timjet
Guru
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2009
- Messages
- 1,920
Hi folks,
Some of you may recall I recently sold my sailboat and now am in a search for a trawler/motor yacht. My budget allows me a boat in the $70,000 range which when allowing for taxs, survey, the inevitable bottom job, and other immediate fix issues, will allow me a purchase price of around $55 to $60,000. My criteria are diesel power, easy resale (no specialty boats), and no teak decks. Let me relate my search experiences up to this point.
First let me say in e-mail conversations with 2 recent boat buyers in the size and price range Im considering, purchase prices seem to be about 20 to 30% less than asking prices. If so, Im looking at boats advertised in the $70 - $75,000 range which puts me realistically in a boat of about 35 to 40 ft. Living on the gulf coast of FL there are so many boats that meet this criteria that its like a kid in a candy store trying to choose.
Armed with these assumptions and my own criteria here is what Ive experienced. With the recommendations of some members on this forum we started looking at 38 Bayliners. We looked at 2 that were somewhat disappointing, but a third was a bit more promising. The things we liked about this boat are its well thought out interior design, a lot of interior volume for a 38 sedan. The salon area is roomy with a salon table settee thats elevated allowing a 360 deg view out the windows. The fly bridge is large enough for 6 depending on the seating configuration which is different on each boat. My wife particularly likes the walk through transom that makes dingy access easy, particularly with a large dog. The smaller engines which range from 175 to 225 hp is a positive if fuel consumption is a concern, which it is for me. The downside to this boat is the rather long vertical ladder to the fly bridge, the lack of privacy due to the location of the two staterooms, the lack of any fine woodwork, and the fit and finish. One other member on this forum also mentioned the sea handling characteristics of a boat of this size that weighs only 17,000 lbs. Since we live in FL, we like to spend out cocktail hour(s) outside and with the rather small cockpit of the Bay 38 that may be a negative. But with the salon elevated and the full view it may actually work out OK to just open all the windows and still get that outside feeling. The fly bridge is available, but that high ladder is a concern.
I think the Bay 38 will be one of the few sedans that will work for us because most 38 to 40 ft sedans are built for fishing with a large cockpit area that takes away from the interior of the boat. It also seems most sedans have small fly bridges that are not favorable to cocktail hour(s) with friends. There are several Bay 38s within a days drive, so several to choose from.
The next boat we looked at was a Jefferson 37, which is a sundeck. This boat could not be more different than the Bay 38. The quality of the woodwork and the fit and finish was just outstanding. After looking at the Bay 38, it really took my breath away. The 300 hp Cummings were easy to get to and at my 63 I found engine access relatively comfortable. The staterooms on opposite ends of the boat are a plus. The weight at 22,000 lbs should give a more comfortable ride in rougher water but at the expensive of higher fuel consumption, which according to the owner is a little more than 1 mpg at 1400 rpm and 8 kts. The seller only owned the boat a year, it needed new fly bridge canvas and though the interior was in good shape except for the carpet the exterior needed a good cleaning and the hull needed waxing. It was sparsely equipped with no autopilot and no interior radio or TV. Interestingly it had no interior helm, which here in FL I consider a plus. The settee was too small and the seller mentioned some owners have replaced it with a couch. There was no other furniture in the salon which I found odd. So far I found everything workable until we consider the configuration of the outside of this sundeck. The sundeck itself was too small to be of any real use. You could possibly squeeze 4 people seated on the sundeck, but it would be crowded. The fly bridge was even worse. The helm station sat behind a bench seat that would seat 4 comfortably. However at anchor you would be seated in a line on the bench seat, not really favorable for conversation or card playing at anchor during cocktail hour(s). I think this boat would be more suited for cooler weather climates, not FL where we do almost all of our entertaining and relaxing outdoors. If the sundeck was larger and the fly bridge more conventional with U type seating, this boat could very well be the one.
After having looked at 4 boats, we are still in the preliminary stages.
