So I have come full circle in beach cat ownership… Here is a photo of my first beach cat a 1984 Prindle 18 taken a few days after I got her in 1985… I know, some of you probably weren’t even born yet!!!!!



Since then I have owned two more P18, two Prindle 18-2, and Prindle 16, NACRA 5.8, NACRA/Inter 20, and a NACRA F-18… Lot of great time and a lot of fun!

I have always given the advice that the Prindle 18 is by far the best first beach cat one could own, and hands down this boat should be the first entry into the Beachcat Hall of Fame…

Well today, I pulled the trigger and done got myself another Prindle 18 Classic… and for a price that was… let say I drove of the lot so fast it kicked up a cloud of Bakersfield dust that is still visible in the rear view mirror for a couple of miles over the Grape Vine

Here she is… and besides that fact she has been sitting for a while (note the new trailer tire… Thank you Pete Beagle for that advice) after trip or two to Murray’s and SLO Canvas, she’ll be up on the beach in Santa Barbara in no time…




Anyway… any of you up this way give a shout, we’ll go sailing



Edited by JohnES on Jul 01, 2015 - 09:53 PM.

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John Schwartz
Ventura, CA
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Nice. I grew up sailing a P16 and crewing on a P18 in races in the early 80s. I had a G-Cat 5.7 that I regret selling because they're so hard to find and have my eye out for a P18 now. Love those boats.

Where are you located Shawn? Thought you were buying a P-16 John? Anyway the P-18 is only 35 #'s more and I have several P-16 mains you could put on for single-handing off Santa Barbara. Hope we'll see you on starting line Aug 15 !! Pete

Pete,

The deal was too good to pass up!!!!

This boat was at an RV Dealership in Bakersfield... I looked at it a few weeks back when they were proud of their $1399.00 price. They called me over the weekend and asked me what it was going to take for me to come up and get it... I shot them a price of $300 out the door (Tax, Title, and Tag) thinking they would come back with $600 or $700... But, they came back with $350!!!!!! There were a bunch of DMV fees that needed to be paid... The total DMV work for registration, title, and back fees (the boat hadn't been registered since 1999) was about $225.00 alone.

Ripping into it last night, I came across a bunch of Harken bullet blocks, tool kit, and a new set of rigging... someone had shown this boat some love a while back.. It still has the original Prindle Butt Buckets and owners manual...

As for Aug 15, I may be there but not with this boat... She is going to the beach in Santa Barbara....

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John Schwartz
Ventura, CA
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I sold my Stiletto 27 at the Nationals in 2013, and I bought a P-18 classic again after years of sailing on faster, more sophisticated catamarans. I don't know how I ever got away from this boat. It is such a pleasure to sail solo. I'm gonna wear this one out.

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Peyton Adair
Prindle 18 classic
Hobie 17
Hobie Wave
Wichita KS
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