Shopping, then Cruising Chicago to South Florida

[pizzazsdaddy]

Point well taken SKY. I admire your abilities to do most things yourself. Not everyone has that talent. I enjoy doing my own detailing and daily maintenance. I'm still pretty good with a varnish brush, but even the major waxing every 90 days has become too much. Mechanical or Electrical? I'm totally lost, but have been blessed with good people in my area who do a great job in spite of the retail price. For those who can't do it themselves, I'm just trying to be a reliable advisor to the costs they might face.
As for the owner of the 58 LRC KNUCKLEHEAD...KUDOS to him too. That boat is so nice you can't help but admire it.

[johnjen50]

Paul,
Did you get the tour of Knucklehead? If not you missed out. That boat spends a week in Wickford RI where I am every summer. Last summer I took a walk over and chatted with the owner. After telling him how great the boat looked, he told me it took him 13 years to get her there! He then asked if I wanted to see the ER. Let me tell you, that ER rivals any ER on ANY new boat today. Everything was Awlgriped, even the engines. To say it was clean was the understatement of the century!. This boat is pristine, from the woodwork in the salon, to the hoses in the ER. The boat was painted summer before last, so is still enjoying an amazing shine, and the owner is meticulous in caring for it as he and his wife live on it for a good part of the year cruising around. If this boat were ever to come up for sale, it would command a very high price, and be worth every penny.

[rourkeh]

I have seen this discussion many times before. The decision to purchase the Carver was the right one for the individual involved. Not everyone out there wants an older classic style motor yacht with all the inherent problems and continuous repairs.
I am a lover of the classic Hatteras motor yachts but in my search over the last year for a new boat I have encountered the dilemma similar to the original poster. I need more space, a good ride, and solid build quality, but I like a modern interior and the latest systems and equipment. If I buy an older Hatteras for a reasonable price and update all the items on my must have list my budget is out of control. Some of the older Hatteras motor yachts I have looked at that have had a complete refit are beautiful but they rightly command a big price reflecting the HUGE amount of money spent on the refit. Every beautiful redone Hatteras that has been discussed on here over the last couple of years has been shot down as too expensive and "will never sell for that" yet brings the asking price.
There seems to be a lot of old Hatteras owners who have no idea what it costs to do a complete refit, in a yard, start to finish. I was in the marine industry for a lot of years and have done numerous refits and have real world hands on experience with both the time and cost involved, and the cost, and time to do a complete refit on an older 63' motor yacht like I require is HUGE. Which leads to the problem with the end result, which is owning a 30 -40 year old new boat for much more than I could recover 10 years down the road. It makes a 10 year old, ugly modern boat a lot more attractive to a whole lot of buyers.

[luckydave215]

I love my old Hatt and lavish her with attention, but I always keep in mind it's not the boat, it's the boating that counts.

[SKYCHENEY]

Which leads to the problem with the end result, which is owning a 30 -40 year old new boat for much more than I could recover 10 years down the road. It makes a 10 year old, ugly modern boat a lot more attractive to a whole lot of buyers.

You'll lose more money on any 10YO boat than you will on the 30-40YO Hatteras. The depreciation alone will cost you more than the repairs.

[pizzazsdaddy]

Well...yes and no. A totally restored 40 year old boat and a brand new boat will depreciate by the same percentage of investment annually. I posted a whole thread on depreciation a few years ago. A brand new $3 million dollar boat today will be worth about $2.3 million next year.

[Boatsb]

only if you restored it.

Purchasing a mint old boat comes with a lower depreciation than a new boat.

[Finalee]

I love my old Hatt and lavish her with attention, but I always keep in mind it's not the boat, it's the boating that counts.

Amen bruda!