What Should I Know Before Buying a Boat?

It also helps to put opening ports on the sides of the trunk around the v-berth. Allows for cross ventilation. I believe that the Tomcat 25 has these windows, but they are an owner mod on 25 and 22 cruisers.

IMO, the problem with FL is the humidity more than the heat. In the summer, even when it is relatively cool the humidity at night would be uncomfortable to me and the only way to remedy that is with an AC unit.
 
Things you should know before buying a boat. Well we are a year in and here goes. Man they can cost you as much as you have. We bought a bare bones boat. Only came with an old VHF and depth finder, probably looked about the same as it did leaving the factory, except the added trim tabs, which are a must. It's exactly what we wanted, a blank canvas. We got it a little cheaper than most which are heavily outfitted, which also helped. It wasn't a steal but I would say fair priced. If we could do it again I may pay a little more up front if we could find a nicely outfitted boat the way we wanted it.

Things we've done, replaced both batteries, upgraded to group 27 from group 24, added onboard charger, had the Wallas serviced, 200hr outboard service including rebuilding carbs, draining fuel, removing and cleaning tanks, re-bedding all cockpit mounted hardware into epoxy plugs. Spare trailer tire, changed drum surge brakes to disk for better salt water compatibility. Added hydraulic steering. Added a chart plotter, radar, upgraded VHF and multi-purpose transducer. Bought 2 extremely overpriced coolers with cushions on top.

I'm usually great about keeping spreadsheets to keep track of cost. I haven't done that with this boat yet but could do it retrospectively and update this thread. I'd guess we're at about $10,000 in since our purchase.

I would have preferred a dual axle trailer, mainly for tracking. Our Suburban and the boat is a long tow rig. The 5,200lb axle seems to be holding up well. We've put a little over 100hrs on the boat and probably a couple hundred miles on the trailer in the last year without hardly any problems.

Things still to do, work on bug screens, ventilation and curtains. Will probably change out the rear door window to one with a sliding glass and screen.

Just some things to think about before your purchase. It's been a great experience, we love the boat. Hope to own it for a long time.
 
I prefer a "blank slate"--and always fund 25% of what I paid for the boat for upgrades. For current 25 I paid a bit more than the going price, because it had multiple upgrades which were very well done.

A friend had the engine fail after his first short trip in his 25. That Alone was over $15,000. He didn't have a mechanic check the engine, or on a very short sea trail take temp readings (IR thermometer) when he bought the boat.

You are doing a great job with the upgrades! It pays with increased comfort and safety in your use.
 
1. Your boat maybe not a good investment.
2. A boat always has unexpected, and costly, upgrades or repairs.
3. Insurance for boat ownership is not cheap.
4. Your auto driving record reflects on your boat insurance premium.
5. Your are likely to want to change your boat to another boat within a
few years.
6. Any boat is a hole in the water to throw money into.
7. Because you may be able to pay for a (nice) boat does not mean you
are competent to operate it.
8. Many "new" boat owners become overwhelmed by weather and sell
their boat early.
9. Boats always need "something".
10. A boat is not an "end", it is a "means".

Aye.
 
And from another perspective...

11. A boat is the closest thing to a dream that the hands of man can build.

Some of us think that boat ownership has more positive attributes than negative, not to mention that it is good for the soul. While it wouldn't be wise to go into boat ownership thinking that it is all roses, it would be a shame to get talked out of it, or have second thoughts, because of someone's negative attitude. Most good things in life take some work.


"Attitude is the difference between ordeal and adventure" - Bob Bitchin
 
You know what they say, spend your money on experiences, not things, well a boat is definitely an experience, and one we love.

We’ve owned lots of boats (sail) are very experienced. Dreamed about C-Dory’s for probably a decade. We couldn’t be happier.
 