Please everyone chime in with your opinions.
Some of you may recall I recently sold my sailboat and now am in a search for a trawler/motor yacht. My budget allows me a boat in the $70,000 range which when allowing for taxs, survey, the inevitable bottom job, and other immediate fix issues, will allow me a purchase price of around $55 to $60,000. My criteria are diesel power, easy resale (no specialty boats), and no teak decks. Let me relate my search experiences up to this point.
First let me say in e-mail conversations with 2 recent boat buyers in the size and price range Im considering, purchase prices seem to be about 20 to 30% less than asking prices. If so, Im looking at boats advertised in the $70 - $75,000 range which puts me realistically in a boat of about 35 to 40 ft. Living on the gulf coast of FL there are so many boats that meet this criteria that its like a kid in a candy store trying to choose.
Armed with these assumptions and my own criteria here is what Ive experienced. With the recommendations of some members on this forum we started looking at 38 Bayliners. We looked at 2 that were somewhat disappointing, but a third was a bit more promising. The things we liked about this boat are its well thought out interior design, a lot of interior volume for a 38 sedan. The salon area is roomy with a salon table settee thats elevated allowing a 360 deg view out the windows. The fly bridge is large enough for 6 depending on the seating configuration which is different on each boat. My wife particularly likes the walk through transom that makes dingy access easy, particularly with a large dog. The smaller engines which range from 175 to 225 hp is a positive if fuel consumption is a concern, which it is for me. The downside to this boat is the rather long vertical ladder to the fly bridge, the lack of privacy due to the location of the two staterooms, the lack of any fine woodwork, and the fit and finish. One other member on this forum also mentioned the sea handling characteristics of a boat of this size that weighs only 17,000 lbs. Since we live in FL, we like to spend out cocktail hour(s) outside and with the rather small cockpit of the Bay 38 that may be a negative. But with the salon elevated and the full view it may actually work out OK to just open all the windows and still get that outside feeling. The fly bridge is available, but that high ladder is a concern.
I think the Bay 38 will be one of the few sedans that will work for us because most 38 to 40 ft sedans are built for fishing with a large cockpit area that takes away from the interior of the boat. It also seems most sedans have small fly bridges that are not favorable to cocktail hour(s) with friends. There are several Bay 38s within a days drive, so several to choose from.
The next boat we looked at was a Jefferson 37, which is a sundeck. This boat could not be more different than the Bay 38. The quality of the woodwork and the fit and finish was just outstanding. After looking at the Bay 38, it really took my breath away. The 300 hp Cummings were easy to get to and at my 63 I found engine access relatively comfortable. The staterooms on opposite ends of the boat are a plus. The weight at 22,000 lbs should give a more comfortable ride in rougher water but at the expensive of higher fuel consumption, which according to the owner is a little more than 1 mpg at 1400 rpm and 8 kts. The seller only owned the boat a year, it needed new fly bridge canvas and though the interior was in good shape except for the carpet the exterior needed a good cleaning and the hull needed waxing. It was sparsely equipped with no autopilot and no interior radio or TV. Interestingly it had no interior helm, which here in FL I consider a plus. The settee was too small and the seller mentioned some owners have replaced it with a couch. There was no other furniture in the salon which I found odd. So far I found everything workable until we consider the configuration of the outside of this sundeck. The sundeck itself was too small to be of any real use. You could possibly squeeze 4 people seated on the sundeck, but it would be crowded. The fly bridge was even worse. The helm station sat behind a bench seat that would seat 4 comfortably. However at anchor you would be seated in a line on the bench seat, not really favorable for conversation or card playing at anchor during cocktail hour(s). I think this boat would be more suited for cooler weather climates, not FL where we do almost all of our entertaining and relaxing outdoors. If the sundeck was larger and the fly bridge more conventional with U type seating, this boat could very well be the one.
After having looked at 4 boats, we are still in the preliminary stages.
Please everyone chime in with your opinions.