WindMiner Buying Capitol Neptune 16 Sailboat
Article By WindMiner
My last cruiser was an Ericson 25, great boat but just to big for my type of adventure sailing. I decided to try having a sailboat that can move about in less than a foot of water so I can exciting new places.
I had been watching Craigslist for over a year and a half, looking for Oday's 19 and 20, Vagabond 17, Compac 16 (big time lust, but don't exist on the west coast) and other makes of the genre. On a thursday I see this 1981 Capitol Neptune 16 on a Highlander tilt trailer for $900 in Reno Nv., about a 2 hour drive from me. Did not know what a Neptune 16 was let alone the Capitol version. Starting researching, and got excited as the specs and hull design looked better than the Compac (was that possible). I should put in here that I will always lust for a Flicka 20 and that a lighter version of that has been my dream boat. After many years of heavy weather SF bay, Tahoe, and costal racing having a boat that is built like a little tank is a nice thing, although I had come to the expectation that I would end up with a lighter built boat.
So I called up the owner that day (Thurs) and he said that he need money, but if he sold his van he was not selling the boat (had taxes to pay). Also, he had one guy who came out to look at it the first day it was on CL (Wed.), but he could not see it to well because it was getting late and and boat was on the side of the house (no walk around room). The way he talked the first guy was letting him cool down to lower the price, he said that the other guy wanted to take it out on his next day off, which was Monday.
I have looked at a lot of boats over the last year and a half and have seen nothing but boats which were supposed to be great that were trash (un-fixable dry rot, sails that had should have been retired 30 years ago, damaged hulls which were beyond repair, ect.. ). So I tell this guy to send me closeup pictures of the boat and lower hull area, which he did. As I see the pictures I am thinking to myself, self, this looks great, I need to buy this boat. I called him back, it's now Fri. and tell him if the boat looks like it does in the pictures it's sold. I tell him I am 2 hours away so I am not coming up to look and lower the price, I AM SERIOUS and have cash in hand. I tell him that I can come up the next day, Sat. and can we do the deal after he gets off of work. He tells me to call him at 9am Sat and if the van is not sold I we can do the deal.
So it's Sat and the deal is on. I am driving up to the house and there she is, as he is getting it out. WOW. I can already see her in her finished state and she is beautiful. So I pull out 9 hundred dollar bills as quick as I can and it is mine.
Woohoo.
I week later I see an 83 Neptune 16 on CL in Sacramento for $2500 and it's not even close to being as nice as mine. It sells in a week and a half. Double WooHoo!
She came with a lot of nice extras and the main, jib, and reefable genoa all in like new shape (potato chip crisp) and in excellent condition minus a little dirt and a couple of mold spots (which I can remove). All of the interior cushions are there and in great shape minus a little fading in places. The rudder blade has no dings and is like new. The hull has no front nicks or dings for being run into docks or rocks. It is clear that she has seen very little use, except for some gel coat cracking from the sun which will be an easy repair. Don't get me wrong there is a lot to do to get it perfect for me but the base boat is as good as I could have ever hoped for. I am sure you know what I mean.
Best regards,
Rick
