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I purchased #209 last month #18003
10/08/18 08:56 PM
10/08/18 08:56 PM
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 7
Oceanside, CA, US
M
MikeM Offline OP
Forum Newbie
MikeM  Offline OP
Forum Newbie
M
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 7
Oceanside, CA, US
Hi All,

My name is Mike, and I purchased hull #209 last month. I'd like to introduce myself and share how I ended up with a J-30, a boat I knew hardly anything about when I made the offer. Hopefully this is the right forum.

My wife, daughter (4 y/o), and I were looking for a cruiser. We've owned power boats in the past, but never a sailboat.

Twice before, we had offers in on other sailboats. They fell through based on what the survey/haulouts exposed. I know the idea of the survey is to catch this stuff, but losing the cost of a survey & haulout twice in a row was a bit painful.

Up to this point we were planning on keeping the boat in San Diego Bay. There's a closer harbor in Oceanside, but it has a wait list of a few years unless you purchase a boat with a transferable slip.

Having the boat closer became more important, so we decided to drive down and have a broker show the few that were available. There were a couple very old and stinky cruisers, and then there was the J-30.

Nothing else there showed as well as the J-30. It's a 1980 model in pretty decent condition. The main thing my wife was hung up on was the head not being closed off to the vberth.

There was a plaque inside featuring its first place win in a past race season. This triggered memories, and a new excitement for this boat.... I learned to sail on a friend's boat in club races in that same harbor 25 years ago. The idea of owning a formidable racer/cruiser excited me, but I didn't think we'd get past the interior concerns.

This would be a pretty significant pivot from the wheel helm cruisers we were previously looking at.

We went through the pros and cons over lunch, and to my surprise, she was onboard. We decided to make an offer. The location played a big part in this "compromise" and we figured if we got her for the right price, we could always get into something else down the line if it wasn't a good fit.

That night I did not sleep. I was reading articles, forum posts, watching race videos.... non stop. I was beginning to become passionate about getting this boat. I was excited to be getting into the other boats that fell through, but this was different... I was getting excited to learn how to sail this boat to its potential. I felt like I'd have an opportunity to learn how to sail in this boat in ways I would not be able to in the others.

I also recognized my offer was too low. The following day I increased my offer and defined conditions to make sure all the extras I expected to stay with the boat were included.

The offer was accepted and the survey was clean. It was funny how excited the surveyor was to sail the boat. He made sure we "tested" the spinaker during the sea trial. laugh

We've only had the boat out a hand full of times, but I am only getting happier with the purchase. My wife feels the same, and my daughter is just elated every moment we are on it, whether we're staying overnight at the dock, or out sailing. She's typically pretty shy, but something about boat life has her chatting it up with anyone around the dock.

My biggest pain point is hoisting and lowering the mainsail solo or shorthanded. I've done it alone with someone else on the boat to see if I could handle it. Going up, it's difficult to keep the (watchamacallits) in the track while pulling the line, and coming down it's difficult to keep it contained. I expect some of this to come with experience.

There's some video of the boat on a YT channel I started here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKesn0b81rQOfgbIyVSP7pQ

Cheers!

Re: I purchased #209 last month [Re: MikeM] #18005
10/09/18 08:38 AM
10/09/18 08:38 AM
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 76
Burton, Michigan
N
nathankt79 Offline
Senior Member
nathankt79  Offline
Senior Member
N
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 76
Burton, Michigan
Mike,

While our story isn't as colorful as yours, my fiancé and I bought hull #484 in June of this year not really having any sailing experience...although she did sail a bit as a teen. We went through the same disappointments in failed surveys and the money that went with that. Fortunately, we found a surveyor who worked with us and went well above and beyond what he was paid to do in order to get us a boat we would truly be happy with.


Several of the boats we looked at we liked, some a lot and some less so. "Conundrum" was the last one we looked at and decided if she wasn't the one we would take a break from our six month search. We fell in love with her. The previous owner took us out that night and that was it. He is a meticulous, honest, and friendly fellow who openly showed us what had been issues with her and exactly how those issues were corrected...and the survey confirmed it all.

