hi all.looked at a very nice cal 2-27 last week. one owner since new. all
records of anything ever done to the boat, and very anal about maintenence.
boat is in excellent condition for it age and very good for any age.

question: is this boat tough enough for extended coastal cruising down the
pacific coast , mexico and central america?? possibly very limited offshore
to various california islands??

thanks for any input, good or bad. best regards, j.d.

"jds" wrote in message
news:qJWxf.25$MJ.17@fed1read07...
hi all.looked at a very nice cal 2-27 last week. one owner since new. all
records of anything ever done to the boat, and very anal about
maintenence. boat is in excellent condition for it age and very good for
any age.

question: is this boat tough enough for extended coastal cruising down the
pacific coast , mexico and central america?? possibly very limited
offshore to various california islands??

thanks for any input, good or bad. best regards, j.d.

I have a great deal of respect for Cals, having owned one and sailed on a
few. However, you didn't supply enough information to give a definitive
answer. I would say, probably, but you should have an expert (e.g., surveyor
and/or diesel mechanic) give you their judgement. Of course, there's also
the issue of skipper, crew, weather conditions. It's not exactly a huge
boat, so there would be long-term comfort issues as well.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

thank you capt. i will absolutely get the boat surveyed, i would want expert
advise on the condition. to my untrained eye, she looks good.

absolutely agree on the skipper and crew doing their part. excellent point.

weather conditions are part of my concern about the boat. i have no
intentions of going out in snotty weather. im retiring at the end of the
year and will have nowhere in particular to go, and all the time i have left
to do it. but, poop does occur. will the boat survive nasty weather if i do
my part??

do you think the unprotected rudder would be a problem??

i know its not a large boat, but i will be singlehanding with occasional
quests for short term trips. from what im used to ( a 23 foot swing keel
sloop), its a palace lol. the cockpit is nice, not too big. no 1/4 berth, so
lots of stowage. would like a good 1/4 berth, but that isnt a deal breaker.
tankage is a bit small, but not going around the world.

i guess build quality would be my main concern. thanks for you reply
captain. hope the above will clarify my situation some. thanks again, best
regards, jeff

"jds" wrote in message
news:fGXxf.27$MJ.13@fed1read07...
thank you capt. i will absolutely get the boat surveyed, i would want
expert advise on the condition. to my untrained eye, she looks good.

absolutely agree on the skipper and crew doing their part. excellent
point.

weather conditions are part of my concern about the boat. i have no
intentions of going out in snotty weather. im retiring at the end of the
year and will have nowhere in particular to go, and all the time i have
left to do it. but, poop does occur. will the boat survive nasty weather
if i do my part??

Well, they're tough boats, but it's hard to know. I would think a qualified
yes, all things being equal. There are so many factors at work, that it's
hard to be unequivical. Put it this way, you can cross an ocean in much less
of a boat, but I wouldn't recommend it. :-)

do you think the unprotected rudder would be a problem??

Not in the ocean unless you hit something. :-) Of course, if the weather is
extreme enough, all bets are off. Anything can break. The good news is that
the weather off the Pacific Coast is pretty predictable.

i know its not a large boat, but i will be singlehanding with occasional
quests for short term trips. from what im used to ( a 23 foot swing keel
sloop), its a palace lol. the cockpit is nice, not too big. no 1/4 berth,
so lots of stowage. would like a good 1/4 berth, but that isnt a deal
breaker. tankage is a bit small, but not going around the world.

i guess build quality would be my main concern. thanks for you reply
captain. hope the above will clarify my situation some. thanks again, best
regards, jeff

Have you been off the coast? I'd suggest doing that a couple of times before
making a commitment to do it on your own. As an example of the conditions, I
took a 48' full keel CT ketch down the coast from SF to Cabo. The first two
days we saw 30+ kts wind on the nose and 10-15 foot seas. Beat the crap out
of everyone including me. After we turned south, things settled down and we
made a steady 5 kts the whole way, not tacks, no jibes, nice weather.

