoid.  I don't think there are too many turn key deals to be had.  Most folks wait until their boats are in rough shape before selling them.  That and you'd wind up paying taxes and fees on every boat.  Might wind up spending less money and more time cruising if you got a trailer sailer and trucked it around. 

On the other hand, it would probably be fun to get to sail a different type of boat each season.  And if you were getting really small, simple boats to use inland it probably wouldn't matter much if they had some gremlins.  There are plenty of people doing this sort of thing for Mississippi floats.  As long as it floats and you have an outboard, away you go.

[lance on cloud nine]

small, outboard powered and simple for sure! maybe a small crate with a fresh 6 horse 4 stroke motor, hand held vhf with dsc, and other safety items that just gets moved to the next boat.

[Frank]

That's exactly what I was thinking.....worst case is a new OB that can be taken to the next boat.
By the time you trailer an existing boat for really long distances....wear n tear on your vehicle, aweful fuel milage, slower speed towing etc....doesn't ad up.
There are so many "simple" boats in the 23-25ft range ...cheap...that would be great to explore with. Big issue is always a dependable engine. Put the new one on....DONE. When you go to sell...put original back on.
Charts, a $99 GPS and hand held VHF would be minimal and again....transferable.
Even if you lost $500 on resale of the boat after a 3mth cruise (talking 1500-3500 24fter now) still a cheap getaway and adventure on a different coast.
The simplicity of these boats allows that.
A San Jaun 24 for example....TONS of them on the west coast...cheap! Fast too 😄
An offshore boat just ain't the same....

[lance on cloud nine]

I have no connection with this boat. Maybe work on the price a little, and 4 people could make this or something similar a great shared winter getaway. Maybe a first unit in a shared boat library? Might sound pretty good around mid January.
https://sarasota.craigslist.org/boa/5866947034.html

[Frank]

That's exactly the type of boat I was referring to. Small, simple, decent shape to start with.
Your idea of shared usage isn't bad either.
There is an old C&C 25 at Green Turtle called "quartet" since new....cuz since new, 4 people have owned it. When someone sells their share, it gets approved by the other 3. Been like that for way over 30 years!!
Yes...it actually CAN work 😄😄
Imagine that San Juan in the Abacos with 4 people splitting off season storage etc. Extremely cheap winter getaway.
Everyone gets 3mths use/yr

[lance on cloud nine]

I will probably always try and keep a small personal sailboat for myself...but the idea of sharing inexpensive boats in cool far flung places is very appealing to me. But I would guess the unknowns in how it is handled would make most of us nervous to get involved. Working out foreseeable kinks in advance could help. We could maybe call it "our best practices in shared boats" I will make a separate thread where anyone is encouraged to chime in ideas, past experiences or also to let us know if you would be interested in joining the adventure! Just dipping my toe in the water. Thanks Frank for your original post.