So I just signed a bill of sale on DSII #10721, and I'm very happy to finally have a boat again - it's been 8 long, dry years since I sold my previous boat (a 28' keelboat)!
I looked at 3 different boats and this one seemed to need to the least work, and I got it for what kinda of felt like grand theft.
A couple peculiarities about this boat that I'd like to ask the experts here about, since this is my first DS:
1) The spars are black. What's up with that? Every other DSII spars I've seen have been bare aluminum. PO said that's how it was when he bought it, and it doesn't look like it was painted by an amateur.
2) The rudder is odd. There is no downhaul or uphaul, and it's not just a matter of the lines being missing - there appears to be no provision for such controls at all. The rudder blade also seems shorter than the rudders I've seen on other DS' I've looked at, but I don't know the actual measurements and have nothing to directly compare it with. Could it be a rudder off a different boat? PO did not complain of any steering problems. I see a new rudder in my near future.
I'm sure I'll have a bunch more questions once I actually get it home.
Thanks all!