Friday, October 26, 2007

rabbit hole

I know fuckall about boats.

That's the point that I'm starting from in this little venture. I don't know how to maintain them, fix them, keep them running in the face of insurmountable odds. Oh, I'm sure I'll learn. I'm also sure these lessons will be hard fought and caked with layers of oily bilgewater and cuss words.

Because of that, I've been eyeballing the new-ish end of the used boats spectrum. I don't want to inherit someone else's high blood pressure, mine'll do nicely thanks. In the new-ish end of the used boats spectrum, my budget lands me in the middle of cheap production boat territory. I've been wading through listings of Beneteaus, Jeanneaus, Hunters, and Catalinas trying to distinguish what level of quality I can expect from these boats.

There seems to be alot of poo-pooing out there amongst the saltier crowd about these production boats but I can't ever seem to get an unbiased opinion why. Too slow, not well built, cheap interiors, too slow. After I hear this, nobody follows that up with something that tells me what that means, almost like they're just repeating what they've been told when they bought a boat. I can't figure out how to get an unbiased factual understanding of the sort of differences in quality between these low end production boats and the likes of say Tartan, C&C, Sabre, HR, etc.

I'm starting to broaden my boat searches into boats of finer pedigree but slightly older. I'm finding some beautiful boats (who am I kidding, they all look great to me) but I'm not quite sure how to evaluate an older boat. What does 16 years of saltwater do to a sailboat? What does it do to an engine? Was it maintained? And how in the world do I know if it's been maintained?

I'm crawling down a rabbit hole here. Every piece of information raises more questions than it answers. Anybody have any great advice, drop it in the comments.

3 comments:

Sophia said...

What you want is a wooden boat. An old and soulful one. Full of creaks and warps and fulmineous groanings. A boat you'll have to learn to be a carpenter in order to deal with; a boat that will try your patience and callus your fingertips; a boat with splinters and gleaming painted flanks, a barnacl'd figurehead in the shape of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, miles of rigging to clamber in like a spider monkey, the hold filled with barrels of scones and cream and blackberry jam, five cases of Ribena, 20 chests of plundered Alexander McQueen couture, and 800 feet of salt-soaked rope. Plus an albatross coasting alongside always, for good luck.

Jason said...

I can get scones by the barrel?? If I ever found a boat with a barrel full of scones, I'd probably buy it just to get at the baked goods.

Sophia said...

This is 'Murka! You can get *anything* by the barrel, here. While scones are generally sold singly, they are placed in barrels for secure shipping between locations--much like how coins are usually disbursed singly, but are placed in bags for transport via armoured vehicle. Unlike money, scones are usually transported in an unarmoured car, with only a single armed guard travelling alongside. These are easily gotten rid of.

(I realize I am nudging you towards piracy here, and if you are feeling inclined to object, I will ask that you carefully consider your current situation. Short on cash, striken with boat lust, feeling the call of the godly sea, half-furtively posting links to pirate-themed acoutrements. You're right on the cusp).

(Besides which, you need to consider the sort of cat you've got. Is he a yuppified bourgeois topsider-wearing hobby sailor? Or is he an ill-spirited, ornery cuss of a feline who'd like nothing better than to be mauling rats and living a life of adventure on the high seas? Yes, I thought as much. And, since they do say that to know a man's cat is to know the man himself, look ye to your reputation, sir).