Re: eBay ad for Cal 2-29 [Chris]

Chris inquired: >In your experience how risky is buying a boat on Ebay even if the price is very reasonable? I have not bid on a boat on eBay. I know of people who have, and for the most part, the experiences were good though they can go horribly wrong. The auction deadline causes otherwise sane people to do things that they would never do otherwise, such as making an expensive purchase without even inspecting the product themselves, let alone getting a professional survey. Remember that a "free" boat is an expensive purchase, because it can take five figure investments and tons of "free" time to renovate and refit even a small boat. Boats on eBay can be grossly misrepresented, and as they are often sold by owners or people with no strong ties to the used boat market, they have little incentive to protect their reputation in the way a professional boat broker would. If a boat I wanted was on eBay at an excellent price, and I could go and see it for myself to confirm that the worst case scenario would still cost less than buying a more expensive boat of the same make and model, I would consider placing a bid. But since it takes weeks or months to adequately inspect a prospective boat (at a cost of up to several thousand dollars), the price has to be low enough to cover the risk of bad news that you don't uncover until after the sale. Alfred Poor 1969 Cal 29 #132, "Pentaquod"

On May 31, 2007 08:48:09 am Alfred Poor wrote: <sniip all good stuff for brevity> > If a boat I wanted was on eBay at an excellent price, and I could go and > see it for myself to confirm that the worst case scenario would still cost > less than buying a more expensive boat of the same make and model, I would > consider placing a bid. Yup my sentiments exactly. Being up north it limits boats to the east coast and Great Lakes. Alternatively a dedicated boat hunting trip were scheduled to the west coast. The west coast however introduces an additional logistics problem even though the selection is greater. So all these factors need to be considered in the price as well. My friend just bought an excellent Ericson 35 on the Great Lakes for a reasonable price and sailed her back to the great white north with me as crew. So the money saved in transport can be pooled into the retrofit budget, some 2K in this case or int he worst case makes an awesome beer budget. > But since it takes weeks or months to adequately > inspect a prospective boat (at a cost of up to several thousand dollars), > the price has to be low enough to cover the risk of bad news that you don't > uncover until after the sale. Yup, this is the main reason I have held back from Ebay even though I'm sure there have been some outstanding deals to be had there. If at all possible I like to buy stuff privately as getting to know the owner of anything for sale, even a bit, typically gives a good indication of the level of care extended to the item for sale. In the end this tends to save money and in most cases can remove some unforeseen mysteries. ie: lowers the risk. Thanks for your considered response. /ch

Rich Belliveau bought a Cal 34 on EBay for about 5K. It was close enough so that he could drive up and see it before making the deal. He had to rebuild the A4 and structured the deal so that he could pull the engine, bring it home, do the work, and then reinstall it prior to launch, Then he sailed the boat home. Eventually he raced it and it did well. Later on, he sold it. I think he had some good times with it, including a trip to Key West and back, around 500 miles. The new owner got a slip near mine and was quite happy with it. Caveat emptor. ~smile~ SMon, Cal 34, St. Pete chris h <ch… [at] magma.ca> wrote: On May 31, 2007 08:48:09 am Alfred Poor wrote: <sniip all good stuff for brevity> > If a boat I wanted was on eBay at an excellent price, and I could go and > see it for myself to confirm that the worst case scenario would still cost > less than buying a more expensive boat of the same make and model, I would > consider placing a bid. Yup my sentiments exactly. Being up north it limits boats to the east coast and Great Lakes. Alternatively a dedicated boat hunting trip were scheduled to the west coast. The west coast however introduces an additional logistics problem even though the selection is greater. So all these factors need to be considered in the price as well. My friend just bought an excellent Ericson 35 on the Great Lakes for a reasonable price and sailed her back to the great white north with me as crew. So the money saved in transport can be pooled into the retrofit budget, some 2K in this case or int he worst case makes an awesome beer budget. > But since it takes weeks or months to adequately > inspect a prospective boat (at a cost of up to several thousand dollars), > the price has to be low enough to cover the risk of bad news that you don't > uncover until after the sale. Yup, this is the main reason I have held back from Ebay even though I'm sure there have been some outstanding deals to be had there. If at all possible I like to buy stuff privately as getting to know the owner of anything for sale, even a bit, typically gives a good indication of the level of care extended to the item for sale. In the end this tends to save money and in most cases can remove some unforeseen mysteries. ie: lowers the risk. Thanks for your considered response. /ch --------------------------------- Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.

