Oh Happy Day!

[SpeakEasy]

Well, back in June I went out on a limb and bought myself a boat I fell in love with: a 1984 Compac 23. I scraped together the money from some money I've been saving as a car fund. Now I knew that I wouldn't be buying a car any time soon, and I figured on being able to replace a big chunk of the money by selling my Catalina 22. I had the Catalina for sale all summer, but I didn't really do any aggressive advertising. I showed it a few times, but didn't get any offers. About a month ago I got a call from out of the blue, and a guy wanted to know if it was still for sale. I showed it to him the weekend before Thanksgiving. Now, up here in the northeast, this is really unusual. No one shops for boats this time of year. Anyway, after hearing nothing from the guy after showing the boat, I sort of forgot about him. So, fast forward to last Wednesday.  I get a call from the guy, and he makes me an offer! He offered me the price I was hoping for. He also wanted to know if he could keep the boat in its current storage location until spring. Well, the storage issue is really a non-issue to me. I am not paying to store it. For him it was important. So - today I sold my Catalina! WooHoo! Now here's the amazing part: I owned the boat for 13 years, and I got the same price today that I paid for the boat 13 years ago. Oh sure, I put some money into the boat over the years, but still....

Sweet!

-Speak

[DayTripper19]

Speak-
That's the way we all would like to see our boats go-the same price we paid for 'em initially!

[Bob23]

Speak:
   Welcome and I hope you enjoy your 23. I have a 1985 23/2 #321 "Koinoina" and to me, her and a Catalina 22 are night and day. I sailed on one a few times and it was nice but the 23's, well, you know- they just sorta stir yer soul.
Bob23

[curtisv]

Speak,

Congrats on the CP23 and on the sale of your C22.

As to getting your money back, that is not unusual for an older boat that is well maintained.  I remember reading a book that had the average sale price for a Catalina 30 over about a 25 year period, same year boat tracking the change in price.  In the first few years the used sale price plumetted, then it went down more slowly.  After a while the average sale price went up.  In real dollars (after inflation) it was still going down, but the rate was slower than inflation.  The point was that old sailboats (but not old motorboats) hold their value quite well.

Curtis

[SpeakEasy]

When you count all the enjoyment that boat brought me over the years, the return on investment was unmatched. I wish all my investments could do as well. Hey, with that reasoning, I should take my whole 401k and put it into a boat!

-Speak