It has been a bad 2 weeks for me and my boats. I am seriously considering selling all of them. I spent 2 days cleaning every nook of the Seidelmann only to find more mud dauber nests today. Every time I take the Compac out some electrical issue comes up and I've gone through 3 depth meters in 3 years and I'm trailering it anymore because of all those hassles. I tried working on the Sunfish rudder only to have the cast aluminum rudder housing brake. I spent the last 4 days getting the Orion ready for next weeks club sail. Day 1 a piece of canvas that zips to the front of the Doyle stack pack went missing. Day 2 the bottom batten disappeared. Today I went to dive the area thinking the batten fell overboard. When I unpacked my diving equipment, a glove, that I checked to make sure was in the bag, is missing. Then the zipper on my new wetsuit broke. So far retirement has been nothing but frustration with boats.
Seriously thinking of selling all of them and buying another motorcycle or nice sports car.
Carl. Step away from the for sale signs..... Go find something else to do that does not involve water! Come back with a fresh perspective in a few days, start ONE project and finish it. One at a time! LOL buddy - hang in there. Things will improve. Sail On - AL
Carl, me thinks you just have too many boats and have become overwhelmed and lack focus. So pick one and focus send the others to new captains. And as far as bad boat days, you should check out my latest post on the trailer sailors site. Now that is a bad boat day. Be sure you have a safety chain on your mounted outboards.
Brackish. I read your post earlier today and I thought, this sounds like me.
While searching for my missing glove and canvas piece, I realized both sunbrella covers for the cabin hatches are also missing. We've all heard of boat gremlins, these are thieves. It's nit just the boats. My vintage receiver stopped working so I took it to be repaired. $165 and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. Brought it home and no sound. Only hooked up the turntable and sound! So, it's either the equalizer or dynamic range expander. While that is going on, all 4 surrounds on my Advent Heritage woofers somehow got damaged. I ordered new woofers, but they didn't have any bass at all. Sent them back and ordered new surrounds. I ordered the wrong ones. So, $10 shipping for the woofers, $20 shipping to return them. $10 shipping for the surrounds, not sure what it will cost to return.
Boats, trailers, stereos, lawns. Frustrating. Did I mention my favorite air rifle is leaking again? I spent over $300 last year to have all the seals replaced by a very reputable airgun store. Never it never ends.
I did take the Compac out this afternoon. Lovely sail. I was out for almost 3 hours. Sailed into a cove with protection from the wind and just sat there listening to nature. Until an Osprey startled me by diving into the water for a fish. On my sail back a PAN PAN came across channel 16. A sailor found a John boat on the river. The CG replied. Another boater towed into the harbor where it was inspected. A cooler with no ice or water, a dead cell phone, a bucket with live blue crabs, a recently caught fish and fishing gear. Not good. 🙏 the boater is somewhere safe.
I'll give advice that is sound but I don't necessarily follow. SIMPLIFY!!
Yesterday I ordered a new fuel tank and a true factory manual for the sail pro motor. Tired of chasing what is wrong with it, using the opinions of others rather than a scientific approach. Unfortunately there are relatively few options to take it somewhere and have it fixed by a "pro" in this neck of the woods. Also need to repair the mount with a homemade mount plate as I don't think Garelick is in the mount business any more and probably can't get the parts. Going all out to get this thing reliably running. Planning to replace most of the original running rigging, it is 21 years old.
Air rifles have seals and they can go bad?? I hope from use and not from just sitting around. I have one that I purchased during the war with the invading squirrels and since winning that war (probably just a temporary ceasefire) it has just been sitting around. Got it using your extensive knowledge of the genre. However, at the end of that war I got to rebuild five corner birdbox structures on my house, clearing out the tree rat nests and replacing the wiring and corner security lights. Also got to rebuild the gable vents and install rat wire on each.
With regard to the sound system I have enough hearing loss in certain ranges where it doesn't matter to me anymore. All kinda sounds the same.
When it comes right down to it, the only thing in this discussion that really matters is the fate of the fisherman who seems to be separated from his rig.
Carl, Sounds like a run of bad luck and perhaps some bad people thrown in. Do consider that while you can sell all the boats, you won't get rid of your obvious love of sailing. As long as you are physically able to manage a sailboat, there are few things in this life that are as satisfying to your mind and your soul as a fair breeze and a gently rolling sea.
Quote from: Bewildered on April 27, 2026, 08:46:52 AMCarl, Sounds like a run of bad luck and perhaps some bad people thrown in. Do consider that while you can sell all the boats, you won't get rid of your obvious love of sailing. As long as you are physically able to manage a sailboat, there are few things in this life that are as satisfying to your mind and your soul as a fair breeze and a gently rolling sea.
Ditto what Bewildered has conveyed here -- all that I keep thinking about lately is that feel you get with tiller in hand when the boat is perfectly balanced and the feel of the boat moving through the water...the wind and the sun on your skin -- I am craving that sensation like there's no tomorrow.
