ISLANDERS?

[Little Otter]

HI all I'm googleing this as I type but I have found a ISLANDER EXCALIBUR for $4,300 does anyone have expireance with the EXCALIBUR model of ISLANDER, I was wondering about wehther or not I could get the price down and if this was a good deal or not and the general reputation and the handeling charictaristics, and get yall's general thought s about this type of boat.

[orion1]

If I remember correctly the Excaliber was a 26' with a larger cockpit and modest interior. A neighbor in our marina years ago had one which he reffered to as a weekender on steriods.

[Little Otter]

Thanks Orion if anyone else has info it would be most appreciated.

[cal40john]

Our club had one for years. It was the first keelboat I sailed on. Doesn't have standing headroom, but pretty much nothing in that size range from that era had huge cabin houses. Well balanced spade rudder. Almost too well balanced. Once I made a comment to a better sailor than I at the time how well trimmed everything was because there was so little weather helm. He said look at the tiller, I had it practically in my lap. This was in my days of more heel was thought to be better for everything. Learned something that day.

We had an outboard on a transom mount. There is an engine well, but I don't know if it would fit anything reasonable by todays standard. It has a fairly long (fore to aft) fin keel, 4' 8" deep if I remember, mast was 32.5'.

Racing rating is kind of slow compared to modern day lightweights. I thought she handled very nicely and was easy to control. Cabin is tiny by todays standards.

It stood up to many years of abuse in a club. One thing that went bad was the mast support inside the deck rotted. There is no compression post directly under the mast as the thruway is in the middle of the boat, so the deck started sagging under the mast. Like any cored deck, fix the leaks and wet spots early.

John

[Little Otter]

Thanks john I will take that into consideration.

[Amgine]

Hullo John! How are the kids?

We were in the same club, and I agree with everything John had to say about the Islander. One thing he didn't mention is the boat was one of the most popular hulls in the club's livery. Although small, it was a very fun boat to sail, and pretty forgiving of the new-skipper mistakes. The sail area was easy to manage, and the boat was easy to handle even in tight corners.

I have fond memories of the boat, but not as fond as the gaffer I purchased from the club...

[Little Otter]

Thanks Amgine, also I was wondering is it a sloop, it looks like it might be but I can't tell from the three pictures but I don't know why they would just have 5 mainsails so if you remember that would also be helpful.

[cal40john]

It's a sloop.

Were these the pictures you found?

Aquaries

John

[Little Otter]

Thanks john,no they arnet the same ones this one is in florida and they are on boattrader, I'll save and upload them in a minute.

[Little Otter]

Heres the pictures.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Little Otter

Thanks john,no they arnet the same ones this one is in florida and they are on boattrader, I'll save and upload them in a minute.

The only Islander Excalibur on Yachtworld is listed at $5499, but the pictures indicate it's already registered in Georgia (GA 6374 JD). I point that out, as your other thread about changing a vessel's state of registration made me wonder if this is a different Excalibur.

I believe it's the same one, as the exterior photo from the left quarter is virtually identical to the one you've posted. Still, you've indicated on the other thread that the vessel is in Florida, while the one on YachtWorld is said to be in Brunswick, GA - 1971 Islander excalliber Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com - so perhaps they are different.

If you look at the photos of the interior of the vessel on YachtWorld, I believe they indicate the vessel has suffered some neglect since the interior photo you posted was taken.

Having said all that, if it is the same vessel and you've managed to get the price down to $4300, that's good. But if that's the current asking price as you found the vessel, then I suspect that you could get it for less. Try offering about $2500 - what have you got to lose?

If you do manage to get it at a reduced price, and it doesn't need to have any serious problems expensively repaired, then you've done well, Little Otter. It's an old boat (YachtWorld listing says 1971), and you're only 16, so getting insurance may be difficult, but otherwise I say congratulations! I know it isn't the new Manta you had your eye on, but, hey, we all had to start somewhere.

TaoJones

[Little Otter]

Thanks Tao, it looks almost identical so I will look into that, I hate having to figure out wether pictures are really in different places and just a coincidence or if they are in the same place, I don't think that it will be difficult to get insurance because my dad has the insurence on my truck for $34 a month so mabye we can get a good rate from statefarm where everything else is insured, but my dad says that I need a smaller boat to start on so this is what I found, and thanks again for the info.

[Little Otter]

Hey Tao I compared the pictures and I do beleive that you are right in that they are the same boat, because in the yachtworld pics I can see whaere the pictures used to be.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Little Otter

Hey Tao I compared the pictures and I do beleive that you are right in that they are the same boat, because in the yachtworld pics I can see whaere the pictures used to be.

Well, the port quarter pictures are of the same boat, but the two listings could still be for different boats. A lot of people won't have pictures of the vessel they're trying to sell, so they'll do a site rip of pictures of similar boats to use in their ads.

There aren't a lot of Excaliburs, though, so it does make one wonder.

TaoJones

[Little Otter]

Thanks I sent the yachtworld guys an e-mail so mabye ill hear back soon also I'm making a naming post and I want everyone to vote in it.