Tanzer 28 Opinions, Please ?

[zopi]

K..so we've found a boat..'72 Tanzer 28...wife likes it, I am on the fence..

She needs alot of minor work..standing rigging is good, the boat is sound, just alot of little crap..

She was cruiser..been the better part of around the world, and back, according to all the pictures i've seen she is mostly original..except the inboard is missing, 's ok though..I want an outboard and another berth and a couple stowage lockers..

Ugly little beast though..but I like her..

Can anyone relate their experience with this boat? She comes cheap and almost seaworthy..(running rigging isn't up to my standards, but it will get her home..

[GordMay]

Friends of our lived aboard a T28 Flushdeck ("Sweet Revenge") for about 10 years, before moving up to an Endeavour 41. They typically wintered in Marathon Fla, and did the annual ICW trip to Kingston, Ont & back, every summer.

[Skylark]

I have a T28. It has a very large cabin due to its flush deck. I have a hammock that is supported at the cabin corners and hangs crossways across the cabin.

The galley is decent but the sink is in the corner so not so convenient. I prefer to use a dishpan anyway. I converted the Princess pressure alcohol stove to a kerosene stove by changing out the burners. It works great.

I took out the port settee backrest and removed the sliding seat base. This gives you even more room in the cabin, although sleeping on the settee is not as comfortable because it is not as wide. I usually sleep in the vee berth. The vee berth is somewhat high and hard to get into. I have a box on the sole to use as a step which helps a bit.

I removed the inboard and use an outboard bracket. If you do this, get an outboard with electric start, remote throttle and shifter. Not having an engine inside the boat is wonderful. No smell, no oil. My bilge is often dry, although there is some condensation. You have to recaulk the chainplates every year or two, otherwise they will start leaking. Thats the place to look for rot, at the chainplates inside the cabin. If the wood is solid, the boat is probably in good shape.

I still have the original rig which is somewhat disconcerting but I don't seem to be able to get around to replacing it. The stock boat has no good place to put a bow roller for the anchor. I plan to seal the anchor locker shut and install a bowsprit for the anchor roller.

The head is adequate but a little small, its hard to get your pants on with the doors closed.

The boat sails well, it is very easy to singlehand, the lines are set up much like a sailing dinghy, fairly simple. I have roller furling and reef the genoa down quite a ways before reefing the main. The main has boom roller reefing which works but leaves the main with a poor shape when reefed down. I rarely reef the main because it is small compared to the genoa, it is much easier to reef the genoa and the boat keeps balance OK with a bit of genoa showing and the full main.

The boat is quite high off the water, make sure you have a good boarding ladder.

[zopi]

Thanks Skylark! That is exactly what I was looking for, especially as I had come to most of the same conclusions...the chainplates leak, but the wood around them is sound...the wood under the portlights...another story, but just about the only leaks are in the portlights..the plumbing sucks, but I have never had a boat that didn't need new..
Toilet is missing, but that is ok, as I am only intending to use it for a bay boat for the forseeable future..no bluewater until rugrats are gone. I will go with a porta potty or a composting toilet...I like the head layout but it is too small for my wife..if she can pull the throne out and sit athwartships she will be happier...
I detest the chainlocker...just haven't figured it out yet..that is a detail for much later, after I solve her problems..it has worked since 1972, and has pretty much circumnavigated..i've seen the pics <G>
She has good winches, but the starboard cockpit winch has guts removed..the lady showing it didn't know anything about it...so hopefully they are there..if not..oh well.
Sucks to be me..some dummy let go the main halyard and it is wrapped around the backstay and topping lift...above the spreaders..a good thing I have good climbing gear..up the stick I go.
She has a roller furling jib..which I am of two minds about..oh well..I'll either like it or change it..prolly will like it.
one of the things I like is that the inboard is gone...hates me some inboards..outboard it will be. I plan on converting the engine room and under cockpit into a single wide pilot berth and a pair of lockers under the cockpit lockers. at least after I sort out all the icky plumbing crap under there..
The wife is almost drooling to start playing with the woodwork..I have a small sawmill and produce some nice native lumber...my new tiller will be cedar and curly maple...mostly because I am sick of looking at oak..besides oak has tannic acid..not good for hardware.

This is going to be a butt load of work...but I believe we have made a good deal on the boat..2500...and I sleep ok knowing I can do anything I need done myself..except maybe making sails, but the wife is pretty talented with a sewing machine..I bet she can do it.

oh..I hate the sink where it is too..not sure what I will do about that, but it is pretty low on the totem pole...the stove is an orinco (sp?) two burner alky stove...what is missing for me is an oven an I like to bake and I like to make one pot meals slow cooked..ah well as long as there is rum in the locker everything else will iron itself out.

I am such a dummy for buying this boat..they say it is hole into which one pours money, I believe it is a hole in ones head out of which comes brains <G>

ah well, I have refurbed boats before..
Thanks again for the insight!