Buying a Sailboat

Ha Ha, this last one is the view from Brophy's in Santa Barbara! Crowded, isn't it!

So, How did we become the owners of a 1970 Coronado 25?

I did a fair amount of research, reading books, magazines, and blogs, before I headed out looking for a sailboat. I wanted something easy to sail for a beginner, in decent shape but not great shape, around 30 feet long so that it was comfortable entertaining a group of 6, a good engine, dry bilge, good standing rigging (wire lines that don't move), and good sails, etc. . . . So how did I end up with a boat that had none of these qualities except for the dry bilge?

In most California harbors, the reality is that available places to dock a boat are in short supply. Several times in the past I had put money down on a boat only to find out that I would not have a place to put it. The same is true for Morro Bay. All the harbors have a several year waiting list for slips. The only way to get a slip is to buy a boat that comes with one.

This lead me to the State Park Marina. It has nice scenery and is half the cost per foot of any harbor in Morro Bay. In this marina, I found three boats were for sale but only one (Strega II) was sea worthy, the other two were just weekend water condos for inland dwellers that had no hope of surviving an ocean sail. I never expected the purchase of my first boat to go this way but it worked out for us and I am happy with the results.

I look back on this now and think it makes sense. When someone is learning to drive a car for the first time do you give them a brand new Porsche? Usually not! You start them in something they can make mistakes in. I got a cheap boat I can make mistakes in and not feel bad about when I run it aground (like last week). More importantly I can learn what I like and then buy a boat I want with a place to put it.

So how did I change the name from "Strega II" to "Training Wheels", well that's a story for another post!

~Truman