Took the leap and bought her today. PO seems like a very nice guy, no pressure to buy, took the time to explain everything and seemed honest.
No moisture at all in the bilge - there were cob webs in there. No mildew anywhere inside but there was plenty of crud on the outside. As mentioned, she's just been sitting at the slip all season and had accumulated a lot of grunge. She got a quick scrub today but will get the full treatment next week and every week thereafter.
Floor was solid with caulk in place - no signs of leaking. The wood finish on the floor in front of the head is worn and will need to be redone. The table top is also showing it's age - no damage per se, just worn. It'll need to be refinished.
Motor (8HP Nissan 2 cycle) ran fine, although it was a bit hard to start. It has electric start but with the 12v power down, it was manual start today. It hasn't run this year so I guess that's understandable. After we sailed and went back to motor she popped on the second pull...
Heard a definite clunk when the keel was full down but took a few tries to hear it on the up. It seemed a bit hard for the PO to pull it all the way up, and he's no wimp - I kept asking him to try again because I needed to hear a clunk on full up. After a few tries, he wanted to be certain I heard a CLUNK and gave her a hard tug! Yep. I definitely heard (and felt under foot in the cabin) a CLUNK. Haha!
The short was more of an induced problem; PO hooked one of the 2 batteries up backwards and melted the insulation off some wires and literally melted the plastic around one of the threaded battery posts. As a minimum I think one battery might be shot, and the wiring between batteries and electrical panel will probably need to be replaced. I hope the breakers in the electrical panel prevented the whole system from being smoked. I don't know much about electrical so I can't say. Guess I'll soon find out.
She sailed fine - we had very light winds so it wasn't a great day to sail, but I could see the sails, feel how she steers, learn the rigging, etc. Doyle main with full battens, 2 reef points and Doyle jib were certainly used but no rips, repairs, etc. With a good cleaning I think they'll be very serviceable.
No visible crazing or cracking around the compression post or mast plate. All seemed solid and no signs of any leakage. Really, crazing was very minimal - a little on the port cockpit bench and a small bit at the bottom of the front starboard window. But really clean gel coat and deck paint.
I wasn't able to see the trailer - the marina stores them off site. The boat has been at the same marina since 1996. PO told me the trailer can't have more than 150 miles on it. Probably will need new tires if I take her more than a few miles due to likely dry rot, but I can't say for sure. PO also said he doesn't think the mast has been stepped since 1996 - it's been stored with the mast up on the trailer at the marina every year. He said he takes the boom off each winter, though. The aft starboard shroud turnbuckle was bent but functional. Will be replaced shortly. Standing rigging seemed good, running rigging is really dirty but seemed okay.
All in all, she's a sweet boat that needs a thorough cleaning, some TLC and to be sailed. I can handle that - I'm happy as heck to be the proud owner of a fine 1996 H26!
