Year

1973

Model

B-26

Make

Balboa

Price Drop!! $3,000 26 foot Balboa sailboat. This has been our boat for many years, and it's been great. I'm only selling it because when my dad passed a few years back, he left me the boat I grew up on, so now I have two somewhat large boats in my somewhat small backyard and that's getting difficult to live with. Although I love the Balboa, I have a much stronger sentimental attachment to dad's boat, so the B-26 needs a new owner. It is a really great boat and you could sail it tomorrow. That said, it's a 1973 boat and doesn't come without its issues. You don't know me, but I consider myself a pretty stand-up dude and, because I want you to love this boat as much as me and my family did, I will tell you absolutely everything I know about it before you decide to buy. If what I say scares you off, then you're not the right person for this boat anyway. If you can deal with the somewhat minor issues this boat has and love it in spite of them, then you're the person I'm looking for to take it off my hands. Like I say, this thing is ready to sail. The boat is sound. It has only spent summer seasons in the water and has been on its trailer every winter. It has a swing keel, so it rides low on a trailer similar to a power boat (see photos). Because it has a swing keel, the boat can get much closer to shore and even beached like a power boat, too. The pros: Brand new stainless steel keel winch with a stainless cable. I just spent over $600 on and haven't hardly used it. New wiring and lights in and on the mast The forward deck has been redone from underneath with glassed in ¾" marine grade plywood. Said plywood is above the forward birth and has been wired for lighting. It has somewhat fresh bottom paint with only a couple of seasons on it. The cushions throughout the boat are brand new and made from the best foam available. The cushions were a gift from my mom, who loves to sleep on the boat being rocked to sleep. She wanted super comfortable cushions and spent a grip of cash on them. The trailer has new bunks and new bearings. Sails are in good shape. Clean title for both boat and trailer. Now the cons: The trailer is rusty. The previous owner failed to do their due diligence and didn't wash it well enough after launching and loading the boat. Like I said, it has new bunks and bearings but is otherwise on its last leg. I go very easy and don't take highways to the closest boat ramp I can get to. I haven't had a problem, but I baby it as much as I can. It's a pretty simple boat to retrofit a trailer to, and that's what I was planning on doing before finding myself the owner of a whole other boat. The 15hp Mercury outboard has been recently serviced and runs well, but I don't feel like it pumps enough water through it to keep it cool. I changed the complete water pump but am still not super happy with the stream of water. It just doesn't seem like it's flowing as strongly as it used to... I guess that happens to the best of us as we get older. The sails are in good shape, but the rigging is getting old. Fisheries Supply in Seattle has everything you need to rerig it, and she'll sail like she is for a summer or two, just sayin', it's something that will need to be addressed eventually. There is a spreader on the mast that has a broken mounting bracket. I haven't found a replacement, but honestly, I haven't looked very hard. Once pressure from the stays is against it, it doesn't go anywhere, and I've sailed it like that for years. Although the brand new stainless keel iwinch is ai beautiful thing, it's not the original equipment and is bigger than the original rusty hunk of crap I replaced, so it kinda looks out of place in the cabin but it works great. There is a crack in the fiberglass above the doghouse for the winch. An afternoon spent grinding that out and reglassing it would fix it, I just haven't got to it. The boat leaks a little water through penetrations in the deck when it rains so I keep it covered with a tarp when I'm not using it. Again, nothing that couldn't be easily tracked down and fixed. As I think of more pros and cons I'll edit this posting. If you're interested, let's talk. I'll have you over and we'll go through the boat with a fine tooth comb. Like I say, it's as important to me that you love her as it is to you.