A TikToker bid $2 on an eBay catamaran and won the auction despite not knowing if it was legit, but when they checked on Google Earth and saw the boat floating in a harbor, they moved forward with becoming boat owners. Obviously a $2 boat is going to need some work, so the new owner made a dedicated TikTok account to document what it would take to get this two buck boat seaworthy enough to make the trip from the San Francisco Bay area where the boat was docked to down to Los Angeles.
The boat in question is not a sinking nightmare or a tiny whaler, it’s a sizable catamaran that has room to sleep, a toilet, two motors, and sails. The new owner recently shared the price of their restoration, which is rapidly approaching their $10,000 budget, but they have already had the hull sanded and repainted, and got both motors fixed up. Since they determined the boat’s sails were already in good condition, they should only need to replace the rotted rudders to get this cat ready for the open ocean.
In part five of this improbable nautical saga, the new owner shared screen recordings of different sites for folks selling boats, and explained that he has had trouble finding an affordable catamaran in California. Different sites had different results, some ranging from five figure to six figure prices, and a quick peek at Craigslist shows no comparable boats for sale for anything below three-figure prices, so this deal was quite a find. Especially considering the size and condition of the boat, they certainly had quite a come up.
This doesn’t mean that everyone should go find a crazy deal on a boat, but it is a thoroughly interesting series to follow, and I know I cannot wait until they hit the sea on their journey south to the land of angels. Boats are usually very expensive to purchase, and continue to be notoriously costly to maintain. The first expense involved in fixing up their $2 catamaran was a costly but necessary one; this TikToker spent $5,000 to $6,000 to have their boat hauled out of the harbor and to get the hull properly repainted. The next expense was a $2,000 to $3,000 cost to fix up both of the cat’s engines. The goal for this boat is to get it down to Los Angeles for less than $10,000 out the proverbial door.
Given the price ranges already spent, that might turn into an impossible challenge, but you best believe I am following the saga and I have hope for these nautical cheapskates. All I can say is make sure to swab the poop deck and batten down the hatches etc.