Looking for a quality 53 for sale on the east coast

[Looking Glass]

Hello everyone. I am new to the forum, and currently looking to purchase my first Hatteras. My wife and I fell in love with the yachts, particularly the 53 Classic, the first time aboard, back in 1998. It has been our dream to own one ever since, and we are finally at the point where we are ready to make the leap.

We have been looking at 53s for the past month, and most have needed more work than we would like to take on. Interior cosmetics do not bother us, we know we will eventually make it our own anyway, but we really need one that is mechanically sound, and preferably, well preserved on the outside.

I am reasonably mechanically inclined, and do most work on our current Aft Cabin. However, we would like to start out right, with only routine maintenance and the occasional replacement, In other words, we do not want a big project. We want to spend out time on the water, not in the yard.

We found one that we are giving serious consideration, a 53 Classic named UJJAY in Annapolis. Does anyone know the history of this boat or have an opinion about it?

We would also like to know if anyone could suggest another 53 on the east coast, preferably for $200K or less? We are looking to purchase any time between now and April.

Thanks for any help. This forum is a gold mine. I look forward to joining the rest of the Hatteras family as soon as possible!

[Scarlett]

That boat has been for sale for a long time, maybe was just over priced, looks nice, my question is where do you store a dingy on those 53's with the fly bridge extended aft all the way? John

[SEVEN]

Find a local broker that has your best interest at heart and have them locate a 53. With a budget of 200,000 you should have a great choice of some quality Hatteras's . Best of luck and welcome to the forum.

[Looking Glass]

That boat has been for sale for a long time, maybe was just over priced, looks nice, my question is where do you store a dingy on those 53's with the fly bridge extended aft all the way? John

I noticed that it was on the market for a while. According to the broker, the seller was not really serious about selling and asked too much, somewhere in the upper 200s. Recently it was dropped to $229K and now, at $200k, it seems to be priced close to the correct value.

I was thinking of adding some sort of mount to the swim platform for the dingy. It does not currently have one.

[Looking Glass]

Find a local broker that has your best interest at heart and have them locate a 53. With a budget of 200,000 you should have a great choice of some quality Hatteras's . Best of luck and welcome to the forum.

Thank you. I am happy to be here. Knowing there is such a great amount of support from fellow Hatteras owners is one of the reasons we have the confidence to make the leap.

[Walter P]

Not everyone needs or wants a dingy on their boat. I have one (RIB) on my 48 MY and am probably going to remove it and the davit and chocks this spring while the boat is at Composit marine in MD for an Awlgrip paint job and some other work. It hasn't been off the boat in about 5 years and is just another maintenance item that I don't need or want. Besides it interferes with my rear visibility when underway. I have a 6 person life raft in a canister for emergencies. I plan to store my dink under cover along with the davit etc to save for the next owner.

The 53 is IMO one of the best looking of the many Hargrave designs, although they were all great looking. The 53 was always my "dream boat" but my club has a 50 ft rule so I still own my 1982 48, which is an excellent layout for us. You may want to consider a 48 as well, it still has 3 state rooms and 3 heads. An advantage of the 48 is in the salon/galley/dinette area whereby everyone in your party are in a common area. The galley and dinette on the 53 is isolated from your friends/guests and would tend to make the person relegated to galley duty feel like hired help. The 58 galley up MY like Angela's solves that issue. Pascal, one of our more active forum members is in the process of a complete remodel of his 53 which includes a new galley up. For me the 53 has more positive considerations than negative. A strong positive is on either extremely hot days you can run the boat from the lower station (pilot house) in air conditioned comfort and the opposite on cold early spring days and fall days. As has been said thousands of times by most boaters..boats are always a compromise and you need to give some long serious thought to how you will be using the boat in order to make the best choice for yourself.

Walt

[polarizer]

Here is a real sweet rig. not sure if you've seen this yet

http://www.hmy.com/used-yachts-for-s...ertible/231569

[Looking Glass]

Not everyone needs or wants a dingy on their boat. I have one (RIB) on my 48 MY and am probably going to remove it and the davit and chocks this spring while the boat is at Composit marine in MD for an Awlgrip paint job and some other work. It hasn't been off the boat in about 5 years and is just another maintenance item that I don't need or want. Besides it interferes with my rear visibility when underway. I have a 6 person life raft in a canister for emergencies. I plan to store my dink under cover along with the davit etc to save for the next owner.

The 53 is IMO one of the best looking of the many Hargrave designs, although they were all great looking. The 53 was always my "dream boat" but my club has a 50 ft rule so I still own my 1982 48, which is an excellent layout for us. You may want to consider a 48 as well, it still has 3 state rooms and 3 heads. An advantage of the 48 is in the salon/galley/dinette area whereby everyone in your party are in a common area. The galley and dinette on the 53 is isolated from your friends/guests and would tend to make the person relegated to galley duty feel like hired help. The 58 galley up MY like Angela's solves that issue. Pascal, one of our more active forum members is in the process of a complete remodel of his 53 which includes a new galley up. For me the 53 has more positive considerations than negative. A strong positive is on either extremely hot days you can run the boat from the lower station (pilot house) in air conditioned comfort and the opposite on cold early spring days and fall days. As has been said thousands of times by most boaters..boats are always a compromise and you need to give some long serious thought to how you will be using the boat in order to make the best choice for yourself.

Walt

Another Hatteras owner told me the same thing. The dingy is too much of a pain to get down, so it sits there all year. That is why I was considering a dingy attached to the swim platform. I thought it might be easier to get on and off.

I currently have a 40' Aft Cabin with no dingy. We always stay at transient slips and never anchor or moor out. I was worried that this might not be the case with a 53. Many of the marinas we have stayed at would have difficulty with a 53, so I thought anchoring out might be more normal, and therefore a dingy would be needed. Is this the case? Or do owners of 53s just be more selective of what marinas they visit?

To be honest, I am very intimidated by the 53. I have only been boating for 2 seasons. The 40' is my first boat. I have a lot to learn about handling and owning a boat as large as a 53. I was scared as hell about the 40' when I first got her, but I knew I would learn quickly and soon I got the hang of it. Right now the 53 feels like a cruise ship when I am on the flybridge. :-)

[Looking Glass]

Polarizer

She looks like a great boat, however, we are not into fishing. We really just travel from marina to marina (bar to bar) looking to explore new towns and meet people. Plus, the price is a little out of my range.

[Scarlett]

Don't worry about handling the larger 53. I had a 42 Lien Wha sun deck trawler before I bought my 53 and I find the 53 much easier to handle than the 42 was. Wind does not effect the 53 as much and the boat maneuvers much better, the biggest difference is there is more boat behind you. Visibility from the lower helm is terrific, so driving from inside is easy. Good luck you will love the boat, John