Архивы useful articles - Examples of sailboats from 1000 euro

Yachtsman’s daily routine.

Friends! Today I will tell you about a yachtsman’s daily routine so that you can have some more idea of it.

We won’t touch upon bureaucracy in different countries because it requires making a separate post.

Let’s imagine you found a marina, you reached it and tied up at the harbour. What’s next? What does the routine look like after that?

First of all, you need to pay the mooring fee. If you come at night during the off hours, then you can pay in the morning (unless you are going to leave before the business day starts).

When you pay in the morning you cover the costs for the next whole day. It means you get one more night. The check-out is usually floating, you don’t have to leave until 12am like in the hotels. In most marinas you can leave even one more night after, before the marina office starts working.

After a long passage your first wish is to go to the shower. Almost every average guest marina has a shower and a toilet but they usually keep it locked with a numeric lock or a card. Very often it is a code and you can ask your neighbors to share it, it is a common practice to do it if the marina office is already closed.

There are the counters with electric sockets and the water on the pier. You can connect your sailboat to the shore power and use 220V for recharging batteries and for your needs. You should also refill your water tanks. It usually takes about 5-10 minutes.

You may also need to do the laundry, very often there’s a room with the washing machines and dryers in marinas. The machines are usually big and automatic, laundry costs about 3-5 euro. If your clothes don’t lose color you can wash all your stuff once a week so you’d spend up to 20 euro per month for laundry.

It is comfortable to use a kickboard for city travel. Some yachtsmen use the electric ones, some of them use ordinary mechanical kickboards. For example, you can pass 5-10 km by foot but 15-30 km by a kickboard and won’t feel so tired.

The kickboards are usually folding so you can simply keep it in the chest.

If you want to make your dream about sailing life come true – learn more about my package “An entry ticket to sailing life”. https://how-to-buy-sailboat.com/book-and-course-package/

What about the storm?

It’s the first and the most popular question.

The thing is that we imagine the storms according to the films. Most of the films about sailing are disaster movies 🙂 In films they show epic waves, yachts sink and everything looks like we take huge risks every time when we start sailing, as if our chances to return back home are 50/50.

Maybe you even saw some YouTube videos with big ships in severe weather, in huge waves when the containers and freights are washed overboard.

As soon as I started with the big ships – let’s continue. Firstly, the ships go a whole year round: during the calm season and during the storm season. Secondly, these situations are not typical. If they lost freights every time, sea delivery would be extremely ineffective.

There are definite seasons in oceans. There’s a calm season when you travel without any problems, with stable winds and fair current.

There’s also a season of storms and hurricanes when the weather is always bad, sailing on a small sailboat is dangerous during this season.

Seasons usually change once in several months, please pay attention to the seasons if you are preparing for the ocean passage.

Most likely you will sail in Europe or close to it and your passages will be foreshore (this is also named cabotage).

This means you can watch the forecast before starting your passage. 1-2 days forecasts are usually quite precize, just watch it carefully!

In the modern world 4G internet covers the distance about 10-20 km from the shore so mostly you can watch the forecast even when you are already in the sea.

The storm itself is not as dangerous and critical. The main thing is to observe the safety measures, get mind right and take off the sails in time. You can use jib only for safety (if it has a furler) but if you feel scared – you can take all the sails off and use the motor.

Sailboats are much more safe than cars or motorcycles. It’s the statistics 🙂

If you want to make your dream about sailing life come true – learn more about my package “An entry ticket to sailing life”. https://how-to-buy-sailboat.com/book-and-course-package/

Travelling on a sailboat

Friends! Today I’ll tell you what travelling on a sailboat is like because I see in the comments that not everyone understands what it is in reality.

Imagine you are travelling with your couple (2 grown ups). Maybe you have a kid but the base are 2 grown ups.

A sailboat is like a house. You arrive in the new country but at the same time you have your own house there, with your coziness and lifestyle. As if your home was teleported to the new location.

