Whats your opinion of this boat?

[savoir]

Don't walk, run.

[Dmeistar]

Originally Posted by Johnniegee

If you move forward on/off is an acid cleaner that will take the gunk off that boat asap. Imhave an oday 20 in southern wi for a 1000 in sail away condition with lots or sails...let me know ifyou want to road trip it. About 28 hour away from you one way

Haha that is tempting! If I can't find anything a little closer I might be taking you up on that...

[Huson]

Hello DMeistar,

I have been rescuing boats for a few years now. In fact my whole fleet have been rescued for a total of $400.00 upfront. Two sunfish pulled from the bottom of the lake. They had fallen victim to teenage pranks months prior. I proceeded to pull them out (for free), and the original owner (in his 80's) said I could have them, and the rigs if I made them sea worthy. He keep his word and I mine.

A widow friend of the family's late husband had three boats in pristine shape. 18ish Boston whaler (sail boat), Compac 16, and amf zuma. The whaler was sold, and after years of sitting in the back yard, I approached with a monetary offer on the other two. They needed work and cleaning, but sails and rigging had been well stowed in the garage. Again, they wouldn't take money, but only the promise to use the boats. Compac 16 had two sets of sails, one set brand new.

The mac 25, He wanted a grand, I was walking away, and he pulled me aside.... Said his wife might divorce him if he didn't sell me the boat.... Haha I told him my wife might be the same, if I bring home another one!! I payed 400.00 for her with an almost new 8hp motor, orig. sails, trailer. She was in ROUGH CONDITION. Busted spreader, falling off the trailer (improper made trailer.) 4 inch crack in hull from trailer. Rudder damage, and on and on. 60.00 epoxy patch kit from west marine, and 4 hours of.... video fixed the hole, and about 60.00 to fix the spreader. Standing rigging was good enough for light 5-15 winds as was. Had her sailing in three days. Since then have put more money her way... well all of their ways. The mac sails 3 days a week, and my pre teens sail the sunfish most everyday there is wind.

The Point....

Anything can be fixed, especially for a boat to learn on, in protected waters. You can tackle the cosmetics over time as you learn... I think that in itself it makes you a better sailor. Obviously, you don't push the limits until everything is ship shape, but harbor sailing, and learning the ropes you can get by with stress cracks. Things don't have to be perfect to be safe, but you have to be wish enough to know what capabilities your vessel, and prioritize your repair schedule.

I am not going to tell you buy the boat or not. What I will tell you is that if you have the tools, muscle, and determination you should be able to have fixed up and able to sail for not much money. I personally think 700 is outrageous, 400 high. I would find the value of the boat in avg shape, make a list of repairs at retail with labor. Take it to the a seller, and debate from there. The trailer in good repair, with good tires and bearing..(check them before you haul off anywhere far) is worth at least $150.00. Boat in condition as is, 65.00 to 100.00 tops. I would repair that sail. You will need to know how to use a sailors palm anyway if you enjoy your new venture.

That being said, I would not make my first run to corpus, port L, rp or any of those coastal places to learn, unless you have someone with experience teaching you, and a well prepared rig. Lake Travis, Canyon lake are probably btr options in your proximity.

Determination and persistence is the key. I learned more of the basics within 100 yards of shore in a sunfish, with a homemade sail, a hobie 16 rudder, and so many stress cracks in the gel coat you couldn't believe it would float.

I am also, very confident that you could find a much better deal to your north near lake Travis or Canyon lake. If you have any mates that have lake houses out there utilize that opportunity. Remember, if the boat is forsale/or not, but an eyesore.... somebody in that household wants it gone. Use that to your advantage.

There is a nice
gloucester 11 sailboat here in Lake Livingston that was for sale over the weekend, excellent shape, with good sails, and trailer for $700.00. I don't think it sold, but I do think the owners hauled it back to Houston on Tuesday. I might be able to give them your number if you might be interested.


Good Luck and Fair winds!!!!

[Dmeistar]

Wow you certainly have an inspirational story! Thank you so much for the perspective. You have renewed my confidence in my ability to tackle some restoration work. Determination and persistence I have. I also don't need the prettiest or fastest boat on the water--I mostly just want to get out there. On top of that, if I'm going to cruise full time one day it would be good to get a little repair experience.

That being said, I still think I'm going to keep looking--the seller was firm at $500, and the trailer needs new tires.

I'd love to see some photos of that gloucester. I'll PM you with my cell #.

Thanks!

-Daniel

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by Dmeistar

Wow you certainly have an inspirational story! Thank you so much for the perspective. You have renewed my confidence in my ability to tackle some restoration work. Determination and persistence I have. I also don't need the prettiest or fastest boat on the water--I mostly just want to get out there. On top of that, if I'm going to cruise full time one day it would be good to get a little repair experience.

That being said, I still think I'm going to keep looking--the seller was firm at $500, and the trailer needs new tires.

I'd love to see some photos of that gloucester. I'll PM you with my cell #.

Thanks!

-Daniel

If your end goal is to get out cruising. Get something a little bigger that you can enjoy staying nights on and do up. Can still be something cheap. But put a little more than $500 on it and you will be well pleased.

[siamese]

I'd keep looking. You can do better.

I cringe just a little when a sentence begins with "the seller says". I disregard anything a seller says with regard to the condition of an item being sold.

[Dmeistar]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

If your end goal is to get out cruising. Get something a little bigger that you can enjoy staying nights on and do up. Can still be something cheap. But put a little more than $500 on it and you will be well pleased.

I have actually been back and forth on that point many times. On the one hand, I would love to have something I can do a little more serious adventuring on, and that closer approximates the boat I will be living on some day. On the other hand, I feel like a smaller simpler boat would less work and more sailing. Since I'm working full time I need to be realistic about how much time I can commit to a boat. Because I'm an hour away from the nearest water, I want something that I can rig and launch without too much hassle. BUT that being said, is a 16ft dingy really going to require that much less time and energy than a 20-22ft pocket cruiser? How different would they be in terms of maintenance, time rigging, and difficulty launching?

[Huson]

I agree with this also. If that is your end goal. The com pac 16 or Montgomery 15 is a great small trailble learning vessel. Imo. You could even "camp out" for a weekend in them.

[Huson]

Fit out as follows for me, mac 25-45 min compac 16 20min, zuma 10 min, sunfish 0 ( I cheat though can trailer it rigged to my location )

When I got my first power boat way back when my granddad told me to watch out for "Footitis" he defined this as for every extra foot of boat repairs and maintenance doubles. I wouldn't say it holds trues to his tales, but I would say for every extra foot and mast prices do get larger exponentially.