thanks again capt. input much appreciated.

yes , i have been off off the coast. been to catalina a few times, in good
weather. all but once on a power boat. the one time i sailed was with a
friend on his flicka. nice easy ride. used to go fishing quite a bit out of
oxnard on my bosses 20 power boat. it can get nasty there pretty quickly.
but no, never by myself in a sailboat. i have been on lake mead when it was
20+ miles an hour. had a few pant filling moments, but made it to the bay
ok. thats one of the reasons im looking for a smallish boat. small sails,
less weight to handle etc.

im going down to look at it again later this morning. give it a good hard
look and maybe make an offer. the owner is a really nice guy that doesnt
want to sell it, but hes in his 70s and his knees arent what they used to
be. cant really sail it any more. still goes and putzes around with the boat
all the time. appreciate the advice skipper. many thanks. best regards, j.d.

"jds" wrote in message
news:Ib4yf.95$MJ.51@fed1read07...
thanks again capt. input much appreciated.

yes , i have been off off the coast. been to catalina a few times, in good
weather. all but once on a power boat. the one time i sailed was with a
friend on his flicka. nice easy ride. used to go fishing quite a bit out
of oxnard on my bosses 20 power boat. it can get nasty there pretty
quickly. but no, never by myself in a sailboat. i have been on lake mead
when it was 20+ miles an hour. had a few pant filling moments, but made it
to the bay ok. thats one of the reasons im looking for a smallish boat.
small sails, less weight to handle etc.

im going down to look at it again later this morning. give it a good hard
look and maybe make an offer. the owner is a really nice guy that doesnt
want to sell it, but hes in his 70s and his knees arent what they used to
be. cant really sail it any more. still goes and putzes around with the
boat all the time. appreciate the advice skipper. many thanks. best
regards, j.d.

Ah.... I've actually never been to Catalina, just sailed past it. :-) We
should have stopped. Maybe next time I jump the channel when get down that
way again. Of course, there's a huge difference between So. Cal. and No.
Cal. sailing offshore.

Even if you don't do much offshore, I doubt you'll regret owning her.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 17:11:51 -0800, "jds" wrote:

i guess build quality would be my main concern. thanks for you reply
captain. hope the above will clarify my situation some. thanks again, best
regards, jeff

===============================

Build quality is a bit on the light side. Problem areas to be on the
look out for are hull tabbings for bulheads and reinforcements, as
well as chainplates. These issues can become paricularly evident if
you spend time beating to windward in heavy seas.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 17:11:51 -0800, "jds" wrote:

i guess build quality would be my main concern. thanks for you reply
captain. hope the above will clarify my situation some. thanks again, best
regards, jeff

===============================

Build quality is a bit on the light side. Problem areas to be on the
look out for are hull tabbings for bulheads and reinforcements, as
well as chainplates. These issues can become paricularly evident if
you spend time beating to windward in heavy seas.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 17:11:51 -0800, "jds" wrote:

i guess build quality would be my main concern. thanks for you reply
captain. hope the above will clarify my situation some. thanks again, best
regards, jeff

===============================

Build quality is a bit on the light side. Problem areas to be on the
look out for are hull tabbings for bulheads and reinforcements, as
well as chainplates. These issues can become paricularly evident if
you spend time beating to windward in heavy seas.


What do you mean by "build quality?" Seems to me the glass is quite good on
the Cals.

Definitely agree re the chainplates... that's a typical problem area.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

On Sat, 14 Jan 2006 11:16:23 -0800, "Capt. JG"
wrote:

What do you mean by "build quality?" Seems to me the glass is quite good on
the Cals.

=========================

The hull and deck are good but the interior tabbing was weak on mine
and many others. The hulls depend on interior structure for rigidity,
and when that loosens up, the whole boat can start flexing.