Just purchased a Balboa26

[rgranger]

Hey All

Well it was sort of an impulse/last minute decision but...
Just letting you all know that I just purchased a Balboa 26 off of eBay. Many of you have been helping me weigh the pros and cons of different boats and ..

THANK YOU!

This list serve has become a very important part of my life and you all are great!

I have not taken possession of it yet but I've taken the first step (down payment) and plan on picking it up after the new year.

My Mac is on eBay now and closes tomorrow. Looks like I'm going to be able to affect a trade up with only $500 out of pocket. Now I just need it to warm up so I can go sailing



Here are some pics...

 

[Rick D]

Well, good for you! Looks like a very nice boat. You should have years of great times on her.

 

[Merlin Clark]

Congrats! Good looking boat!

 

[kito]

Congrats!. That is cool looking sailboat. I checked it out on the completed listing and sounds like you got a great deal. I hope you can repair or replace the mast fairly cheap. Be glad it wasn't located in NC or you may have had some bidding competition

 

[Capt Strapfoots]

Awesome good deal now tow her up to Lake Superior and lets go sailing together.

CS

Hey All

Well it was sort of an impulse/last minute decision but...
Just letting you all know that I just purchased a Balboa 26 off of eBay. Many of you have been helping me weigh the pros and cons of different boats and ..

THANK YOU!

This list serve has become a very important part of my life and you all are great!

I have not taken possession of it yet but I've taken the first step (down payment) and plan on picking it up after the new year.

My Mac is on eBay now and closes tomorrow. Looks like I'm going to be able to affect a trade up with only $500 out of pocket. Now I just need it to warm up so I can go sailing



Here are some pics...

 

[rgranger]

Awesome good deal now tow her up to Lake Superior and lets go sailing together.

CS

Ah ha... yes, well my mother lives in Aurora so that is a possibility.

 

[Merlin Clark]

Watch out, I think he's trying to trick you into ice sailing!

 

[CalebD]

Congrats on the Balboa 26'! http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=484
It seems that the Balboa does not employ a water ballast system and weighs in at 3600#'s - a bit more than the Mac 26S.

So, does this mean that you are not interested in my friends Mac 26 S? :G

 

[rgranger]

Congrats on the Balboa 26'! http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=484
It seems that the Balboa does not employ a water ballast system and weighs in at 3600#'s - a bit more than the Mac 26S.

So, does this mean that you are not interested in my friends Mac 26 S? :G

Hi Caleb

I do appreciate your help with the 26D. I think this is going to be my boat for the next few years. I used to say, "honey this is the boat I'm going to keep". So far the longest I've been able to resist flipping a boat has been three year. So who knows... maybe after a few seasons I'll have a new itch but I hope I'm cured....

This will be the 7th boat I've owned in the past 13 years but one of those I only owned for a few weeks and passed it onto a fried.

I will say that this boat is in the best condition of any "new to me" boat I've ever owned. So far all of the boats I've purchased were under $1K and in really bad shape when I got them. I fix them up and then sell them. If you don't count sweat equity I've made a few bucks on each one.

As far as weight goes. Yes! this is a heavy boat compared to the 26D. One of the trade-offs I guess. But this boat has lot more cabin space and according to reviews is a lot more sea kindly than a 26D. I'm also guessing a bit of a dog in light air compared to the 26D. I have a Silverado with 7000# towing capacity and the trailer has surge breaks so... I think I'll be able to swing it. I used to own a Coronado 23' that was about the same weight as this boat so I have some experience towing a larger boat. I've been told this boat tows well. Lets hope

... and if you are ever passing through central Virginia let me know. I'll pack some sandwiches and something cold to drink and we can head out to the lake.

Dang! It is going to be a long January-February for sure.

