As this is a subject of endless fascination for me, I am trying to figure out if I agree with Phil MacFarlane. Here are current 35s on the block:
I think (might be getting it wrong) that Phil's point is that the "goodies" on a well-equipped older boat in the expected price range are half worn out, obsolete, not what you would have chosen, and not recently maintained. The sails are never any good. The rig is past its life. So-called small things which are not small, such as cushions and wiring and plumbing and tankage and running rigging are already limping along. You pay $20-25K. The four-hour survey misses the rudder post issue, the through-hulls problem, the balky transmission. The gap between the hull and the keel worries you. The cabin sole is beat up, the interior varnish doesn;t look very good, and the hatches, well, they're old, and ought to be replaced, and the portlights rebedded. So should every deck fitting on any boat 30 years old. But you write the check because there is a 1990 example of the same model for sale somewhere for twice what you are paying, and $50K seems a big chunk, where half that doesn't.
So you're buying a boat with a great deal of work and expense implied, even though it costs much less than a brokerage yacht listed as "ready to go."
Sounds good. But is it?
It depends on intended use. To make any cruising boat ready for offshore is very expensive. It doubles the cost of boats like ours (but not the resale value). To just have fun locally can mean a long wish-list of improvements that can be done or not as time and money permits.
It also depends on whether you want a boat that looks good in addition to being seaworthy. The price for excessive pride can be quite high. Here are some quotes for one 32-footer: Paint mast, $6,000. All new cushions, $6,000. Top-of-the-line dodger, $6,000. Some things you can do yourself. Those three items, probably not.
OK, we buy the $5,000 E35 that started this thread for $1,000--which is entirely possible. It is, as Phil implied, a blank canvas.
We get to choose and install an engine, buy new sails, rerig it, have a new rudder made, replumb and rewire, replace the fuel tanks and head, install a windlass, buy new cushions--wait, is there money for cushions? I think we just went over our $20K budget. Paint the spars, new dinghy and outboard, change the keelbolts, strip the bottom paint. The blank canvas is looking less blank. Honey, we should do the cushions. After all we got the boat for free....
I happen to like my Tri-Axial-Force grid and the somewhat improved (seems to me) Kirby hulls of the later 1980s, but that's not part of my indecision regarding what I think about what I think Phil might be saying.
The trouble is, it's so hard to be honest with yourself about the role of the yacht in your life. Because that's where the calculation should start.
If you're headed for the South Pacific, the blank slate makes sense. Will it save money? Probably not, because you're now a designer/builder, not a typical buyer.
If you're working 60 hours a week at your job, no major fixer-upper cruising boat makes any sense.
If you just like sailing and everything about boats, compromise has to be the best course. A boat in good shape with mostly good gear. Sail it. Improvements one at a time.
So I still don't know exactly where I stand regarding Phil's point. I do know the blank slate isn't for everybody--although it might be for me. I'd estimate two years to complete the E35 project. And I'm retired.
I am convinced of something: to buy a boat that's right for you spend a year looking, learn more than any broker about current regional market values, and offer 30 percent less than asking and stick to it.
The real skill is walking away.
