Considerations when buying a new sailboat

Buying a new boat

Any sailor will admit that the two best days of one's sailing life are when you buy your boat ... and when you sell it!

Each occasion calls for plenty of soul-searching, but the buying stage is often clouded with emotion. (Not that selling isn't, of course).

It is helpful, then, to consider some guidelines for the purchase process, and we are fortunate that a very experienced live-aboard, work-aboard couple, Paul and Sheryl Shard, have published an in-depth review of the deliberations that went into buying their new Southerly 42RST.

On their website www.distantshores.ca you will find a "New Boat Blog" with a lengthy series of posts that cover every possible aspect of their perceived needs. Of course, the Shards do have some specific needs as they make their living while sailing, but most of what they have to say will have meaning for any sailor intending to undertake bluewater cruising.

While you are at their site, be sure to register for their podcasts, which feature interviews with many well-known long-distance sailors and industry experts.

links

http://www.distantshores.ca/boatblog/boatblog.html

http://www.distantshores.ca/podcast/podcast.html

http://www.searoom.com/shard/