[JimMcGee]

I'm reading this thread and thinking about the guy we bought our first boat from.

I was helping a friend put a new diesel in his boat when we heard a knock on the hull. There was an older guy who was winterizing his boat and couldn't lift the outboard off the bracket. Could we give him a hand? I put the outboard in his truck and looked at his boat, a Catalina 22 in nice shape, exactly what I was looking for. I told him if he ever wanted to sell to give me a call and gave him my number. In the spring he called.

He was such a nice guy. I told him I was new to sailing and that I wanted to get the boat surveyed. No problem. He'd bought every option for the boat. He gave us all kinds of extras. Things like a brand new pair of binoculars that I still use on my current boat.

When we went down to his house to pick up the cushions we met his wife. She was at least 25 years younger and beautiful. We thought she was his daughter! He was just a cool, quirky, nice old guy.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I wouldn't rule out FSBO boats, you might be overlooking a gem.

Jim