Adventures in Boat Buying

When all else fails, buy another boat

- Susan Gateley

My husband and I both love sailing, whether it’s a simple day sail or dreaming of future voyages. And when things get a little dull, or our fantasy life needs a little boost, there’s nothing like shopping for a new boat to stir things up again.

Many sailors like to shop for new boats, and they aren’t exactly notorious for downsizing; in fact it’s quite the opposite. We followed the customary pattern of continuing to buy boats, except downsizing wasn’t our issue. We don’t seem to be able to get rid of the old boats. They just keep accumulating. Last summer we were up to seven, ranging from 8ft to 32ft. I suppose some people might say we have a problem.

While we’re not exactly poor, by yacht owner standards we aren’t rich either. The aggregate purchase price for our entire fleet is around the cost of a high-end Waverunner PWC. And the average age of the vessels in our care is 36 years. Only the two homemade plywood sailing dinghies are less than 30 years old.

Because we specialize in elderly boats that few other people want, the concrete ketch we went to look at a couple of winters ago seemed like a perfectly logical addition to our fleet. We spotted her during a visit to San Diego while scanning the classifieds. She was listed as a “38ft Gass Headed Alkins Ketch,” which we interpreted as a, “38ft Gaff Headed Atkin Ketch.” After a call to the broker and an Internet search, we confirmed she was a variant of Ingrid.

There are certain designs that are legendary among sailors who gravitate by preference (or necessity) to the classics. Nearly all of William Atkin’s designs are held in high esteem by these folk, but his oceangoing