Did I make a mistake buying this boat?

Joe · Apr 22, 2012

There you go, Ward.......... just get out there... you'll have fun.

Blue Pearl Captain · Apr 23, 2012

“There are no mistakes in life, there are only lessons to be learned: Adivce to the Youth.”

alexpurne

Mark Twain

Yours is not an expensive lesson, at least, Ward. Much of owning a boat is rolling up your sleeves, I'm learning, and getting dirty. You'll be a better sailor for it and your knowledge base will increase as you go thus making your next purchases more informed and less intimidating.
I have found these blogs here to be of incredible help. People have been generous with their knowledge and experience and as you progress you'll be another link in the anchor chain as a resource for others.
I think you made a good decision. Learn the ropes on a boat you can afford to learn on. Then, when you buy up and your margin of error is smaller (dollar wise) you'll be much more confident.
BTW, I just bought a 1993 Hunter 27 and am in the same "boat" as you. I've sailed for 40 years on other people's boats and charters but have spent dozens of hours enjoying learning the Blue Pearl from bow to stern.
Yesterday my 12 year old was thrilled to sail on a heel while at the helm. My wife did, too, but she won't quite say so. She's still worries about "what happens if....?"
Have a great time!

OdayDave · Apr 23, 2012

Hi Ward -

You did not make a mistake if your goal is to sail, and learn about sailboats in the process. On my first boat (an O'Day 222), I removed the motor mount (that was on a wedge like this one), bought another mount (Gaerlik that doesn't need a wedge since you can adjust the angle of the mount), put a bigger mounting plate on the back and had a much better mount for a couple hundred dollars. It was a weekend project.

On my second boat (O'Day 25), I had water intrusion under the mast. It was a bigger project, but still quite doable. I just relied on feedback from this forum and got it done.

Under no circumstances would I have a fiberglass shop charge me $1k to make cosmetic changes to the motor mount (if there is no water intrusion). Sounds like they are looking to make a quick buck on that one. You have much better uses for your money.

Dave
s/v Lagniappe
O'Day 25

heart of gold · Apr 23, 2012

Hey Ward, if you are really worried about losing that new motor, just add a short tether from it to a good attachment point in the cockpit. If the mount does let go, and from the looks of it it probably won't, at least you will still have your motor. Sorry if this is too obvious. You probably already had this in mind. Cheers

Dave602 · Apr 23, 2012

You have learned one good lesson already. Boat yards and mechanics will try and make money off of you. Learn to do what you can on your own. There is no end to people who are willing to help you out either here or at a marina.

Dig in.

kenn · Apr 23, 2012

... yeah, sail it.

A bad 1-week package vacation costs over $1k, and you usually have little to show for it except a rash.

If your trailer makes it to the shore and your boat floats and sails... you are already ahead of the game, and everything beyond this will be gravy. And there's nothing better than a low-cost boat to practice sailing and boatwork on.

Indysailor · Apr 23, 2012

My current boat had some real issues when we bought it, so my wife and I were careful to not sail in conditions that pushed it too hard until we addressed the problems. Also, if she were typing she might tell Ward that she grew up sailing a 19 foot Flying Scot with no motor, so just keep yourself a few paddles on board.

As others have already said, you've got choices in owning a sailboat- you can pay through the nose to have other people make relatively easy fixes or you can roll up the sleeves and do them on your own. The latter seems to have little to do with actual sailing, yet it makes you more familiar with your boat, which is extremely important. Epoxy and Fiberglass work is not hard to do. It may be hard to do it like a professional, but most people can learn to make functional and not butt ugly repairs pretty quickly. The real beauty of it is that a botched job can just be ground away to start over.

irayone · Apr 23, 2012

Sail it !

If you only have 1,000.00 invested....Just go sailing. Imagine spending 50,000.00. So for 1000.00 boat just sail it. It will never be perfect. There will always be something to do or fix or clean. Sometimes it's all in your head that the mast step looks funny. So you fix it only to find out it was all fine. If it's not broken....Don't fix it. It's not worth spending huge dollars on a 1000.00 boat. There are many books on the market on how to survey a boat. The most important items are your safety items. I actually have more fun on a boat I don't care about. I just sold my 2005 Macgregor 26x It was spotless. I worried about every scratch. It was a perfect boat. Sold it for more than I paid. But I worried everytime I took it out. I couldn't relax, even though the boat was insured to the gills. Now I have a boat the kids can play on and I don't care because it's not pristine. It's more fun !!!! And if I sink it I can row home in my inflatable.

irayone · Apr 23, 2012

If you are on the lake....and something happens>>>>>> Help is just a few seconds away. If there is any question about floatability. I sail to Catilina and it's easier on the mind that if something does happen. Help is only 15 min away. Have a DSC on your hand held with GPS.

Don S/V ILLusion · Apr 23, 2012

irayone said:
If you are on the lake....and something happens>>>>>> Help is just a few seconds away. If there is any question about floatability. I sail to Catilina and it's easier on the mind that if something does happen. Help is only 15 min away. Have a DSC on your hand held with GPS.

None of which helps one second after the mast comes down crushing your skull. I've seen too any avoidable accidents on boats resulting is serious injury or worse to be as cavalier as some of you here seem to be particularly when it is so easy to verify the integrity of the mast step before using this boat.