I also agree with the others who've talked about simplification. With three boats up until just a couple of weeks or so ago, I felt like you. I am ashamed to say that I had trepidation and dread thinking about dealing with it all -- the preparations, dealing with people at marinas who I had to rely on but weren't the friendliest folk with whom to work -- the nonsense that goes on at the lake with other boaters who could care less about boating safely and being courteous to other boaters...the long drive to the lake (almost three hours) for just an afternoon (maybe 2-3 hrs tops) of sailing.
However, now that 2 of the boats have wonderful new captains, the load is much, much lighter. Also, because I have the Legacy and am not planning to slip the boat this time around, I feel much more in control of the situation and not feeling held captive by this and that and whatnot. I can go to whichever lake I want, explore, try something new. That is exciting to me. It goes without saying that there will be plenty of hiccups along the way on that route, too, I'm sure, but regardless, I feel energized and that is an AMAZING feeling! (Btw, try as I might, the darn mud daubers made their way into
Starflower, too -- darn things!)
You will get through these troubled waters, crazycarl -- as a good friend of mine always used to counsel me "This too shall pass."
Well I moved the Seidelmann into a slip at the association docks. Engine wouldn't start so I took the control panel apart and tested all the circuits. Then I saw the start button. I pushed it and it fired right up. Stupid me. The Orion starts by turning the key. The Seidelmann starts by turning the key, then pushing a button.
She's all cleaned up ready for listing pictures.
Well I did as suggested and stayed away from the boats for a couple days. Today I went to check on the Seidelmann after moving it days ago. All the lines looked good. Started to rain so I went inside figuring I'd grab a book and read for awhile. That's when I noticed a light flickering. I had left the batteries on with all the interior lights and 4 fans on. The batteries were very low. Thankfully the power was finally turned on just yesterday. I was able to get plug in and hopefully I didn't mess up the those wet cell batteries by drawing them down too far. I a. Surprised how fast they went down. All the lights are LED. Must have been the fans.
Good luck with the sale. Market is not all that good here in the Midwest, but hopefully it is better on the East coast. Interesting that I still get calls from sailors wanting to buy my Eclipse, which has not been listed for 8 months. Also got an E Mail from someone wanting to buy my Horizon! Wow, they are really digging deep. Sail On AL
Al,
Your boat is still showing for sale on various web sites. Might look into where you put it for sale and delete the posting. edit: Sailboatlistings.com still show off the wind for sale.
Bryan
The market is flooded right now. Talking with brokers they all said what I was thinking. During covid people were buying up boats, campers, kayaks, bicycles and anything outdoor related. Now after several years of those items not getting the use they thought they would, they're selling them. I have several friends here with, okay, I know what your thinking, Joanie has friends and I heard them talking, anyway, they have sailboats on the market for several years and can't sell them. The Seidelmann is costing me about $2500 a year for the slip and insurance so I'll take a hit on it, but I want it gone.
I never look at sailboat listings because they never delete the sold boats.
The market is flooded with old beat up cruising boats built from the 60's to the 90's that have not been maintained since their owner aged out. There are of course, ones that are in good condition but they are few and far between and difficult to insure if over 25 years old.
There are also appear to be lots of new boats that can't sell. I wonder why? There is a dealer called Nautical Ventures that posts Million dollar 3 year old new yachts on the Sarasota Craigslist. And not a few, many of them. They have a huge investment in inventory. Boggles the mind how they can make enough to survive, are that many millionaires buying new yachts?
Long story but I'm going to sell my trimaran soon and get back in the Com-Pac club. I've been looking at all the usual sites for a newer model SunCat or Legacy or Eclipse. I see fewer than 5 available in the whole country. There are 2 Legacys and 2 Eclipse. Com-Pacs are not flooding the market.
Bryan
Yes, the market is slow for sellers, but well maintained boats priced according to the market are moving. Com-Pacs especially. Last month my slip neighbor at the marina sold his CP25 without a trailer in two days. My CP23D on a trailer sold in a week. Both boats were in excellent condition. Two other boats in the marina have also sold. All four boats were priced practically given the market. Interestingly, I got no inquiries from Craigslist. Facebook marketplace was very active and generated good inquiries and lookers.
A fellow named Mitch from Texas recently bought Eclipse hull #29 in Ft Meyers. He is considering buying my sailboat lift modification system.
I spent a short time as a used boat salesman in San Diego circa 2009. If it weren't for having a captain's license I would have starved since no on was buying boats during the great recession os 2008/09. During that time I had a few listing that I put on Sailboat Listings. Incredibly, I still get calls for some of those boats. As stated earlier by Carl--I think-- they never seem to drop their ads.
Quote from: TopsailB on May 01, 2026, 03:58:44 PMYes, the market is slow for sellers, but well maintained boats priced according to the market are moving. Com-Pacs especially. Last month my slip neighbor at the marina sold his CP25 without a trailer in two days. My CP23D on a trailer sold in a week. Both boats were in excellent condition. Two other boats in the marina have also sold. All four boats were priced practically given the market. Interestingly, I got no inquiries from Craigslist. Facebook marketplace was very active and generated good inquiries and lookers.
