DJANGO: Purchase & Delivery

The dream

I’ve always dreamed of owning a boat. At a young age I was introduced to the world of Sunseeker. I dreamed of the adventures, speed, sun and water. Over the years I gravitated towards a sailing boat, the freedom, the stillness & serenity.

We’d been saving for years and finally had some capital. Our choice, another investment or a splurge on our dream. The latter won.

We have young children and want them to be brought up close to the water. We want them to enjoy the sense of adventure and learn about the sea. Amber and I are also big in the moment people (live life now not later) so we decided to start looking.

After years and years of dreaming I’m super excited about the next steps and taking delivery. Thank you everyone for your guidance, assistance and support.

Taking ownership or delivery of our new boat was an amazing experience both for me and for my family. Walking down the dock the first time with the children was a proud moment and great to see the excitement of the kids. It’s a day that I’ll never forget and will always treasure.

Here’s a quick guide to buying a boat. My thoughts, my research, my process. I’m no expert and I was fresh on the market and this is what I discovered/learned.

What do we want / What can we afford?

Local Brokers

I started by looking at local yacht brokers and agents (agents represent yacht manufactures in your region. Agents list both new and second-hand yachts). I needed to get a feel for prices. I had no clue how much money we’d need nor what our savings would buy.

Internet Brokers

I quickly moved to global internet brokers; there’s simply more boats to compare and you’re able to understand what your money will buy in terms of:

• Length This is the major price component. I knew I didn’t want to go too big on our first boat. Being able to handle her on my own was important. I decided quickly something around 40ft would be perfect, 42ft at a push.
• Year of build Again, a major price influencer. The newer the boat, the more modern and likely better use of space. I really didn’t mind the age, but as I looked, it became clear boat interiors age quick. It’s amazing how naval architects have adjusted to accommodate cruisers whilst keeping performance. Newer boats blend the two well.
• Engine & engine hours I wasn’t looking for anything other than a reliable engine with good solid maintenance logs.
• Sails & Deck Gear Sails are important but can be replaced — at a huge cost. I wanted a fully battened, slab main sail (my sailing friends were saying this is a must — safety wise).
• Layout / Floor plan There are two main influencers here: owners layout and charter layout (the latter with more cabins and heads). I opted for less berths but more space. I wanted 3 cabins, a boat that could sleep 6 people, and a full-length galley.
• Electrics Autopilot, Bow thruster, GPS, Nav station—all necessary. I didn’t want to have to spend a fortune on this stuff once we’d bought it.

Narrowing down our search

I spoke to any sailor and friend I could. I learned their opinion, backstory and experience. This was our first boat and our funds were limited. I reached out to loads of brokers, picking boats I liked and offering them substantially less. Some bought in and replied, others ignored.

The Survey

What I didn’t realise was that to look at a boat thoroughly you need to ‘survey’ it. Fly down to its location, inspect, and then pay a surveyor to give it the once over. This costs money—money we didn’t have to waste.

Eventually, I went to a few local boat shows and ventured on-board everything I could. I eventually spoke to a friend who advised me to go see one of the local stock boats. (A stock boat is where the local representative buys and specs boats in anticipation of customers—this shortens the usual 6+ month delivery timeframe).

And so, I stepped on board DJANGO. It ticked all boxes:

• 38ft
• Brand new
• Tall mast & long keel
• Slab main
• 6 berths
• Amazing interior (and it was in Malta!)

Negotiating & Contracts

Negotiating

Brokers always quote you ex VAT. It’s complicated, but there are many factors that influence VAT calculations (location, schemes, leasing, etc.), so it’s more consistent to quote without it. With a bit of back and forth and super support from S&D, I eventually agreed a price and structure.

Contracts

This is complicated. Lawyers do their job to protect you, but brokers have their own structures. We eventually got stuck in this to-and-fro for 2-3 months. Eventually, I just trusted S&D Yachts and went for it. To their credit, they upheld everything they verbally committed to.