53 Hatteras Values 101

[bobk]

Well Folks . . . When it comes to the value of the old boats I just attended the Trawler Fest in Balt. There were several trawlers in the 50-65 range and frankly I'll keep Skooch. I'll use the $3.5 million I did not pay to cruise the bahamas this winter. We are leaving around the end of Oct.
I did blow some sort of fitting or hose on the stabilizers on the way puking out couple qts of oil, but I can get that fixed for less than $3 mil.
The only boat I would consider at the show was a new Novorania DL430 and my friends 65 LRC for $3 mil less than the boats on either side of her.
Skooch
58 LRC with broken stabilizers

Dave, Don't forget your Naiads need seals every few years too. I changed all the oil hoses on mine a few years ago for less than a grand, let alone less than a mil.

I didn't see anything at the fest that would tempt me either.

But back to the subject, we all love our own boats. I'm a big fan of the series I 48MY. I bought mine (Chateau de Mer) at the peak and figured this would be the first boat in many years that I don't sell for more than I paid for it (note, I didn't say cost). Now with many upgrades, refit, serious engine/transmission work she is still looking good and is reliable. I'm trying to maintain her to a standard that I can be proud to pass her to my youngest son when I'm too old to cruise her.

She is fresh out of the yard and ready to go south next week. Yeehaw!

Bobk

[dgltrader]

Hello,

I was at TrawerlFest as well and happened to see your boat across the harbor and managed to get a shot...hope she is well soon.

and hope you like the photo.

really, really nice boat...

DSCN0391 crop 700.jpg

[TROUBLE]

I dont have a 53' hatt, i have a 43 DCMY. I didnt buy it to re sell and honestly its big enough for me and my family. I dont care how much I spend on her, or wether I will ever get the return on my investment. I enjoy all my projects and honestly , I like showing her off. Its my personal satisfaction that i love. Nothing else. As a matter of fact, I am making my winter and spring improvement list right now.

Love my Boat
Art
Trouble

[lumina]

Hi All,

Art,

I couldn't have said it better myself.

I have a 48YF and love her dearly, she is my baby, I don't regret a penny I spend on her and love working thru the project list making her better and more beautiful as I go.

[bohans]

I had to add to this conversation...we live on our boat. Bought in USA (through Scott) and love living the dream with the family, who also love living on the boat.

We go away every holiday with the kids - two young girls 7 and 5 - and they can fish, snorkel, surf, scooter, play tennis, games on the beach. They love to draw and do all sorts of art work.

Before living on the boat we had a beautiful condo on the water, but tv, videos, games etc were becoming how the kids and all of us would spend time...not good.

Boat life is possible because of these great older boats that do not cost more than houses and give sos much more than a house could ever give.

Our next boat will be a 70 CPMY Hatt as soon as our 53 is sold. If that takes a few years then so be it. We are planning on being on the water for a long time.

In fact, i may buy a smaller Hatt for the girls when i kcik them out of home to live at the other end of the marina...

My 7 year old is helping me change the oil this weekend...

Enjoy.

[jim rosenthal]

The last few posts really illustrate what this is all about, IMHO. OK, so these boats are cheap now. Maybe that's good, as more people can enjoy them if they are willing to do the work to keep them up. Cheap or not, they are still good boats.

[Boatsb]

The last few posts really illustrate what this is all about, IMHO. OK, so these boats are cheap now. Maybe that's good, as more people can enjoy them if they are willing to do the work to keep them up. Cheap or not, they are still good boats.

Cheap to buy but they still need care and feeding. So many are having maintenance deferred. Engine not right, that's om I wont use it ....

[fissioneng]

I always tell my non-boating friends that the least expensive part of buying an older boat is the purchase price, especially if you can't do any work yourself. Even if you can do the work, it needs to be something you enjoy or else you'll be perpetually frustrated. My 43 consumes a lot of cash, but a whole lot less compared to a 53.

[oscarvan]

Interesting thread.

I am an airline pilot, I was asked, pretty nicely but not nice enough, to come fly drones, because I actually understand how an airplane works. The video gamers crunch one, and look for "life force" to reset on the counter.....

My 17 year old is coming along nicely on the guitar. Ok, he does spend a lot of time gaming, but he doesn't appear to be homicidal, yet. We do a lot of jamming in the house.

The reason I am here, and drawn to these awesome boats is the same reason I owned a 1951 Rolls Royce a few years back, and spent $$ rebuilding things, whilst getting my hands very dirty. That and the fact that my sweetie of 25+ years says: "Yeah, on THAT I would spend a month or two......"

No, they are not an investment. Boating is not investing. It's an expensive hobby. But the way I look at it, if I get one with good lungs for a decent price and spit shine it, we'll have a ball playing with her, and then pass it on when we get too old to the next custodian for a similar amount. But we will have had a hoot with her, we will have taken care of her and maybe we will have spent a few (ok lots of fews) on parts pieces, and more than a few pints of blood lost from greasy nucles, and diesel and all that.... But I won't be seen DEAD in a Carver and 20% depreciation a year hurts too.

At least in a nice 53MY I will have lived in style.

Was this a rant? In that case it's over.

[jrmccoy]

My wife and I recently acquired a fine example of a classic 1980 53 MY called the Maggie Mae which was one of those lucky multi hundred thousands dollars complete refurbs completed in '09 and I can tell you that we still marvel that the fact that the market will allow a boat of this quality to sell for about half of the refurb costs. This boat will stand proud (and outshine imho) next to multi-million dollar boats. I liked one of those previous comments on this thread that said he didn't care what he spent on it. My wife and three kids just completed a Thanksgiving cruise and the experiences we had were priceless. No amount of money could have purchased those memories.