Greetings! My name is Bob Stack. New to this forum and frankly, pretty new to boating.
I am looking at a 1987 28' Contessa "project" She's a project mainly because she's really dirty and has been in storage for a few years. Only "big" thing she needs is the stern drive. The motor is sound (7.5 OMC) and the gimble (sp?) is there and in good shape. The boat is at a marina operated by a friend and he's comfortable that she's overall sound.
This will be a Lake Michigan boat.
Couple questions if you don't mind:
1) how difficult will it be to find a used stern drive? My buddy thinks that will be about a $4K investment, but he's a sailboat guy so he's not 100% sure. Any opinions on costs?
2) being new to this, I have no idea what a vessel like this will use in terms of fuel. Is there an "average" or expected gallons per hour that I can assume? Figure that we typically would be just out cruising with family and clients so not pushing the boat flat out.
3) My buddy is confident that this not "too much boat" for a new guy. I want to believe him since it's a great size boat for client and family entertaining, looks like there's lots of room. But don't want to get too much over my head either. Any opinions on this? Don't worry, I'm pretty thick skinned.
Thanks!
Bob
I am looking at a 1987 28' Contessa "project" She's a project mainly because she's really dirty and has been in storage for a few years. Only "big" thing she needs is the stern drive. The motor is sound (7.5 OMC) and the gimble (sp?) is there and in good shape. The boat is at a marina operated by a friend and he's comfortable that she's overall sound.
This will be a Lake Michigan boat.
Couple questions if you don't mind:
1) how difficult will it be to find a used stern drive? My buddy thinks that will be about a $4K investment, but he's a sailboat guy so he's not 100% sure. Any opinions on costs?
2) being new to this, I have no idea what a vessel like this will use in terms of fuel. Is there an "average" or expected gallons per hour that I can assume? Figure that we typically would be just out cruising with family and clients so not pushing the boat flat out.
3) My buddy is confident that this not "too much boat" for a new guy. I want to believe him since it's a great size boat for client and family entertaining, looks like there's lots of room. But don't want to get too much over my head either. Any opinions on this? Don't worry, I'm pretty thick skinned.
Thanks!
Bob
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