On May 31, 2007 11:44:30 am steve honour wrote: > Rich Belliveau bought a Cal 34 on EBay for about 5K. It was close enough > so that he could drive up and see it before making the deal. Yup thats the key. Somehow ya need to be able to at least preview and inspect the beast before cutting the check. That's somewhat difficult in some geographic regions. tks. /ch

I bought my boat on Ebay. I paid a mere $2850.00, sight unseen. We were pleasantly surprised. Everything worked just fine. The only difference noted from what was shown and what we received was in a photo. It showed a spinacker pole. None was still onboard when we picked it up, but it had been sitting on a public dock for about four months before we bought her. Everything was just as advertized. True, I didn't know what to look for in advance, but I saw her for the first time about a month after the sale anyway. Maybe I just got lucky. From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of chris h Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 11:04 AM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Re: eBay ad for Cal 2-29 [Chris] On May 31, 2007 11:44:30 am steve honour wrote: > Rich Belliveau bought a Cal 34 on EBay for about 5K. It was close enough > so that he could drive up and see it before making the deal. Yup thats the key. Somehow ya need to be able to at least preview and inspect the beast before cutting the check. That's somewhat difficult in some geographic regions. tks. /ch

I bought a T/2 sight unseen on Ebay. My only disappointment was that she had a red stripe instead of bleu. I thought they all came with blue. She is now a primary sailboat at the Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp. My friend bought a Seidlemann 30 (299) sight unseen on ebay. there were pictures. He's loving it. "even a blind hog will find an acorn now and then if he keeps rootin'" reggie >From: "Bruce Stirling" <br… [at] stirlinglaw.com> >Reply-To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com >To: <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> >Subject: RE: [Cal_Boats] Re: eBay ad for Cal 2-29 [Chris] >Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 12:30:06 -0700 > >I bought my boat on Ebay. I paid a mere $2850.00, sight unseen. We were >pleasantly surprised. Everything worked just fine. The only difference >noted from what was shown and what we received was in a photo. It showed a >spinacker pole. None was still onboard when we picked it up, but it had >been sitting on a public dock for about four months before we bought her. >Everything was just as advertized. True, I didn't know what to look for in >advance, but I saw her for the first time about a month after the sale >anyway. Maybe I just got lucky. > >-----Original Message----- >From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com]On Behalf >Of chris h >Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 11:04 AM >To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com >Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Re: eBay ad for Cal 2-29 [Chris] > > >On May 31, 2007 11:44:30 am steve honour wrote: > > Rich Belliveau bought a Cal 34 on EBay for about 5K. It was close enough > > so that he could drive up and see it before making the deal. > >Yup thats the key. Somehow ya need to be able to at least preview and >inspect >the beast before cutting the check. That's somewhat difficult in some >geographic regions. > >tks. > >/ch > > > > Like puzzles? Play free games & earn great prizes. Play Clink now. http://club.live.com/clink.aspx?icid=clink_hotmailtextlink2

On May 31, 2007 04:20:54 pm r good wrote: > "even a blind hog will find an acorn now and then if he keeps rootin'" Ya know I cant disagree with any of the above comments. I've been tracking boats on eBay now for over a year, and yes there are great deals to be had and even at some brokerages on line. Perhaps its a right brain left brain thing or perhaps because I'm not quite ready yet to put down the cash for a serious boat I really don't have an answere for that but when the right one comes along regardless of the source, she will be mine and everything will have to be accommodated. Currently sail a friends CS22 (in exchange for doing the maintenance) on the local waters and its a blast learning all the aspects and components of seamanship and boat ownership. Part of the exercise my friend has me going through is creating a list of all the features and priorities I want in a boat and for the type of sailing I want to do (six months of the year down the eastern seaboard). Playing with the CS22 and lurking on various lists has been one heck of an education. My current short list (and it changes often) of desireable boats are the following: CAL-34, Ericson 35, Albin Ballad 30, Tartan 30 & 34 all in the vintage 70's. I like solid fibreglass and the ability of these boats to handle higher wind conditions safely and without a full keel. For a novice this is priority one and the reduced draft has its advantages in terms of accessability. Been out too many times on other folk's boats in 20+ knot winds and due to skipper inability and poor handling characteristics of the vessel it was down right scary.eg: Beneteau's, Catalina's and generally newer boats in the 30-35 ft range. The opposite is true for a well handled boat of solid design that I recently crewed on for a delivery; a friends 75 Ericson 35. Easily stood up to 25+ winds despite the crews exhaustion. To bad I wasn't younger. It would have been a total blast. Nothing like being on Lake Erie in 12 foot waves, small craft warning in effect and a seasoned skipper blasting down the south shore with a single reefed main and fore sale furled to approx 70 percent while maintaining full control of the vessel. Boat handled the conditions just fine, crew was less then fine so we headed in early in the afternoon. All the more reason however to get back on the diet and start exercising again. At 50 things just creep up on you in all the wrong places..:) Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated and much learnt. Regards /ch

