OK folks, thanks for all the replies.
I have a survey scheduled this morning for my sailboat and if successful I will be boatless.
I'm going down to the boat an hour early to secure the thru hull so there will be no issues with that.
My next issue is what to do about a boat. I will soon be (in a couple of years) a retired pensionless airline pilot and want badly to get a trawler or motor cruiser. My biggest concern in acquiring another boat is the cost to slip her. Here in SW FL, the going rate is about $10 to $12 a foot. That's just too much, so I'm on the look out for an alternative. Any ideas?
The much more fun question is what kind of boat will suit my need. Here's what I think I'm looking for.
Price, the most important question: Below $50000. In my experience and depending on the motivation of the seller, I'm looking at boats advertised below $75,000.
Diesel. No compromise.
Single Engine for economy of use (mpg) and economy of maintenance. With my plan to stick
with intercoastal cruising, the safety of another engine is not as important. After much thought I've made my mind up on this issue. I think.
NO TEAK. In Florida the sun eats teak like Floridians eat grouper. I spend 3 days a year attending to the teak on my sailboat. It looks good and is probably why she sold as soon as she did (4 months). But NEVER AGAIN.
Probably a sedan. My wife wants a boat that's easy to get on and off from a dingy. We have a large dog and that's the main reason.
Fully depreciated. The price range that I'm looking at will probably ensure that it's fully depreciated. However, I thought my sailboat was fully depreciated and I sold her for 32% less than I bought her for after 6 years. But like someone once said, "It's the economy, stupid".
A boat that will be easy to sell when the time comes. That eliminates the specialty boats and those that were fishing boats turned into nice trawlers.
There are a lot of boats for sale here in the southeast, but not many that meet these requirements. Most are dual engine and many are gas powered. But I've got my eye on one boat that nicely fits all of my needs, the Mainship 34, built in the early to mid 80's. A boat that's economic to buy and operate, no teak and single engine. The only down side is the ladder to the fly bridge instead of stairs, but at my price range beggars can't be choosers.
But before I go looking for a replacement boat I've got to get through this survey and I've got to resolve the slip cost issue. Stay tuned for the survey results.
Tim
