Plenty of stopping power, good acceleration, but like any long keeled boat with an attached rudder there is not much control. She just likes to go straight back with a little torque to port no matter what the tiller is doing.Originally Posted by Commander 147
When we decided that our Ensign was no longer fulfilling our wants and needs we began a long search for the perfect boat. We settled on the Commander for all the same reasons as ya'll.
Its now been just over a year since I dragged The Princess home from Milwaukee and shes all but finished. I paid $3,000. for her and immediately spent that again adding a traveler, winches and the roller furling unit. We did a quick and dirty spruce up to get her in the water and enjoyed the sailing season getting to know her. By the fall haul out we had a pretty good idea of what changes we wanted to make and liked the boat enough to feel O.K. about spending some money and time on her. To date we have nearly $20,000. into her and who knows how many hours. I'm sure on the market we'd be lucky to get 1/2 that back... but we ended up with a boat we can be proud of, custom tailored to our needs with all new rigging and sails that turns the heads of stinkpotters as well as sailors.
Here is the final (?) cost of The Princess's restoration:
COMMANDER 227
HULL
Date Vender Discription Cost
5/19/2008 Commander 227 $3,000.00
5/22/2008 Fuel for Transport $320.00
6/10/2008 Lakeland Fiberglass Repair deck under stanchions, pulpit, pushpit and remove front hatch $1,000.00
6/10/2008 Advanced Composites Fillers, Balsa Core, Resin for deck repairs $128.00
6/10/2008 SYC Shop Supplies $55.00
6/14/2008 Seven Seas Cuddy Paint $60.00
6/14/2008 Midwest Boat Appeal 6mm & 18mm Plywood for Bulkheads $130.10
6/14/2008 Fabian Labor to sand out cuddy $100.00
1/10/2009 Seven Seas West System (1 Gal) $125.00
2/2/2009 Lakeland Fiberglass Deposit on Deck Repair & Paint Job $1,000.00
2/10/2009 Seven Seas Awlgrip off white (1 Gal) Reducer, Catalyst. $478.00
2/10/2009 Seven Seas Awlgrip off white (1 Gal) Flag blue (2 Qt.) Non-skid $480.00
2/14/2009 Tonka Bay Marina Duratech primer, fillers $147.00
3/7/2009 Lakeland Fiberglass Balance on paint job $2,860.00
3/7/2009 Seven Seas Jabasco manual head $154.00
3/8/2009 Seven Seas Perfection Varnish (2 quarts) $110.00
3/18/2009 Seven Seas Schooner Varnish $46.00
3/18/2009 Best Buy Stereo $154.00
3/30/2009 Seven Seas Awlgrip Vivid Red (1 quart) $68.00
3/28/2009 J&D Plating Chrome Plating of hardware $500.00
3/28/2009 Radio Shack Hobby box fror fuses, red LEDs for mood lighting $15.75
4/2/2009 Eagle Molding Rub Rail $78.00
4/4/2009 Lakeland Fiberglass Repair damage from fall and Paint hatches & winch towers $730.00
4/4/2009 Seven Seas Vivid White bottom paint ( 2 gal ) $379.00
4/4/2009 Seven Seas Bronze through hulls & ball valves for head $118.00
5/5/2009 J&D Plating Chrome plate genoa cars and tracks $190.00
5/5/2009 Perma Top Interior cushions $830.00
Total Hull $13,255.85
RIGGING
Date Vender Discription Cost
6/20/2008 Seven Seas Halyards $65.00
6/20/2008 Seven Seas Genoa Blocks $52.00
6/20/2008 Seven Seas Genoa Sheets $48.00
6/20/2008 Seven Seas Main Sheet Blocks $108.00
6/20/2008 Seven Seas Main Sheet $42.00
6/20/2008 Seven Seas traveler Lines $26.00
6/20/2008 Harken Traveler set up $426.00
7/28/2009 SYC Head Sail $0.00
7/28/2008 Harken Roller Furler $1,155.00
7/28/2008 Harken B16STC Self Tailing Winches $1,020.00
7/30/2008 Seven Seas Headstay for furler $60.00
3/25/2009 Seven Seas Harken Swivel Base (for Main Sheet) $74.00
3/25/2009 Seven Seas Genoa Tracks $40.00
4/10/2009 Western Sailcraft New Main Sail $820.00
6/2/2009 Seven Seas Hardware for internal outhaul $100.00
Total Rigging $4,036.00
POWERPLANT
Date Vender Discription Cost
12/15/2008 Tonka Bay Marina Shaft Log $118.00
2/20/2009 SYC Aluminum Plate $0.00
12/20/2008 Thunderstruck Motors Motor $450.00
12/20/2008 Thunderstruck Motors Controller $450.00
12/20/2008 Thunderstruck Motors Charger $311.00
12/20/2008 Thunderstruck Motors Contactor, Fuse and Converter $119.00
1/6/2009 McMaster-Carr Bushings and Timing Pulleys $191.00
1/6/2009 McMaster-Carr Garolite for Stern Tube $44.00
1/6/2009 McMaster-Carr 6664k24 Bearing pillow block $30.10
1/8/2009 McMaster-Carr 6309k31 Vibration Mounts (4) $22.80
1/8/2009 McMaster-Carr 6486k114 Timing Belt $19.57
1/12/2009 Land N Sea Cutlass Bearing $28.00
1/20/2009 Minnie's Surplus Propeller $45.00
2/28/2009 Marine Assoc. Shaft $147.00
4/4/2009 Seven Seas Switches $17.00
4/12/2009 Thunderstruck Motors Cutrtis Pot Box $85.00
4/13/2009 EVParts.com Ampmeter, Shunt, Voltmeter $118.00
4/21/2009 Interstate Batteries 4ea SRM 27 $303.00
4/24/1901 Home Depot #2 Copper service wire $64.00
4/24/1901 Fastenal #2 terminals $11.50
Total Powerplant $2,573.97
PROJECT TOTAL $19,865.82
I think it's really good to see what one can realistically expect to spend to get one of these boats into good condition. And the best part is while $20,000.00 may seem like a lot of money it is a drop in the bucket compared to what a new boat of similar appeal and quality would cost. And besides, how many new production boats are there that actually make your heart skip a beat when you look at them like these boats do?
Mike,
You are very brave man for actually keeping track of expenses and posting them. Or, you could just be a complete wild man!
The amount is comparably small when considering the cost of a comparable new boat. And the argument has been made here before that one would be hard pressed to find a comparable new boat. Don't get me wrong. There are many boats out there that I covet, nay lust to own. But comparable are few.
Granted, these are not the best of times. Most of us are really watching the bottom line and tightening the belt to keep food on the table and a roof overhead. But truth be told, who knows of a cost effective hobby? And when you factor in passion money has very little value. 227 would be a steal at 10K.
Interesting that just a list like that
tells the story!
But not in such a list is whispering along a quiet estuary
with an electrick motor you built yourself.
THAT'S IMPRESSIVE!
Last edited by ebb; 07-02-2009 at 02:04 PM.
]6010[/ATTACH]The Princess took 1st overall at the SYC July 4th race, and 3rd in the PHRF II fleet at a WYC around Big Island race with a PHRF rating of 229 (subsequent whining has changed her rating to 273 for future races with WYC) With the new rating she will be unbeatable!!!!!
Last edited by Commander227; 07-13-2009 at 07:59 PM.
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