"Things" (boats, cars, houses, Rolex watches, motorcycles, ... you get it) ego
tells us is a source of value and happiness; the Destination.
*BTW you can never get enough to satisfy

The "means" (long hours of hard work, diligence, perseverance, overcoming
problems, sacrifice... maybe you get it) is the "meaning"ful journey that is the
true source of happiness.

Who values and takes better care of their boat (aka "thing")?
Person A: The boat was a gift from a rich relative.
Person B: The boat was a dream requiring years of hard work and sacrifice to
finally obtain.

Aye.
Marcel Proust said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
 
My outlook on boats has been that they are a tool. Tools need to be right for the mission or job at hand. For me the boat is a mode of transportation, a way to be on the water, and to enjoy nature. They are for a purpose--to cruise the World, or to cruise the Rivers...each purpose is different.

Then there is passion about certain boats, There is also a danger falling in love with a boat. (which is part of that passion.). I have a friend who owns a sailboat built in 1936. He has owned that boat for over 50 years. It has been completely rebuilt after being stripped to its frames and some of the frame rebuilt. He had sailed the boat across the Atlantic (from Calif.) and it was almost the end of the boat before being rebuilt.

Sometimes owners are caretakers of treasures: I am following the TransPac, which started with the slowest boats today, Amongst the racers is "Chubasco " a 67 foot S & S Yawl built in Wilmington CA in 1939, who has only had 3 owners in her 80 years! She is racing her 8th Transpac this year. Photos of her now are as I remember her in 1946, when I first saw her. She has cruised and raced all over the Word during those 80 years. It will be interesting to see how she "Places" in this year's Transpac:
Chubasco 2 years ago, during her rebuilding:
Chubasco-February-2017-800x600.jpg

Chubasco a month ago: During a race tuning up for the Transpac. A few changes, including new masts and booms, coffee grinder winches, but the hull remains the same.

Chubasco_JohnFuller1024.jpg
 
Foggy don’t burst my bubble. Thats the lie I tell myself to justify spending almost $40,000 on a “thing” lol.

Beautiful boat Bob. I was expecting a Pilot Cutter design. Love the overhangs, but i prefer the plumb bow and wide stern of the old pilot cutters. I’m sure glad there’s people in this world that keep those old beauties sailing.
 
I have had boats all my life. initially, paddle craft, then sail, and it took 4 years after buying my C-Dory to decide to sell my last sailboat, wondered if I might change my mind.... NOPE, and after almost 15 years, my C-Dory has been one of the best investments I have ever made. Every dime has been worth it; in sanity, peace, adventure, excitement, community, and friendship; current, old and new.

Yes, you should go into buying a boat with an open mind, and/OR you grow up with salt chuck in your blood and there is no way to go but succumb to the addiction.

If you take care of your boat, it will take care of you. You should know how to take care of it and you should know what you are doing on the water. Both are doable with average intelligence and financial means.

Follow your heart.

Harvey
SleepyC

9_Sept_Seq_2019_Cal.thumb.jpg
 
I agree with all the reply’s here and would also add this question: Where do I see my interest in 5-10 years from now? It is kind of like buying your young daughter a horse and then when She turns 16, gets a car and starts a dozen social activities, the horse is rarely ridden, becomes harder to ride, and eventually becomes a liability.

The Doolittle was a great choice for me. We had two young daughters, I love to fish, and here in the Northwest a cabin is a must. Thus the boat name as it does a little of everything. I always dreamed of getting a big boat. Now I just charter a 36 or bigger boat once every few years. I skipper it myself and the Doolittle has prepared me well for operating them.

30 years later, we still have the Doolittle. Our daughters love boating and being on the water and have boats as well. My wife and I keep her moored for the summer and do a couple overnighters as well as an extended joint cruise with our Daughter’s family to the San Juan’s each year. I am out each morning before sunrise chasing the salmon and running by myself is no problem at all. The best part of being alone (other than just that) I can fish some spots I don’t want others to know about!

Where you live and what you do is important. I was a semi-professional water skier when I was young but this is not the boat to barefoot behind although pulling a tube was no problem at all.

