That Sail Fever Is Easy to Catch but Hard to Quell

Between the scorching Santa Anas and the promise of one last chilly, late-arriving storm comes the warm, unmistakably sweet breath of Southern California summer.

Down near the beach, the air grows fragrant with coconut oil and sea spray. The roller skaters clack-clack along. And out on the water passes the glorious parade of clean, white triangles of the sailboats.

At this time, while walking on a pier or daydreaming along a boardwalk, the question can rise up--surprise!--and overpower you. Is this the year to stop wistfully watching the sails pass in front of you? Is this the year for you to find out what all those people are doing out there in Southern California’s last great wilderness, the Pacific Ocean? Is this the year for you to buy a sailboat?

May heaven be with you if the answer is yes.

Buying a sailboat reduces many of Southern California’s other challenges to pint size. At least we understand about traffic; we are accustomed to the nagging threat of earthquakes; we know the challenge of incomprehensible languages.

Of sailboats, we know almost nothing.

“Your first boat is going to be a mistake. You might as well buy it and get it over with. Then you’ll know what you really want,” shrugs Tom Leweck, staff commodore of the California Yacht Club.

If you want the word of one who grew too old for roller skates and too hefty for the beach blanket, one who fought back the lure of the sailboat and lost, then here is what you may find along the long path to the sea:

The Broker. Dealers sell new boats; brokers used ones. Two recommendations from veterans: Buy secondhand, you get more boat. And buy as much boat as you can afford--in size, quality and features.

Add to that another rule that will come to be part of your summer: As a boat increases in size, costs--all costs--increase manyfold more. A 20% increase in the length of the boat can add 60% to its price--and subsequent costs.

Before the thrill of picking out boats, however, you must find a seller who has what you want, or a broker who will find it for you.

Most buyers will begin hunting with the newspaper want ads and advertisements in specialty sailing publications, which are given away free at boat shops and other businesses around marinas.

In many cases, brokers require appointments. They want to know what you are interested in, how much money you can spend and how ready you are to act. Then they will shop for you among the many, many boats listed everywhere from Ventura to San Diego.

It is a buyer’s market. Do not let anyone try and tell you differently. Resolve to be selective.

“Ask yourself: Is the guy interested in what you want? Is he asking you questions to find out how to match you to a boat? Or do we have ourselves a used-car salesman pushing inventory?” advises David Poe, an editor at Santana, a monthly magazine that calls itself the So-Cal Sailing Rag.

A relationship between buyer and broker is tinged with wariness.

The strange terminologies of boating and huge price variables make newcomers feel especially vulnerable. It’s also disturbing to know that in this low-overhead business, sometimes requiring just a tiny office and a telephone, brokers every so often up and head south with the cash in the escrow accounts. In such occurrences, the $10,000 bond required of them doesn’t go very far.

The California Department of Boating, which licenses the state’s 500 brokers, says serious problems are infrequent. But there are many more complaints that officials attribute to buyer’s regret.

Brokers harbor their own suspicions about would-be buyers. Novice shoppers count on brokers to educate them, a time-consuming and therefore costly process. At the standard 10% commission rate, most brokers prefer to invest their time in the big-money pleasure craft, not starter boats.

The Vessel. Even if you are only casually serious about a boat, you probably have in mind the size, range and intended purpose.

But what will it cost?

A small 20-foot pocket sailer--enough boat to get you to Catalina--can be purchased for $3,000. This craft can be kept on a trailer, either at a dry storage yard near the water or at home. Insurance will cost you a song. Maintenance is low. But so is the headroom.

From there, the prices range enormously. Popular 27-footers can cost $15,000 to $20,000 or more. At 40 feet, secondhand sailboats easily can soar over $100,000.

Because boat loans can be extended up to 10 years, and because interest payments are deductible from federal taxes as a second-home mortgage (providing your boat has toilet, sleeping and cooking facilities), you may be able to afford more than you think.

Boats of a manufacturer and model that are locally popular tend to command higher prices and are easier to resell. Boats that are rarer, perhaps boats reflecting a popular class in another region of the country, offer more quality for the money but are harder to resell.

Broker Jerry Smith at Newmarks in Marina del Rey suggests that wise buyers will begin by touring one of the best-made sailboats--say, one produced by Swan--to familiarize themselves with the feel and appearance of quality. After that, he suggests remembering that new boats lose value for two or three years. “After that, it’s not like cars. The only variables are condition and equipment,” he says.

The Survey. The first step in the purchase is make a deposit of “earnest” money and take your selection for a sea trial. Try to bring along a friend who sails. Brokers and sellers tend to mellow in the face of knowledge. This step is one of the most pleasant in the process.

Then on to the inspection, called a survey. This can be one of the most painful.

Lenders and good common sense require that your dream boat be hoisted out of the water before purchase and inspected by a qualified marine surveyor. This is a word-of-mouth, unlicensed industry. Brokers maintain lists of surveyors whose word is good with the banks--and that is about the best you can hope for.

The great pox on modern fiberglass boats are “blisters.’

This evil affliction is a disappointment to many novices who mistakenly believe fiberglass is impervious to water. Long immersion, and perhaps the reformulation of resin compounds as a result of the energy crises of the 1970s, makes many, but not all, boats develop blisters below the water line.

These eat into the laminates of the hull. Unattended, they will ruin the boat eventually. And fixing them can cost a staggering $125 or more for each foot of boat length--or $2,500 for that $3,000, 20-foot boat mentioned earlier. Moreover, the vessel must be out of the water for weeks so the hull can be sandblasted, the blisters ground out, allowed to dry and then re-filled and epoxy-coated.

“The good news is that acceptable (repair) techniques can be recommended,” says a U.S. Coast Guard study of the problem. “But the bad news is that all the methods of repair described may be only temporary.”

The seller is usually responsible for costs of blister repair. This should be decided early in negotiations. Blisters are slow to develop, usually over a matter of years, and may not be a matter of urgency.

But if someone advises you to ignore today’s blisters, keep in mind the warning of professional surveyor Rex Michel of Marina del Rey: “Someone, somewhere is going to have to pull the thousands of dollars out of his wallet to make it right.”

The Slip. Gulp. In many cases, it will cost you as much or more for a slip at a Southern California marina as it costs to make monthly payments on your boat.

Costs range from $6 or so a foot per month in a few marinas (those with yearlong waiting lists) up to $10.70 in Marina del Rey and a staggering $16 in Newport Beach. Newport fees may rise still higher.

Even at these extravagant prices, availability is not assured. Certain boat sizes cannot be accommodated in certain locations. Slips do not automatically transfer with the boat you have just purchased.

The Sail. Some anxious brokers and private sellers may in their eagerness promise to teach you sailing.

Better, outside experts say, to take lessons. These are available at select colleges, yacht clubs and from private instructors, who advertise in the telephone book and in sailing publications.

They will teach you the standard basics--and, more important, local variables such as how pick up a mooring in crowded Avalon harbor. Or where to be when the Santa Anas blow, which is not Avalon harbor.

Sailing instructors also will show you the unsettling mathematics: In almost all cases, it is cheaper to charter sailboats than to buy and maintain them.

But then you would not have a place to come to on a summer Saturday to relax, to escape and take a nap. Which some people will tell you is a not-to-be-missed part of the sailing life.