Good choices! ~smile~ SMon chris h <ch… [at] magma.ca> wrote: On May 31, 2007 04:20:54 pm r good wrote: > "even a blind hog will find an acorn now and then if he keeps rootin'" Ya know I cant disagree with any of the above comments. I've been tracking boats on eBay now for over a year, and yes there are great deals to be had and even at some brokerages on line. Perhaps its a right brain left brain thing or perhaps because I'm not quite ready yet to put down the cash for a serious boat I really don't have an answere for that but when the right one comes along regardless of the source, she will be mine and everything will have to be accommodated. Currently sail a friends CS22 (in exchange for doing the maintenance) on the local waters and its a blast learning all the aspects and components of seamanship and boat ownership. Part of the exercise my friend has me going through is creating a list of all the features and priorities I want in a boat and for the type of sailing I want to do (six months of the year down the eastern seaboard). Playing with the CS22 and lurking on various lists has been one heck of an education. My current short list (and it changes often) of desireable boats are the following: CAL-34, Ericson 35, Albin Ballad 30, Tartan 30 & 34 all in the vintage 70's. I like solid fibreglass and the ability of these boats to handle higher wind conditions safely and without a full keel. For a novice this is priority one and the reduced draft has its advantages in terms of accessability. Been out too many times on other folk's boats in 20+ knot winds and due to skipper inability and poor handling characteristics of the vessel it was down right scary.eg: Beneteau's, Catalina's and generally newer boats in the 30-35 ft range. The opposite is true for a well handled boat of solid design that I recently crewed on for a delivery; a friends 75 Ericson 35. Easily stood up to 25+ winds despite the crews exhaustion. To bad I wasn't younger. It would have been a total blast. Nothing like being on Lake Erie in 12 foot waves, small craft warning in effect and a seasoned skipper blasting down the south shore with a single reefed main and fore sale furled to approx 70 percent while maintaining full control of the vessel. Boat handled the conditions just fine, crew was less then fine so we headed in early in the afternoon. All the more reason however to get back on the diet and start exercising again. At 50 things just creep up on you in all the wrong places..:) Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated and much learnt. Regards /ch --------------------------------- Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit.

Just wanted to get the experts' opinion on this Cal 28 on eBay.. http://tinyurl.com/2dz6rx Sabine S/V "Night and Day", Cal 25 The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

I hardly qualify as an expert, but I do own a Cal 28. Mine is a year older than the 1966 pictured. Overall the boat appears to be in good shape. The only real difference I see in my boat and the one for sale is the hole cut for the Johnson outboard. There does not appear to be an inboard blocking the companionway steps, so this boat may not have ever had an inboard. I believe it was optional at the time. Other than all of the red, which in my opinion is a bit hard on the eyes, she sounds like a deal. The sails should be inquired about, but apart from that, the price is good. The boat I bought was sold to another bidder before I bought her. The sale fell through because the bidder failed to read the fine print telling everyone not to bid if they did not have a slip immediately available. The price being asked on this boat is close to what the first buyer agreed to pay. When mine came back on the market, the reappearance dropped the price a bit. All of the specs can be found on my Cal 28 site here: http://www.stirlinglaw.com/cal28 Other Cal 28 owners have written since my site went online. One sold boats for a living for other manufacturers. Another worked in the marine business. Two wrote and said the Cal 28, in retrospect, was the perfect size boat, not too big, and not too small. The one who sold sailboats for a living missed his and said it was his favorite of the boats he owned, and the other was actively searching to locate his old boat to see if he could buy her back. My wife and I love the v-berth. I am 6'2" and sleep like a baby onboard. The headroom for the rest of the boat is 5'11" inches, so I have to duck a bit. If the hatch is left all the way open, I can move around without any problems. See if there was a recent survey and go check her out if you can. This last weekend we had a great time. She's ready and waiting every time we go out. With my forty-year-old sails we still managed to hang pretty close to much larger Beneteaus (sp?) and Hunters making their way to open water. We easily left everything close to us in size behind. I believe I was the only one flying a genoa, though. The cockpit is huge. I spent last Saturday on a dockmate's boat. In contrast to the Cal 28, we were cramped with no where to move. You can have a party in the Cal 28 in the cockpit alone. Some think that sized cockpit is a bad thing on open water. Maybe. But this boat looks like the cockpit drains were redone, too. Hopefully, they were made a bit larger. The drains on mine drain straight down through the hull to the water. Others noted this is no longer done. Above the water line allows the boat to drain faster. Good luck, Bruce Stirling Gangfurd Cal 28 - Hull 82 http://www.stirlinglaw.com/cal28 From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of . . Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 1:58 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] eBay add for Cal 28 Just wanted to get the experts' opinion on this Cal 28 on eBay.. http://tinyurl.com/2dz6rx Sabine S/V "Night and Day", Cal 25 The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

