An ongoing horror story of the Orca kind, some needful situational awareness about the food you eat, and why cod should not be on your shopping list for the foreseeable future...
I tend to look at a few boats for sale sites on a pretty much a daily basis. Partly because I might come across my dream boat, partly because I want to see what the used sailboat market is doing, and mostly because I'm just interested in what's available. The last part has a lot to do with living in a place where we have hurricanes and keeping an eye out for a replacement boat is part of the escape plan in a total loss scenario.
The point being that I spend quite a bit of time looking at used sailboats for sale. Which has led me to the conclusion that it is really a great time to be buying a boat. Which I consider to be something of a good thing.
Of course, I really have to be honest and point out that while there's a literal plethora of good sailboats for sale at very low prices there are a couple of issues that are somewhat problematic. The biggest issue for would be boat owners is that affordable places to park that boat are few, far between, and silly expensive. Plus if you want to live on said boat it's nearly impossible.
However, if you want a boat to sail off into the sunset you'll find that, with a bit of homework and care that you can mostly anchor for free pretty much anywhere you find yourself.
The thing is, if you go to Sailboat Listings, Craig's List, or just haunt your local marinas looking for a battered and worn For Sale sign you'll come across an amazing number of excellent boats within the $5K, $10K, and $15K price points. Granted, these boats will not be new or a current example of what Sail or Cruising World magazines thinks is hip but they will be right for the job.
Which is not to say every boat within your chosen budget is a boat you want to buy. It is assumed that before you get around to shopping for a boat, you've done your homework and gained enough knowledge to not throw money at a semi-derelict disaster waiting to happen. One supposes you have at least a modicum of common sense where things financial and mechanics are concerned.
Oh yeah, actually knowing how to sail would be no bad thing.
To be continued...
Listening to Sloppy Jane
So it goes...
