So, here’s the ongoing question most of us are trying to deal with: what is the most needed attribute for successful, low-budget cruising or building/refitting a boat? Is it your sailing ability? The ability to make a perfect dovetail? Having the right gear? Enough money? Maybe the correct answer is none of the above, and …
Charles Doane (the Wave Train dude) has an excellent post of the VolksCruiser variety that you should really check out. Need I say more?
Budget is a funny thing. Then again, when you think about it money being an artificial construct is also somewhat strange. My issue has a lot to do with the words we use when discussing budgets and money. Words like affordable. We all understand what the word means, but we also know it has a …
Boats in the VolksCruiser budget zone are going to have problems or issues you’ll have to deal with. Just accept it as part of the territory, which is not always problematic. A sailboat with the right issues could very well be to your advantage. There’s a Catalina 27 with a broken mast that would make …
Yesterday I did a Craigslist search on some of my favorite VolksCruiser candidates one of which is the Bill Tripp designed Columbia 26 MK2. As it happens I found six of these boats for sale and all of them were selling for $3000 or less. The average price was just a kiss shy of …
The current issue of Blue Water Sailing (not a magazine I read on a regular basis) has an article on “New Cruising Boats” and it seems that the cheapest boat listed is about $175,000.00 or so. Which, I’ll admit, does seem in the cheap-seats when compared to the boats on the list over a million …
When a $175,000.00 boat is considered cheap-seats… Read More »
In my RSS inbox today there was another “is the cruising life for you” themed podcast. Which apparently answers all your needful questions like “What’s it all going to cost?”. The thing is, I don’t feel the need to check out the podcast in question because it will just be a regurgitation of the same …
What it costs and empowerment from a surprising source…. Read More »
Checking Craigslist this morning I saw there was a Pearson Triton being sold off at a marina in the San Francisco Bay area for $750. You might say it caught my attention. It’s a great design, Dan Spurr used the Triton as his main example of how to fix up a small boat for …
I mentioned this book by Keith Carver a couple of years ago but “Sailboat Cowboys Flipping Sail Post-Sandy: The Art of Buying, Repairing and Selling Storm-Damaged Sailboats” is still an excellent read on the subject of buying boats cheap, fixing them up, and selling them for a profit. As it happens I just read it …
So you’ve done your research, sorted out that an Ericson 26 would be an appropriate small cruising boat you could live with, and within your budget. Hell, you even built a dinghy to prove to yourself you were not a tyro, had the mindset and needful skills to fix up the Ericson, and you’re ready …
and in the “Are we ready to look at that Ericson yet?” department… Read More »
