Island Packet 38 Buyer's Guide
The Island Packet 38 occupies a narrow but devoted niche in the used bluewater market — a boat that rewards buyers who know exactly what they want and punishes those who don't. What you're getting is a heavily built, long-keel cutter from Largo, Florida, produced in relatively modest numbers across a limited production run. That limited production, combined with a famously loyal ownership community, means examples surface with less frequency than comparable blue-water cruisers from European builders, and when they do appear they tend to sell without lingering. The design ethos is straightforward: maximum seakeeping ability and liveability at the expense of performance. If you are comfortable with that trade-off — and many serious offshore couples are — the IP38 represents one of the more thoughtfully engineered cruising platforms of its era.
Layouts on the Used Market
The IP38 came to market in a single primary configuration, though subtle variations accumulated across the production run and through owner modification. The most prevalent arrangement on the used market is the three-cabin layout, with a forward stateroom featuring its own head, a large main saloon with a U-shaped dinette that converts to a double, and an aft cabin served by a second head. That second head is a point of variation worth noting: a meaningful share of boats have had the aft head converted into a dedicated navigation station, a modification that made practical sense for offshore crews who valued chart-table real estate over a second shower. Some long-distance owners have gone further, converting the forward head into a dedicated sail locker after finding that the boat's deep cockpit lockers and transom storage could absorb the overflow. Boats in either state are available, and neither conversion is inherently superior — it depends on how you plan to use the boat. The galley in all examples is U-shaped and positioned to port aft of the saloon, a layout that works well at sea.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Used examples are typically well-outfitted by the time they reach the brokerage market, reflecting the nature of their ownership. A solar panel array, bimini, dodger, autopilot, and chartplotter are commonly fitted across the fleet — these are so prevalent that their absence on a given boat should prompt questions rather than relief. Dinghy davits are nearly universal on cruising-configured boats, as is an AIS transponder, radar, and an inverter for running household appliances at anchor. Air conditioning appears with notable regularity given the boat's Florida and Caribbean deployment history.
Slightly less universal but widely seen are watermakers, windlasses, wind generators, hot-water systems, cockpit showers, and life rafts. Furling mains have been retrofitted on a solid proportion of boats by owners seeking easier single-handed sail handling; the original in-boom or external slab-reefing systems are still found, but the furling conversion is a frequent owner upgrade. Electric winches appear on a meaningful share of the fleet, particularly on boats that have done extended blue-water miles under shorthanded crews.
At the less common end of the spectrum, some boats carry heating systems, spinnaker gear, asymmetric kites, swim platforms added aft, and lithium battery banks — each representing a meaningful refit investment by a previous owner. A boat carrying several of these upgrades has typically been actively cruised and maintained by someone who took the boat seriously, which is usually a positive indicator of overall care.
What to Inspect
The IP38's construction is genuinely robust, but no boat approaching four decades of age is immune to accumulated wear. Begin with the standing rigging, which the manufacturer specifies in careful detail — check the stainless wire for meat-hooks and broken strands, paying particular attention to the swaged terminals where failures are hardest to see. The chainplates warrant serious attention: they are embedded in the fiberglass hull rather than bolted to the exterior, and cannot be inspected without removing built-in furniture, followed by chiseling and grinding. This is a meaningful undertaking and a potential negotiating point, but it should not be skipped on older boats that have been sailed hard.
The deck core should be inspected for delamination, though Island Packet used a synthetic core material rather than balsa in many areas, which reduces moisture intrusion risk compared to contemporaries. Still, probe suspect areas around deck hardware and hatches with a moisture meter. The hull should be sighted carefully along its length for smoothness; the boat's distinctive beige hull color makes repaired blisters or cracks more visible than on white boats, which cuts both ways — obvious repairs are worth investigating, but at least they're harder to hide.
Engine access is genuinely good on this design, via side panels and from behind the companionway ladder, so use it. A Yanmar diesel with comprehensive service history is what you want to see; signs of deferred maintenance — fluid leaks, cracked hoses, worn belts — are common on boats that spent years in warm-water anchorages where engine running hours accumulated slowly. Check the raw-water impeller housing, heat exchanger, and exhaust elbow, which are consumables on any aging marine diesel.
