99 IP 40

[Mr Mac]

My wife and I are making the return to sailing from a brief stint as power boat owners (97 Sea Ray 330 Sundancer). Mind you, the Sundancer was a very nice boat, but when you burn 33 gallons per hour, a trek to Key West gets very expensive! That said, one more chapter in our adventures ends, and another begins.

Yesterday we put in an offer on Abundance, a 1999 Island Packet 40, She is much shorter than we had been looking for, but also much newer with far fewer problems than the other boats we've seen over the past few weeks (93 Tayana 48, 87 Hylas 44 to name a couple).

Many years ago we had the opportunity to take a ride and a turn at the helm of a 44 and we loved it! It was a moderate wind day, but the way she handled sold me on IPs forever!

Abundance is a shoal draft (3' 10") which may make her a special order boat made for her first owner, a fellow Floridian. She has a few new systems and seems to be in good condition overall, though the survey and sea trial will expose any hidden issues. The good news is that the seller is servicing the genset, replacing the forward toilet, replacing the canvas on the bimini and recently replaced the MarineAir and windlass, oplus a few other items.

Pray for us through the next couple of weeks!

[tkeithlu]

Congratulations on a very pretty boat. That's quite a switch - most of us who moved from sail to power did not even entertain the idea of 33 gallons/hour. I use about four gallons an hour moving 65,000 pounds at eight knots.

[ohdrinkboy]

Good luck! Make sure the surveyor pays special attention to the chainplates. An expensive replacement on IPs because they are encased in fiberglass.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by ohdrinkboy

Good luck! Make sure the surveyor pays special attention to the chainplates. An expensive replacement on IPs because they are encased in fiberglass.

Reminds me of how the chain plates were set in Irwins, encased in fiberglass. The only real way to look at them was w/a xray or other type instrument to see through the glass.

Replacement of the chain plates aren't too bad. Since they are outboard already would be fairly easy to add external chain plates and use the old plates as backing plates/bolt through them.

What is the normal life for IP chain plates?

[Mr Mac]

We owned an Irwin and know that issue is the same as on the IPs. To be sure that will be a point of special consideration.