Yachting is not heels and champagne, it’s an adventure, events and emotions shared with your couple, often it comes with challenges and some discomfort but in exchange you live for real, you can see the plankton shining underwater or watch the dolphins following your sailboat for hours. You can feel tired or cold but at the moment you enter the sauna after your trip you’ll relax and feel real euphoria, you’ll feel alive.

Most of you don’t need 3 bedrooms and a 12-15 meters sailboat. For the most 27-32 feet (8-10 meters) is quite enough, you will have a bedroom there, a living room with a table, toilet facilities and a kitchen. This is more than enough for a couple.

Maybe now you are living in a flat 30-50 square meters and a sailboat is less spacious but it’s not so bad. You’ll have smart space usage on a yacht so you won’t feel any lack of space in a week.

A mooring fee for a small sailboat is often several times cheaper than a room in a hotel, as for the month – it’ll be 70-80% cheaper.

If your approach to the finances is sensible, your costs in Europe will be 800-1000 euro per month for two people. These costs will include everything (mooring, food, fuel, small repairs, bureaucracy, etc.).

If you decrease your expectations a bit, don’t wait for a luxurious lifestyle and think optimal then you’ll be much closer to your dreams.

In my opinion, 10000 euro is enough to start this way, buy a sailboat and prepare it for living. If you want you can do it even with 5000 euro but the comfort level will be much lower.

A 32-feet sailboat with a budget 10000 euro is optimal 🙂

If you want to make your dream about sailing life come true – learn more about my package “An entry ticket to sailing life”. https://how-to-buy-sailboat.com/book-and-course-package/

22-24 feet yachts for 1000-2000 €: what to expect?

That’s my favorite category, thanks to such sailboats anyone can afford yachting!

My friends bought an excellent yacht for 500 euro. They were lucky for sure, it’s not every day such offers appear but they do and quite often!

Usually it’s a yacht of about 7 meters with 4 sleeping places, but it won’t be very comfortable for 4 people to travel. Such a yacht is convenient for 1-2 people. And if there are two then they’d better be a couple or two close friends.

These yachts have 2 significant disadvantages in terms of comfort which one has to put up with.

The first is the toilet under the bow berth. When there’s someone sleeping in the bow cabin, they need to be raised to go to the toilet. The pump toilet doesn’t smell in case you wash it at least once a week. The second is the height of the cabin of about 1.5 meters. Because of that you are forced to move around the yacht on your knees, crawling, etc.

At the same time these yachts have a full kitchen with a stove. There’s also space for a head in the hatch area, a sink with outboard and fresh water, a table, a toilet and a bedroom.

Basically there is everything for living and if you really want to, you can go on a trip around the world on such a yacht!

Another disadvantage is the outboard engine, it consumes much more fuel than an inboard one. If you buy a small yacht I highly recommend buying it with a 4-stroke outboard engine, it uses about 30% less fuel.

The outboard engine propeller pops up on a large wave. So in certain weather conditions you won’t be able to use it. It’ll be much more difficult to travel in the tidal zone.

In case of sailing that kind of yacht to the Mediterranean Sea I would go through canals.

The cost of the yacht is also growing, such yachts are sold for 5000-8000 euro in Mediterranean.

It is also a great option to try sailing. This category of yachts is the easiest to sell, you can always sell it without any loss.

I had such a yacht for 1200 €. Read my book where I told how to choose a yacht, how to check it, what to consider when buying, how to prepare, how to save and not lose money. The link to the book is in bio.

22-24 feet yachts for 1000-2000 €: what to expect?

If you want to make your dream about sailing life come true – learn more about my package “An entry ticket to sailing life”. https://how-to-buy-sailboat.com/book-and-course-package/

26-28 feet sailboats for 4000-8000 €: what to expect?

In my opinion a sailboat of this size is the best for a couple. The length is under 8 meters, so the mooring fees are cheap (usually the price ranges divide into up to 8 m, 8-10 m, 10-12 m and so on).

So if the sailboat is under 8 meters the mooring fee is about 30% cheaper than for a 8-10 meters sailboat.