hello there...... while i wasn't old enough at the time too have built any of the famous Cal-28 flush-deck; there are people in this Group that did. but i was old enough to fall in love with the lines of all the Cal-Jensen flush-deck boats that sailed and raced the Columbia River where i worked with my Father and row my boat whenever i got time. in fact, on light-wind days, i would row out and chase my favorite boats as they sailed, and watched them to see which of them i though looked best under-sail. well, it was a no-brained when the first Cal-28 joined the fleet. She was the koolest boat I'd ever seen, and the only one who's skipper would bring her back into the moorage under sail. that was about 1965, and i had several copies of all the handouts for Cal-Boats with all the picture's in them to dream over every night in my bunk. the price on the Cal-28 was $10,000 at the time, and to a kid my size She was a Yacht even though i helped my Father work on much bigger boats most every day. i never stopped wanting that boat no matter how many other nicer or better sail boats i ever saw later in life. when i grew-up, did time in the navy doing stuff one only jokes about because they can never really tell the truth about it. and later put together really Big Expensive Yachts for Very Wealthy People; but i still though of my Cal-28. i am sort-a-retired now and have all the time in the world. last year i was looking at the "Craigslist" for parts of Southern California when all of a sudden 4 Cal-28's came up for sale at one time. all of them were less than $3,200. and all in the same area. well by the time that i figured out just how much it was going to cost to get one of them up here to Seattle and if i could swing it, one of the boats was sold already. another went while i was working out how to get a boat-trailer, and that just left the two. so i went after the cheapest one of two as i didn't want to take any chances. we offered the guy exactly what he was asking for it having only seen 4 small picture's of it. he only wanted $1,800 so i figured i was getting a gutted piece of crap. i have build a lot of boats so all i really wanted was a hull, a deck, a mast, and maybe sails of some sort...... the big part is that i needed him to hold the boat on $500 until i finish building the trailer and drove down there to get it. as it turned out the trailer took 3 weeks to build. but the guy held the boat and i got it back up to Seattle. it wasn't in bad shape; the guy had been sailing it quit a bit. there were two brinet 2-speed #26 wenches & two brinet #10 wenches. i nice little 4-HP outboard that i can use with my row-boat. and a big hooking danforth and a good bit of chine. the best part of it was that in 42 years, no buddy had ever slapped any pant on the outside of the boat!!!! so it was a clean hull and deck to start with. that was very important to me. now i realize this story is not exactly what you were asking for, but how do you judge the value of a nearly half-century old boat? i am an expert in boats of all sorts, and i have to tell you. the Cal-28 i bought is a "PIG". do you want me to start with that BIG-ASS hole in the stern of the Cal-28 your looking at???? or do you want to look at it from another point of view? one that says the boat is pretty cheap; maybe even the price that one could call it the "plastic table-wear" of boating. and buy it for what it is worth to them without looking under the rug or the paint. the thing does floats........ i wouldn't sell BB-54 @ $7,000 and i haven't done a thing too it yet. in fact, it's still sitting on the trailer...... Bruce sure as hell loves His Cal-28, don't you Bruce......? fiver, Master of The "BB-54" one of the famous Cal-28 flush-decks out of Sierra-5, Papa Hotel (in days gone by) now resting outside my shop Federal Way, Wa. (built like a Battleship; sails like a Sub......) ***************************** --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, ". ." <supergirl111980@...> wrote: > > Just wanted to get the experts' opinion on this Cal 28 > on eBay.. > > http://tinyurl.com/2dz6rx > > Sabine > > S/V "Night and Day", Cal 25 > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html >

