Sell now/project boat musings

[sly_karma]

Crazy sellers market in just about anything you can think of at the moment. Car and truck dealerships have almost nothing on their lots, stories of 6-12 month waits for boats, RVs, and most other recreational equipment. Real estate markets have high prices and low inventories. A realtor friend remarked recently that now is the time to sell oddball properties that only appeal to a niche group of buyers.

That last comment got me thinking about my boat. 40 yr old fibreglass runabout reworked as a salmon fishing platform for the Strait of Georgia... but I live in the Okanagan. I've lavished countless hours on transom and stringers rebuild, repowered and rigged main and kicker, added a serviceable electronics suite. We all know those hours of labour will never be recouped in a sale, and to be fair those hours in the shop gave me a lot of pleasure anyway. Only a handful of pros make money buying, fixing and flipping boats

In the past I figured this boat would max out at about 5K resale, no matter how much I spent on it. 1980 hull with no cuddy or pod is just too much of a negative, regardless of all the work on the rebuild. But the COVID market is another world. With its fresh Etec power it would show nicely in a sea trial, and the big dance floor just makes you want to go fishing. Maybe not too outlandish to think it would fetch 10K, especially if it was marketed at the coast where more people understand the way it's set up.

The big question is could I handle 2-3 years without a comparable boat while I wait for the market to normalize? There's a 14 ft at the cabin for fair weather fishing, plus my inflatable pontoon for the rivers and small upland lakes. It could be done...

The other route would be a project boat. Still seems to be a fair number of old hulls going free or close to it, my unresearched feeling is there is still value to be realised in exchange for some elbow grease. I have a large shop, lots of tools, and an inclination for tinkering.

Interested to hear others' assessment of the current market for project boats, both buying and selling.

 

[RiverBoy]

i honestly think a big crash is coming. and the high fallutin’economists agree ( but my opinion is better i have friends in the mainland whose mortgage payment are 5k per month on an average home. with car payments, cost of living skyrocketing, gas , groceries etc i think it’s gonna hit the fan in a big way. something’s gotta give.

where’s your cabin located? if it’s close to one of the closure areas i personally wouldn’t hesitate. my bro in law recently sold his terrible old Glastron that i personally would have donated as an artificial reef on the oceanfloor
( it was headed there on its own anyways ) for $7000. he now flips his buddy gas money from his proceeds and he doesn’t have to do a dang thing anymore.

 

[chris73]

Sell, if you have opportunities to recreate without this boat for a while and if you were wishing for a different boat anyway. This market won't last.

 

[brutus]

If I was retired I would have a few boat projects going, just for something to do,try not to loose money doing it kind of thing lol. I know for a fact that if price of old boats are here to stay, there is a few bucks to be made flipping boats

 

[SpringVelocity]

Sell, if you have opportunities to recreate without this boat for a while and if you were wishing for a different boat anyway. This market won't last.

Agree

 

[sly_karma]

This market won't last.

My assessment too. The most visible condition that created it - Covid - appears to be entering 'the beginning of the end', although I think the tail will be long and drawn out, plus the supply chains will take a while to sort themselves out. My guess is it will be at least until 2023 for the shift to buyer's market.

where’s your cabin located? if it’s close to one of the closure areas i personally wouldn’t hesitate.

Sunshine Coast, on Thormanby Island, so yes we are affected by the spring closures. There is a family-owned cabin boat, a 14 ft Starcraft w/ OMC 40 (that I maintain anyway) that is sufficient for local fishing/crabbing/prawning and general runabout duties. It's already my habit to use this boat when we come for short visits like next week; the cost and heft of trailering mine down from the Okanagan is generally reserved for our multi week stay in July or August. Then we will do a camping trip to Princess Louisa/Sechelt Inlet/Desolation Sound as well as fishing further afield such as Sangster/Lasqueti/Texada. My premium saltwater fishing trip each year is on a charter anyway, either Winter Harbour or Haida Gwaii, my boat not required.

 

[sly_karma]

Sell... if you were wishing for a different boat anyway.

Mmm, there's the rub. Two ways to go:
(a) full bore fishing/overnighting boat kept in moorage at the coast. Higher up front costs and would incur ongoing moorage and maintenance costs. Would also deprive me of the enjoyment of shop time. Would be nice though to just show up at Secret Cove, climb aboard and go.
(b) trailerable boat similar size to what I have now, 19-22 ft. Lower running costs and I would have ready access to it for maintenance and mods. Plus it can see some use in the Okanagan, not a fishing wonderland but certainly not a bad place to own a boat.

Unlikely that the Minister for War and Finance would support another round of debt plus the monthlies demanded by option (a), and I'm not that excited about it myself, especially given the unfavourable direction in which our southern salmon fishery appears to be headed.

Option (b) - so why walk away from what I already have and go for something same size? The old Lund runabout has been good to me thus far because it's versatile, fits in my carport (just), and is light weight for easy towing and lively performance. It was almost free (basically got it for the price of the trailer) and was a good platform for me to figure out how I'd use a boat and develop skills on the rebuilding/mechanical front. But nowadays I have room at my shop/storage yard, and I'd really like some more storage and weather protection. I think I want a pilothouse hull. I like the idea of lockable storage, dry warm cabin, more freeboard for weather handling, and somewhere a couple could sleep for one or two nights once trip a year. The old late 80s/early 90s bulkhead Trophies are fairly plentiful and not too expensive, and a few other contenders exist as well. A more substantial cabin would up the likelihood of use during late winter and fall, or even mid winter if the skiing is poor. The best Okanagan Lake trout are almost all caught in the cold months.

 

[ship happens]

I still have my K&C that I would like to see go to a good home. 22ft with pod. Solid boat and if someone soed the time to give it a paint job and some cosmetic stuff it would be a really nice boat.as it sits now it's turn key.