The Jump to a 40 foot boat

Pluto said:

You got to have a lot of time to get anywhere in a trawler.

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I think that said it better than I could. Until I actually retire, I don't think that I'll have enough time off to really use a trawler. I can have a week at a time many times during a year off, or I could get a couple of weeks at a time only twice, with the way my schedule/vacation works. It kills me to think that I could buy the trawler, and it would mostly sit in a slip for the next few years waiting on me to get the time that I need (wasted opportunity), or I can invest in a trailerable boat and a bigger truck to pull it, only to turn around in 5-7 years and sell it to make room for the trawler (wasted money).
I guess the problem is that I want my cake and I want to eat it too, lol. Terrible problems to have.

Seevee said:

Get a waterfront home to keep the boat at. CraigJ, looks like you have a lot of options. It's often a bit more expensive than the dirt surrounded home, but it's significantly more user friendly for boating. HUGE benefits.

And you'll use the boat 3 or 4 times as much. Even taking it out for a 30 minute sunset.

Easy to come and go
Easy to work on
No big truck needed
No marina expenses

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This had occurred to me too, Seevee. While there are certainly an abundance of really nice and expensive properties on the water, the navigable waters of these united states create a real diversity of options include those that most folks would call affordable.

The problem isn't hatching the idea or recognizing its potential, it's finding those affordable properties without working through a thousand different realtors. How did you go about it?

Unless you are buying a new boat it will take several (3 to 4) years to get the boat ready and up to your specs. So I would be thinking long term and buy the boat you want to end up with and get it ready to retire with. If you buy a small boat and a large truck to tow it, what financial hit will you take when you sell it to get the boat you really want?

I went from a 25' to 35' to 45'. I should have gone straight to 45' from 25'. The 35' boat was a twin screw Carver C34. It was a big sale in the wind and got pushed around big time in the harbor. Trying to dock it even with thrusters was always white knuckle. My marina was always windy in the afternoon just when I was coming back in. The 45' is a single screw but it's heavy, has a keel and very easy to dock. 33k lb vs. 18k lb. The bigger the boat the easier it is to dock, up to a point, of course. Take wind out of the equation and twin screws should be easier to dock but there is always some wind and personally I have always liked a single screw boat.

Learning to operate the 35' twin screw boat was a shock to me. I had no idea how to operate it. I had a captain work with me just docking it all day long. It was such a big jump from my 25' that it wouldn't have mattered whether it was a 40' or 50'. Get the biggest boat that you can afford and you won't regret it.

HeadedToTexas said:

This had occurred to me too, Seevee. While there are certainly an abundance of really nice and expensive properties on the water, the navigable waters of these united states create a real diversity of options include those that most folks would call affordable.

The problem isn't hatching the idea or recognizing its potential, it's finding those affordable properties without working through a thousand different realtors. How did you go about it?

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Headed,

It's only a matter of finding someone that is really motivated to get out of their property. And they are out there, from the cheap dirt bag houses to the MM dollar houses.

The last three waterfront houses I bought: (no banks involved)

One was owned by a wheeler-dealer that owed a lot of money around town and really needed to get out of town. After dickering a bit, I gave him a personal check for a notarized deed and took title subject to two lousy mortgages and paid off is delinquent debts.

Another was a rich doctor that was just done with the house. He gave me an interest free loan for two years. I eventually sold it for 5 times what I paid for it.

Another was an investor that was 2000 miles away that couldn't manage his property.

All good deals.

The absolute KEY is finding someone that NEEDS to sell, and they are out there in any market.

Now all these houses need a bit of fix up, some a lot and some very little. They all were not properly marketed and all had sellers that wanted out NOW.

Once you get one, you can leverage up to the next and the next, etc. The only thing that can kill you is taxes with the higher end houses.

I'd be on the water with a tent before a mansion off the water.

Great story Seevee. I've got a mission!