Christmas is coming up, and I did get you that nice stand mixer…
…just saying.
Mr. Koerth-Baker
Well, something’s a hell of a drug, here.
I don’t know much about boats, but that sounds really really cheap.
I know enough about boats to know that one should run away - very quickly - from one this price. Sometimes it’ll be safe to consider it, but most of the time it will have issues. Poor upkeep can result in interior issues and hull issues, for example. And the last thing you want to do is drop your keel while out and about.
I guess what I’m saying is, for $5K, many people will forego due diligence and end up adrift, emptying their wallets into the ocean. Don’t do that. 
I recall an episode of “Pawn Stars” in which the main character says a boat as a hole in the water that you throw money into.
It’s not totally out of line. It’s probably an ugly boat on the inside. (i.e., needs a lot of cleaning, has interior finishings from the 70s or 80s.) It will likely have some maintenance issues (though not necessarily HUGE ones). And it’s also not fast. But there are tons of Catalinas, so they don’t command as high a price as some other sailboats. When we were buying our (much smaller) boat, we saw several boats of similar size in the same price range.
We were also looking specifically for cheap boats. The two major flags for me is that it’s a gas engine (major explosion risk, diesel is the way to go), and there are no pictures of the interior.
Odd essay out there by Robert Pirsig of “Zen And The Art …,” It’s “Cruising Blues and Their Cure,” (Esquire in 1977) and it Googles readily. I have thought about this when a boat has seemed like a good idea. I suspect that some aspects of boat ownership have changed. However my daily bicycle road work in Florida takes me past storage yards full of boats gently wasting away. And I wonder what expectations were not met, or what expenses turned out to be unmanageable, leading the owner to walk away.
This is the best laugh I’ve had all week.
Boats are money pits like airplanes, except that airplanes do not sit in salt water, gently corroding away, while being ignored by their overworked owners.
Longtime sailor here: yes, diesel is absolutely the way to go.
Plus, if you have major engine problems or run out of gas in an airplane you don’t have to worry about how you’ll make it back to dry land.
*EDIT to add: unless you’re flying over a large body of water, but even then you probably won’t have to worry for very long.
For $5k that’s just low enough that I feel like I would buy it, even if its a money hole. I definitely considering spending (way) more than that on a new camper van. But alas, my love of sailing and my violent seasickness don’t mix very well so it is not meant to be.
I like where someone buys an old trawler and has it dragged ashore and turned into a cabin.
Ya, that auto-seek-land feature is really great.
Plus, if you have major engine problems or run out of gas in an airplane you don’t have to worry about how you’ll make it back to dry land.
I have to say, I would MUCH rather have major engine trouble or run out of gas on a sailboat. Given that they are, you know, designed to operate without an engine/gasoline.
This is why we need a tongue in cheek or sarcasm font.
I like the cut of Mr. Koerth-Baker’s jib. You should probably buy him a boat.
Oh Maggie, while you’re looking, remember, 3 sea berths, two cabins, 100 gallons of fresh water storage, solar or wind generation and…
