Hey all! Someone's giving me a 1967 Islander Bahama 24', but it's got some issues and I need some help deciding on whether or not to take it.
It's moored around Destin, and I live in New Orleans so the plan was to go work on it for a few days and sail her back. I had a marine survey done for State Farm so that I could have liability insurance active from the first day. He found some issues that the owner didn't know about because he hadn't seen the boat in while. The biggest issue was that there was about 12" of water sitting in the interior, and he wasn't sure how long it's been there (anywhere from 2 to 6 months). It might need to be completely gutted. It seems like the cockpit drain line through-hull was clogged by barnacles and so the cockpit would fill up with water and leak down into the interior. There's no auto bilge pump on her either.
I've got three guys who willing to go there with me to help me work on it for a few days and then sail it back to New Orleans. The marina where it's being kept has pulled it out of the water and is scraping down the sides before we get there. It will need new paint top-to-bottom and inside, but the rigging and sails are in decent shape.
Does it sound like a stupid plan? Should I look for another free boat closer to home? I've had multiple people tell me locally that they can get me a 'free boat', but I'm not really sure how realistic they are. I don't mind spending about a $1000 on materials for this boat to get her seaworthy. I like Islanders because of the stability and the super thick hull; I'm not a racer.
Any thoughts? I'll post some pictures of the interior that the marine surveyor sent me in another post.
It's moored around Destin, and I live in New Orleans so the plan was to go work on it for a few days and sail her back. I had a marine survey done for State Farm so that I could have liability insurance active from the first day. He found some issues that the owner didn't know about because he hadn't seen the boat in while. The biggest issue was that there was about 12" of water sitting in the interior, and he wasn't sure how long it's been there (anywhere from 2 to 6 months). It might need to be completely gutted. It seems like the cockpit drain line through-hull was clogged by barnacles and so the cockpit would fill up with water and leak down into the interior. There's no auto bilge pump on her either.
I've got three guys who willing to go there with me to help me work on it for a few days and then sail it back to New Orleans. The marina where it's being kept has pulled it out of the water and is scraping down the sides before we get there. It will need new paint top-to-bottom and inside, but the rigging and sails are in decent shape.
Does it sound like a stupid plan? Should I look for another free boat closer to home? I've had multiple people tell me locally that they can get me a 'free boat', but I'm not really sure how realistic they are. I don't mind spending about a $1000 on materials for this boat to get her seaworthy. I like Islanders because of the stability and the super thick hull; I'm not a racer.
Any thoughts? I'll post some pictures of the interior that the marine surveyor sent me in another post.