The post-poverty postings

[haiqu]

Decided to change it up a bit now that my finances have freed up and new options are presenting themselves. So, welcome to my new, happier thread.

I've been looking at a 34' cat that needs an owner. It turned turtle during WAGS (Wednesday Afternoon Go Sailing - RQYS) in Moreton Bay, was bought by a Melbourne yacht repairer and fixed up, then he flipped it going south into a headwind. It has been sitting in a marina in Tweed Heads for 12 months.

Why would that be an interesting yacht? It's foam and glass, built in 2009 and CHEAP. I've already located a used rig for it (mast, boom, stays and full batten main and heady) and am about to make a lowball offer.

A sister yacht built the same year is currently for sale at $240k and I think I can get this one and put it back together for $110k or so. Nice margin there.

I also made an offer on a 546 sqm ABSOLUTE WATERFRONT property at $30k which has been accepted by the vendor. It has issues too, but not insurmountable ones. And with such land being impossible to find under $350k anywhere on the East Coast it would have to be the bargain of the century.

Having money doesn't suck. At all.

Photo of the cat:

[haiqu]

Can no longer recommend the free Kindle reader from Amazon. The damned thing expires and you have to upgrade it, which is idiotic. Utterly useless for a yachtie.

[haiqu]

Waterfront property was a bust. The agent told be my offer was acceptable, when she meant to type unacceptable. Bloody illiterate clown.

[haiqu]

Shenoa is up for sale. We'll let the market decide whether she should live or die.

Hartley Tasman 27' Bilge Keeler 1984 in QLD | eBay

[redbopeep]

Enjoying your new thread

I'd have bad premonitions about a boat that had turtle-ed once and pitch poled once. Next...

[haiqu]

Got the full story from the owner today. Definitely operator error, they had a mast that was way too big for such a narrow cat. I believe I can get a better price than advertised as well.

A name change and the right incantations to Neptune should fix the other issue.

So many good boats around when you get to this bracket, I'm seeing 35' Beneteaus under $90k all over the place.

[delatbabel]

I know a guy in Rarotonga who has a 49ft Monohull available for $50K. Pretty well kitted out too, although it's been a few years since I saw it. Let me know if you're interested and I'll put you in touch.

[haiqu]

Visited a couple of boatyards today to get pricing. Brisbane Ship Lifts (aka "The Yard") wanted $660 for haulout/splash, $80 per hour for water blasting, $85 per day hardstand and required mandatory insurance. Insane.

The tiny Wynnum Boat Ramp at Doughboy Creek has only started operations again after a six month hiatus. They wouldn't quote but said they are booked until the end of the month. In any case since they use a cradle and trolley arrangement their forte is drag out, blast, paint and resplash. They don't have a travel lift and the crane is owned by someone else who isn't there most of the time. No hardstand either since they can't unload from the trolley.

Looks like I'm going to have to travel a bit further afield. Three of us here at Morningside will be forming a convoy up to Monty's at Caboolture where hardstand fees are a more reasonable $120 per WEEK. It's a long way to motor so I'm hoping the storm jib will be of some assistance.

[haiqu]

Originally Posted by delatbabel

I know a guy in Rarotonga who has a 49ft Monohull available for $50K. Pretty well kitted out too, although it's been a few years since I saw it. Let me know if you're interested and I'll put you in touch.

Not much of a description. In any case it's a bit large for little ol' me, and I'm leaning towards cats or tris right now.

[haiqu]

Hopped down to Tweed Heads to view the 2009 model Rogers 34' cat during the week. Unfortunately the overturn and lost mast was only one of her problems. Internally I couldn't imagine a worse layout, with a huge semi-circular couch taking up most of the living area.

It was as hot as hell inside with no crossflow ventilation available, and the galley cupboards were so tiny they wouldn't have fitted a can of beans due to sloping walls inside them. In short, there was almost no storage space at all.

Maybe OK for club sailing but useless for even an overnighter. Could have had it for $70k or less, and had already found a used mast, sails and rigging from another Rogers at $9500 but it just wasn't for me. It would take a Sawzall to make that thing suitable for cruising and I just don't have the time.

After that I popped over to Russell Island to look at a house that's going relatively cheap. I also did a quick trip to Macleay Island on the water taxi for contrast. Russell is feral central, I haven't seen so many navel-length grey beards in my entire life.

The house was a good deal but I can't see myself living there.

[haiqu]

Got back to Colmslie to find a note pasted on Shenoa, courtesy of MSQ. (Do these guys ever quit?)

----------------

VESSEL OWNER

Marine Safety Queensland requires your vessel to be moved away from the shipping channel to allow the dredge Brisbane to carry out dredging operations from Monday 23/05/2016 until completion.