The supplies, services and equipment are also 30% cheaper than for a 30-32 feet sailboat.

It is not so spacious inside, usually there is a bedroom in the nose cabin, a kitchen with two coaches, sometimes one sleeping place under the cockpit also. The width is usually from 2.4 to 3 meters.

Cabin height is approximately 1.7-1.8 meters though it isn’t a problem at all. Usually you either sit or lay inside the yacht (or go to the place where you are going to sit or lay). The kitchen (galley) is equipped with the hatch, the total height under the sprayhood is about 2.3 meters, so it’s comfortable to cook there.

The toilet is either combined (you can close 2 doors, and it becomes like a separate room) or it is designed as a separate room. There’s no shower but you can organize it in the cockpit if you install additional flexible water tanks for 200-300 €.

The sailboat is managed manually without any problems, it is easy to maneuver. Even if there’s little space in marina you will easily turn it with your hands only (if there is no storm or stream).

The mooring fee for a boat like this starts from 500 € per year in the Baltic Sea, in the Mediterranean (Tunisia) it is from 700 €, in Turkey, Greece and Spain it is from 1200 €, in France and Italy — from 1800 € per year.

It’s worth buying a completely renewed sailboat with fresh inboard engine, sails and with lots of equipment on it (autopilot, fridge, echo sounder and so on).

I have a boat of this size and I can say it is the most comfortable size for me right now. I don’t feel the costs on it and there is enough space for two people, I like it all! 🙂

Read my book this week, preparation for the purchase takes time, so it is a good first step to start your way to your dream 🙂

I also help all my readers with free consultations 🙂 The link is in bio 🙂

26-28 feet sailboats for 4000-8000 €: what to expect?

If you want to make your dream about sailing life come true – learn more about my package “An entry ticket to sailing life”. https://how-to-buy-sailboat.com/book-and-course-package/

30-32 feet sailboats for 8000-12000 euro: what to expect?

It is a fully-featured house for living, the only missing thing is the shower but almost every marina is equipped with the shower or you can also organize the shower in the cockpit if you install additional flexible water tanks (the price paid is 200-300 euro).

Ceiling height in the yachts like this is 1.9-2.2 meters, they have separate toilets, 5-7 sleeping places, the anchor chamber, captain’s table, the width is usually from 2.8 to 3.2 meters.

At the same time these yachts are still easy to manage, they are more or less manually-managed, I mean it is possible to strengthen by hands or turn with the oars.

Mooring fee for the boat like this in the Baltics is from 1000 euro per year, in the Mediterranean Sea (Tunisia) you will pay from 1000 euro per year, in Turkey, Greece or Spain — from 1500 euro per year, in France and Italy — from 2000 euro per year.

You can find the sailboat with renewed engine (it is very important! new motor and installation service will cost 6000-10000 euro for a boat like this) for 8000-10000 euro. It will also have refreshed sails and expensive equipment aboard (autopilot, fridge, life raft, navigator, echo sounder and so on).

Sometimes you can find a sailboat that was invested about 25000 euro but the owner sells it for 10000 euro (it is difficult to sell it at higher price, it takes long time. This is how the swedish market looks like).

My recommendation is to buy the sailboats that were updated a lot, this is the most profitable purchase as the investments in the equipment and updates never return. The more the sailboat was renewed the less money you will have to invest in it.

If you buy a boat like that and sail it to the neighboring Finland, Estonia, Germany or Holland it’s price will automatically rise on 20-30%. And if you sail it to the Med it’s price will rise to 20000 – 25000 euro.

I advice to read my book, don’t put it away for later. You will feel that you are closer to some concrete actions to make your dream come true, the plan will come to your mind, you will also understand what you need exactly and how to gain this.

The link to my book is in bio

30-32 feet sailboats for 8000-12000 euro: what to expect?

If you want to make your dream about sailing life come true – learn more about my package “An entry ticket to sailing life”. https://how-to-buy-sailboat.com/book-and-course-package/