Here’s some very cool news to relay… a boat has been bought! I was doing some not-so-serious Craigslist ad searches and ran across a Hunter 25 on a nearby lake that appeared in good condition. The seller was asking $2500.

Now, I know what you might be thinking…25′? That’s not big enough to do some serious island cruising or ocean voyaging! And you’d be right..but it is a great size to hone my skills and enjoy some weekend sailing for a few years until retirement. Retirement means bigger boat and not confined to a lake.

So, back to the boat; it’s a 1978 Hunter 25, and she is in good condition. The prior owner neglected the interior for the last few years, so I’ll have to clean up and out, but there’s no damage on the  exterior.image

I took her out a few days ago with the seller for a quick test-drive, or test-sail as it were. She’s not the fastest hull on the lake, but she sailed well. The mainsail is old and been left out without a cover, so it’s not in great condition.

I was able to “see past” the cluttered and neglected interior enough to know that there’s promise of a nicer future.

In case you were wondering about the title of the post…I’ve heard it said in the past that the acronym B.O.A.T. stands for Bring Out Another Thousand. That’s quite humorous, but in this case that’s exactly what it meant, because I was able to negotiate the selling price down to only $1000! It seemed like all the stars came into alignment for this little deal. I practically “stole” the boat from the guy. He had to move back to Georgia for family, selling his house and the slip fees were coming due so this guy was motivated.

Due to the lack of use, there’s some items on the boat that will need to be addressed, but I see that as a great opportunity for me to get more involved in the maintenance and general care of a sailboat. That’ll definitely help me get one step further when it’s time to finally get a cruising boat in a couple years. And the lake where I’ll be sailing is a pretty good sized lake, so there’s some great opportunities for sailing experience and enjoyment.

I’ll post more about the progress as I continue this portion of the adventure.

 

Mike

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