Going to look at a '65 Commander

[Christopher]

I found a potential deal right in my own back yard.  Literally walking distance from where I work every day is a 65 Pearson commander for sale for $1950.  It has no motor but has a trailer, a huge plus for me as I have a free place to store it at a friends house with a lot of land.
I'm working on coordinating a day next week to go inspect it.  There are no pictures online so I'm expecting the worst, but I'm willing to deal with some degree of work so long as it floats and can hoist a sail or two.
I know there are a few Pearson Ariel owners on this forum and the Commander is the same hull design as far as I know.  I've read one post on here that I need to seek out again about what to look for when inspecting a boat.  Is there anything specific to the Pearson or this hull that I should look at?

here's the ad

Model: Pearson Commander
Price: $1,950
Year:  1965
L.O.D.: 26'
Beam: 7' 2"
Draft: 4'
Disp.: 3,200 lbs
Ballast:
Hull Material: Fiberglass
Auxiliary Power: Outboard, Not Included
Msc: Keel:  Full, Rudder:  Keel Hung, Ballast: 1,600 lbs lead, Rig: Sloop, Highway trailer

[s/v Faith]

Good luck!  The commanders are getting tough to find, there are a couple guys on the Association web site looking right now.

  I would recommend you search the PearsonAriel.org owners site.  There are many many threads there on what to look for.

  None of the things typically found on these boats is a showstopper.  They are easy to work on, and worth the effort.  The kinds of things to look for that might affect the price negotiations are soft decks (re-coring is a fairly big job, but not all that tough in the big scheme of things).  Other than that, it is rotted brightwork, bad fiberglass repairs, faulty wiring... all the typical used boat stuff.

  Good luck, and if you decide not to get it maybe you can post the boat on the association web site so it can find a good home.

 

[Cmdr Pete]

I might be a bit biased....

First of all, the specs on the boat are way off, some of them sound like Ensign specs

Commander specs here

http://www.pearsoninfo.net/commander/commander.htm

Probably not a good sign if the owner is that clueless

I agree with Craig, you're basically looking for the same things you would on any older boat, even a 20 year old boat.

Take plenty of pics

[Christopher]

  Good luck, and if you decide not to get it maybe you can post the boat on the association web site so it can find a good home.

I'll definitely do that.  My purchase is contingent upon a few things... First the boat has to be in decent enough shape to sail.  I don't care much about the motor as I've been sailing Ensigns for 4 years with no motor... and kind of take pride in it.  Then I need to sell my guitar.  A 1970 Les Paul Custom if anyone's interested :)  And then, the critical one, getting my wife to agree to taking on a boat in addition to a newborn in March...

If any of those fall through, I'll let others know about her. 

[Christopher]

Probably not a good sign if the owner is that clueless

I agree with Craig, you're basically looking for the same things you would on any older boat, even a 20 year old boat.

Take plenty of pics

It's a broker selling it.  Not sure if that's good, bad, or indifferent, but that may be the reason for the faulty information. 

I'll be taking tons of pics, and probably posting them to this thread for all of your opinions.  Good to know that there aren't many things making a purchase a show stopper.

[AdriftAtSea]

mkechris—

I'd recommend you read this post I wrote on Boat Inspection Trips... :)

I think it'll help you with deciding whether to continue further with buying the boat. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Christopher]

mkechris—

I'd recommend you read this post I wrote on Boat Inspection Trips... :)

I think it'll help you with deciding whether to continue further with buying the boat. Good luck and keep us posted.

That's the one I was looking for!  I plan on reviewing this post a couple of times before heading over there.  I read it once before but forgot which section it was in.  Thanks much!!!

[AdriftAtSea]

Glad to help...that's why I wrote it. :)

[Christopher]

Appointment is set for Monday.  I'll have plenty of pics to post soon.  The wife doesn't seem overwhelmingly averse to the idea surprisingly!  Probably because she knows if I finally get a boat she won't have to listen to me pining about it anymore. :)

Hopefully she's in good shape.

[AdriftAtSea]

MkeChris-

Why do I get the feeling, she'd use a different word that rhymes with pining to describe what you're doing. :)  Good luck, look forward to hearing how it goes.

Appointment is set for Monday.  I'll have plenty of pics to post soon.  The wife doesn't seem overwhelmingly averse to the idea surprisingly!  Probably because she knows if I finally get a boat she won't have to listen to me pining about it anymore. :)

Hopefully she's in good shape.

[Christopher]

You are spot on with that... pining is not the correct term... whining is mild.. she'd probably say something along the lines of "obsessing"

[Christopher]

Well - winter has won the day.  There will be no boat inspection today :(

[CapnK]

Blech!!! ;D

(...and a Grog for showing a place that makes here seem warm... ;) )

[hearsejr]

it's in the 50's here..lol

[nowell]

Well - winter has won the day.  There will be no boat inspection today :(

Might be the best time for it. Im sure the owner would be more apt to sell it and use that money considering the recession, holidays, etc.

[Marc]

I don't know if I'm in the right category with this, but it is kind of funny.  Went to work this morning a 0630. And my boss really likes me and gave the job of watching the plumbers digging in the dirt with their backhoe.  It's a brand new building under constructio, any ways we had conduit underground in the same area with live wire  13.5 K  But anyways Ialso knew that there was a 4" natural gas line in the same area and I warned the plumber/operator about it, and being a Monday morning everyone is kind of grumpy anyways said to me "don't you f-ing worry about it I'm doing this job all you need to worry about is your stuff."  A few expletives were mentioned from me and would'nt you know it on his 3rd scoop after our conversation boom he hit the gas line.  So, guess what?   Everyone (all the trades) were sent home.  So this is at about 0745.  So all us electicians from our company went out for breakfast at a bar that was open for all the night shift people, and after eating a few of us stayed and had a few beers.  So I come home and the first thing I do is come here to sailfar.  And that brings you all up to date, sorry so long but I thought some of you would get a chuckle out of it.  If there is misspellings you all should be able to figure out why.  Groggily Marc

[AdriftAtSea]

at least they didn't hit the electrical conduit and the gas main... :) that would have made for a very exciting morning... but you might not have been able to walk away from it.

[Christopher]

Rescheduled to go look at the Commander tomorrow at noon, and GUESS WHAT!?!  They issued a winter storm advisory for tomorrow late morning early afternoon...  expecting at least another 4 inches of snow....  I'm not one for superstition but GEEEZZ!

[skylark]

tis meant to be

do not fear the ice and snow

take pics!

lowball offer!

from the wavy side of Lake MI

[AdriftAtSea]

LOL....  Mke, by any chance have you pissed off the weather gods recently???

Rescheduled to go look at the Commander tomorrow at noon, and GUESS WHAT!?!  They issued a winter storm advisory for tomorrow late morning early afternoon...  expecting at least another 4 inches of snow....  I'm not one for superstition but GEEEZZ!