TopsailB, I believe I saw your CL posting. You had a real good looking 23 based on the pictures. I was headed down to Surf City the weekend after the listing dropped off (for other reasons) and was contemplating reaching out. Probably bigger than I need with my plan to keep a boat on the trailer most of the time. But to your point, your CL listing was noticed and was on the verge of an inquiry. Probably worked out for the best overall - you sold the boat and I'd likely still be trying to find time to take it out.
Quote from: Bewildered on May 01, 2026, 09:53:47 PMA fellow named Mitch from Texas recently bought Eclipse hull #29 in Ft Meyers. He is considering buying my sailboat lift modification system.
I spent a short time as a used boat salesman in San Diego circa 2009. If it weren't for having a captain's license I would have starved since no on was buying boats during the great recession os 2008/09. During that time I had a few listing that I put on Sailboat Listings. Incredibly, I still get calls for some of those boats. As stated earlier by Carl--I think-- they never seem to drop their ads.
Hmmm...interesting, I wonder if this is the same Mitch from Texas who has the popular
"Small Boat Big Water" YouTube channel. He had (or still has, maybe) a Com-Pac 23, but I saw that boat for sale on FB Marketplace for some time. The ad was still there, last I looked, not too long ago.
It seems a lot of ads on FB and sailboatlistings dot com are often old and no longer valid. Speaking from experience re: sailboatlistings: If you forget your username for the site (which I did), you cannot get tech support to get back into your account, so you have no way to delete your ad -- this is what happened to me and that's why you still see my old 1990 Com-Pac 23 'SV No Mas' ad still up. Shortly after selling, I had marked it SOLD on the ad (when I should have just deleted the ad at the time instead). I still get inquiries on that boat from time to time, even with having noted the boat as sold. But, yeah, I can't back in to that ad to delete it as I yet I still don't recall what I had used as a username at the time.
Quote from: JSpark on May 02, 2026, 09:53:21 AMTopsailB, I believe I saw your CL posting. You had a real good looking 23 based on the pictures. I was headed down to Surf City the weekend after the listing dropped off (for other reasons) and was contemplating reaching out. Probably bigger than I need with my plan to keep a boat on the trailer most of the time. But to your point, your CL listing was noticed and was on the verge of an inquiry. Probably worked out for the best overall - you sold the boat and I'd likely still be trying to find time to take it out.
JaVa is one good looking boat and is in great shape. She went to a good home in Jacksonville FL. I was especially pleased that the new owners are 20 somethings-a different generation of sailors! The new owner plans to leave the boat rigged and keep it on the trailer a good bit of the time. Although the trailer is set up for easy launch and retrieval, rigging/de-rigging took three hours or so. Not hard, just time involved. If you were planning to trailer the boat to and from ramps, rigging the boat each time might have become annoying at best.
Quote from: crazycarl on May 01, 2026, 12:55:00 PM...I never look at sailboat listings because they never delete the sold boats.
In this case, the best strategy to use the sailboatlistings site (and reduce the old ad frustration situation) is to click the 'View All Sailboats' link at the top left hand side of the website homepage. That will bring up results showing what ads have literally been posted most recently. Of course if a boat sells in two hours after posting, for example, and the seller doesn't mark the ad sold or delete it...you still run into the same thing.
As I mentioned in my prior post, however, I find the same frustration with FB Marketplace ads -- and there, more frequently, no one responds to my inquiries -- ghosts me -- which is the ultimate insult. I cannot stand that. I've also experienced this on CL as well.
IMHO: If an ad is up, the boat should still be available -- that is the strategy I use as a seller because I also cannot stand it when people inquire with "Is the boat still available?" especially right after I said at jump street in my ad "If this ad is up, the boat is still available."
I never saw that Eclipse for sale in Ft.Myers. Do you know where was it was listed for sale?
After (many) years of using Sailboatlistings to buy and sell a couple of boats, I've found that the way that clicking on the most recent tab described above is the quickest way to find the most recent ads. The other way is to search by state and just look at the ads with pictures. Those are often the most "real" ones.
As time goes by the site becomes more useless as more people forget to take their ad down. I wish the owner would purge anything older than 2 years.
Cheers,
Vectordirector aka
Bryan
First to Chelle: It is a different Mitch than the Mitch from "Small Boat Big Water" fame. I love his videos.
Bryan, The Mitch who purchased the Hull # 29 Eclipse did not mention where he found the boat listed. It sounds like somewhat of a fixer-upper as the former owner painted over the teak eyebrows.
I though I had the only occupied house on Fecal Valley Drive. Hi, neighbor.
Yeah, as others have advised: step away, take a deep breath. Maybe choose your favorite one or two boats and sell the others. Yes, by all means, buy a motorcycle. "You'll never see a motorcycle parked outside a psychiatrist's office." Dirt daubers? Can you eliminate mud within a 200' radius of the boat? Spray the surfaces with flying insect killer and leave as a residue? Maybe just declare a hiatus due to summer heat? Tilling Time sits in the carport shared with a miter saw and a table saw, gathering wood dust, until the heat index drops below 90.