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Looking for a quality 53 for sale on the east coast

Looking Glass

Looking Glass

Active member
Joined
Nov 11, 2016
Messages
141
Status
  1. OWNER - I own a Hatteras Yacht
Hatteras Model
58' MOTOR YACHT-Series I (1977 - 1980)
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!
 
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
 
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.
 
Scarlett said:
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
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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.
 
SEVEN said:
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.
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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.
 
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
 
Walter P said:
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
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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. :-)
 
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.
 
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
 
Looking Glass..... Don't let yourself be intimidated by the size of the 53. Actually the big heavy boats handle very well in close quarters. I have run 53's and larger (72) and IMO the larger boats offer a feeling of confidence since they don't seem as sensitive to a little breeze like a small lighter boat without a keel.

Walt
 
Looking Glass said:
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. :-)
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I had Weaver davits on the swim platform to store a dink on my 41' trawler. Launch took just a few minutes and the dink got used very frequently. Now on the 48MY the dink is on the hard top and launch and retrieval is a PITA so we use the dink only if we will be in one location a while. There are several more elegant solutions to storing the dink above the swim platform that would be even easier to use than the Weaver davits.

I also agree with others re size. I've had boats from 16' to the current 48MY. The bigger it is, the easier it is to handle.

The 53 classic MY is a beauty. I too have a size limit so the 48 works well. One down side for us to the 53 is that curving stair case. I worry about footing in a sea way.

Bobk
 
Looking glass. I too just purchased a 53 and was nervous about handling it. But as Walt said the 53 handles great. It maneuvers around the dock like a dream. At slow speeds the rudders are worthless but the props do a great job In putting the boat where u want it. For me I couldn't image not having a dingy. I love to anchor out and hate being tied to a dock. I choose the 53 for its size and draft. It is a great compromise that should allow you to get a slip and be able to navigate into shallower bays for anchorage. Welcome to the forum it's the first thing I look at every morning and the last every evening Pete.
 
I am happy to hear from all of you that operating the 53 is not as hard as I imagined. Most of the problems I have had docking the Aft Cabin related to being carried by wind or current. I have seen that many of the larger boats have Bow Thrusters and I was concerned that the 53s did not have them. Your comments put my mind at ease.

Currently when docking, my wife will be on the swim platform and jump off when I am next to the slip and help pull me in and tie off. I guess this will no longer be the case in the 53. It seems I will always be looking for the marina to send out dock hands. Is this the case?
 
bobk said:
I had Weaver davits on the swim platform to store a dink on my 41' trawler. Launch took just a few minutes and the dink got used very frequently. Now on the 48MY the dink is on the hard top and launch and retrieval is a PITA so we use the dink only if we will be in one location a while. There are several more elegant solutions to storing the dink above the swim platform that would be even easier to use than the Weaver davits.

I also agree with others re size. I've had boats from 16' to the current 48MY. The bigger it is, the easier it is to handle.

The 53 classic MY is a beauty. I too have a size limit so the 48 works well. One down side for us to the 53 is that curving stair case. I worry about footing in a sea way.

Bobk
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I see that Weaver makes several types of Davits. Which one are you using?
 
Have a look at the 50MY as well. Same layout as the 53MY. Just not as many built.

I launch my dinghy (11 ft. Boston Whaler with a 15 hp Yamaha) from the flybridge all the time. It did get a lot easier some years back when I added an electric winch to the davit. That old manual crank was murder!

I believe the only model of this boat has the galley down. Dinette can feed six kids. Our original high/low table in the salon can feed 10 if they are good friends. Sending the place settings and the food up is only a slight bit more work for the pleasure of our 360 degree view. And with that many people on board it is easy to divide up the work.
 
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Looking Glass said:
I see that Weaver makes several types of Davits. Which one are you using?
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I don't know a model number, but they had pads glued to the Hypalon tubes and a spring loaded catch on the platform. When you step on the tube when the parts are together they lock. A BIG BENEFIT IS THE ADDED STABILITY WHEN BOARDING THE DINK. We used a line to pull the dink to the vertical position and locked it up via the stand-off.

Looks like this: http://www.goodboatgear.com/detail/pd/60938/Stand-Off-Brackets---Fixed-Length-No-Clips

Bobk
 
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hi Looking Glass ...we too were originally looking to buy a Hat 53' MY our friend has one and we just loved it and we looked at a lot of 53' even flew out at a moments notice to go see them....then i told my broker we were going to the Ft. Lauderdale area and he told us to go look at this Hat 56' MY and that was the end of the search for the 53' MY we ended up buying a Hat 56' MY ....not the one in Ft. Lauderdale...with the wide beam it just makes for so much more room on the boat .... we came from a 37' Sea Ray Sundancer so like you i was nervous to say the least about the HUGE BOAT we just bought but we hired a captain ...Bruce Morrison... and he taught me how to handle the boat and after 4 day Bruce said i was fine handling the boat by myself which i do...yes we do have a bow thruster and i use it all the time just love it....the boat gets easier to handle the more you use it ...we just did a trip up north to NJ for the summer and south back to Florida i docked the boat every night of our cruising and i got so good at it that i had to back up the boat from the ICW in Florida over 300' in a very narrow fairway to our slip doing a S turn i even surprised myself but i did it ....
 
i have a 1977 53MY which is in good to excellent condition which i have been upgrading for the last 4 years. seen your add and started thinking maybe it's time to sell seeing that my health has been deteriorating for the last 4 years and is getting more difficult to handle. if interested call or text me at 904-994-9888 my name is Dennis the boat is located in flagler beach FL thanks
 
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