Hi All

We are wanting to buy a yacht but having no idea about them.
Found this on gumtree "66 foot YACHT MOTOR SAILOR 20.M. BILGE KEEL KETCH RIG"

For someone new to sailing, would this be better than a true sailing boat to learn on?
I am quite comfortable with the motor part and the size but under sail am not to sure.
Would this be to costly to run compared to sail or would it be to limiting if you become hooked?
What are the down sides to ferro cement hulls?

Max

My homeport is probably like a lot of others, full of 40 foot plus yachts owned by beginners. Even worst is the fact they are my neighbours. The only saving grace is that they never leave the moorings.

Once yachts get above 34 foot the gear becomes heavy and the costs rise drastically. Not just mooring fees but slipping costs, paint etc. Find someone with a 35 foot yacht and let him let you lug the No 1 headsail up on to the deck etc. Handle the anchor, that sort of thing, get a feel for what its like. The reason these large yachts don't move is because the owners need a team to operate them.
What you need is a handy yacht, one that you can head off sailing at short notice, singlehanded or with your wife. Something about 30 feet is ideal.
I sail at least once a week all year and I have to sail through the moorings with these people on their enormous yachts watching me. One day they will make a move. Have a new comer on a mooring not far from me with a Swanson 32, he actually goes sailing.
Fill in your Bio a bit more Max, you may have a lister nearby that can show you the ropes.

Thanks for the replies,

My theory is this- if we buy a bigger yacht then other stupid people like us would be interested in buying it.
With 4 of us and someone to help us, we are looking at accommodating at least 5 people. We get 4-5 day breaks so we should be able to get away every now and again and with our boy's getting into diving this could all work well.

Max

I'd be worried about that rotting deck and the rust stains down the side mean something in the hull is rusting. Even for 5 people I'd be going for something much smaller unless you intend to live aboard. We could comfortably sleep 5 on a 40 ft (or intimately sleep 8 )

Just looked at the photos, that much rust would have to be coming from the concrete reinforcing, possibly at the hull/deck join. The hull and deck are probably knackered.
In truth it isn't worth anything in that condition and they are probably desparate to get rid of it as it will be costing them a fortune.
If you really want it, offer to take it off their hands without charge.
How would you get it to Broome?

Accommodating 5-6 people for more than a few days will be a challenge. The size of vessel you need to comfortably accommodate that number for cruises of more than a week would be beyond a beginner, even with a crew. The power in a 40-45 ft yacht needs to be felt to be believed. The sails are big and have great loads. They can be dangerous bits of kit. Over 50 ft is in the big league.

However, you could do OK for shorter periods with 5 people in the right 40-45 ft boat. Even this is a powerful size and beyond a beginner, but with some training and practical experience sailing as crew you will have a good feel for what you can do.

Remember, as the NSW Waterways ads say "You're the Skipper, You're Responsible."

You need to crew to at least learn the basics before you should consider buying.
If in Perth at any stage , send me a message and I'll get u crew spot.

This why I thought the bilge keel would suit us better as we often see beached cat's here.
That was the other reason for going for a bigger boat is the fact of the heat and being able to move around more freely. The 66 foot maybe a bit big but I thought a 35 is maybe too small.

Max

Maybe I miss something. boating and sailing is great hobby ,
but as any hobby there is a price tag attached to this.
Boat market is good but annual outlay could a limiting factor.

The boat size is directly proportional the annual expenditure
Under 5 k ...trailer sailer
Under 10k....38ft. Etc.

There is no point to discuss 40 footter if ...

cisco said...


Some of the charter yachts at the Whitsundays are up for sale at what looks like bargain prices. Below is an example but it might need as much as the purchase price spent on it. This yacht could accommodate 12 quite easily yet properly managed could be sailed by three without too much bother.

A lot of yacht for $130,000.

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=13133122

Lovely boat. I think you mean 3 gorillas minimum. $130,000 worth of winches with a boat thrown in!

Thanks all for the replies,

I'm not set on anything but would like to try and get it something that we are going to use.
I see the problem with ferro's and think that there is to much risk involved to buy one.
If I could get one of Cisco's boats that he mentioned I'd probably still not be happy as to beach it would be a sin.

max

form said...

Hi All

We are wanting to buy a yacht but having no idea about them.
Found this on gumtree "66 foot YACHT MOTOR SAILOR 20.M. BILGE KEEL KETCH RIG"

For someone new to sailing, would this be better than a true sailing boat to learn on?
I am quite comfortable with the motor part and the size but under sail am not to sure.
Would this be to costly to run compared to sail or would it be to limiting if you become hooked?
What are the down sides to ferro cement hulls?

Max

G'day Max,

I had a look at that FC motor/sailor and see a few things that put me of going after it.
1: In one picture of the stb-side you can clearly see the boat has a number of heavy rust streaks, then in a later picture, most of those heavy rust streaks look to be painted over and not a good job was done in the painting.
2: I'm not 100% sure but in the later picture of the stb-side, there looks to be a few pretty large blisters, if there are blisters then that could mean somehow water has got to the armature and if so, it could mean costly repairs to the hull.
3: The aft deck is flush with no cockpit, that, IMHO, could be pretty dangerous, specially for children and pets, also if a large wave came over the stern, a large slice of that wave could head straight down into the saloon!
4: The seller says, Quote: Her hull , deck and deck house are Ferro cement. End Quote.
I'm no FC expert but I hear that building the hull, deck and deck house in Ferro cement can make the boat very heavy, top-heavy and real slow but as I have said, I'm no expert.
One of my mates who built his own Hartley back in the 60's, he and his wife sailed her to the UK and back again and he still owns and sails the boat, said... If I were to build the boat over again, I would build ???everything??? in Ferro-Cement...I'll leave you to figure it out.

As the seller has lived aboard for seven years, I wonder why he has not brought the boat up to Bristol fashion, advertised her for sale on a site, like Ferroboats.com, where he could have asked for a much higher selling price...If his boat was good enough. What has he done with the boat in the past seven years?
5: Re-rigging the boat if needed and I believe the rigging would need serious checking after seven or more years of neglect. Re-Rigging cost for a 66 foot ketch?...Astronomical I'm guessing.

At some time in the future, I plan on selling-up and going back to living aboard full time. For just me and my dog, and the odd two to four fishing buddies, I'll be looking at something in the 33 to 45 foot, I'll be looking at www.trademe.co.nz/ and something like this beaut FC motor/sailor. www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=499075212
I have no connection to Trademe.co.nz, They just have some real nice, well priced FC boats on offer.

Good luck in your search Max

Bill