In the spring of 2016 after 2 years on the market I sold my 65c. I had owned the boat for four years, rebuilt the starboard engine, replaced or upgraded all pumps, motors and anything else on the boat that needed attention. I spent weeks under the floors , months in the ER and a uncountable amount of time maintaining above deck. The boat was 28 years old, mostly original condition with all systems working. Although showing ware she was still in very good condition. I put over 400 hours cruising her and I was proud to own her. The boat surveyed with no addressable issues. When sold the surveyor wrote “ The captain/owner has more knowledge of his boat than any captain I have ever met. He knows every system on this vessel and how they work.”

The buyers were in their late 30s with not much boating experience. They had just recently began a relationship and were wanting to live together. The man was living aboard a 34 footer for a couple years and he had convinced her to sell her house and buy a bigger live aboard. She purchased the 65 for 195k putting 70k cash down and financing the rest. He was going to sell his 34 for 94k (haha) to refund her the down payment and also contribute to all other expenses.

I made it clear to both of them the responsibilities of owning a boat of this size, not only the maintenance requirements but also the integrity and commitment to operate the vessel. I agreed to keep in touch and help them anyway I could in the future.

Along with the new owners I delivered the boat to their marina. That’s when things went sideways. Upon arrival I found that one of the new owners had hidden bottles of vodka around the boat and been drinking without anyone’s knowledge. I offered to do a walk through of certain maintenance and was told “ no need, I got this”. Walking a way that day I knew I would have no relationship with the new owners and I would never see the 65 again. About 3 weeks later I received a text saying “ thanks asshole the anchor chain wasn’t connected to the rope and we lost the anchor “

I saw the 65 listed for sale last year and I watched as the price slowly came down. I received a call from a guy who found my number in a video from when I had her for sale. He was interested in buying her and looking for as much information as possible. He lived a thousand miles from the boat and was trying to make a more educated decision. I was happy to help in any way I could and after a few calls he decided to buy the boat contingent on a sea trial.

On the morning of the sea trial the potential buyer called and informed me that the boat was “not good”. He said they must of hit every pylon they had past, the interior was shit and smelled like it, the bilges were disgusting, every inch of the boat required some amount of work. He was reluctantly going on the sea trial and would call me afterwards.

The boat was listed for 250k and over a year had dropped to 145k. The potential buyer had offered 120k before the sea trial.

Boats of this size and age are extremely hard to sell and maybe even harder to maintain. They are not luxurious live aboards. You will not be the envy of your dock. You’ll spend more time and money working on it then you will running it. If you’re totally lucky your value won’t drop as fast as your energy. You need to be a special breed of person to justify owning a boat like this. You need to love the boat top to bottom and understand your not preserving your investment, you are preserving history. You will never recover the money you spent but you will also never get more self satisfaction on time spent working on her.

Owning my Hatteras was pure joy, it fulfilled a long time dream. I feel terrible for the women that bought it from me. Her boyfriend never sold his 34, they split up and she was stuck with huge bills and a boat that is very difficult to sell, and the worst was yet to come. 20 minutes after the potential buyer started his sea trial he called me back. He wasn’t buying the boat and they were on the way back to the marina. They were bringing the 65 up to speed and 12 minutes after leaving the dock, the engine blew throwing a rod through the block.

I’m heartbroken. I’m not sharing this story to demean or belittle anyone. I’m sharing this story as a warning.
A warning to buyers that no matter how well something is built without love it won’t last.

A warning for sellers that one mans treasures is another mans trash.

And a warning for new lovers, don’t buy a boat together. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you stupid? Did you read the warning above to the buyer’s?