I'm looking to buy a 14 Turbo, something that I can sail by myself off the beach, and something old enough that I don't mind it leaving on the beach in the sun.
I found a listing on Craig's List for what seemed like a great boat - 14 Turbo in great shape, 3 sets of main sails, nice trailer with sail box. Obviously I called, asked all my questions and was told the boat was sailed as recently as a week ago and was in good shape.
At this point I'm thinking to myself, "Great, sounds like a deal for a boat thats ready to sail". The photos looked good, the lady seemed honest. So I drive for 2 hours from Fort Lauderdale to Key Largo, and when I get there, I'm a little shocked.
The "sail box" was made of wood, had no lid and was completely rotted out and not even attached to the trailer. There were only two sets of sails, and the second set was shredded. The boat itself had been T-boned in the starboard hull and was pretty bad - certainly not sailable for more than 10 minutes without filling up.
I was so mad! 4 hours of driving for nothing!
08/17/12
To be fair, I just found a great 14 Turbo on Friday on CL - 1983, great condition, solid hulls with no fixes - still original pin striping, aluminum trailer and cat trax. Very happy!