Vin

Check out Sailorama on YouTube, a couple of very resourceful young sailors with little in the way of money who are slowly restoring their free boat while sailing around Mexico/Caribbean. They haven't had a working engine in quite a long time, but haven't let that stop them!

Hi all. Due to this process taking much longer than I originally expected, the budget is slowly creeping up, and I'm able to look at boats up to $30k now, which has opened things up a bit. It's been a fun few months looking at different boats and starting to get an idea of what's important to me (headroom!). living in Hamilton makes this a little bit difficult so whenever I need to travel to Auckland for work I try and line up a viewing of a likely looking boat (makes the trip a bit more fun too). I got on-board a Lotus 9.2 last week, which on paper sounded perfect. Very beamy

I've just seen that come up and have enquired about a viewing. Looks like it could be a good option.

So that John Spencer 39 still hasn't sold. I've asked about it earlier in the thread, but thought I'd mention it again in case anybody had any additional input. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/boats-marine/yachts/keeler/listing/3456493799?bof=oKXpt8xv It's looking quite attractive for the price due to the large water tanks, water heater, etc. There's a lot already there that I wouldn't need to do myself to get her comfortable as a liveaboard. Just under 12m as well. In the ad it mentions a full rebuild in mid 2000s. Is anybody familiar with the yacht and knows what was d

Hmm I'm immediately sceptical of a 26 ft having enough space for two people long-term, but I'll add it to the list. A small boat would be cheaper to keep!

I'd recommend having a read through the thread I recently made, I'm in a very similar position to you and there's a wealth of advice in there. Was it the Chico 30 Auriga you almost bought? I was also watching that auction with great intetest.

This is approx what I had down in my budgeting spreadsheet for ongoing annual maintenance costs, good to know I'm not too far off the mark. For me, with the experience I have, and the budget constraints, cruising means sticking between Bay of Plenty and Bay of Islands (at least for the first year), with a considerable amount of time spent messing about in the Waitemata harbour and Hauraki gulf/GBI while finding my feet (I've been away from sailing for a fair few years now and feeling a bit rusty). If we end up falling in love with the cruising/liveaboard life and it works with the

Naw, I set my limit at 8, hoping for a bargain haha. Too much risk buying sight unseen at any price over that (for me at least!) Probably still a bargain for the new owner though.

$13100 final price.

This is quite an interesting discussion point I think. In my experience with house/motorcycle restorations, there are miles between 'good enough' and 'perfect'. I realise it's a bit different with a sailing vessel, as things break more often, and when they do, it can pose a significant safety issue (shrouds/stays snapping, seakcocks failing, etc). Using Auriga as an example here, if the hull and the standing rigging are sound, and all that is wrong is a bit of rot in the plywood decks around fittings, it may be possible to get her 'good enough' for a few thousand dollars if you

Yep I've got that one on my watchlist and a reminder in my calendar one hour before auction ends. Might end up being a bit of a bargain!

Yep I've got that one on my watchlist and a reminder in my calendar one hour before auction ends. Might end up being a bit of a bargain!

😬 I think maybe jerry cans will do just fine.

I reckon a small 12v water maker would be the go on a small liveabord with a decent solar array. Might not be able to provide an adequate supply indefinitely, but would certainly extend your cruising range.

Is insurance required for using Marina services (for example: fuel dock). What about swing moorings? I imagine it'd just be 3rd party required in case I accidentally ding someone's gin palace?