Took a little trip down to the Marina/yard today to test run the engine and survey the last bits of details on the Watkins 27. Brian was a real treat to deal with and very accommodating. I ended up buying the boat for a bit less than my price point and paying for pull and splash and block and store till May '13. Add taxes, title, tag and , as a kicker, winterizing the engine!; I paid only $3875.00, out the door! Miss off the $250 T/ T&T/registration for two years, then miss off the (approx value) $750 pull/stow/splash WITH winterizing, leaves the out-of-pocket boat cash at $2875. Now.. y'all can argue over the value/cost of a fresh Beta 20 diesel all ya want ! but the way I see it, they paid me to take the boat!
Now a'fore some of ya tell me that I spent a lot of money on a basket case; lemme tell ya what I *did* get....
I got virtually everything in a sailboat that I desired. As another thread asked... I got a boat bigger on the inside than out! The W 27, with it's well laid out interior and 10 foot beam feels like a bigger boat...much bigger!. A wide, (almost) flat cabin sole, very generous seating, tons of storage, Head room, for me at least , a plumbed marine head/sink/shower combo, decent or better cushions and a small but efficient galley.
The cockpit is huge, by my standards, The deck is big enuff to place two camp/fold up chairs and have room for a small table! Comfortably deep and well-backed seating with the usual storage below and head clearance to the boom! Will well seat 6 adults for an afternoon of leisure.. probably even while sailing! Rigging is all OK and oversize to boot!
Best part of the deal for me was the mechanical bits. The PO had just installed a fresh Beta 20 replacement diesel.. and THEN got the blahs and gave it up!!! His loss, my gain. Hour meter reads only 78.5 hr! Turned over and fired up withing a few cranks and rattled (purred) like a kitten. Prop wash was pretty wild and the fwd/neut/rev stick worked as it should. No leaks or problems; other than a slightly loose alt. belt. Having priced used power plants and new Beta equivalents. I think I bought a motor with a boat thrown in for good measure!
What I *didnt* get was a jib! Saw two sails in the cabin last month and "assumed"... yeah! I know... that all was OK. Pulled 'em out today and found the original main and another one with the same hardware and size from another make boat. Oooops! Oh well... I'll hafta go searching..no worry, one will turn up that's useable. items needing replaced are all the running rigging, a new or repaired tiller, new lexan glazing for the fwd hatch/skylite, sink drain and as all... but of rot on one of the slider stow sections. Again.. no worries. A dab of glue, some elbow grease and a lick of tung oil will have it sorted. All the usual maint. items will need done; but that was expected. The soft foredeck and spots on the cabin roof were the major item driving the price down. A little piling rash from the hurricane helped there, too
With four months till splash-in; I have my work cut out for me. I plan to get down next week after it's pulled and tarp it over, leaving room to work aboard. I plan to surround/drape it entirely, to a ground sheet.. no worry about run off or debris streaming into the watershed! A couple days spent cleaning, scraping sanding and mebbe even painting some; I'll have er ready soon enuff. Future plans for mods. improvements and repairs will be posted as they happen....or before, as required by needs.
Thanks for your help SN'ers,
Paul
Now a'fore some of ya tell me that I spent a lot of money on a basket case; lemme tell ya what I *did* get....
I got virtually everything in a sailboat that I desired. As another thread asked... I got a boat bigger on the inside than out! The W 27, with it's well laid out interior and 10 foot beam feels like a bigger boat...much bigger!. A wide, (almost) flat cabin sole, very generous seating, tons of storage, Head room, for me at least , a plumbed marine head/sink/shower combo, decent or better cushions and a small but efficient galley.
The cockpit is huge, by my standards, The deck is big enuff to place two camp/fold up chairs and have room for a small table! Comfortably deep and well-backed seating with the usual storage below and head clearance to the boom! Will well seat 6 adults for an afternoon of leisure.. probably even while sailing! Rigging is all OK and oversize to boot!
Best part of the deal for me was the mechanical bits. The PO had just installed a fresh Beta 20 replacement diesel.. and THEN got the blahs and gave it up!!! His loss, my gain. Hour meter reads only 78.5 hr! Turned over and fired up withing a few cranks and rattled (purred) like a kitten. Prop wash was pretty wild and the fwd/neut/rev stick worked as it should. No leaks or problems; other than a slightly loose alt. belt. Having priced used power plants and new Beta equivalents. I think I bought a motor with a boat thrown in for good measure!
What I *didnt* get was a jib! Saw two sails in the cabin last month and "assumed"... yeah! I know... that all was OK. Pulled 'em out today and found the original main and another one with the same hardware and size from another make boat. Oooops! Oh well... I'll hafta go searching..no worry, one will turn up that's useable. items needing replaced are all the running rigging, a new or repaired tiller, new lexan glazing for the fwd hatch/skylite, sink drain and as all... but of rot on one of the slider stow sections. Again.. no worries. A dab of glue, some elbow grease and a lick of tung oil will have it sorted. All the usual maint. items will need done; but that was expected. The soft foredeck and spots on the cabin roof were the major item driving the price down. A little piling rash from the hurricane helped there, too
With four months till splash-in; I have my work cut out for me. I plan to get down next week after it's pulled and tarp it over, leaving room to work aboard. I plan to surround/drape it entirely, to a ground sheet.. no worry about run off or debris streaming into the watershed! A couple days spent cleaning, scraping sanding and mebbe even painting some; I'll have er ready soon enuff. Future plans for mods. improvements and repairs will be posted as they happen....or before, as required by needs.
Thanks for your help SN'ers,
Paul