TriHikeSail forum posts in last 60 days

Hi All,

I'm always looking for boats. I'm not ready to buy one yet but just for practice I imagine that I am and do my due diligence on a few that suit me.

What I've decided in my head is that my first boat will be a Tophat 25. That way I know that I can use the boat for whatever stage I get up to from bay cruising to offshore ventures like Norfolk Island or New Zealand.

I find the odd Tophat from now to then and sometimes they are in such a sad state that they are essentially a floating liability. I feel so sad imagining the fate of these boats that I try to find a way to get them into my custodianship now rather than later.

I found one recently and this is what state its in.

Mooring: Illegally Moored on someone else's mooring
Standing Rigging: Unknown date - uninsurable
Running Rigging: Present
Hull: Last antifoul 3 years ago with some osmosis present
Auxiliary: Space for outboard but none present
Insurance: None
Battery/Solar: None
Bilge Pump: None
Anchor Light: Existing but not wired up/None
Nav: None
Safety: None
Sails: Main in bag on boom, headsail below (hanked on type)

The boat is for sale for $2000 odd dollars and deep down I want to offer him $1 to take the financial liability off of him and spend about 5k installing basic nav lights and bilge pump with osmosis repair / gelcoat repair / antifoul. Id purchase a high thrust outboard with alternator and sail the boat once a month or so for pleasure. I've got a swing mooring ready to go. First I would purchase the high thrust outboard and use a good friend of mine to get it onboard then Id motor over to Pelican Slipways and get the rigging and hull sorted so she can be insured. Then id head over to my mooring and feel good that I've got the boat that I want to start my sailing life.

Has anyone had this same experience and gone ahead with it? Ultimately Id love to share this with someone else to share the financial burden and also enjoy some stewardship.