Went and looked at a 1973 Contessa today. The owner is selling the boat himself and not through a broker, her also was very honest about the condition of various
parts on the boat which will make it easier for me to think of an initial offering price (I'm still getting a surveyor to find out if there are issues that we both missed). There are some
repairs that need to be made before she is
seaworthy:
1. Reinforce the beam underneath the
mast (was damaged by previous owner) - this could be a dealbreaker depending on how extensive the damage is
2. Install an inboard
motor (currently has an
outboard, he has a ferryman
engine from another boat and the original
transmission that he will throw in with the boat, the first inboard engine seized from rust apparently)
3. Needs a new bottom coat of
paint
Overall condition of the boat was decent, I did find
water in the
bilge pump area which I'm not sure if this is normal or not and I think could be due to rain
water getting into two holes that were uncovered topside to mount a
wind vane on. There wasn't water in the
fresh water tank, so I wasn't able to test the
head and sink. One of the
cabin windows
leaks and needs
repairs.
The engine looks fairly new and ran fine, generating some white smoke on startup and then not producting any afterwards.
The standing rigging is 8 years old and when I inspected it there was a very small amount of rust on some of the lines, I could not see any fractures or anything else wrong with the rigging though. Ran my fingers along the lines and they were smooth and unfrayed.
I have two main concerns with the boat:
1. The
mast damage caused breaks in the
fiberglass inside the
cabin. The
current owner got a quote on how much it was to reinforce the area and it was ~2,000 to fabricate and install a custom metal piece to reinforce the mast. Can this be good enough to not have to worry about the mast after getting the work done? Or is this type of damage irreparable? The
current owner has sailed her for 8 years without fixing the damage (didn't go into the ocean), so maybe some reinforcement really is all it needs.
2. The previous owner has drilled ~20 of his own bolts through the
deck to place various blocks topside. 1973 Contessa's have pure
fiberglass decks, no cores, so I don't think it is as much of a concern, but I still thought I would ask if this could have any repercussions.
The asking price is $8,000.
Price of installing the engine/transmission (needs some new glass in the housing): ~4,000
Price of reinforcing mast: ~2,000
Price of
bottom paint: ~2,000
I am thinking that $8,000 asking price is a bit high considering the work that needs to be put into her to get her ready for some real sea work, but that is my opinion, I am interested to hear what some more experienced sailors have to say!
Thank everyone for your feedback in this process, you have helped me out tremendously!