Assessing The Project

Buying an old neglected Seawind 24 like this we were expecting a few surprises when we had a closer look at the project but there were not too many. The rigging would need replacing as it was 30 years old, the trampolines were badly weather damaged, and the running rigging all needed to be changed.

The inside was dry and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the sails, 2 complete sets, were in great shape. One set, a jib, genoa, and main had never been out of the bag. The 8 hp Mercury engine, although 15 years old, had obviously not been run much. Apparently the original engine had been stolen and this one was fitted and run for about 15 minutes and the boat was never moved again.






The purpose built Seawind 24 trailer was a mess due to being left to the elements for many years and needed a major overhaul. It was built in Australia and so also needed to be modified to comply with US regulations. The list included new lights and wiring, 2 new axles with brakes on both, new wheels and tires, fenders, and a new coupler.







Our original budget for the boat was $10 000 and so far it was looking like we could do it for about $8000 so we were feeling pretty good about it. This figure was with us doing all the work and only farming out a small amount of welding work on the trailer. One way we managed to keep the costs down was to "window" shop at the marine stores to find the best quality products and then get quotes from industrial suppliers and commercial fishing suppliers. Some of our quotes were up to 70% cheaper than stores like West Marine for the exact same product.

Next week........ The Work Schedule

There It Is!

My wife and I had been looking for a sailboat for some time and began searching the Internet for suitable boats. We were interested in a +- 28' boat that we could live aboard and possibly do some ocean cruising with. We found and rejected many but then I got a job at a local marina, Steamboat Landing Marina and there I saw it, a 24' Seawind catamaran! It had been there for a long time and was really run down but I just fell in love with this pretty little boat. We had built and sailed a 35' cat before and knew what a great pleasure it was to sail cats. The Seawind 24 is a lot smaller and probably a bit faster than our previous boat.

Now it was time to find out if the owner would part with it. I had some trouble contacting the owner as the phone number for him at the marina didn't work and I resorted to mailing a letter to his last address. A few days later I received an email from him saying he would consider selling it but would only be there in 6 weeks' time. I checked the boat out in the meantime and got a diver to check the bottom for osmosis. Surprisingly the bottom was in good condition, probably because it had been in very cold fresh water for the past nineteen years!

When the owner got back we entered into a week long negotiation on the price and settled in the end on $3000 for the boat and its purpose built trailer which was in equally neglected condition.

The Boat was now ours!!