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[beradthefish]

There is an Eclipse on craigslist Orlando. Advertised as new. The gent has a Legacy also. These boats have been on the market for quite a while. Could be worth a look and an offer.

Carry on- I see it. Replied to the post. If it is indeed new, that would seem like a good price, maybe too good?

http://orlando.craigslist.org/boa/3099516052.html

Doesn't include an outboard I don't think.

Star Marine in St. Petersburg has some of the best deals on the Tohatsu Sail Pro around. If you are looking to buy an engine, I suggest you start here. I have had an excellent experience dealing with them!

That's great - I made an offer on the Eclipse.  The gentleman (former SC dealer) selling it is traveling for a few more days so I should know next week.  The boat is an '05 and it has never been owned by anyone, there was one potential buyer some time ago but that individual changed their minds.  So the boat went from 1/2 hour from my house to 7 hours in Orlando, oh well. 

I did look specifically at the 6 HP Tohatsu Sail Drive.  It's 58 lbs. and Gerry Hutchins said it would be a good match, just don't go any heavier.

[Salty19]

That's great, I hope you get it...very aggressive price for one never used, although it's also probably never been waxed so expect oxidation. The interior may also have mold or mildew due to lack of ventilation.  I guess what I'm saying is it's not a new boat.

Speaking of outboards, I'm sooo glad I found a used, but never put in service 2 cyl 2 stroke Yamaha.   Compared to the 6hp Nissan 4 stroke it replaced, which is really a rebranded Tohatsu--and my slip neighbors 5hp 4 stroke Honda, the Yamaha 2 stroke is smooth as glass, very quiet and starts immediately. Gas mileage is probably not as good, but I don't care about that..only use it for a few minutes at a time.

The Nissan was cranky to start, loud, needed choke and warm up time and vibrated the whole boat like a Harley engine (ok that's a small exaggeration!).Things inside the cabin would literally buzz and vibrate. My neighbors 5hp Honda requires long warm ups and it seems twice as loud as the Yamaha. 

These new 4 strokes are definitely not for me.  I may just buy another mint two stroker to use in the future as they will become harder and harder to get in good shape as time goes by.

[Billy]

My old yahama was much quoted and easier to start. It was only a 2.5hp though. Still a 4 stroke though.

BUT I did have constant problems with the jets getting clogged. After rebuilding the carb a 4th time I gave up on it. Mind you ever time it went bad was when I needed it.
And I used stabil and never had gas older than a month or so.

But it was a lot easier to start. But the new tohatsu isn't bad. The yamaha was just easier.

But performance wise, I love my sail-pro

[beradthefish]

That's great, I hope you get it...very aggressive price for one never used, although it's also probably never been waxed so expect oxidation. The interior may also have mold or mildew due to lack of ventilation.  I guess what I'm saying is it's not a new boat.

Speaking of outboards, I'm sooo glad I found a used, but never put in service 2 cyl 2 stroke Yamaha.   Compared to the 6hp Nissan 4 stroke it replaced, which is really a rebranded Tohatsu--and my slip neighbors 5hp 4 stroke Honda, the Yamaha 2 stroke is smooth as glass, very quiet and starts immediately. Gas mileage is probably not as good, but I don't care about that..only use it for a few minutes at a time.

The Nissan was cranky to start, loud, needed choke and warm up time and vibrated the whole boat like a Harley engine (ok that's a small exaggeration!).Things inside the cabin would literally buzz and vibrate. My neighbors 5hp Honda requires long warm ups and it seems twice as loud as the Yamaha. 

These new 4 strokes are definitely not for me.  I may just buy another mint two stroker to use in the future as they will become harder and harder to get in good shape as time goes by.

Hopefully it's a good deal, we'll see.

What's the fix for oxidation? Rubbing compound? I asked the question- if the interior is moldy, musty or mildewed. That and other questions to determine if the boat is actually in new condition. It must be a strange sequence of events for a seven year old boat to never have an owner.

[Salty19]

Our boat had a similar beginning..kind of.  Unique anyway.
Our hull was layer up in 1998, this process is  outsourced to Island Packet Yachts just down the road from Hutchins. Upon delivery to Hutchins, they declared it the wrong color and a screw up. There was no deck built yet,  so the hull just sat in their shop while they were thinking about what to do with this screw up.  A Compac dealer in MN was visiting Hutchins, saw the hull, fell in love with the color and bought it on the spot to be used as their personal boat.  They customized it with stern rail seats, nice fabric interior and some companionway eyebrows. Hutchins completed the boat in 1999 and delivered it in MN.

There it sat in shrink wrap until 2003-unused-where the dealer sold it to the first owner. They used it just a few times a year until 2009, then we swopped it up and have been sailing the daylights out of her ever since.  Well from May to October anyway.

She was in excellent condition when we got her, but there are a couple of minor gelcoat cracks..probably ice buildup related that we still need to fix. Of course the wood needed treated and all the usual "make it like new" touches were done. The interior was mint but a little musty (solved by a deep cleaning of the interior). But her hull was oxidized-as it turns out very ugh so from never having been maintained with wax or UV/moisture inhibiting chemicals.

Here she is when I towed her the 900 miles from MN to OH. Bland (the clouds in the background don't help either).




And here she is after some serious sanding (sequenced 800-1000-1200-1500-2000), compounding (3M Compound), polishing (3M finesse it II) and of course some good wax (Collinite Fleet Wax).





Totally different looking color now. How it was delivered from the factory.

Of course with a colored hull it's going to show oxidation more than white, since oxidation is basically chalk-white color.


Wait until you get the boat to decide what to do to pretty it up. You may only need minor work..hard to tell from those pics.

[Greene]

I tell ya folks, that boat is even prettier in person.

Mike

[beradthefish]

Salty- thanks for all of that- hopefully I run into a similar scenario! I'm sure it will need some elbow grease in some way or another. Sending you a PM regarding the great state of Ohio.