This is the method we used to buy our monohull for a big trip to the Nordic countries. This one is worth what it is worth, but will give ideas for anyone who is looking for THEIR rare pearl.
The characteristics of our crew
Our selection criteria were all guided by the characteristics of :
- our crew
- our program
- our budget
- our experience
In short, our family is composed of 5 people, including 3 young children from 2 to 9 years old. Our first goal is to sail to the North, for a long trip. The captain focuses on the safety and autonomy of our unit in all circumstances and the captain's wife focuses on the problems of life on board. For experience, we have a decade of sailing behind us, including a year and a half trip around the North Atlantic.
We were looking for a very robust and safe sailboat, all-purpose, comfortable enough to live on all year round, adapted to the cold and well dimensioned in energy, water and storage.
The budget, an essential criterion
First of all, the first thing we looked at was our budget. Money is the sinews of war, as everyone knows! The budget had to include both the purchase price and the cost of preparing the boat for our sailing program.
This criterion is difficult to respect, because it is complicated to evaluate the cost of the work to be done just on the reading of an ad, before having visited (after the visit alsoâeuros¦). Moreover, the margin of negotiation of the selling price is rather variable according to the salesman.
For each boat, we tried to estimate the work to be done and the equipment to be added or replaced, item by item: sails, gantry, dinghy, electronics, rigging, interior fittings, comfortâeuros¦ Nevertheless, our evaluation was based on our simple experience and a bit of research on the internet to evaluate certain prices.
Prioritization of criteria
To refine our criteria, we both made a list of the points that seemed essential, important and optional. Indeed, the priorities of the captain and those of his wife are not always concordant! Once on paper, we compared our lists to determine the crucial elements for our future mount.
Having already sailed for a relatively long period of time with small children, we knew what we absolutely wanted, but also what we did not want.
Our main criteria of choice
For us, in relation to our experience, our crew, our requirements and our program, our boat had to be :
- as robust as possible with a strong bottom sampling, aluminum or steel hull
- totally and strongly insulated with a heating system
- accessible funds
- a shallow draft (less than 1.50 m) and groundable
- between 12 and 16 meters long
- good sea keeping and maneuverability in port
- a sheltered cockpit/guardhouse
- a large capacity in diesel
- a simple and robust deck plan for a reduced crew
- 3 cabins minimum, double and bunk beds, saloon, kitchen with oven, shower, office, washing machine, workshop area and plenty of storage space
Some criteria are blocking and others are not
In this list, some points were blocking our research, such as the draft or the number of cabins. On the other hand, the absence of a heater was not in itself a blocking point if there was the possibility of installing one later on. However, the cost of installing the heating system was therefore included in the construction budget and had to be deducted from the purchase budget, as in a communicating vase.
So we started our search by eliminating all the yachts that did not meet at least our basic criteria and our budget. Rightly or wrongly, we also limited the geographical area of prospection to Metropolitan France.
A table to compare objectively
It is sometimes difficult to be objective when visiting sailboats. So, as we went along, we kept a comparative table of interesting boats by giving them a score for each criterion on our list and thus obtaining an average for each. With the same overall score, it was the heart that tipped the scales.
Summary of the races
After more than a year of searching, we found a sailboat that matched, on almost all points, our list! Nevertheless, our new sailboat needed a major refit and a lot of new fittings. In the end, the purchase price was only two thirds of the total cost.
Our dream sailboat made us drool during six months of intensive work, to be cumulated with school and life on the boat, but that is another storyâeuros¦ In the end, we have a boat adapted to our family and our desires even if there is still a lot to do and improve to be really satisfied. But a sailboat without work, it does not exist, so we continue!
