Columbia 26 Sailboat
Well, first there are two Columbia 26's. The Columbia 26 and the Columbia 26 Mark II. Both boats are excellent sailing vessels. The 26 Mark II is more of a racing boat. It is more sensitive to the helm, but goes like the wind. The standard Columbia 26 is no slouch, but is a better cruising boat. One thing about columbias, they were built like tanks. The only problem is if not taken care of, you can get soggy decks. To have a soggy deck repaired professionally, you would spend many thousands of dollars. If you do the work yourself, it costs a lot less, but it can be a lot of work.I was crew on my neighbor's 1966 Columbia 26 (not a Mark II) several times before I bought the boat I have now--A Columbia 36. My boat is comfortable to live aboard for one or two. I would not want to have more than that for more than a week or two. There are two doubles and two singles. But a 36 is not really good for more than two living aboard. If you were going someplace (like South America, or through the canal to the west coast), you could manage with four for several weeks.However the Columbia 26 is much better for cruising than the 26 MkII. It has 6' headroom from the entry hatch to the V-Berth. It is comfortable, I have not sailed on a 26 Mark II, so I cannot really comment on it. However everyone who has one is madly in love with it. When someone gives up a 26 Mk II it is usually to go to a larger Columbia.Cam Whetstones/v C36 - Wolf's DenBaltimore, Md. USA