Downeast 38 Kth Buyer's Guide
The Downeaster 38 Kth on the used market is the ketch-rigged version of a 38-foot Down East Yachts cruiser designed by Henry Morschladt with Bob Poole and built from 1974. She is a solid-fiberglass, long-keel boat of roughly 19,500 pounds with encapsulated lead ballast, a shoal draft just under five feet, and a layout built around a forward double berth, a main cabin with convertible settees, and a galley opposite a chart table and quarter berth. For a buyer, the appeal is a heavily built hull meeting Lloyd's standards with full seacocks; the caveats are mostly about verifying the original specification rather than chasing missing factory features.
Layouts on the Used Market
Most examples follow the standard interior: a forward double berth, a starboard pilot berth outboard of a settee, and a port side that may be either a matching pilot berth arrangement or a settee converting to a double with a shelf above. The galley has a double sink near the centerline, with the fixed chart table and quarter berth opposite. The ketch rig itself is the defining layout cue, and buyers should confirm whether a boat advertised simply as a "38" is the ketch rather than the cutter or schooner variant.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Original specification already included wheel steering, two independent batteries, and a provision for hand-starting the engine in an emergency, so these are baseline rather than upgrades. Owner-installed additions on the used fleet tend to cluster around power and energy, canvas and sail handling, and navigation. For a boat of this vintage, buyers should look at whether the Farymann diesel (24 hp standard, 32 hp optional) has been replaced or rebuilt, and whether additional battery or charging capacity has been added for extended cruising. Sail-handling canvas such as a bimini or sail covers, and any added winches or rigging for easier shorthanded operation, are the kind of upgrades that matter more than cosmetic additions.
What to Inspect
The hull was built to Lloyd's specifications using solid fiberglass with no coring below the waterline and seacocks on all through-hulls, so inspection should confirm those seacocks operate and that the solid laminate below the waterline has not been compromised. The rudder carries a steel backbone, and the nonskid deck uses sand set in polyurethane adhesive rather than molded pattern, so check that the nonskid remains intact and not worn smooth. Aluminum fuel tank and stainless-steel water tank are standard; verify the fuel capacity against the noted discrepancy in the original data, which lists 90 gallons with a note that it should read 75 gallons, and confirm the water tank is the 50-gallon standard or the 100-gallon optional.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Downeaster 38 Kth boats are found in the United States. For a buyer, the short checklist is: confirm ketch rig and original seacocked through-hulls, verify engine hand-start provision and battery isolation, check rudder steel backbone and deck nonskid integrity, and validate tank capacities against the fuel note. A well-kept example is a straightforward heavy cruiser with no exotic systems to chase.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Downeast 38 Kth. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 1 row
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 25 | 2 | $29,500 | — |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
7 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island Packet 38 | 38' | $ 99,000 | 58 | 12 |
| Downeast 38 | 38' | $ 30,000 | 16 | 2 |
| Shannon 38 | 37.75' | $ 69,000 | 15 | 8 |
| Downeast 38 Cutter | 38' | $ 35,000 | 5 | 0 |
| Morgan 38 | 37.67' | $ 69,000 | 5 | 1 |
| Endurance 38 | 37' | $ 84,041 | 3 | 0 |
| LeComte 38-1 | 38.25' | $ 42,900 | 2 | 0 |