[Paddlewise] Your Very Own Mothership - Cheap

Several people.... well, a couple people.... ok, one person recently made
some mention of their own kayak mothership. Hey, if one person mentions it
on line then lots are probably thinking about it. I'm going with that. Here
is my methodology of buying boats and, believe me, I've bought a lot of
them.

Most of us buy a boat in the time-honored way; we stumble across a boat that
looks "right" and that has a For Sale sign in a window. We dial the number
on the sign and the owner meets us, gives us a tour of the boat along with a
glowing account of how the boat has been maintained, how it performs, how
little fuel it uses and other reasons he's asking an inflated price. We
dicker him down on the price a little and after the paperwork is done
discover the engine went south with the Loons in eastern BC.

Is there a better way? I say, "YES!". Although, frankly, it might be that
much better. But I'm going with better.

I use Craig's List (www.craigslist.org); you've all heard of it and some of
you even use it. But I use it to determine what is on the market, what the
prices are, who is desperate to sell, and who is frantic to sell. I do this
by selective use of the search function on craigslist. My criteria for an
ideal mothership is: (a) Diesel engine; (b) Fiberglass hull; (c)
Inside/Outside steering; (d) Trailerable; (e) a convenient place to securely
store kayaks or an easy way to make such a place; (f) recently overhauled
engines and/or woodwork and decking; and, (g) cheap. Your desirable
characteristics will probably vary.

Now all these points are potential bargaining points in the negotiation
dance you will undertake with several owners who, we fervently hope, are
much more desperate to sell their boat than you are to buy one.

I like a diesel engine because a diesel gives you better fuel economy,
higher engine reliability, a greater reluctance to set your mothership on
fire. However, if I stumble upon a boat that has all my other desirable
features then I can say something like, "Oh, I dunno... I'm really looking
for a boat with a diesel engine...". Get the idea here? If his boat has a
feature you don't really want, then you are poised to offer him a lower
price and he has to counter with some argument ("gasoline is cheaper than
diesel nowadays and easier to get... and if you operate this boat in
'trawler mode' your fuel mileage will be just as good").

So, with my list in hand, I first search the boat section of craigslist for
"diesel" and weed out the sailboats (which, unless they are over about 30
feet, are difficult to securely store a kayak on) and any without photos or
at least a link to photos. Then I peruse the listings for anything that
looks "cheap". Now, again we might differ on this but my idea of a "cheap
boat" is one for under $4,000. You may scoff that I could find anything
suitable for this price, but you'd be wrong. Right now some very decent
mid-70s cruising power boats are available with trailers for below $4k;
sometimes well below $4k. Most of them need some work done to them, but a
lot of that work isn't that technical or that difficult. However, if you
don't like fixing boats then increase your idea of "cheap" until it reaches
where you think a decent boat price would be. Remember, however, that just
because you spent $10,000 doesn't mean the engine doesn't need an overhaul.

Searching tonight's craigslist for Orange County (which includes where
Mar.... er the person who mentioned a mothership lives) I find this 31-foot
boat advertised for $14,500:

*"1973 Jersey Sportfisher, Twin Detroit Diesel, Furuno fishfinder, ICOM VHF,
65 Gal. bait tank, New interior cushions, Ideal windlass, 7 x 11 cockpit,
outriggers, possible slip transfer."*

This boat violates several of my criteria: it's too large to trailer but the
slip might be transferable and if I live close enough to the marina and if
it's close enough to where I want to paddle, then it might be no big deal.
It has two engines while I would prefer one (economical and, I think, easier
to maneuver in tight places no matter what the PR would have you believe).
With a single engine the propeller is more likely to be protected by the
keel of the boat than with a twin.

This boat also has a flybridge and probably an inside steering station
giving you one other place to escape from your teen-aged-girlfriend (or
wife, if you so prefer) thus meeting at least three of my criteria. It might
make 4 if it has a suitable cockpit over which I can construct (or have
constructed) a stainless-steel framework that would support several kayaks.
This boat is worth a look. At $14,500 for a twin-diesel 31-footer, this boat
- if it's in decent shape - is a bargain.

What if there weren't any suitable diesel-powered boats? Well, then I would
search again using the keyword "cruiser". Most people refer to the boats I
think are most suitable for my style of mothership paddling as a "cabin
cruiser". So this is most likely to come up with the hits.

On the same craigslist I got this 26-foot boat at $4,500:

*"1980 Bayliner Victoria, Volvo 350 by Chevy, dual-helm, walk-thru hull,
v-berth, 40 gallon livewell, galley, head w/shower, refrigerator, 2 burner
gas/electric cooktop, 110 power inverter, dock power supply, tv, dvd, cd
player. Comes with tandem trailer. Engine runs strong. This is a great
boat!"

*This is a single-engine gas-powered boat that meets all of my criteria
except for the diesel-engine part. The photos look great, the description
looks great and the price, at $4,500 is not much more than a decent kevlar
kayak. I'd call on this boat in a heartbeat.

Now all we have to do is determine if the seller is desperate or frantic. It
can be taken as a given that anyone who is selling a 26-foot boat for $4,500
is desperate. There are probably some problems with the boat he is not
willing to fix for his own reasons. He may have another boat and his
interest in this one is zero or it might just be his ex-wife's boat and
she'll get all the money. If there are major items to be fixed (hull
blisters/cracks, rotted stringers or deck cores;
engine/transmission/outdrive problems) then he might be frantic. There is
one way to find out.

How often does he post his ad on craiglist? If he posts every day at 5pm and
has been doing it for the past month, rest assured that he is frantic. At
$4,500 someone should have bought that boat unless it has fatal flaws. If
he's posted once a week for the past 3 weeks he's probably just the normal
desperate. If the posting was a week ago and nothing since, then this is
worth calling about. In the case of the 26-foot Bayliner, above, the posting
was 11/06. It's entirely possible that this boat was sold.

But you get the idea now, don't you? I want a trailerable boat because I
live 250 miles from the San Juan Islands. But if I lived in Anacortes or
Bellingham then it might not be so important to me. You might want a smaller
boat in the 20-foot range for your own purposes. Really, the only thing we
might have in common is that we both want a sea-worthy vessel capable of
carrying our kayaks to a place to paddle and just big enough to be a
comfortable place to hang around on until lunch.

As for myself, I'd kinda like something warm to come back to after a cold
Puget Sound paddle but my wife has withdrawn the teen-aged-girlfriend offer
she made a few months ago. So I'll need a boat big enough for a heater.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA


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