thanks again dan. its a gulf coast, not gulf star.thats what happens when
you get older. mind does strange things. my mistake.

anyway, i went to look at this "boat". doesnt look like its seen water in a
while. all the ropes are dry rotted or half worn out. cable seems ok. has
about a 4 foot long crack on the starboard side where the deck glues to the
hull. not broken all the way through, but a pretty good crack. in the
overall grand scheme of things, not too hard to repair. have been in the
auto body biz for 30 some odd years, have patched many a plastic car. hell i
own 2 of em. inside looks like someone threw a couple grenades in it. some
cracks in there too. all the cushions are shot, not really a big deal, cuz i
dont think anyone over 3 1/2 feet tall could get themselves below anyway.
does have a hanging locker. to what point i have no clue. sails are all
mildewed. doesnt look like they are rotted, very light sail material, guess
thats all you need for this thing. doesnt look too heavy. looks like one of
em is a spinnaker. . looks like everything is there. mast , boom etc. have
no clue how to rig it, either does the guy thats selling it. could probably
figure that out though. seems hes selling it for a friend that moved out of
state and is going to send him the money when/if it sells. mast has a dent
in it, fairly good sized one, also mast looks a little bent. winches work.
the wood on top of the cabin, hand holds i would assume, are all weather
cracked and havnt seen varnish in , at the very least, this century. all in
all , the best thing about the whole package , is the tires on the trailer
look pretty good.

if it holds water out, looks like the perfect new guy boat. if i ground it,
it would take a pretty good eye to determine where the new damage was. if i
sink it , i would be doing the sailing world a tremendous favor. if it holds
together long enough to teach me how to sail, would be doing me a tremendous
favor. so i need to sleep on it for a couple days and shoot the guy an
offer. 1800 is completely out of the question. $18 is closer to the mark,
but more likely than not, unacceptable to the present owner. think ill offer
him 800 bux and see what he says. all he can do is laugh at me. that will
make us even , as i had a pretty good laugh when i saw this tub.

on the plus side. i think a couple 3 weekends may do wonders for it. get in
there with a lot of soap and water to clean up the interior. wash the
cushion covers, maybe some new foam. have a friend that does auto
upholstery. but then again , why bother. function over form so to speak. no
ones going to be sitting on them anyway. clean the sails up. dont look too
big. can probably go to a laundramat and throw them in a washing machine. is
that ok to do?? if not , hose them out good and proper. another customer of
mine sells power boats and accessories. can get new rope at a fair price
from him. have some fibreglas. resin and cloth. could do the patch work in a
day or so. spot in some paint, maybe varnish the wood. pick up a cheap
outboard to get me out far enough to raise the sails, and off i go. if i can
pick it up for a grand, ill probably have 15 to 18 in it by the time its
ready for water, but thats acceptable to me. education costs money. could
probaly get a grand for it after im through with it, so not too bad. will be
sure to get a very good life jacket and waterproof my cell phone. anyway. if
it works out it should entertain the guys at the marina watching me learn
how to sail it. i will most likely be quite a sight to see for a while.
still havnt heard back from the guy about the sailing lessons. hes probaly
out sailing , been a very nice weekend here. high 90s and a little breezy.

so.....what do you think?? would like to hear what you guys think on this.

ps. just talked to the guy thats selling it. told him what i thought, he
suggested an 800 dollar offer to the owner. so we shall see. guess hes left
town permanantly and is paying 50 bux a month storage on it. seems several
people have called and looked at it. no offers thus far. as always, any
input much appreciated. best regards, j.d.