Mediterranean Yachts for Sale

Mediterranean is a real builder rather than a category, which is worth saying because the name reads like one. Mediterranean Yacht Corp registered with the Coast Guard in April 1985, built inboard cabin cruisers and sportfishers at one address in Santa Ana, California for twenty two years, and went out of business in November 2007. Almost everything that comes up for sale is the 38, offered as a Convertible, an Express and a Sport Fisher on the same deep vee hull, with an eight foot cockpit, a transom door, big fish boxes, a built in bait tank and rocket launchers as standard. They were built for running offshore out of southern California and they have the reputation that goes with it: heavy for the length, dry, and steady at rest.

Buying one, start from the fact that there is no company behind it. No warranty, no factory parts, no technical department, and no owners' organization of any size. What saves it is that the 38 was in production for the better part of twenty years with few changes, so parts commonality across the fleet is good and the boats that remain are well understood by West Coast yards. The mechanical side is conventional: twin diesels on shafts, and the engine survey and running gear decide the price. Beyond that, look hard at the stringers and the bedding of the cockpit hardware on a boat that has been fished, at the fuel tanks and their access, at the tower and its mounts if one is fitted, and at the deck core. Because the fleet is concentrated in California, a Florida boat gets valued against Californian comparables rather than local ones, which cuts both ways: it can be bought well, and it can take a long time to sell.