Not saying that I am, but just saying if you were thinking about buying a new boat..............

I made some bad decisions which after the fact seem so obvious I'm not sure how it happened. With the Islander, we were watching our season go by, sitting by our empty slip in lawn chairs. The powerboat sold in an hour and we couldn't find anything that wasn't either overpriced or garbage. When the Islander came on the market the broker called with the listing before it was advertised, we bought that boat the next day. I stood on the ground and looked at it up on the cradle and not once did it ever occur to me that the keel was going to cause issues. Ultimately that was the reason we had to sell it. How did I miss that? In my hurry to get another boat I never considered it I guess?

The IP is perfect, shallow draft, big cockpit, roomy down below..........except it is a nightmare to work on. Changing the oil and filter, fuel filter, replacing that hot water tank that is buried, even pulling the batteries requires two people. You have to be able to stand on your head to get to anything below. How did I miss that?

If you were buying something new, what would you look for? I would like shallow draft, seakindly enough so as not to be a bobber but with a wide beam and a roomy cockpit. Easy to handle sail plan for a getting older couple. Well built of course, when you look at it you could tell that the people who put it together actually took pride in their work, joinery that looks like a finish carpenter did it. Made with decent quality parts. Not shy on the amount of glass was put in the mold. Pretty to look at too. I keep looking at photos of the older Islander Freeport's, just something about those. That photo of Tom's boat for example, that's a boat. I'm not sure you can find that in a newer boat that isn't a zillion dollars?