I found a Venture 21 in good shape and bought it to replace my Venture 17. It still fits in my garage too! If my V17 has 100,000 miles on it, this 21 has 10,000 miles. It looks like someone bought it in 1976 and parked it under a tree and never used it. There isn't a single modification to anything - no compass, no extra add-ons, nothing. It has a 2011 VA registration sticker so someone kept registering it every year, but it couldn't have been used more than once a season. All 3 original sails in great shape in original bags.
Here's the query - My 17 (bought in '09) came with a lot of the random stuff one accumulates on a sailboat - swim ladder, emergency paddle, spare parts and hardware, more life preservers than 3 boats should have, etc.. And I added a few things like a sail feeder, expensive cam cleats, LED Nav lights, a handheld VHF, and more.
The new 21, has nothing other than a fire extinguisher and a VHF from 1976 that I have no faith in working.
My budget for sailing things is very tight so I'm looking at the most frugal way to equip the new boat and sell the old boat. I've made the old boat quite nice - I made a new rudder and replaced all the wood with teak - its very pretty now.
Have you been in a similar situation where you sold the old boat loaded down with gear and pulled out the catalogs and started shopping? Or did you strip the old boat back to nothing? The V17 I have for sale locally for $1750.
Either way the 17 will be in ready-to-sail condition - at least by the manufacturers definition. (but likely not the coast guards)
I'm thinking of things like "I can take the new LED trailer lights off the 17 and put this old pair back on it - that will save me $40" but I can't grasp the point at which removing all the nickels and dimes from the old one hurts it's value to the point where it's no longer a good deal. There are no comparables around - not in Pennsylvania in early March, at least. If someone in this county wants to spend their tax refund on a sailboat for overnighting with their spouse and a kid out on the lake and then tow it home with a minivan - I've got the only one in sail away condition.
Here's the query - My 17 (bought in '09) came with a lot of the random stuff one accumulates on a sailboat - swim ladder, emergency paddle, spare parts and hardware, more life preservers than 3 boats should have, etc.. And I added a few things like a sail feeder, expensive cam cleats, LED Nav lights, a handheld VHF, and more.
The new 21, has nothing other than a fire extinguisher and a VHF from 1976 that I have no faith in working.
My budget for sailing things is very tight so I'm looking at the most frugal way to equip the new boat and sell the old boat. I've made the old boat quite nice - I made a new rudder and replaced all the wood with teak - its very pretty now.
Have you been in a similar situation where you sold the old boat loaded down with gear and pulled out the catalogs and started shopping? Or did you strip the old boat back to nothing? The V17 I have for sale locally for $1750.
Either way the 17 will be in ready-to-sail condition - at least by the manufacturers definition. (but likely not the coast guards)
I'm thinking of things like "I can take the new LED trailer lights off the 17 and put this old pair back on it - that will save me $40" but I can't grasp the point at which removing all the nickels and dimes from the old one hurts it's value to the point where it's no longer a good deal. There are no comparables around - not in Pennsylvania in early March, at least. If someone in this county wants to spend their tax refund on a sailboat for overnighting with their spouse and a kid out on the lake and then tow it home with a minivan - I've got the only one in sail away condition.