New 25 Owner & Delivery Report

[dasgaswolf]

Hi all, novice sailor here that just purchased a 2002 25 from a seller in Maryland.

This is my first sailboat and first foray into sailing.  I live in Washington DC, and have two young daughters, and so it took me quite a while to find the "perfect" boat: something small and relatively easy to single-hand, with an inboard diesel motor (I will be doing a lot of motoring around the Potomac River), but also large enough to accommodate a family of 4 for the weekend in relative comfort. An outdoor shower was also a requirement, for messy children. Oh, it also needed to have a draft of less than 3' because the Potomac (and Chesapeake) are quite shallow. I also wanted something that looked "salty."

After a year of searching, the Com-Pac 25 was quite literally the only boat that checked all these boxes. And, incredibly, the only one in the USA for sale at the time was only 90 minutes away.

After several visits, a survey (which came back with flying colors), and a sea trial, I purchased her.  My father-in-law is a very experienced sailor, and despite being fresh off the Newport-Bermuda race (as navigator aboard Chariad) he helped me deliver her back from Cambridge, MD to Washington DC.

The journey took us 3 memorable days.... the most memorable part included a dead motor, leaving us becalmed and adrift for hours before a SeaTow into a Solomons Island marina, where we were slipped by an exceedingly friendly and hospitable host. We tore into the boat and unprofessionally diagnosed the issue as a bad starter motor solenoid;  we discovered we could jump the solenoid with a [rubber handled] screwdriver, and the starter fired the motor just fine.

We sailed and motored like this down the bay and up the Potomac. It was fine weather and a wonderful first experience. The 25 is comfortable, easy to handle, and even has shore-powered air conditioning (!)

This boat wasn't heavily used -- so lots of cobwebs to shake out, but it's a very tidy and clean vessel.  Looking forward to learning more from the community here!

Some photos attached. 

Excuse the messy mainsail!  I flaked her properly after this photo was taken, haha.






   

[passagesfromtheheart]

Congratulations on your absolutely gorgeous 25 — and with tan bark sails to boot!!!! WOWZA!!!! Drooling, here!!! She is just stunning!

I'm a former 25 owner, my boat was also a 2002 model — totally agree with the 'checking all the boxes' assessment and, wow, how amazing the boat was only 90 minutes from you — destiny!!!

Your maiden voyage, indeed, sounded memorable — that is awesome your father-in-law was there to crew on the trip, too!

I really enjoyed reading your post — your excitement and enthusiasm are palpable and truly exemplifies the spirit of what makes sailing and sailboats so meaningful, sacred, and special — you are in good company, here, on this forum — this community is incredible! I can't wait to hear more about your adventures aboard your beautiful 25 — btw, what is your boat's HIN? I'm wondering if our boats might've been the only 25s built in 2002.

Fair winds!

[dasgaswolf]

Congratulations on your absolutely gorgeous 25 — and with tan bark sails to boot!!!! WOWZA!!!! Drooling, here!!! She is just stunning!

I'm a former 25 owner, my boat was also a 2002 model — totally agree with the 'checking all the boxes' assessment and, wow, how amazing the boat was only 90 minutes from you — destiny!!!

Your maiden voyage, indeed, sounded memorable — that is awesome your father-in-law was there to crew on the trip, too!

I really enjoyed reading your post — your excitement and enthusiasm are palpable and truly exemplifies the spirit of what makes sailing and sailboats so meaningful, sacred, and special — you are in good company, here, on this forum — this community is incredible! I can't wait to hear more about your adventures aboard your beautiful 25 — btw, what is your boat's HIN? I'm wondering if our boats might've been the only 25s built in 2002.

Fair winds!

Thanks for the kind words, and I enjoyed watching your YouTube videos during my search.

The HIN is:  ABV00038B202   

Let me know what that means to you!

[passagesfromtheheart]

Hi, dasgaswolf!

Thanks so much for sharing your boat's HIN -- my boat's was ABV00037T102.

From what I learned online, if I am interpreting things correctly:

* My boat would have been the 37th Com-Pac 25 built and yours would've followed mine at #38.

* Your boat has a code of "B" in its HIN, so I believe that would mean it was finished/born in February. My boat has a "T" and I could not find an answer for what month that is as the letters start with A = January, B = February and so on -- so that said, as there are only twelve months in a year...the "T" leaves me puzzled. Not sure about that.

* The last two digits are the model year, so both our boats finish with the "02" in their respective hulls, but interestingly, again, if the Internet is right, the third from last number in the HIN, or the number which precedes that model year of 02 is such that my boat is a 1, which evidently means the hull was "certified" in 2001, but the third from last digit in your boat's HIN is a "2", so I'd surmise that means your boat's hull was "certified" in 2002.

Again, this all just what the Interwebs come back with when I Googled how to interpret HIN numbers on boats. Not sure how accurate all of that really is, but I am sure, at least, about the ABV at the very beginning of the HIN (as this was the abbreviation code assigned by the  USCG to Com-Pac Yachts) and also those last two digits of the HIN being the year, and then the 37 and 38 numbers being the hull # built since the boat went into production. So our boats were built one right after the other as far as 25s go -- kinda cool, I think! :-)

Hope you continue to share more stories and pics of your boat -- what is her name, btw?