Here is the scenario: Husband and I are new to sailing, finished ASA 101 and starting 103. Have opportunity to purchase a 22 foot drop keel sailboat (we will likely be daysailers) built in 1993 by a now-defunct company called Sailor's Haven out of North Carolina which did not turn up on Google searches. According to the current owner, Sailor's Haven was trying to improve upon the Catalina design. No idea why they went out of business, but always something to think about.
Anyhow, to us as novices, this boat appears loaded with nice features. It has a pulley system to raise and lower the mast, a swim deck with fold up ladder, lots of cabin space for its size and a good size cockpit. It has a traveler for the main sheet, a pop-top, port a loo, sink, stove, full set of running lights, and a slew of other accessories like extra life jackets, fire extinguisher, air horn, new upholstery, etc. We learned to sail on a J22 racing boat, so this boat is a bit different in its size and "feels" much larger even though it is technically the same size by length. The boat comes with the main sail, jib, genoa, storm sail and spinnaker. We've taken an initial look at the sails in their storage bags and all seem clean and all the grommets/other hardware are intact. The boat also comes with a 9.9 HP extended shaft Evinrude motor. Price is listed at $4700. The trailer appears to be in excellent condition with new tires including a new spare.
The catch, maybe, is that the boat has been stored for the last seven years. The owner invited us to take the outboard to be tested, though I imagine it may need some service even if it was working perfectly the last time they used it. From reading Sailnet, I know that the cable that attaches to the drop keel can be a source of expensive problems. This is attached to an electric winch. Our plan is to see if we can pay someone from our sailing school or the local sailing club to take a look at the boat and give us an opinion on the pro's/con's, and clue us in to anything we don't have the experience to recognize ourselves.
There is no huge rush to purchase, however we've been looking at boats since the end of last year when we realized we weren't going to be able to stop sailing and we just have strong intuition, if that's not too silly to say, that this boat has everything and more we'd hoped to get for our under $5K budget. We also had very positive feelings about the seller and the meticulous condition of the boat, the accessories, and his property in general. Because this is a new Craigslist advertisement, it is possible we may have to make a decision before we can find someone who will come look at it (our sailing instructor told us at our last class he'd be willing to come inspect a potential boat purchase plus help us rig it the first time, but he's out of town!)
So what we were thinking is to ask the owner if he could charge the batteries enough that we could see if the electricals were working (particularly the one that raises and lowers the drop keel). We already inspected the hull crawling underneath and there's no visible cracks, evidence of repairs, or blistering in the paint. We'd take all the sails completely out of the bags and lay them out to confirm no rips, hardware missing or broken, etc. The owner still has all the original paperwork and even the VHS tape (!) that came with the boat when new (it has only had two owners; we would be the third.)
So, are there any other things about a boat that has been out of the water for so long that we should worry about? Any one ever even HEARD of Sailor's Haven as a manufacturer? We don't want to make an avoidable mistake, but we also don't want to pass up an opportunity figuring something better will always come along.
Thank you for enduring this very long post, and for any advice you may be able to offer!
Anyhow, to us as novices, this boat appears loaded with nice features. It has a pulley system to raise and lower the mast, a swim deck with fold up ladder, lots of cabin space for its size and a good size cockpit. It has a traveler for the main sheet, a pop-top, port a loo, sink, stove, full set of running lights, and a slew of other accessories like extra life jackets, fire extinguisher, air horn, new upholstery, etc. We learned to sail on a J22 racing boat, so this boat is a bit different in its size and "feels" much larger even though it is technically the same size by length. The boat comes with the main sail, jib, genoa, storm sail and spinnaker. We've taken an initial look at the sails in their storage bags and all seem clean and all the grommets/other hardware are intact. The boat also comes with a 9.9 HP extended shaft Evinrude motor. Price is listed at $4700. The trailer appears to be in excellent condition with new tires including a new spare.
The catch, maybe, is that the boat has been stored for the last seven years. The owner invited us to take the outboard to be tested, though I imagine it may need some service even if it was working perfectly the last time they used it. From reading Sailnet, I know that the cable that attaches to the drop keel can be a source of expensive problems. This is attached to an electric winch. Our plan is to see if we can pay someone from our sailing school or the local sailing club to take a look at the boat and give us an opinion on the pro's/con's, and clue us in to anything we don't have the experience to recognize ourselves.
There is no huge rush to purchase, however we've been looking at boats since the end of last year when we realized we weren't going to be able to stop sailing and we just have strong intuition, if that's not too silly to say, that this boat has everything and more we'd hoped to get for our under $5K budget. We also had very positive feelings about the seller and the meticulous condition of the boat, the accessories, and his property in general. Because this is a new Craigslist advertisement, it is possible we may have to make a decision before we can find someone who will come look at it (our sailing instructor told us at our last class he'd be willing to come inspect a potential boat purchase plus help us rig it the first time, but he's out of town!)
So what we were thinking is to ask the owner if he could charge the batteries enough that we could see if the electricals were working (particularly the one that raises and lowers the drop keel). We already inspected the hull crawling underneath and there's no visible cracks, evidence of repairs, or blistering in the paint. We'd take all the sails completely out of the bags and lay them out to confirm no rips, hardware missing or broken, etc. The owner still has all the original paperwork and even the VHS tape (!) that came with the boat when new (it has only had two owners; we would be the third.)
So, are there any other things about a boat that has been out of the water for so long that we should worry about? Any one ever even HEARD of Sailor's Haven as a manufacturer? We don't want to make an avoidable mistake, but we also don't want to pass up an opportunity figuring something better will always come along.
Thank you for enduring this very long post, and for any advice you may be able to offer!