boat comparison shopping

Gordon Henry · Post by **Gordon Henry** » Jun 16th, '01, 16:10

I'm shopping for my first sailboat and have decided to buy a 28 foot Cape Dory. I am torn between two. One is a '79 with an original engine and no extra equipment. It is lovely with all teak below decks, nice exterior paint and bronze port lights. The other is a '76. It has a rather stark interior and exterior and plastic port lights. The aft port lights are larger than the three forward lights on each side. Is that a standard configuration or was in aftermarket add on?

The boat recently arrived from the great lakes and has very little time in salt water. It has a variety of valuable add-ons which I would like to have. The primary questions are - are the bronze port lights available? Would it be terribly expensive to refit the interior to match the '79? And, are there any important differences between the two model years?

Thanks in advance,

Gordon Henry

ghhenry@mpinet.net