What's an 1973 Oday 23 Worth?

[heinzir]

While driving by a local boat ramp, a friend of mine saw someone having trouble pulling out a 23' sailboat. He stopped to help and then chatted with the owner for a while. Turns out the owner, in his late twenties or early thirties, had just inherited the boat. He knows nothing about sailing and does not want to keep her. He asked my friend if he would help him sell the boat for a 20% commission. They exchanged phone numbers and a few hours later the boat owner called saying he just wanted to get rid of the boat as quickly as possible. He would sell it to us for $600.

Neither my friend nor I want or need another boat. My Venture Newport 23 is perfect for me and my friend loves his Rob Roy 23. If we bought this O'day 23 it would be for resale. The $600 includes the boat, trailer, and Volvo(?) outboard. I'm thinking the trailer alone is worth more than $600. I have not yet seen the boat but am told it had been neglected for several years. It is very dirty and has lots of mildew/mold stains. The hull needs a good buffing or a paint job.

I don't mind putting some work into it to get it looking good, but I don't want to start a major project on a boat I'm not going to keep. Where and how should we check for major problems, like delamination? If the hull/deck have any major problems we will probably pass on this opportunity. If we were to buy it and decided to cannibalize it for the trailer, winches, hardware, etc. how would we get rid of the fiberglass? Cut it up into little tiny pieces and put it in the trash?

How much would we be able to sell the boat for if we cleaned it up and found no major problems? Our sailing season here in Minnesota has only about two months left and we don't want to have to pay winter storage fees. Neither of us has room in our yards or driveways for another boat. And yet we find it hard to pass up on a good deal.

Your thoughts?

[tommays]

The Volvo outboard has negative value

[smallboatlover]

were are you i would love to have a oday 23

[heinzir]

Originally Posted by smallboatlover

were are you i would love to have a oday 23

Minneapolis area

[smallboatlover]

dam only if you were a city or any closer would i get it. i'm in rhode island

[CalebD]

Here is a crude estimate for you. I think you'd be lucky to get $1200 for the O'Day 23', trailer and Volvo motor (negative value) as is now. If you cleaned it up and made it workable then it might be worth more but not much more then 2-4K$.
The current owner will likely need to pay about $600 for the winter if it is kept at a marina or not if it is on a trailer in his driveway. I'd keep in touch with him and show interest in his boat without making an offer for as long as you can. He will either become disgusted or he might deal with you and make you a better offer.
I'd guess that a lot of sellers are looking for a new owner who has an interest in their boat and may let it go for cheap and there are other sellers who are just going for the highest perceived dollar value. On the bottom end of the boat buying food chain people tend to be a little more flexible.
IRMV, YMMV.
Best of luck.

[BarryL]

Hello,

As Caleb wrote, an old trailerable boat in good condition will go for around $2K. An old boat in poor condition isn't really worth anything.

IMHO, if the sails are decent and the gear (winches, rig, rudder, etc.) is all there and serviceable, then it might make sense to pay $500 for it. Clean it up, like REALLY CLEAN IT UP and make it all shiny and pretty, and then you could sell it for a small profit.

good luck,
Barry

[ryman522]

I am in the Minneapolis area and am interested this boat. I just passed on a Catalina 22 due to "too much neglect" but am still looking for something I can fix up for a reasonable price. Not trying to hijack your post about the boats worth, but lets get in contact and maybe i can be a potential buyer or you can put me in contact with the inheritor.

[heinzir]

Originally Posted by ryman522

I am in the Minneapolis area and am interested this boat. I just passed on a Catalina 22 due to "too much neglect" but am still looking for something I can fix up for a reasonable price. Not trying to hijack your post about the boats worth, but lets get in contact and maybe i can be a potential buyer or you can put me in contact with the inheritor.

My friend and I decided not to pursue this farther at this point because of personal time commitments, not because of the condition of the boat. I haven't even seen it.

I sent you and another inquirer a PM with the owner's contact information. Good luck!

[LandLocked66c]

We spent $1200 on our 70 O'day 23. It's easily worth the asking price for sure!