Please Help, "Gold Island" sailboat??

[cjmcfall]

CapnHand,

That is exactly what I am thinking. The boat needs a lot of work, if we were to do the work she would be perfect for our purpose. (Week long sailing adventures with young adults)

I am thinking it would be 20-50k to get her back to snuff. She is worth WAY more if we were to piece her out and sell all the systems individually. I would hate to kill an old girl like this though.

I am hoping to get on her this weekend to take a more in depth look at her. The previous owner hired two wood carvers for an entire year......the interior is absolutely beautiful.

I know right now that some of the decks will need to be replaced and the cockpits entire support structure needs definite attention.

Its not a bad problem to have, but the question is, how hard will it be to find another classic boat that the owner is willing to donate??

[cjmcfall]

Thanks a ton for all the help!!

I spoke with the owner towards the end of the week, and he WILL donate the boat for sure. I have a copy of the most two recent surveys. One from 1994 and the other from this spring.

The boat is a Colin Archer design built by Gold Island boat Co. in 1981. Her hull number is GIB 383180880.

I have done some searching for Colin Archer and found some promising results as they seem to be sturdy and seaworthy ships, great for a school boat.

Does anyone have any additional input to help me make this decision? Maybe this post will do better in the "buying a boat" section. Thanks!

[CapnHand]

I'm not sure what your not-for-profit business model is like. Are you familiar with the Highlander Sea out of Port Huron, MI? They do educational programs as well as private and business cruises, dockside receptions, etc. Just thinking about how to recover funds from the refitting.

[cjmcfall]

I am familiar with the Highlander Sea program, and have seen their boat. Very cool!

Our focus is on "young adults" and our mission is to "Enrich lives through outdoor adventure." We will be focusing on high adventure activities like sailing, mountain biking, kayaking, hiking etc. and although these activities will be at the heart of the program they are only a vessel to deliver more important "life skills". This boat will be used to take six students on one or two week adventures around the great lakes. We recently received our 501(c)3 status and hope to be running programs by next summer. We are in the process of developing our website and brochures.