Roller furling gear on the oldest examples is due for replacement or careful evaluation, as is any sail inventory that has spent extended seasons in tropical sun. Many owners have already replaced the mainsail with a full-batten version, which is generally an improvement worth keeping. If the boat retains the original standard 110-percent genoa, factor in replacement cost — many experienced owners of this model find a larger sail area forward significantly improves light-air sailing ability.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The IP38 is most widely available across the eastern United States — the Atlantic Seaboard from New England to Florida is where the majority of the fleet lives or winters. Caribbean examples surface regularly given the boat's blue-water history, and boats occasionally appear in the Mediterranean, particularly in Greece. This is not a globally ubiquitous model, so buyers in the Pacific or Northern Europe may face a longer search or higher transport costs.
The ownership community is unusually active and well-organized, with dedicated online resources and an owners' association that provides technical support and a secondary network for parts and advice. This is a practical asset when buying: it is easier to get answers on this boat than on many comparably aged cruisers.
Before you make an offer, confirm:
- Chainplate condition — inspect or budget for a proper inspection requiring furniture removal
- Rigging age and tension — verify against published specs and replace proactively if unknown
- Engine service history — look for records, not just a clean bilge
- Deck moisture readings around hardware, hatches, and the mast base
- Sail inventory condition, especially mainsail and roller-furling gear
- Watermaker and electronics functionality if fitted — these systems degrade quickly when unused
- Battery bank health, particularly if lithium cells were retrofitted without a proper BMS
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Island Packet 38. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 15 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25 | 1 | $ 75,000 | — |
| Feb 25 | 1 | $ 95,000 | +26.7% |
| Mar 25 | 1 | $ 99,900 | +5.2% |
| May 25 | 1 | $ 157,000 | +57.2% |
| Jun 25 | 3 | $ 58,500 | -62.7% |
| Jul 25 | 1 | $ 132,000 | +125.6% |
| Sep 25 | 5 | $ 79,900 | -39.5% |
| Nov 25 | 1 | $ 58,500 | -26.8% |
| Dec 25 | 3 | $ 89,000 | +52.1% |
| Jan 26 | 6 | $ 105,000 | +18.0% |
| Mar 26 | 7 | $ 109,900 | +4.7% |
| Apr 26 | 7 | $ 115,000 | +4.6% |
| May 26 | 6 | $ 127,778 | +11.1% |
| Jun 26 | 13 | $ 84,900 | -33.6% |
| Jul 26 | 3 | $ 79,900 | -5.9% |
Where they're listed
Island Packet 38 listings appear across 7 countries. United States has the most listings with 34 (73.9%), followed by Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda.
Country view
46 listings · 7 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $ 99,000 | 34 | 14 | 73.9% |
| Grenada | $ 139,000 | 3 | 1 | 6.5% |
| Antigua and Barbuda | $ 115,000 | 2 | 1 | 4.3% |
| Greece | $ 123,557 | 2 | 2 | 4.3% |
| Guatemala | $ 98,500 | 2 | 0 | 4.3% |
| Sint Maarten | $ 84,900 | 2 | 2 | 4.3% |
| Georgia | $ 89,000 | 1 | 0 | 2.2% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
11 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island Packet 380 | 39.58' | $ 169,000 | 62 | 21 |
| Island Packet 35 | 35.33' | $ 79,650 | 52 | 18 |
| Island Packet 38You are here | — | $ 99,000 | 51 | 25 |
| Island Packet 40 | 40' | $ 159,000 | 44 | 11 |
| Island Packet 37 | 38.58' | $ 119,900 | 42 | 18 |
| Island Packet 32 | 35' | $ 69,000 | 33 | 2 |
| Cabo Rico 38 | 38' | $ 89,000 | 24 | 15 |
| Island Packet 44 | 44' | $ 169,000 | 23 | 6 |
| Shannon 38 | 37.75' | $ 62,250 | 14 | 1 |
| Kadey-Krogen 38 | 38.16' | $ 79,900 | 9 | 3 |
| Morgan 38 | 37.67' | $ 59,988 | 6 | 3 |