JVB · Apr 23, 2012

rgranger said:
Ward

One more thing.... if you don't already have an outboard, think of getting a trolling motor. A 55lb thrust outboard will push your boat at near hull speed, it is MUCH less expensive, it is silent and a two battery bank will be all you need for a long weekend. Charge the batteries with a trickle charger solar panel ($20 on eBay) and you are good to go when the next weekend rolls around.

I used a 55 pound thrust Minn_Kota with electronic speed control on my MacGregor 26D while my gas outboard was out of commission. It pushed the boat about the same as a 2 or 3 HP outboard. With a single golf cart battery it was more than enough for getting in and out of the marina. But I could not cruise for miles with it when the wind died. My suggestions are: 1) A trolling motor with 35 pounds thrust would work fine on your boat. 2) The only lead acid battery suitable for that kind of use, which is deep discharging, is a golf cart battery. Golf cart batteries have solid plates while "marine" batteries have coarse grained plates and car batteries have fine grain plates. The finer the grain the higher the starting amps, but sintered plate batteries are relatively easy to ruin by deep discharging. 3) An electronic speed control greatly extends battery life at lower power settings. It pulses the electricity instead of wasting part of it in a resistor. 4) It does take more than a $20 charger to keep up with the charging needs of a trolling motor battery significantly discharged once a week. Been there tried that. About all a cheap solar panel will do is prevent self discharging. A 021-0123 Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger, $23 from amazon.com will keep up with one battery and help it last a long time.

I agree with all the advice about not paying somebody to fix this boat. Either do it yourself, don't fix it, or get rid of it now.

Sclancy · Apr 23, 2012

First boat nuts

My first boat was a 27' "T Bird" kinda rough when I got her and by the time I got her in the salt I'd missed two seasons. Buy the time I sold her she was pretty much in the same shape as the day I purchased her! My advice - don't sweat the little things fix the big things. Learn Fiberglas repair and you'll save yourself about $900 on those repairs.

shemandr · Apr 23, 2012

The answer is "Yes". You probably made a mistake. You'll make mistakes when you rig it and when you sail it That's how it goes I bought ym first for $1500 and it was a mistake. A mistake I sailed for over ten years. A mistake that taught me to sail and a whole lot more Best mistake I ever made! Heck I've spent more going to a wedding reception - talk about a mistake!

OdayDave · Apr 23, 2012

Ward -

As long as the base under the mast is not soft in any way, probably no problem. Mine showed a depression by the maststep, and so when I removed the mast-step plate to put an organizer plate underneath it, I found wet wood. I had to cut away the skin, removed all the wet wood and replaced it with fiberglass and resin. Now it's rock solid.

Concerning the motor mount, on my first boat, it was on the starboard side. The latest boat has an inboard so no motor mount. I'm not sure if there are any weight differentials (starboard vs. port) on most boats that compensate for the motor but I doubt most motors would make much difference in the way a boat would list at anchor.

If you do buy a new motor mount, make sure the vertical lift is sufficient to get the motor down in the water enough to prevent cavitation of the motor in waves. Also, make sure it is rated to handle a 4-stroke engine. Even if the weight is similar, 4-strokes have more torque and hence put more strain on the mount. If you want to keep the old motor mount, you can make a new one relatively easily. I think Joe (aka Fuzzy Faced Captain of Trinkka) has a few pictures of a modified wedge. Finally, if you do remove the wedge, you may need to add a small spacer so the handle clears the rubrail on the stern. You can take a look at my album to get an idea what I mean.

http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/album.php?albumid=2157

Good luck,

Dave
s/v Lagniappe
O'Day 222

Ataraxis · Apr 23, 2012

The first is a fixer upper. My fist was a 16' Snipe for $500 for boat and trailer. I am on my 3rd now. As for the motor, it is there to get away from the dock. I have a 6 hp on my Hunter 260WB. If you have good sails and the stick stays up, with skills you will develop, you can get away without a motor. ASA101 will give you those skills.

KB1669 · Apr 23, 2012

Ward
I recently purchased (last Fall 2011) a 1980 Newport 17 also and have had it in my garage fixing it up and I havent had it out on the water yet. As you probably know, there is not much info out there/on the web on this boat, so any info you have that you are willing to share with me would be great. I will tell you that I did pull out my swing keel and clean it up a bit. Sanded it down as best I could and put POR 15 (paint over rust) on it, as researching this POR 15 is supposed to be good. One note on the swing keel, all the info I saw on the web said the "ballast" for this boat was around 235lbs, so I thought the keel was going to weigh that much, it doesnt, granted I put it on a digital bathroom scale, but the keel itself only weighs 120lbs...just FYI.

jerseyjoe · Apr 23, 2012

paying the cost of a good boat surveyor is well worth the investment. This enables one to make a decision based on what repairs should be expected and then get estimates for repairs and know if it's worth the investment. I did actually purchase my boat before I had it surveyed because I knew it was a good price and I was correct. My boat surveyed for $15,000 more than I paid.

DougH · Apr 23, 2012

Ward,
You did good, $1,000 for all that is a good deal if it will float

Did it float?

Did I make a mistake buying this boat?

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