I am seeking advice re a modified Adams 28 that has been advertised in Esperance Western Australia. It is an aluminium boat built in 1996 in Queensland. It was trucked to Fremantle and lived on then trucked to Esperance where it now resides. The owner seems a little short on information.
I have never owned anything bigger than a hobbie 16 before. I am a fit 60 and have a 10yr old son and a 19 yr old daughter. I live just south of Fremantle and want to stretch my horizons so to speak from a boating perspective. I have a very limited budget and this appears to be a bargain.
Thoughts?

www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Boating-Sail-Boats/~tdywm/Adams-30-30-0.aspx

I inquired about this one when it was priced at 17.5K. Owner was O/S at the time, but replied with quite a good description. Basically, if it was anywhere handy, I would have looked quicksmart. Don't quite know what to think about aluminium hulls, but recently did a charter to Cape Horn in one, and it seems most antarctic boats are either alum. or steel - so must be OK. As always, its all about the out of water inspection, the 'set-up' and the maintenance. Worth a look if you can get to Esperance.

Ha I saw that too, and wondered what was wrong with it at that price. I know nothing about yachts, and it seemed like a steal (no pun intended, well, maybe a little ).

Aluminum and Adams designed has to be a good boat. One thing to be wary of is electrolysis. Some on here know a lot more about it and what to watch out for than me.

I like it. Check down the threads a bit and read the previous comments. As I mentioned previously it may be a bit noisy at anchor. May also be a bit small for a teenage girl.

I think selling a boat in a remote location is difficult, especially if it is a bit unusual. Hence it could be a bargain.

I have owned a steel Adams 28 since 1989. Have modified and changed it quite a bit, but not to the extent of this one! Looks like added bowsprit, sugarscoop,(something I would seriously like!) and modified profile to coach roof. I had intentions of building an A28 in Al in 1989, and had set up my block out of Darwin, with a 3 phase power pole, bought an appropriate welder and was ready to go. Then one night after work, in the camp bar at Yandicoogina, out of Newman, another guy, half full of Bourbon, suggested I buy rather than build! I was at exactly the right state of intoxication to realise that what he said was correct. A home build could last forever!!
I gave a month's notice next morning and bought a professionally built steely in Brisbane a while later. 27 yrs on and I still love Her. As Twodogs1969 says, check for electrolysis, and if okay, go for it, I reckon it is a winner!!!

How are you going to get it back to Perth? Land delivery cost? Sailing back? you'd want the boat in tip top condition for that trip! How much would it cost to ensure the boat is up to the trip?

Given the WA economy, have a good look around, there's a good chance you'd get a great deal on boats in pens with owners that can no longer afford to pay the pen fees.

Dont know this design, but this looks like a very tidy little boat, and a sail back to Perth from Busselton is very different than from Esperance!

http://yachthub.com/list/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/custom-30/181264

Just look at the engine! If it's as good as it looks?

I was informed by the broker I have looking after my boat this week that he recently sold a boat similar to mine for 32k.. That's at least a third if not more below what it should be going for.. So yes, there certainly are bargains to be found locally (I'm talking Freo too)..

Yes its a long way to sail and would probably need to allow 2wks and wait till summer with SE and SW winds coming through reliably. Lot of ocean out there and a bit daunting. There is no marine surveyor in Esperance so would need a list of what to check from one in Freo then go down and check it out. I tend to be pretty conservative by nature so its all pretty intimidating. Mind you I have crewed on a 44ft aluminium yacht Freo to Sydney and then Sydney to Hobart many years ago.
Bloody long drive to Esperance. I looked pretty seriously at a well setup custom 30 about a year ago and got talked out of it by my wife. It had a fair bit more bells and whistles than that one but was asking quite a bit more too. The Adams has no log of hrs for the engine. I have lots of questions and not a lot of answers.
Cheers for your input.

Not sure about the boat but the Spencers are a well known family in town and I went to school with a few of them. Nice people and I don't think they would be the kind to be misleading. Simple phone call is all you need to do.
If you plan sailing back then towards the end of spring the wind turns around and comes from the east. Still plenty of wild weather so plan your route. Our crayboat got beat up by large swells in hopetoun around November one year so just cause its warm weather don't let your guard down. Plenty of bays to whole up in along the east of Albany to hopetoun . Not sure after that as we only fished from Esperance to Albany.
Beautiful on nice days and the water is like sapphire blue. If you time it right you can see the dolphin migration which is something to experience. Dolphins from one horizon to the other.
Lots of whales at the moment, at least two weeks ago. So many at Point Anne, Bremer Bay while on a fishing trip. So perhaps give the rangers at Fitzgerald Park to check if they have moved on.

Thanks so much for the info Simmr very reassuring to me. John seems like a pretty straight guy from his contacts. Doesn't seem to be the record keeper that I am though. The phone-call suggestion is an obvious but good one. Will do so tonight. I've only done email so far. I guess it's the next stage of commitment I've been putting off. Respect for the elements is absolutely necessary but one can get overwhelmed with a fearful mindset so easily that is paralysing and life sapping. I'm sure that if enough time is taken and I'm prepared to wait for suitable weather, day hops shouldn't be a problem.
Regarding the dolphin migration I can vouch for it. On the way to Sydney that I spoke of earlier it was just like you say, horizon to horizon in all directions! Absolutely incredible.
Thanks again, it's very nice to have the local knowledge input.
Cheers
John

Thanks for the input, great to hear from an owner still in love after so long.
Cheers
John