Wanted: Fibreglass Top Hat, $10-14k

[nickj]

Hi all,

I'm on the hunt for a fibreglass Top Hat in sailable condition. Preferably within Victoria, but I guess for the right boat it could be trucked interstate.

Possibly my budget is too low, I'm not sure, but I guess that's the target... I don't know a ton about the Australian boat market: I just know I want a 25-27ft full keel pocket cruiser.

Cheers! Nick.

[Marinka]

mate, from looking at your blog you just had a good 25.5 ft pocket cruiser that was very seaworthy! Without being too much of a smart arse, I will be interested to see how you compare the top hat with the contessa. The price seems to be right for alot of top hats and I think that Shaun's Night Cap would be a good buy if you don't mind an outboard. You could easily sail that to Melbourne. Good luck with the hunting and what sort of 32 footer do you have in the US of A? I am probably going to sell Marinka in about a year or so as my wife who is Canadian and I will probably move back to Vancouver Island, buy a boat there, live on it again and then possibly sail her back to Oz. Cheers

[nickj]

mate, from looking at your blog you just had a good 25.5 ft pocket cruiser that was very seaworthy! Without being too much of a smart arse, I will be interested to see how you compare the top hat with the contessa. The price seems to be right for alot of top hats and I think that Shaun's Night Cap would be a good buy if you don't mind an outboard. You could easily sail that to Melbourne. Good luck with the hunting and what sort of 32 footer do you have in the US of A? I am probably going to sell Marinka in about a year or so as my wife who is Canadian and I will probably move back to Vancouver Island, buy a boat there, live on it again and then possibly sail her back to Oz. Cheers

True! I did have a great little pocket cruiser. But, I wanted a bigger one in the USA, and I got a decent price for my Contessa.

The boat in SF is a Thomas Gilmer designed Aries 32. Sort of a Colin Archer inspired double-ender-esque-full-keel-all-that-awesome-sturdy-slow-stuff

I've found a great little Top Hat in Melbourne, so I'm just trying to sort some things out to buy her... I'll be sure to give my critique when it all happens!

[Marinka]

woudl like to talk. have permisson from the wife to buy another boat in the US or Canada now given our plans and the exchange rate. So looking at boats over there. Like to buy and then leave on the hard for a while so we can then go ver do up and live on her and then sail her back here. Cheers

[nickj]

woudl like to talk. have permisson from the wife to buy another boat in the US or Canada now given our plans and the exchange rate. So looking at boats over there. Like to buy and then leave on the hard for a while so we can then go ver do up and live on her and then sail her back here. Cheers

Yep, dollar is definitely strong ... 1 Australian dollar = 0.9723 U.S. dollars. Yikes!

You can email me off my site if you'd like to talk more about buying an American boat.

Cheers, Nick