Howdy. I'm new here. Is this seat taken?
My name is Ben, and my little family of 3 is looking for our next liveaboard cruiser.
I'll explain better what we're looking for in our next boat, but first let me tell you about a recently missed opportunity.
Just yesterday, I narrowly missed out on what could have been the perfect boat for us - a Tanton 43. That particular boat had a lot going on that I loved. Shoal draft, freestanding masts, skeg-hung rudder, encapsulated ballast, smart interior layout, Yanmar engine, well-loved and maintained, accessible (for us) asking price, and of course she's junk rigged. Unfortunately I was too slow on that one, but I'm sharing it because it's a great example of the kind of boat we are looking for.
Our cruising style is one that could honestly be described as "island-hopping" or "coastal cruising". We're not ocean crossers. We rarely sail at night. We're picky and patient concerning weather windows. So with all that said, we don't really NEED a boat that is purpose built for blue-water. Of course, on the other hand, I'm not particularly fond of the stereotypically lacking build quality often associated with many production boats. I don't have to drop names - you know the ones I'm talking about.
I'd like to find a good, solid boat, of decent construction pedigree, that sails well, has been loved and cared for, is junk rigged, and can be bought at a very reasonable price.
In other words, I'm looking for a needle in a haystack. :)
What makes my search so tricky, aside from our limited budget, is that there are so few junk-rigged boats available for sale here around the East Coast of the USA.
When I go to sailboatlistings.com and type "junk" into the search bar, the website produces quite a few listings that are most certainly junk, but unfortunately very few which are junk-rigged.
...little joke there...
I figured that getting a membership to the JRA would provide me with better odds for locating a suitable junk-rigged cruiser than what I have been experiencing thus far from all my searching through the sloops, yawls, & cutters here in the land of white triangles.
I suppose I'll wrap this up by providing a more succinct list of bullet-points that better outline the general type of boat we are looking for.
Let's just go ahead and call this search the...
JUNK-RIGGED NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK
- Budget detailed below*
- 38-43ft
- Located East Coast USA
- Fiberglass, Steel, Aluminum OK (not wood)
- Less than 5ft draft
- Ketch/Schooner
- Free standing masts
- Junk-rigged
- 2+ enclosed cabins
*BUDGET: I'd say that on the extreme upper end we would pay as much as $50,000 for the right boat if everything made perfect sense all-around including value, pedigree, re-salability, condition, gear, etc. This amount represents our max "all-in" budget, but realistically we really need to come in South of that number by a healthy margin to account for inevitable, un-foreseen costs and needs. We're budget-based cruisers, like so many others, and while we do have some means to buy a decent boat, we're ultimately looking for the right deal in order to make the finances work and to set ourselves up for successful, responsible, and enjoyable cruising.
If anyone has a line on a boat that somewhat meets the above specifications, please reach out and let me know.
Ok, well I think that wraps up this post.
Thanks for having me here.
-Ben
PS: If the new owner of that Tanton 43 reads this post and is overcome by an uncontrollable urge to re-sell her to me based purely on guilt and remorse for unknowingly purchasing a boat that was loved so briefly, yet so deeply by another sailor...
I would be ok with that. ;)