Since then, he has become a friend and has spent many hours teaching us about the boat as well as sailing. He has even gone to great lengths in getting us plugged into the local sailing community. The price he asked pales in comparison to the value we got.

We've had her out numerous times this summer...more and more as we've gotten more comfortable with her and sailing itself. The learning curve has been exciting and rewarding in ways we couldn't imagine. We also couldn't be more happy with our purchase.

We also have children. She has two (9&11) and I have three (13, 13, & 16) from previous relationships that we have on holidays and over the summer. We also have our son on the way due in March. We plan to be a sailing family as you do.

In spite of being on opposite ends of the country (we're in Michigan), we would like it very much to be some sort of pen pals being as our adventures seem to be on pretty parallel paths.

On a related note, I've found the same thing on hoisting and dropping the mainsail. We've almost got the snagging in the mast gate figured out and have gotten pretty good at flaking the sail as it comes down. We sail double handed normally, but she's rigged for single handling and that is our goal for both safety and convenience. I'd love to compare notes there

Sincerely,

Nate & Marty

Re: I purchased #209 last month [Re: nathankt79] #18006
10/09/18 09:44 PM
10/09/18 09:44 PM
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 493
Chicago, Il. USA
D. Bartley Offline
Governor at Large
D. Bartley  Offline
Governor at Large
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 493
Chicago, Il. USA
Have to say, I've had a wonderful time cruising the east shore of Lake Michigan. I have 2 kids... both grown now... but from when they were young, we had lots of fun. The Michigan harbor system is great and friendly. The boat is quite nice to handle. Enjoy!


Dennis Bartley
Planxty, s/n 23994
hull 205
Re: I purchased #209 last month [Re: MikeM] #18007
10/10/18 01:01 AM
10/10/18 01:01 AM
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 7
Oceanside, CA, US
M
MikeM Offline OP
Forum Newbie
MikeM  Offline OP
Forum Newbie
M
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 7
Oceanside, CA, US
Thanks for the replies... Sounds like we're all at different points of a similar journey.

Sharing notes would be great Nate! Sounds like you have quite the crew on holidays. laugh If this forum has private messages, I can share my email address.

Re: I purchased #209 last month [Re: MikeM] #18008
10/10/18 08:10 AM
10/10/18 08:10 AM
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 76
Burton, Michigan
N
nathankt79 Offline
Senior Member
nathankt79  Offline
Senior Member
N
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 76
Burton, Michigan
I think if you click on my profile, it will allow you to private message me.

Re: I purchased #209 last month [Re: MikeM] #18009
10/11/18 11:45 AM
10/11/18 11:45 AM
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 76
Burton, Michigan
N
nathankt79 Offline
Senior Member
nathankt79  Offline
Senior Member
N
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 76
Burton, Michigan
I sent an email the other day. I hope to hear back from you.

Nate

Re: I purchased #209 last month [Re: MikeM] #18015
10/14/18 09:00 PM
10/14/18 09:00 PM
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 868
New Orleans, LA, USA
David Erwin Offline
J30.us
David Erwin  Offline
J30.us
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 868
New Orleans, LA, USA
Hi Nate, I really enjoyed your video. This is on the front page of J30.org.

I have a family too was the primary reason I purchased a J/30. My daughter raced with me on North American Championship. Softball is a sport where my daughter in on the field while dad is in the stands. Sailing is a port where we can participate together. We cruise on weekends and race on Wednesday nights.

I subscribed to your sailing channel and will continue to watch for more coverage of your sailing journey. I have a few videos from the years past, will share one now.




Re: I purchased #209 last month [Re: MikeM] #18016
10/14/18 11:07 PM
10/14/18 11:07 PM
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 7
Oceanside, CA, US
M
MikeM Offline OP
Forum Newbie
MikeM  Offline OP
Forum Newbie
M
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 7
Oceanside, CA, US
Hey David, thanks, I subscribed back. Great point about it being a team sport that a father/daughter can enjoy together! I hope mine will be choosing to race with her dad when she's older too!


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