For Sale: '82 Liberty 28 Custom Cutter

[Liberty28]

Due to some unexpected health issues, we're forced to put our 1982 Liberty 28 Custom Cutter, "Native Dancer", on the market for $26K. She's a freshwater boat that we purchased up on Lake Michigan where I refit her over the summer and had her shipped down to Port Charlotte, Florida where she now resides in storage. She would make anyone a great little bluewater cruiser. Check her out at...

(FOR SALE)

if you're interested.

Cheers,
Steve

[SkiprJohn]

She is a beauty! Did I miss the part about what kind of hull layup?
Good luck on your sale.
regards

[Liberty28]

From the original sales brochure...

Hull and Deck
Hull laminate: Consists of gelcoat followed by eleven layers of hand-laid-up fiberglass totaling 195 oz. per square yard below the water line. Sheer stripe and boot top stripe in dark blue color.

Deck laminate: Gelcoat and hand-laid-up fiberglass totaling 120 oz. per square yard encapsulating a core of 3/8” foam. In the area of the mast and bowsprit the deck is solid fiberglass. Non-skid on all horizontal surfaces in cream color.

Rudder: Fiberglass, filled solid. Pintles bolted through rudder. Gudgeons bolted through solid, reinforced area of hull to eliminate possibility of leaks.

Ballast: Consists of 4800 pounds of lead sealed internally in the keel and bonded to the hull with fiberglass.

[CruiseAbaco]

Good looking boat. Looks like she would be a fun weekender! I have never seen one of these boats or heard of them how many are there out there?

[Liberty28]

Thanks for the compliment! My wife and I lived on her for 4 months last winter at Fishermen's Village in Punta Gorda, Florida. There were only around 30 of them built in Florida the early part of the 80's. They make a great weekender as you noted, but are more than capable of going anywhere in the world. I had planned on taking her down to your neck of the woods (er...islands?), but my health caught up with me first. Maybe I'll be in touch with you one day for a charter!

Cheers,
Steve

P.S. And good luck with your boat. I LOVE the Tayana boats. The prettiest boat Perry ever designed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Liberty28]

Well, the boat is all ready for showing at the All-American Covered Boat Storage facility in Port Charlotte, Florida. I've turned the boat over to John DeGroot at 941-637-7788 or cell 941-276-0256. The boat is being listed at $27.9K.

My own biased opinion is that she's the nicest little cruiser around with transoceanic capabilities (the broker's words). And she's fitted out for long term liveaboard, if that's part of the game plan.

Cheers,
Steve

[FollyT]

I really like this boat. I was not familiar with the Liberty 28 so I did some research and and I have a question. This boat shows up on several sites as being 12,500 lb and with a 9'-8" beam. On sailboatdata.com it shows as only 8400 lb and an 8'-9" beam. I'm thinking the larger numbers are correct, but would you please confirm? Thanks.

[Liberty28]

There were two Liberty 28's at one time. The smaller squared-sterned model was built in the Carolinas, I think, by a totally different company than the Liberty Yachts Company in Florida. The Liberty 28 that I had for sale was the larger of the two with an almost 10' beam and a 28' length (not including the bow-sprit, in the traditional "Westsail"-like shape. The hull design was not a copy of Westsail, however, and she was capable of sailing closer to the wind. The stated sling weight was 12000#, although our Native Dancer weighed in closer to 14000#. She was a perfect little pocket cruiser with 6'2" head room. Our boat was sold in October just in time for the winter cruising season. The boats are absolutely rock solid! There were only something like 30 of the built, however.

[Anderson]

I bought a Liberty Custom Cutter 28 in Texas and cruised in it over three years to Turkey. This boat is bulletproof and I think one of the real bargains out there in a small blue-water boat. I think the relatively low price compared to the quality of build is because there were not very many built, it was a small company without the publicity/advertising connections of some of the bigger builders, and so the Liberty 28s are not as well known.

When I bought the boat, I talked to the builder/designer, Joe Fennel who lives (it has been 9 years since I talked to him, and I don't know if he is still alive) in Riviera Beach, Florida. He said he had built about 70, 28 footers, and maybe a dozen 38s, as I recall. He was a Navy submariner who started up the yard after retiring from the navy.

The only thing I would say about the boat for someone wanting to buy one is that the cockpit is relatively small -- roomy cabin and they are double-enders -- and I found when going to sell her that a lot of people were looking for a cockpit better suited to cocktail hour and lounging in harbor (not that I dislike cocktail hour and lounging in harbor, and it really was a pain to have a couple over for dinner, for instance), and so I had a harder time selling than I might have had with a more modern boat.

Brian