1980 17ft Galaxy question

[bashr52]

Anyone know anything about galaxy boats? Just looked at a one owner all original, and I mean original 17ft 1970 galaxy. It's blue, everywhere. Original seats, carpet, vinyl, etc. Owned by a 91 year old gentleman who kept it served and stored in a barn/garage when not in use since new. Started right up and is really clean but the floor bothers me. It's sold but under the seats there is a piece of bare marine grade plywood under the carpet which covers the majority of the floor. He swears that he's never had to do anything to it, and didn't know of anyone who's used it doing anything. I'm suspicious it may be hiding a soft spot, but due to the overall condition of the boat I don't think he's lying. Thoughts?

 

[Vanillaicecream]

Looks like a cool,ole boat, but remember gaskets dry out, wiring gets old and brittle, the vinyl might be ok or tear easily or the threads holding it, etc.. If it's a really really good price then maybe, but do you like to tinker and work on it or just go boating? I would expect a few gremlins to sort out for the first season. I would expect to have some money set aside for repairs.

 

[bashr52]

It is a cool boat, started right up with a turn of the key. I'm well used to working on boats, my current boat needs more work than its worth at this point. He's asking 3500, but it's been for sale for a while and I likely could get it for 25-2800. Short of taking the seats out and trying to pull up that piece of marine ply(which I doubt he'd be keen on me doing in his yard) anyone know of anyone ever building a boat like that? Floor looks/feels solid eveywhere else, and the bilge is sealed off so water can't get in by the stringers and start rot. It also has snap on mooring covers which he's always kept on and should have keep the majority of the water, diry, leaves, etc out.

 

[Maclin]

That hinge hardware looks pretty shiny and new and not exactly original....as does all the carpet, just sayin'. There is a demarcation line in the carpet on the rear engine house pic where the colors are pretty different. The hinges usually would not go over the carpet like that, just my opinion. Most I have seen the hinges are mounted to the floor and the carpet lays over it. When he said "didn't know of anyone who's used it doing anything..." well I bet they did. But the work looks ok "from here". Price is high I think, but if it really is what it is then around $2000-2500 might be a good buy. Old and not used much does not usually work out so well with boats.

 

[Starcraft5834]

When selling a house, location, location, location, boats= condition, condition, condition. I'd agree with Maclin, those hinges are not original... nor is the carpet... that said,, it's possible however unlikely the boat was never used used and garage kept.......... compression test the engine, make sure it's sound.. if so.. have at it and enjoy.. engine health is a must.....remember, lipstick on a pig, is still a pig....

 

[frantically relaxing]

I bought a '79 just like it- I've only bought 2 boats brand new, this was the first one...and my second of many boats

This pic was taken at Lake Powell that summer, with X1, X1's *&%^# friend in the bow, and my 2 kids (who are now 39 and 41 years old and have given me 9 grandkids)... I remember the sales literature proclaiming it was unsinkable, with a photo of about 7 adults standing in one with water up to the gunwales and not going down. I paid $5270 for it out the door with skis, rope and a few jackets thrown in. It had the little 120hp slant-4 Volvo in it. Only had a top speed in the high 30's, but who knows how accurate the speedo was. I used the hell out of it for a summer and a half, did a lot of skiing behind that boat. Was on the verge of being underpowered, especially when we left our 4400' altitude lake for the 6000+ lakes, she had a hard time breathing that high up.

I still see a few of them around here, a couple of them are in pretty good shape still. I've never seen mine again. I traded it straight across in '81 for a '77 Kona 21' minicruiser... I thought I was getting the better deal...but...

 

[bashr52]

I've been burned before, my current boat was a lipstick on a pig situation, and a case of impulse buy. I had $$ in my pocket and it was a bigger boat than I had just sold. I'm still chasing out gremlins, and at this point I want to cut my losses and move on from it.

That being said, this isn't a make or break situation with this thing. My plan was to put down a deposit to hold it, and show up with cash and a truck to haul it out to prove we're serious buyers. This would only be done with the stipulation that before we did the deal they let us unbolt the seats, pull up the carpet, and have a good look at what's going on there. That would also mean poking around on the transom to check for rot, compression testing engine, etc.

I talked with my dad last night, re-hashed out our concerns, and decided to sit on it for a week or 2 and see if it sells. If not, then perhaps they'd be more motivated to get rid of it and be open to us pulling it apart for a better look.