Shrinkwrap and boat deals

Shrinkwrap ads signal the start of boat bargain season. There are sailboat boat bargains on Craigslist. I follow the ads for Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts. New England states are fairly small so they are all within reasonable driving distance.

Frosty nights wake people up. Winter is not just something in the distant future. Stuff's about to get real. Boats have to be winterized soon. Now is the time for bargains. Boat owners are willing to drop their prices, sometimes by a lot, to avoid the hassle of winter storage.

This is a perfect opportunity for people to pick up some bargains. For someone looking for a trailer sailor to haul to Florida the situation is perfect. My lovely wife and I bought our boat from a guy in Maine during the month of October and we did quite well with it. The guy had picked up a bigger boat at the end of the season and was suddenly faced with the prospect of storing two sailboats. He was desperate to sell.

There's also a fair chance of picking up a boat that's never seen salt water. New England's fresh water lakes provide lots of sailing fun for the weekend sailor. Vermont has Lake Champlain. New Hampshire has Lake Winnipesaukee. Maine has fresh water lakes scatter all across the state. In fact, my boat spent most of its life on an 8 mile long lake in Western Maine.

I met a man in Naples Florida who often drove up to New England to buy boats. He owned a big Ford 450 Pickup with duel wheels and a massive trailer that could haul a good sized keel boat. Even with the cost of transportation, he still made a tidy profit when the boat sold in Florida.

I would not even be blogging about this if I was in the market for a boat right now.

For the price of a week look cruise in the Caribbean, a couple could buy an old boat and sail it to the Caribbean themselves. Of course, that's the difference between a vacation and a life style.

-Sixbears