Failure to comply will result in a Harbour Master's direction being issued. Marine Safety Queensland will remove your vessel and recover all costs.

-----------------

Jesus wept. Five days' notice, good thing I wasn't interstate or something. I'll be motoring to a new location tomorrow.

[Auzzee]

Fixer-uppers are usually long term projects. If you want to go sailing soon, please look at sail-away vessels. There are lots of them out there (Here in the US the bargains are everywhere..and Mexico is close and Oceania friendly).

Also, the world is littered with good yachts such as this:
1999 Beneteau Oceanis 411 Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com
Meanwhile grab a copy of this:
http://www.amazon.com/Inspecting-Sai.../dp/0071445455
I think it's also available as a free PDF download.


Best of luck with the search.

[haiqu]

I doubt there is any such thing as a "sail away" vessel, it's all a matter of degrees of work necessary. That Beneteau looks like a good deal but even in Australia a 20yo Oceanis 351 or 381 can be had for AU$90k or so, yacht prices are very weak all round.

http://www.boatsales.com.au/boats-for-sale/dealer/used/OAG-AD-2199507/1996-BENETEAU-OCEANIS-351

http://www.boatsales.com.au/boats-for-sale/dealer/used/OAG-AD-12014969/1996-BENETEAU-OCEANIS-38

Certainly won't be buying anything until I move the ferros anyhow. I've learned my lesson, one yacht at a time is enough.

[haiqu]

Now this is interesting. The Aquion saltwater battery seems to be the game changer we've been waiting for. A whopping 2.6kWH of storage at 48V for only US$1,195.00 retail.

https://www.altestore.com/store/deep...ck-48v-p11941/

[haiqu]

Moved the yacht yesterday with the help of a couple of the neighbors in their tinnies. According to the GPS I'm 20 metres outside the channel to be dredged so I hope that satisfies the authorities. They start tomorrow morning.

The auction for Shenoa went off with a final bid of $255.00 which isn't a lot. I'd be prepared to keep my end of the bargain just to offload her, but it seems that eBay strikes again. The winner was a zero-feedback bidder from Lake Macquarie NSW and I doubt he has the maturity or the money to follow through and ship her south. So, I may end up keeping the old thing after all. Particularly now that I've found an old-school boatyard that only charges $70pw on the hardstand and ignores the stupid OH&S pedantry we've all learned to hate.

At those prices I could take 6 months and it would still be viable. Frankly I really didn't want to rush the job, which was my main reason for quitting the yacht in the first place. So it's all good.

Just went over to Tony's 42' Hartley for a spot of fishing and some nibblies. We drank Corona (La Cerveza Mas Fina!) and crunched on crackers with tasty cheese and kabana. Both Tony and Daniel caught a sizable catfish each, I got nothing. Fun anyhow; sundowners, Brisbane style.

[haiqu]

The first drips of money came in from the real estate sale this morning, enabling me to square up the credit card account a bit. I'm expecting the river dredge to arrive soon. Webb has left Cairns and is hugging the coast near Cape Tribulation. But most of all ...

Happy Towel Day.

[redbopeep]

So--awaiting the word on what happens with the dredge.

Also what you'll be up to soon

[haiqu]

The dredge didn't show up until late Wednesday, it needed to be brought back from Melbourne where it was deployed on another job. So far it has made only a couple of half-hearted passes and doesn't seem to be actually dredging.

The guys I was fishing with the other day are determined to accompany me on the 30NM trip to the haulout yard even though they can't get into the creek due to their draft. They both intend to haul out at the same place but it requires a serious tide for them to access the place, and they were getting tired of Brisbane River anyhow.

They both have diesels compared to my 6hp outboard, but I fear it would be the blind leading the blind in an emergency as they are both inexperienced sailors like myself. Might just have to sneak away in the night ...

[haiqu]

Searching the internet for property earlier this afternoon and my two buddies motored up alongside in their dinghies to point out that I was drifting. Eek, I was so intent on what I was reading that hadn't noticed. The combination of outgoing tide and 25kt Westerlies gusting to 35kt had done their worst and my anchor had dragged about 150 metres.

Thankfully it had dug in again but the rest of the day was tense because I'm now in 9 metres of water which only gives a 2:1 ratio. Trying to let out more chain manually in such conditions is pointless, I would only have lost the chain and anchor, so I sat here ready to steer downstream and avoid obstacles if she broke away again.

Which didn't happen, thankfully.

Should be low tide soon and the winds will die off at dusk, so I'll raise anchor and motor back outside the channel where I belong.

[haiqu]

Got towed back into position today by a couple of the neighbours. My outboard won't idle worth a damn and it seemed the safest way to go.

Had a random though about 15 minutes ago about a sailing related song that I haven't heard in years. Here it is: