Ask the Surveyor
By Tom Averna
Finding the Right Boat
What to look for in your
used “dream boat.”
Hi Tom,
First off, I am not in a position to
I’ve been planning on finding a sailboat this
give you financial advice one way
or another. There are many trained
summer to go cruising long term. I would like to head
professionals that can guide you
up to Alaska in the summer and go down the coast to
towards some kind of financial freedom
Mexico for the winter
. I’ve been planning this for quite
that will allow you to make the decision
a while and have been sear
ching for the right boat to
to cast off and go cruising.
make the trip on. However
, because of this new down
As far as your dream boat, from a
surveyors point of view, look for a boat
economy we ar
e in right now
, I am concerned about
that doesn’t have any maintenance
spending money for a boat when per
haps the prudent
issues and has simple systems to work
thing to do is put the money in the bank and wait for on so you can keep sailing without
things to get better
. I really don’
t want to do that for
the hassle and downtime of repairing
many r
easons, one of which is right now I am in good
or buying equipment and gear. A tall
order, so expect some compromises
health and who knows how long that will last.
on that one. The boat should be one
If I am to pr
oceed with this dr
eam, I would like
from a noted naval architect, and built
to know fr
om you what boat you would consider the
by a reputable well known builder.
optimum boat and what to look for in that boat as far as
However, there are excellent amateur
problems ar
e concerned. I was hoping to see boat prices
designers and builders that could go
toe to toe with the more established
drop but that doesn’
t seem to be the case on the boats I
professional boat builders.
have looked at so far
.
Simple systems that require little
maintenance should be a priority
Thank you for your time,
when looking for the right boat. This
Chris Gr
ey
is something you’ve heard from me
Salem, Or
egon
before (more than once). A larger boat
and more complicated systems might
seem like the answer, when in fact
these same systems cause the majority
of down time, added expense and as
the Italians say, “agita”.
48° No r t h , Ap r i l 2009 pA g e 30
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