It's rare to make a "profit" on an old boat. Basically, you need to buy one at salvage value that only needs cosmetic work, do the minimum and sell it quickly before dockage fees eat any potential profit.
After Hurricane Katrina there were scores of "totaled" boats here in Louisiana. There are several of us here that work on boats and can do most repairs needed. How many of these boats did we buy? Zero. We knew we'd end up working for $5 an hour to fix them. Most went to people who wanted one to live on. They probably did nothing except tow the boat to a cheap marina, put a window air conditioner in it and live on it. Some went to new owners who wanted to fix them up and keep them. The rest were stripped, cut up and "dumpstered". You restore an old boat for the joy of doing it, because you enjoy it, because it's a passion. Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA On Fri, Aug 1, 2014 at 9:59 AM, Burt Stratton via CnC-List < [email protected]> wrote: > Thanks for the offer, Joe. You never know with these old A4s. > > > > I’m sure you are right about the estimate but I have some wiggle room > before I get to the value of the boat. The PO was planning on salvaging the > rig and crushing the hull so you can imagine what I might have paid. The > boat looked tough but most of the issues (and there are a lot) are > cosmetic. After three weeks we are ready to get her in the water and do > some sailing before the season is over. I have spent so far just over $1500 > and a LOT of elbow grease. My wife is a very good seamstress and she is > willing to do the cushions including adding some back rests. We already > have the materials in hand (Sunbrella). I am not using Awlgrip, just some > decent deck and epoxy paint. The hull is in good shape and I will not be > completely stripping the old paint. It is in good shape, just a little beat > up and the wrong color. I am keeping in mind that this is not ever going to > be a show boat. Just making it look good and feel good for two to spend a > weekend on board. If sails come into the picture that number goes out the > door. We will see where it all ends up but I am confident at this point > that my efforts on this boat will (for the first time in my life) probably > come back to me when I sell her for a bigger boat (the real upgrade). My > guess is that I could have at least tripled my purchase price without doing > anything but what fun is that? > > > > Best > > Skip > > > >
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