Hello from Andrew and Sue on MYSTIC. Just in case you cannot recall the boat, it is a 52ft aluminum "Shark 50" with a 7.3ft draft & relatively light displacement. It has been awhile since we last saw you in Bequia–at the time you said if we ever needed any help to get in touch, so here goes. Sue has decided she would rather be fixing up an old house than sailing so we are planning on putting MYSTIC up for sale. We were already planning to spend the winter in Annapolis and so are planning at least initially to put her up for sale there. Our basic questions come out of the fact that MYSTIC is fairly unique, we are not sure what she is worth, where is the best place to sell her, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again, Andrew and Sue on MYSTIC
Hi Andrew and Sue: MYSTIC has a lot going for her design and construction. She is fast, relatively easy to handle the way you have her set up, and, being built of aluminum, is tough. The downside is she is an unknown (in the US) design. So, what you need to do is get her in front of folks interested in a serious cruising boat. Her uniqueness then becomes a strength. Some specifics: To establish value you will need to look at other boats on the market and find out what they are selling for (not the asking price!). Compare based on living space, equipment, performance, and quality of build. You will need to look at a lot of boats. To market the boat there are two approaches. One is to make her available to all brokers, sending each a detailed listing with lots of photos and a very detailed equipment list. The second is to advertise the boat yourself in magazines which cater to cruisers such as Cruising World, Bluewater Sailing, and Latitude 38–using a small ad in the classifieds. Good luck with the new land-based life! Steve
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
