On Monday I'm looking at a Tanzer 7.5 in Port Dover marina (Lake Erie, Canada). She wants $6K for it. I'm pretty sure there's no recent survey, but it comes with a new longshaft outboard. I went ahead to the marina today and looked it over on its cradle, and at least there's no holes in it. Part of the attraction is that sometimes there's a waiting list for this marina, which is in a convenient location for me, and the slip comes with the boat.

I know that it's short inside -- I'm 6'2" and I read that the cabin is only 5'9". I'm not going to cruise the world in it, though. I intend to go out for a couple or three days at a time tops, just around Lake Erie.

I'm not a sailor yet. I intend to take several online courses this winter, and I'll take a keelboat course first thing in the spring.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice, warnings, caveats, or amusing anecdotes. I know I'm out of my depth in more ways than one.

Have you verified with the marina operators that the slip is available? The motor should be worth at least half the price. Is the cradle also included?

Yes, the slip is available as long as the owner signs it over, and the owner said that the slip can go with the boat. I'm not sure about the cradle, but I think she's not moving to another boat -- she has to give up sailing for now due to traveling for work, so I assume the cradle is included. She said the motor installed cost $4K -- it's a 9.8hp Tohatsu with electric start.

Replacing the cradle could be more difficult and expensive than you might think, try to get that included. If you don't know boats at all you need to get a good opinion, paid for or otherwise. If the boat is in good shape with decent sails and cradle, I think the price is fair.
If that slip were not part of the deal I might think otherwise...I think it definitely adds value to the deal.

Thanks, Paul. I'll definitely get the cradle; I don't think it'll be hard. I have a friend coming with me who's owned many boats over the years, but not sailboats. He's at least more experienced with boats than I am. The marina slip is quite important to me -- it's what motivated me to respond to the ad. For years I've been looking at sailboats on Kijiji, and there's always lots of them, but this one is the right length, the right price, and just 20 minutes from my house.

Tanzer 7.5s are neat boats. They are basically Tanzer 26s that have been scaled down for easy trailering. They came with a shoal draft, which should be easy for trailer launching, and a fin keel which would be difficult for trailer launching.

Tanzer 7.5s don't really have usable V-berths (except for kids/dogs) so you will be sleeping on the bench seating in the salon. The galley counter top is one of the steps to get below, so no muddy boots lol.

If you're not planning on trailering, the T26 is a good alternative. Faster, more headroom, bigger V-berth, slightly longer waterline length.

Most Tanzers have nice, clean simple interiors with minimal wood, which I think is nice in a boat that age.

This one has the fin keel. I'd like more headroom, but I can live with this for my first boat. I hope the bench is long enough to take my full length (6'2"). I'll be solo when I overnight, so I won't need a ton of room.

The bench seats should be fine, some space in the v berth was sacrificed so the boat would have a full size salon. The galley table folds down from the forward bulkhead on the port side. So if you are solo, you should be able to leave the table in the down position while you sleep. You might find
the table more convenient for food prep than the boot counter too.