For those not familiar with the 25D, she is yet another Alberg design. 25' with the head forward (no V-berth), large salon and large cockpit. Tiller steering. The 25D was my choice as the smallest, good looking boat with full standing headroom in our pricerange.
There were (for once) some pleasant surprises. First, we seem to have every morsel of documentation since the boat was delivered in 1985 including the original vinyl Cape Dory document folio. This makes my very, very organized husband very happy.
The boat has also been repowered with a Yanmar 1GM10 from the original 1GM. The spinnaker is actually an asymetrical spinnaker. Although we use our radial cut spinnaker quite a bit, the drifter will be great for our many light winds days in the dog days of summer. I never would shell out the money for one. The sails are only a few years old and have seen very little use. We were expecting original sails based on the broker's description.
We had to motor 3 hours to the marina for haul out (not a breath of air...) and the diesel purred. The boat has seen little use in the past year and this was a concern.
The survey went very well. We had spend 7-8 hours on the boat pouring over ever nook and cranny prior to the survey. The surveyor found three minor items we had not seen (two below the water line), otherwise there were no surprises. Another pleasant surprise was that all of the electronics worked (except for one light that was missing a bulb). The head isn't pumping, but it looks to just need a rebuild kit.
Our Sea Sprite came completely "unfurnished" -- nothing on board other than cushions. Not even a water logged PFD. On the new boat, the PO simply walked away (barefoot apparently as we even found a pair of nice sneakers on board). We have THREE 120' anchor rodes with chain (and anchors), enough extra genuine Yanmar parts to build a new engine, an emergency Whale pump, miles of surplus yacht braid and a lifetime supply of expired flares!
As we were getting ready to pull out, a guy walked up to me and said -- "you must be the people who stole my boat" -- yikes!!! Turns out he was the seller and was very pleasant and told us that the people he had purchased the boat from were Jack and Alice therefore the name Jackal. He was also able to answer a few questions which was helpful. I couldn't feel too bad that he sold the boat at a loss -- we couldn't have afforded her otherwise.
I've had to promise my husband not to buy any more boats for a while. Come spring we will have Sophie's Choice as we will have to sell either the Typhoon or the Sea Sprite. But that is another day... Today we're celebrating.
Bly