I am having way too much fun in my Cal 28 to want to sell her. I still dream of finding time and place to go through her with a fine tooth comb a la Mike Kennedy, but the real world keeps me from doing so. The realization that the money would never come back to me gives me at least a bit of pause. I look at the boats around me and apart from the 40 footers, none of them do anything for me. I have grown accustomed to my Cal 28 lines. I love them from all angles. I try to imagine the Cal 40 flush deck and what she must be like on both the inside and outside. That has to be one huge flush deck! --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, "slickbutfoxbuger" <fiverhrairoo@... > wrote: > > > hello there...... > > while i wasn't old enough at the time too have built any of > the famous Cal-28 flush-deck; there are people in this Group that > did. > > but i was old enough to fall in love with the lines of all > the Cal-Jensen flush-deck boats that sailed and raced the Columbia > River where i worked with my Father and row my boat whenever i got > time. in fact, on light-wind days, i would row out and chase my > favorite boats as they sailed, and watched them to see which of them > i though looked best under-sail. well, it was a no-brained when the > first Cal-28 joined the fleet. She was the koolest boat I'd ever > seen, and the only one who's skipper would bring her back into the > moorage under sail. > > that was about 1965, and i had several copies of all the > handouts for Cal-Boats with all the picture's in them to dream over > every night in my bunk. the price on the Cal-28 was $10,000 at the > time, and to a kid my size She was a Yacht even though i helped my > Father work on much bigger boats most every day. > i never stopped wanting that boat no matter how many other > nicer or better sail boats i ever saw later in life. when i grew-up, > did time in the navy doing stuff one only jokes about because they > can never really tell the truth about it. and later put together > really Big Expensive Yachts for Very Wealthy People; but i still > though of my Cal-28. > > i am sort-a-retired now and have all the time in the world. last > year i was looking at the "Craigslist" for parts of Southern > California when all of a sudden 4 Cal-28's came up for sale at one > time. all of them were less than $3,200. and all in the same area. > well by the time that i figured out just how much it was going to > cost to get one of them up here to Seattle and if i could swing it, > one of the boats was sold already. another went while i was working > out how to get a boat-trailer, and that just left the two. so i went > after the cheapest one of two as i didn't want to take any chances. > we offered the guy exactly what he was asking for it having only seen > 4 small picture's of it. he only wanted $1,800 so i figured i was > getting a gutted piece of crap. i have build a lot of boats so all i > really wanted was a hull, a deck, a mast, and maybe sails of some > sort...... > the big part is that i needed him to hold the boat on $500 until > i finish building the trailer and drove down there to get it. as it > turned out the trailer took 3 weeks to build. but the guy held the > boat and i got it back up to Seattle. > > it wasn't in bad shape; the guy had been sailing it quit a bit. > there were two brinet 2-speed #26 wenches & two brinet #10 wenches. i > nice little 4-HP outboard that i can use with my row-boat. and a big > hooking danforth and a good bit of chine. the best part of it was > that in 42 years, no buddy had ever slapped any pant on the outside > of the boat!!!! so it was a clean hull and deck to start with. that > was very important to me. > > now i realize this story is not exactly what you were asking > for, but how do you judge the value of a nearly half-century old > boat? i am an expert in boats of all sorts, and i have to tell you. > the Cal-28 i bought is a "PIG". > do you want me to start with that BIG-ASS hole in the stern of > the Cal-28 your looking at???? or do you want to look at it from > another point of view? one that says the boat is pretty cheap; maybe > even the price that one could call it the "plastic table-wear" of > boating. and buy it for what it is worth to them without looking > under the rug or the paint. the thing does floats........ > > i wouldn't sell BB-54 @ $7,000 and i haven't done a thing too it > yet. in fact, it's still sitting on the trailer...... > Bruce sure as hell loves His Cal-28, don't you Bruce......? > > > > fiver, > Master of The "BB-54" > one of the famous Cal-28 flush-decks > out of Sierra-5, Papa Hotel (in days gone by) > now resting outside my shop > Federal Way, Wa. > > (built like a Battleship; sails like a Sub......) > > > ***************************** > --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, ". ." <supergirl111980@> wrote: > > > > Just wanted to get the experts' opinion on this Cal 28 > > on eBay.. > > > > http://tinyurl.com/2dz6rx > > > > Sabine > > > > S/V "Night and Day", Cal 25 > > > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > > The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email > address from your Internet provider. > http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html > > >