San Juan 28

[Dave_E]

Greetings All,

I am taking a 1980 San juan out for a test sail this Friday, if that goes well, a one way sling for a hull inspection, if that goes well... buy it. I have sailed a San juan previously, enjoyed it. This 28 is so ridiculously simple... roller furling jib, jib sheets, main sheet, boom vang and the traveler and that's it. 2 winches and 4 jam cleats. It's got a tiller (which I would want to replace with a wheel helm).

Interior just got a face lift, motor looks like a 23 year old motor. I'd like to hear form anyone with San Juan experience about things should look at closely and any quirks these boats have. Thanks.

Dave

[Tomm0]

Why are you replacing the tiller?
Not a criticism, just interested in the reasoning.

[Dave_E]

Hi Tommo,

I've sailed a San Juan 28 with a wheel helm, all others (27' and less) had tillers. I enjoyed the wheel and the wife (new to sailing) had a heck of time with the tiller on an old Columbia we took out 2 weeks ago... saw a boat with a wheel and she said "I want one of those". We'll see.

Dave

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Dave.

San Juan 28 Owner’s Manual
➥ San Juan 28 Owners Manual - Table of Contents

Performance Tips:
➥ San Juan 28 Performance Tips

[robert sailor]

On the smaller boats 32 feet and under a tiller is much better than a wheel in my view. Less maintenance, easy to feel the helm and will help teach you how to trim sails properly. Stands up out of the way when at anchor although it does take up a bit more room while sailing. Simpler is better, also allows you to put on a cheap tiller autopilot pilot.

[Dave_E]

The biggest gripe I have about the boat arrangement is the tiller and the engine controls... oh yeah, trying to steer, stand up tall so you can see, wait, I have to bend over to throtle down...

[Cheechako]

I have raced extensively on a SJ 28 and other SJ's. They will roll a bit downwind like alot of boats from that vintage .They are not bad boats at all for production boats. No cored hulls, solid layup. The Clark boys paid close attention to their builds. Dont pay too much though.... seem to go pretty cheap. Is it the one lung yanmar engine? Vibrate alot? The ones I was on were all tillers. Tillers are simple and easy on a boat that size and an Autopilot is cheaper for a tiller. The cons are: People have to move to steer the boat if the cockpit is loaded with guests, as mentioned, engine controls and keeping watch is an "up and down" thing. We always got beat by Ranger 29's.....

[Dave_E]

Hi All,

The test sail was a disaster! All the running rigging needs to be changed, the standing rigging needs to be changed, the fuel gauge didn't work and the 2QM15 siezed up on the way back to the dock. Corroded oil line between the block and the oil filter/oil pressure sender cracked. THEN the dopey broker that was showing the boat, just pours in 3 quarts of oil and restarted the engine and we drove back to the dock pissing out oil untill the oil light came back on and he kept it running. The overheat was also understandably on as well.

Needless to say I walked away. No more than got home and that souless used boat salesman had our "pending" off the listing and back up for sale at $14k.

Wife and I got some good experience, get what you pay for. We've uped our looking to around $20k. See what happens.

[alan_za]

14k for a San Juan 28 sounds a lot to me anyway. Today you can get a lot of boat for next to nothing if you shop around. Catalina 27's can be found for $5k-8k. Ericson 34's for less then $20k.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by alan_za

14k for a San Juan 28 sounds a lot to me anyway. Today you can get a lot of boat for next to nothing if you shop around. Catalina 27's can be found for $5k-8k. Ericson 34's for less then $20k.

Definitely too much even for a good one. Yeah Cat 27's can be had clear down to $3500 (outboard engine, panic sale). Maybe $8500 or so for a nice SJ28 with a good diesel would be a good deal. Maybe more for really clean example. Ditto for the Cat's.

BTW, SailorChic just experienced the oil line failure on her Yanmar... see the thread "bored so I pulled the head off my Yanmar..."

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Definitely too much even for a good one. Yeah Cat 27's can be had clear down to $3500 (outboard engine, panic sale). Maybe $8500 or so for a nice SJ28 with a good diesel would be a good deal. Maybe more for really clean example. Ditto for the Cat's.

BTW, SailorChic just experienced the oil line failure on her Yanmar... see the thread "bored so I pulled the head off my Yanmar..."

Resounding agreement with the above 2 posts... You can get a lot lot more boat for 14k....

[o_q]

Originally Posted by alan_za

14k for a San Juan 28 sounds a lot to me anyway. Today you can get a lot of boat for next to nothing if you shop around. Catalina 27's can be found for $5k-8k. Ericson 34's for less then $20k.

The Catalina 27 price seems typical. The Ericson 34 price does not.

[Dave_E]

Thanks for the replys... see my new thread "Allmand 31".