Outboard for Balboa 16

[DjY887]

I am a recent "sail" convert. I just sold a Bayliner 2252 that I called the "anti-christ." I took a basic keelboat course with a friend several years ago on Shilshole Bay in Seattle. The course was in the middle of January/February...absolutely beautiful sailing weather that time of year in this area. I had started looking for a 22'-25' boat when my wife realized that it was more than just a phase, she stopped my search and we went with a power boat. Don't get me wrong, we had some nice trips up in the San Juan Islands...and the kids loved to get pulled around on a tube in Lake Washington...but the boat was a maintenance nightmare...and $$$ for gas. When the little Balboa 16 was pointed out to me as an abandoned boat that was up for auction by the city...I just had to have it. It just needed some elbow grease to get all cleaned up. Just put up new halyards and got the rigging all checked out. Hired a scuba diver to clean the hull and give the keel and hull a check-out. A friend is re-working the mahoganey rudder for me. As soon as I get an outboard, she will be ready to go. She has a full cabin with a V-berth and twin 7' settees. Can't wait for the sea trails in the next week or so...the weather was gorgeous up here today.

[DjY887]

I ended up with a Tohatsu 2 stroke 3.5hp from Craigslist (free!!!) and it works great. Have done a lot of daysailing with her...she needs a good bottom job and the sails could use a good refurb.

=

[fullkeel7]

Originally Posted by DjY887

I ended up with a Tohatsu 2 stroke 3.5hp from Craigslist (free!!!) and it works great. =

DjY887. I like updated threads...thanks. Small boats can be a blast and you could not be in better area to sail. Though....I think you got rooked on the price of the motor. Geez, nice find and congrats!

Bob

[DjY887]

She has been an absolute joy. Simple, cheap, and easy to sail. I just had her pulled and painted...for the first time it turns out. I upgraded the secondary propulsion system to a like-new Merc 2 stroke I found at a local boat repair shop.

[RagAndString]

I bought this Balboa 16 from DjY887 last October. I stumbled upon this post quite by accident when I was googling for information about Balboa 16s. I started reading the post and thought "hey, that sounds just like my boat." Then it was "hey, that IS my boat!"

DjY did a great job of restoring her. I looked for a year for a 15 -16' pocket cruiser. I had owned a '74 Sunfish since high school and loved sailing it, but all good things must come to an end. The Sunfish needed a lot of repairs and I had outgrown it. The minute I saw the Balboa 16, I fell in love and bought her on the spot. One of the first things I did though was to replace the outboard. I found that a long shaft was more comfortable. I also did not care to stop the boat and swivel the motor around to put it into reverse as this caused a lack of control at critical moments.

I had my EZ Loader retrofitted to fit the fin keel and trailered it to Priest Lake ID recently. I had a great deal of trouble finding someone competent and interested in doing the retrofit. The first person I hired did not brace the uprights adequately. One of the uprights bent on the way home from picking it up at DjY's and I nearly lost my load. This necessitated having a boat moving company out to remove the boat from the trailer so I could have it fixed. The boat moving company advised me to move the fin keel closer to the axles, support the keel, lower the load with shorter uprights, and brace the uprights. This caused the load to be shifted further back on the trailer so that the boat hangs over the end 4' or so. I'm wondering if it is too far back and this will cause a hook in the aft end because it is unsupported. The boat is also wider than the wheel axles. Could this be hazardous? When I came to the top of a long hill on Snoqualmie Pass, I hit the breaks and..............nothing happened! It is impossible that the load was pushing me, but the RPMs were low. I am towing it with a 6 cyl, 4.0 L 4x4 Ford Ranger. I think the boat and trailer together weigh about 1700 lbs. The tongue weight is 158 lbs. I have been assured that the tow vehicle should be able to handle this load without need for trailer breaks, but now I am wondering. Should I invest in a different trailer altogether? I had the truck and trailer thouroughly inspected, but there were no mechanical problems. Any thoughts out there?

[Iflyka200s]

Rag,

GREAT STORY! Not much else to add, sounds like the boat found a great new home. Enjoy!