On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:55:47 -0800, ray lunder
wrote:

Looking for a used cruise equiped 30-40 foot sailboat for approx a us
buck per foot. Any ideas? Techniques? I've tried 38/48 north and
craigslist so far. Most of these are worn out craft from the 60/70's
in need of major refit or were never cruise equiped in the first
place. To cruise equip a boat at present "boatyard" or "west marine"
cost is prohibitive. I'm in washington state, usa but don't mind
flying somewhere. You'd think with all these bank problems people
would be forced to sell luxury items. Are we going to see a 70's style
bargain hunter season any time soon? Please don't let this degrade
into a political thread, I just want to buy a boat. What's a person
with ready cash to do?

Spend some time prowling Yacht World and remember that those are
"asking" prices. Everything is highly negotiable. The used boat
capitol of the world is Ft Lauderdale/South Florida. There are lots
of 30 something boats in your price range but not many 40s unless they
need a *lot* of work. Prices increase in non-linear proportion to
length. Weight/displacement is a better indicator.

The time to buy is probably right now. In the mid to late 70s
inflation took hold in a big way and the price of used boats actually
appreciated for a while, priced in dollars. It was an illusion
however because the price of new boats increased even more. This
scenario is likely to repeat itself several years down the road.

What ever you buy, plan on spending at least half again as much, quite
possibly more, to get it back up to reliable, cruise-ready condition.
A more realistic price point for a good 40 footer ready to cruise is
in the range of $100K. After that, plan on spending at least $10K per
year just on boat upgrades and maintenance.