If you’re possibly interested in going big someday, The C-Dory 22 cruiser is a great starter boat. Just be careful, you might find 30 years later is that it still enough boat to meet your needs.
 
I purchased my 1st C-Dory new at the factory in 1983. We towed it to Alaska and used it for 31 yrs w/o any problems.
Then sold it to my son Dan (flatfish fool) on the internet. It was stolen out of his locked up storage at his condo complex. He looked for 2 yrs and finally found another 22' Cruiser in Valdez and bought it last week.
I found a 26' CD in West Palm Beach in 2009, bought it and had it towed to Alaska (5500 miles). $20,000 repair to the soft hull last year.
We are now back to being a CD family except for son John who prefers aluminum boats.
 
We have done a ton of research and weighed out all the pros and cons of boats for us as well as went to boat shows to actually see them, and decided that the dual console works best for our family. We are big into fishing and wanted to do some good offshore fishing trips to the keys as well at maybe a few Bimini runs so originally wanted a center console. We have two small kids and a lot of family as well that want to do more then fishing too, so started looking into dual consoles and felt it was best for our family right now. We have been looking into this for quite some time now. Not just a fly by night let’s by a boat kind of thing. Countless hours of research and YouTubing as well as actually going out, looking at them first hand and taking some sea trials. we are in the Tampa area so I feel like we have a good mix of ways we can use a dual console with kids between trips to the local islands al the way to going out and getting some good fishing in.
 
fred09":mx8qyvbz said:
We have done a ton of research and weighed out all the pros and cons of boats for us as well as went to boat shows to actually see them, and decided that the dual console works best for our family. We are big into fishing and wanted to do some good offshore fishing trips to the keys as well at maybe a few Bimini runs so originally wanted a center console. We have two small kids and a lot of family as well that want to do more then fishing too, so started looking into dual consoles and felt it was best for our family right now. We have been looking into this for quite some time now. Not just a fly by night let’s by a boat kind of thing. Countless hours of research and YouTubing as well as actually going out, looking at them first hand and taking some sea trials. we are in the Tampa area so I feel like we have a good mix of ways we can use a dual console with kids between trips to the local islands al the way to going out and getting some good fishing in.
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I am afraid that C Dory has never made a dual console boat, so our boats would not be of interest to you. A comment, is that I would not consider most dual console boats satisfactory to take to Bimini or any of the Bahama Islands. Even offshore unless well settled days, a dual console could be a poor choice.

Locally around Tampa Bay, the ICW and after trailering to the keys, it would be satisfactory--but sleeping and cooking on a dual console would be very limiting especially with a family.

You might find more information on sites like "The Hull Truth", than on a site dedicated to C Dorys.
 
So here we all are now, in 2023. And yet another new member has arrived, hoping to at least see a C=Dory while shopping for a seaworthy choice that is also trailerable and versatile. After reading this thread, one comment I see missing is that one doesn't have to choose between boats suitable for a marina berth, boat shed or trailer. A trailerable boat is my preference after purchase because I can work on her to make her more suitable to me while she's in a storage yard. Then a boat shed beckons because, here in 'cane country, there's a shed 6 miles away that is rated for a Cat 5 storm. Talk about boat hassles, I know of none more worrying than owning/cruising a boat that's also your home while in tropical storm regions. And for some periods of time - e.g. perched on FL's east coast with the goal of occasional runs over to Honeymoon Harbor in the Bahamas - a marina slip can beckon. Seems to me a small C Dory, Axopar, Nimbus or other trailerable boat can serve all these different needs.

We are now fresh recruits in the Ft. Myers area, keen to find the 'right' (5th) boat but hopelessly ignorant in powerboat matters as all the others were sailboats. So thanks for the welcome and for the forum to learn from, and for whatever other wisdom is dispensed here from which we will benefit. Glad to be aboard.

Jack
Babcock Ranch FL
 
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