Northeast, Florida or, Freshwater. Would you have a preference when buying?

[Eddieclemons]

Northeast, Great lakes, Florida or, Freshwater. Would you have a preference when buying a boat? Not considering the cost to move would you look or prefer one location to find your boat or would it matter to you? I hear positives and negatives of all types. Thanks

 

[Freestyle]

I have a 1986 MY that has experienced Northeast, freshwater, and Florida with prior owners. I have owned the boat for 9 years and it came with impeccable records from the prior owners of all modifications and repairs.

I offer a third variable to consider. Homeport service.

Boats that have lived in South Florida (Fort Lauderdale particularly) are better maintained. The marine tech community there is probably the best in the world and their availability and skilled work shows itself years later. I live in Tampa and the opposite is true. I suspect places with even fewer old boats have less skilled marine tech availability.

So, if I were boat shopping again, the due diligence would focus on where and who has worked on the boat. The more work done by companies still in business that stand behind their work should be an important factor SO LONG AS YOUR WIFE LOVES THE BOAT TOO.

Bruce

Freestyle
1986 62 CPMY (54 MY with 8 foot cockpit ext.)
Tampa

 

[Boatsb]

Every boat has its positives and negatives. Every location too.

Focus on the boat. A well kept vessel is a well kept vessel. I dont care about who or where it was done.

There is no magic answer to your question. Find a good boat I. Your area or a broker that can do the leg work.

 

[Jammin']

I offer a third variable to consider. Homeport service.

Freestyle
1986 62 CPMY (54 MY with 8 foot cockpit ext.)
Tampa

Great concept. I'm wondering what the heck I'm going to do now that we are moving our boat from Little River, SC to Colonial Beach, VA next week. I have had really great people working on the boat in Little River, so much so that I hesitate to move it because there's much more to do. Colonial Beach is a desert in that regard, as far as I can see.

 

[Freeebird]

Nothing is better than freshwater, but as Bruce said, it boils down to maintenance. That point aside, I'm not so sure home port maintenance means much in terms of anyone standing behind anything if you're taking it out of the hood.

Freshwater boats, especially Great Lakes boats, will bring a premium because they are kept in freshwater and generally see lower use with a shorter season. Given you're looking primarily at convertibles, your freshwater options will be limited. You'll definitely find some ragged out, Florida boats that have had too much fun in the salt and sun.

 

[Pascal]

I think sun exposure and year round exposure is worst than salt water. Fiberglass and quality hardware doesnt really suffer from salt exposure.

 

[Walter P]

Problem is that Fla, especially So Fla gets all of the above. Salt water, sun exposure and year round
use. Of course there are many south Fla boats that are well taken care of, but a Great Lakes boat that
has short season use, much shorter exposure to strong sunshine and fresh water is much more likely
to be nicer. Many GL boats are stored indoors for the winter as well IMO is a bonus. We don't need to
look further than Sky's 53 MY as a good example. If I were in the market for another boat (which I am
not) I would probably scour the Great Lakes first. I understand that they may cost a little more but as
the old saying goes "pay me now or pay me later"

Walt

 

[jim rosenthal]

All other things being equal, boats from the Great Lakes are cleaner and have less hours on them than any others I've seen. They have a short season and frequently keep them indoors during the off season.

 

[Passages]

Not to be a pot stirrer but GL based boats have an issue you seem to be forgetting - airborne pollution and acid rain. Not too much an issue with later model boats but 60, 70 and 80's vintage boat can show the cumulative effect.

 

[Sadey]

Having just shopped 1980-1989 53-63' non ED Hatts under $325,000 I can tell you that most of the boats on the market right now (north and south) are very similar in hours and price. Condition is the big difference. We have looked at almost every boat on the GL and TN/KY and couldn't find one that fit the bill. We winter in FLL so looking there was our back up plan. Well we found a 60' that was in better shape then anything that's currently listed in the above parameters. We will know next week the final say from the surveyors.
True, northern boats have a half life because of the short season but it did seem that the boats down south more often than not had a pro running and maintaining them.
We weren't scared of salt water boats (these are built in and made for salt water) but the trick is to find one taken care of. For us the biggest issue going south was the expense to bring it north. True its a great opportunity to use the boat but it is a big time and money hog for someone not retired, or independent wealthy. Just our 2 pennies.
Feel free to reach out if you want info on any of the boats we looked at.