 

[JackJ]

I owned a Balboa 26 for 10 years and had a lot of fun on the boat. A few thoughts:
1. Be careful with the keel winch brake. I darn near took off a finger one time when I was lowering the keel.
2. The rudder through the cockpit sole is neat but don't run aground with the keel cranked up and the rudder turned. It took me two hours to work the rudder free one day near Bath NC
3. The cutout in the transom for the outboard makes it super easy to control the motor. You don't have to lean way back to change gears and the motor is right there where you can get at it.
4. The world map on the dinette table makes me grin every time I see a picture of one. It is so cheesy 70s but in a good way.
Enjoy the boat!

 

[rgranger]

I owned a Balboa 26 for 10 years and had a lot of fun on the boat. A few thoughts:
1. Be careful with the keel winch brake. I darn near took off a finger one time when I was lowering the keel.
2. The rudder through the cockpit sole is neat but don't run aground with the keel cranked up and the rudder turned. It took me two hours to work the rudder free one day near Bath NC
3. The cutout in the transom for the outboard makes it super easy to control the motor. You don't have to lean way back to change gears and the motor is right there where you can get at it.
4. The world map on the dinette table makes me grin every time I see a picture of one. It is so cheesy 70s but in a good way.
Enjoy the boat!

Thanks Jack

I'll keep the rudder thing in mind. I was researching another thread on Balboas and the guy said the same thing. He also mentioned the Pamlico Sound so I'm wondering now if that other guy might have been you? Small world kind of thing?

The Albemarle and Pamlico are my favorite sailing grounds.... so relevant advice for sure.

This boat is coming with a 15 hp Honda. Seems like a bit of overkill. I once owned a Coronado 25 and it only had a mercury 7.5. But I'm not complaining. It will be nice to run the motor at half throttle instead of mostly WOT and the larger alternator will be a plus. This boat also has a built in 20gal permanent fuel tank. Man, I don't think I've ever burned 20 gal in a single season yet. In my 30 years of sailing I've only ever motored to a destination once and that was because I had a deadline. I'm usually of the mind of... "if the wind ain't blowing, its time to swim or fish". Anyway, I think I'm going to like having a permanent fuel tank but I'll have to figure out how to drain it at the end of the season and I'm guessing I'll need to start using fuel stabilizers. Maybe I just won't fill it up. Good problems to have I guess.

Thanks for the advice on the keel winch. My Mac also has a swing keel so I'm familiar with the flying winch handle. In fact I've accidently released the keel one time when I was trying to throw a PFD through the companionway. Somehow a strap on the PFD hit the little tab that releases the winch and the keel went into free fall. Luckily no one was near the handle at the time. Scared the hell out of me and now I always put a piece of shock cord over the tab to make sure it stays in place. Fortunately, this Balboa has an electric keel winch so I don't think I'll need to worry about that unless I let the battery die. I think I'm going to like that a lot. It is also set up for shore power. That will be a first for me also. Oh yeah, and it has a real head.

Can you tell I'm jazzed

The only negative reported by the owner is a broken spreader bracket. That will take about 20 min. to fix so... :dance:

The sails were new in 2009 and the boat hasn't been used for the past two seasons... so the sails are new... I feel like I've won the lottery.

 

[Bosman]

This is very nice boat and appears to be in the pristine condition. Congratulations!
PS: Do check the swing keel mechanism and its control line....

 

[rgranger]

This is very nice boat and appears to be in the pristine condition. Congratulations!
PS: Do check the swing keel mechanism and its control line....

Definitely! That is prudent advice.

There is a marina with a lift near my house (Pelican Point) and I'm hoping I can hire them to help me drop the keel and inspect the bushing for the pivot pin. This keel is massive compared to anything I've had as a swing keel before so I don't want to try this with my little auto jack and a homemade sawhorse. I'm going to replace the pivot pin and cable even if they look good. That is inexpensive "peace-of-mind" insurance. If the pivot hole is elongated, I'll JB-weld in a new piece of SS tubing for a bushing and fill in the gaps with JB.

If I can't get the marina to do it, I'm hoping I can get my auto-mechanic to help me. He seems like he is hurting for business right now so he may be happy to let me lift the boat in his garage. And I'm happy to pay him his hourly ...