Some interesting skullduggery, bad news from down south, and Mr Orlov rides out hurricane Sandy at the dock...
The other day a reader of Boat Bits dropped me a line and a link and wanted to know what I thought about a free boat on Craig's List in his area. The boat in question was a 26-foot Pearson Ariel and, if the photos attached to the ad were accurate, not a bad boat at all. To add some frosting to the confection, its dockage was paid through the end of the year... The cherry on top was that the boat, in fact, was free.
Think about that word for a moment... F-R-E-E!
Now, I'll be willing to bet that the boat is going to have some issues but then again I've never come across a boat new or old that did not have something that needed to be fixed, replaced, or sorted out.
So back to that word FREE!
A family of four might find a Pearson Ariel way too small for cruising, so would most couples but for a single person it's not really a bad choice. I should also add that as a daysailer/weekender it would be a lot of fun for anyone and not a bad platform to learn to sail.
One thing I've noticed is that a lot of people looking for boats are not really thinking through the situation because they are on a quest of the true love (till death do us part) and Holy Grail sort... They're not so much looking for something that will work out, they're looking for that perfect boat and everyone knows you can't find a perfect boat on Craig's List for free.
The thing is, there are more and more free boats popping up and some of them are in good shape but have simply become too expensive for someone who seldom uses it to justify paying for a marina berth. Simple economics and common sense sometime means it's easier to give something away than hassle with the selling it scenario. Way back when we moved on to Loose Moose 2 we were as concerned that the first Loose Moose wind up in good hands with a person who would take care of it... So we sold it for $1 and it was one of the best decisions we ever made.
I've always thought a really great way to find a perfect boat was to go cruising to out of the way harbors and anchorages and keep an eye out for that slightly forlorn boat with the faded FOR SALE sign. When you think about it, an old free Pearson would be a great boat for just such a quest...
Listening to Alan Price
So it goes...
