Buying First Motor Yacht - What's your #1 tip?

Our company just finished a sales punch list on a large cockpit Meridian. After tearing the aft state room exiting steps, a closet and more, our tall skinny tech was only able to get his left arm in to replace the port rudder post flax and re-secure all. 3 days labor. He could not lift his Friday night beer with his left arm.
Nobody ever thought a rudder post gland would require service? Oh, The port shower has the extra room for a midget.
Whisky Tango Foxtrot.

A lot of us are in the service business. I'm getting to old & cripple to do a lot of these kid things now days.
Walk around, Crawl thru the bilges. How can somebody get to this and that device for service.
Looking at these items now can save you lots of headache in the future. It will be the labor that drives any service issue.

Lots of newer models strive to offer mega interior room. They are sacrificing the machinery spaces to do this.

Older designed boats did not do this as bad. That's why old Hats and Berts lead our like to work on list.
We get in, get out and don't Fuss about.


Our 58 Bert MY turned 40 this last spring. There is still nothing made that could replace our needs, Oh Well, the 40 year old oven just gave out.....
It's getting close to 25lb Turkey Time and I'm getting nervous.
From Jax FL, we cruise anywhere we want reliably with her 40 year old motors.

Pascal has found it a better plan to re-power and re-model his faithful 53Hat than mess with another hull. Pascal and now the whole forum, luv his near new (ole) ship.

There is a world of Post owners here that do everything to keep their fine ships up than buy new.

Unless your really turned on by todays leaning wedding cake and Clorox bottle designs, Don't overlook the ole & roomy older designs that for less money, could fill your ticket well.
There is nothing wrong with making an ole solid ship your next big self propelled custom kitchen.

Good luck

I think the high purchase price of new boats makes a good case to get a classic and refit it as you want. Have nice new modern equipment in a solid boat.
Not talking about resale or ROI, just a good base platform with good bones to do as you like. That would fall into my own preference.

It would not be a project for return on investment. If ROI is the main concern, time to get out of boating.

Looking at the purchase prices today versus the cost of a used boat with good bones, there is enough band width to get a tailored version just the way you like it if you are the type of owner who likes a project and likes to get involved with system choices , finishes and creating a new look your way. Basically a gut job and a wide open canvas, replace all systems, don't hold back.. There have been a few remarkable projects in our local boat yards and the Owner satisfaction is equal or greater than a new buy for a production boat.

With new systems, engines, and electronics, you don't have to deal with out dated equipment but get to choose your brand preferences. A modern propulsion system goes a long way towards changing the dynamics of a classic or used boat, and there are opportunities to modify the layout in a better fashion. But your certainly have to be a project guy, and some people do love the process, be it new construction or refit.

I do not think there would be one classic Hatteras Motor Yacht owner who would agree that a modern day Bayliner would be more comfortable in a seaway, ever.

Wow! Ole Dingus sure did get the pot stirred up! Lol

That being said I love to stir it up too...
Both Pac Man Blue and Capt J , who I have the utmost respect for, have valid points.

If I had an unlimited budget, I would do both and have my boat built from the ground up completely brand new with a hull and design of my choosing. Etc...

But that is totally not the case with myself and others. Custom or New.
I have to side with Pac-Man-Blue on this.
A new boat is extremely expensive and they depreciate so quick just like a car, it's hard to justify spending that kind of money and take such a hit down the road.
I Purchased my ocean yacht four years ago for under$30k. It was purchased new in 1981 for $370k .
I took a chance , it was what I could afford and It got me boating again , with a twin screw diesel boat , diesel generator and working air-conditioners along with two state rooms and two heads and showers it was perfect.
It's sat out for almost 3 years on the hard before we put it in the water and sea trialed it , along with my Surveyor/Survey before I handed over the cash.
I ran it from the lower Chesapeake up to Philadelphia with very little problems.

Since then I've put in another $30k into it over time, doing the work myself, repeat ! doing the work myself, replacing existing old stuff with new like stuff and not trying to gut the boat or redesign it. Which in my opinion can lead to the point of no return and a boat that becomes useless when you tear them apart.
I've had the boat four years to this day and everything's been just fine, and I'm still boating with her. We run the boat quite often on weekend trips.

I'm proud to be a low budget boater! But would much rather be a high budget one, for sure!

I now have dry ER bilges (split ERs).

Bilges dont run all the way thru and can’t because of the centerline fuel tanks. Forward bilge is sealed from ER and ER bilges don’t communicate with stern area.

The typical oily and smelly bilges around the ERs are because of Detroit.

Smile when you say that. It takes a long time to stop oil leaks on a Detroit. I know where every new drop of oil is coming from. As soon as I retire,, again,, I will be on top of them.
My Detroit's are challenging, We luv each other, but there is no stink coming from my machinery spaces.
Nor any of my bilges.
Our hull is not high tech nor stabilized. It is heavy by today's standards and needs horsepower to move (fuel and money). I question the better ride of newer boats, We leave most boats at the dock waiting for weather windows (Bahamas trips). Usually on our way back when they are leaving or still waiting.
AND, I like the salt cicles on my rails, makes for the best Margaritas.

I v never had the issue and in any case closing bilges is pretty easy. High water alarm should warn you of high water before it can migrate fwd or aft.

Problem is indeed that standard were different back in the 70s but a thorough refit will address these small issues.

I ve replaved all the wiring on my boat. Back in 1970 Hatteras used non tinned wires... the boat had twin shore inlets in stbd and port side. The wires were connected using a piece of sliced copper tubing crimped and then wrapped in electrical tape! Glad i requires the boat but in all fairness it worked for almost half a century.

Bottom line the refit of an old boat can’t be just cosmetics and new engines. It has to include everything

Are we thru responding to the OP's original question. Just interested so I

Captn Ralph, I'll have two with rail salt , fresh Florida lime juice on the rocks please. And use bilge water to make my coffee.

I have a Princess 110v 3 burner range with oven.
It does seems slow to boil water and one burner seems to get the hottest.
I have cooked extensively onboard without issues.
I like to use a stove top coffee percolator on the boat and it works fine.
I keep an electric fry pan onboard and the boat has a small microwave.
We have cooked everything aboard from grilled cheese sandwich to full blown holiday meal. (small turkey due to oven size)

If I were re-doing the galley I would like to go with a glass cooktop (for ease of cleaning) and some kind of convection microwave combo.
Oh yea, and a really good toaster.

And a built in cappuccino milk frother some how hooked into a steam pipe from the engine room....