Friday, July 31, 2009

New Set of Wheels + Windsurf Stuff for Sale

My 1995 Ford Escort wagon finally died for good yesterday, after two failed resuscitations earlier in the week. Now it's rusting on the side of US-1, where its last bit of rolling inertia delivered it to a random resting place in front of the Manatee Mobile Home and Trailer Park. (So Florida.) The outside has been stripped of my boards, and the roof-rack has been removed, leaving two sticky-but-clean spots outlined in dust. The inside has been emptied of my sails and booms, and of countless little tools and toys in their sandy bags and boxes.

And now, after a long, long day, I have procured a replacement vehicle from Bill Schultz Chevrolet, to the tune of $2150. Here's what $2150 gets you...

Photobucket

2000 Plymouth Voyager Minivan

Pros:
1) Works.
2) Paid for.
3) Holds all windsurf gear except longboard.
4) Removable folding seats = living-room furniture
5) Tape deck.

Cons:
1) Will need $500+ work next month; tires, brakes, etc.
2) Speedometer permanently stuck at "0".
3) One missing hubcap.
4) Not compatible with my old roof-rack.
5) No warranty.
6) 160,000 miles.
7) Previous owner attached headliner felt with 1000s of staples in dizzying pattern.
8) Retro-coolness of vans doesn't apply to minivans.

Since I'm going to be a little tight from now until the end of August, I figure this would be a good time to remind you readers of some of the wind sport stuff I have for sale. (Pick-up only in treasure coast area):

1) 2004 Ezzy Wave Sail, 5.2 msq, green, dime-sized tear in non-load-bearing part of luff sleeve. $70.00 obo
2) 1997 Ezzy Wave Sail, 4.7 msq, yellow-orange, finger-length tear in non-load-bearing part of luff sleeve. $25.00 obo
3) 1999 Neil Pryde Z1 Race Sail, 8.7 msq, orange, lots of tape. $5.00 or free if you buy one of the other sails.
4) Brand-new Neil-Pryde sail quiver bag, expandable to hold any size sails plus whatever else you want to put in it. $30.00
5) Trainer foil-kite, 4.0 msq. $50.00 with bar and lines.
6) 20" fixed harness lines (set of two). $6.00
7) Chinook mast base extension. 25 cm adjustable. $10.00

3 comments:

TonyWind said...

You'll see how nicer is to just slide the boards into the car instead of strap them to the roof rack. If my windsurfing was less occasional and I could practice it all year long, I would consider a minivan too.....(although my goal in the future is to minimize my carbon emissions). Enjoy your new wheels!

Johnny Douglass said...

Try not to let the boards and sails drip salt water onto your upholstery. Remember how bad (and long) our car stunk when you were a kid and accidentally overturned that bucket of salt water with fresh-dug clams in our Subaru?!

Frank said...

Hi James Man that is my kind of ride!!
Your dad is right about the saltwater and the rust is as bad as the smell. I killed to vehicles carrying boards on and in them. I use a trailer know and pull it with a 1986 Honda Accord with 152,981 miles but very little rust. If you water proof the inside how about posting pictures. I feel the guys on Maui have ideas but not many pictures to get ideas from.