 

[Passages]

Agree with above. I too spent too long looking at every 55-65' Hatt or Viking MY between MA and FL. Right about your price range too. Conditions were everything.

Came close to a 65' Hatt MY in Miami but (I'm going to regret saying this) my wife fell in love with 63' Viking in great condition here in FLL.

FYI - it was that darn ladder to the flybridge that killed the deal. The Viking has a proper staircase.

 

[Sadey]

Funny, the ladder doesn't bother us yet, were in our fifties but my heart burn is for my dad. He's in his 70's and a big guy so might be an issue. It will break my heart if he can't make it up but we had to go with what works for us.

 

[Passages]

Funny, the ladder doesn't bother us yet, were in our fifties but my heart burn is for my dad. He's in his 70's and a big guy so might be an issue. It will break my heart if he can't make it up but we had to go with what works for us.

There was a thread on HOF about 2-3 years ago where we discussed the ladder issue. A member did have a staircase installed from the aft deck to the flybridge which looked great. That would have worked for my wife but unfortunately, none with that feature were available at the time.

 

[Freeebird]

Can there really be that much difference in climbing a ladder vs walking up a steep flight of steps?

At least you can use all four limbs to make the trip on a ladder. If your health is that bad, there's always the crane.

 

[tom5518]

Not to be a pot stirrer but GL based boats have an issue you seem to be forgetting - airborne pollution and acid rain. Not too much an issue with later model boats but 60, 70 and 80's vintage boat can show the cumulative effect.

Say what? I have been boating on the Great Lakes for over 50 years and this is the first I have heard of this pollution and acid rain issue on boats.

 

[dottieshusband]

Salt air is a corrosive environment, so freshwater history is preferable.. and from a covered slip is even better. Fittings, fasteners, all suffer exposed to salt air... but they can also be replaced at a cost... so, price being equal, freshwater in a covered slip is primo, but the right price can make about any boat desirable.

 

[Passages]

Say what? I have been boating on the Great Lakes for over 50 years and this is the first I have heard of this pollution and acid rain issue on boats.

Don't get me wrong. Generally speaking, GL boats do keep better than saltwater boats. It all boils down to how a boat was maintained.

I believe I read the comment about pollution and acid rain in the GL in one of Pascoe's articles.

 

[Pascal]

Can there really be that much difference in climbing a ladder vs walking up a steep flight of steps?

At least you can use all four limbs to make the trip on a ladder. If your health is that bad, there's always the crane.

Yes there is. You can go up and down stairs (even steep) holding drinks, plates or stuff... not on a ladder. We go back and forth between our 53 with ladder and an 84 with stairs and the difference is huge

While still down the list of projects, at some point I will convert the ladder on my 53 to stairs. If you re not afraid to tackle a little fiberglass, you can easily cut into the salon ceiling and aft bulkhead to recess one or two steps in the salon ceiling resulting in significant space saving on the aft deck. Not very complicated as you can prefab the steps and just glass them in after cutting.

 

[Freeebird]

Yes there is. You can go up and down stairs (even steep) holding drinks, plates or stuff... not on a ladder. We go back and forth between our 53 with ladder and an 84 with stairs and the difference is huge

While still down the list of projects, at some point I will convert the ladder on my 53 to stairs. If you re not afraid to tackle a little fiberglass, you can easily cut into the salon ceiling and aft bulkhead to recess one or two steps in the salon ceiling resulting in significant space saving on the aft deck. Not very complicated as you can prefab the steps and just glass them in after cutting.

I don't think the ability to carry drinks, plates, or stuff was part of the equation.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Over the years, I've seen several boats brought to our area (mid-Atlantic) from the Great Lakes. They've always been in outstanding shape.

Obviously, there's a selection bias here. Someone who would go to all that trouble would go to the GL and find the best boat they possibly could, right? I'm sure there are plenty of neglected boats up there. But what I've seen for sale, and what's been brought down here, are low-hour, shed-kept, indoor winter storage boats that are beautiful. Some of them were good-size, too- 50 and 54 Hatteras convertibles, just for one example.

Clearly the process of getting such a boat here is more complex than bringing it up the waterway in terms of when to travel, etc. But in my limited experience of these boats, the ones from the Great Lakes area were really beautiful- no corrosion intact pain and exterior wood, pristine engine rooms- just what you'd expect from a boat which spent five months a year in fresh water and the rest of the time sleeping indoors.