Please note that this boat is seriously for sale and has been priced accordingly.  List price of the engine, generator, water maker, auto pilot is close to the selling price.  The steering wheel alone is worth $1,000 new. 

This 46 foot ketch was built in 1969 by designer Bill Tripp.  It was his last design it is officially a US46 and built in Bristol Rhode Island.  Older boats have some distinct advantages. The teak deck was laid down with 7/8 inch teak.  The deck is was rebuilt four years ago.  It was replugged, recaulked, and sanded smooth. Yet it still is much thicker than is laid down on new boats, typically only 3/8 inch.  
 
The hull is two inches thick solid fiberglass.  That's too expensive to build a new boat this way.  If you ever run hard aground, you will bless that two inch thick hull.  The boat will never get blisters because it was built in 1969.  Boats built in the 70's get blisters because the chemical compounds used were altered due to the oil shortages at the time.
 
The boat was damaged in hurricane Katrina that came close to Miami.  It pulled up anchor, the dingy wrapped on a piling fortunately stopping any further drift.  But the stays on the mizzen mast caught the piling which pulled down the mizzen mast.  The life line and bow railing are also damaged. The centerboard had the tip nipped off due to a stay being caught on it when the mizzen fell.  It ortherwise is fine and swings perfectly.  The fact that the boat didn't sink is testimony to its seaworthyness as many boats did in the same anchorage.   The forward edge of the jib is torn and will need to be trimmed back.  It is an oversized jib so will not detract from your speed.  I usually sail with it half furled - an advantage of a self-furling jib is you can make your jib any size you desire. The hatch cover were blown off but are currently being replaced brand new.

The bottom needs to be painted anyway.  90% of the hassle of a boatyard is done once you already taken it in the marina for a bottom job.  Additional repairs just mean a larger bill.  The additional repairs should cost between $5,000 for workable to $20,000 for pristine condition.  I suggest trying it without the mizzen, which would be most of the repair cost.  Mizzen's are too small to add much to you speed and you'll  have so much more deck space without it.  I always felt it was there more for beauty and cosmetics then for functionality.   Mizzens do add a sense of balance when sailing with just the jib in heavy winds.  However I cannot recall one instance where really was needed in the slightest.  Just the jib by itself works fine.  You have to remember that there is the rear centerboard which always gives the boat tremendous stability.

The mizzen was recovered.  The mizzen mast is snapped but the boom, sail, and sail cover are fine.  The centerboard is damaged, but only the lower tip. 
 
The boat's extensive wood interior provides a cozy atmosphere.  The center cockpit design provides tremendous privacy by separating the two cabins to each end the boat. It also for extremely comfortable cruising as most of your time is spent in the large center cockpit. 
 
There are two heads, both with showers.  One is in the aft cabin and one by the foward cabin.  When staying in the aft cabin, one can shower in the morning before ever presenting themselves to the world.  This always gave me the sense of being on a huge ship.
 
Large plexiglass hatches allow for lots of fresh air and sunlight down below.  A very important point - lots of fresh air below.  

The bimini top frames are fine, but the canvas needs replacement.  The bimini design provided maximum sun protection.  The bimini is very wide to begin with because the center cockpit is very spacious.  Mine was unique by simply adding four extra flaps, one on each side.  These fold up over the bimini and stow away in five seconds flat with bungy cords.  When down, they obstruct neither view nor breeze, but vastly reduce the amount of direct sunlight.  On a day the Miami summer heat is at its hellish worst, the most pleasant spot in all of Miami is under my bimini top.  I don't exagerate.  I've left the flaps down in 50 knots without any problem.  Direct sunlight is minimized to such an extent that one can stay out all day without getting sunburn. 
 
A second bimini I designed can be put up in minutes and covers the forward half of the boat.  It uses PVC poles slipped through pockets so that is Bimini has a rounded appearance and is very easy to walk under.  It also allows the breeze to pass under it and can be left up in high winds.  With these two biminis up, one could stay anywhere indefinately in maximum comfort.  The boat is paradise with both these bimini tops up.  

A water recovery system with the flip of a lever allows deck water (strained for both debris and anything that floats such as oil) to go into the water tanks.  The water tastes fine, like spring water.  Sometimes people drain off there bimini tops, but that never collects enough water and the canvas can leave an aftertaste in the water. 

The two fuel tanks are connected at the flip of a switch so that either the engine or the generator can run on either one.  This way you don't have the problem of having a full generator tank but an empty main engine tank, or visa versa.  It also allows you to keep however many gallons you'd like in reserve, so you don't accidentally ran out of fuel.

Downsides of the boat

The boat has not been maintained for over a year.  

The exterior varnish needs to be redone.   The interior varnish could use a coat to give the boat a fresh new appearance.  Varnishing the floor in particular would make the boat feel new, and that's a fairly simple job.

The Bimini top frame is fine but the canvas needs to be replaced.

The exterior cushions need to be replaced.

The foreword V-birth cushion needs to be replaced.

The main engine from visual inspection appears as good as new. It only has 500 hours on it. Only recently have they gotten a little stiff.  The flywheel turns 20° which means that only one piston have some corrosion and possibly could be freed up.   I understand psychological need for a buyer to actually hear the engine run.  However, people knowledgeable about engines will agree that unless you do a full oil analysis, even running the engine will not tell you it's quality.  Oil analysis is normally done only on very expensive boats, as it is an expensive test.  The cost of fully rebuilding the engine is more than priced into the boat and you will also have 100% assurance and the quality of your engine before setting off for the Bahamas.

The panda generator would costs about $18,000 new.  It has a thousand hours on it.  It also appears in excellent condition, flywheel spins freely, etc..  The only thing wrong with it is that a few external wires are corroded. 

The entire lifeline needs replacing.  When the mizzen mast fell, it did no other damage.  The mizzen does not run through the deck like the main mast does.  So it simply fell over without damaging the deck.

The autopilot and water maker both worked last time tested.  The last time the water maker was used it was rebuilt with a new $300 membrane and properly pickled.  I chose it not to use it after that, and instead brought water from shore in a 5 gallon containers.  Therefore you have a water maker ready to go like new.

The reverse cycle 16,000 BTU AC/heater has extremely low hours on it and still looks like it was installed yesterday.

The hatches are brand new, as they have just been replaced.

The boat is currently at anchor in Dinner Key Coconut Grove Miami.  This is a free anchorage, and you can leave the boat there as long as you wish.  There are many boats there, and several people that live on their boats there are my friends, and are keeping an eye out on my boat.  The dinner Key anchorage offers a free dinghy dock and free parking for your car.  It's right in the heart of Coconut Grove and really a fantastic place to live, not to mention a very expensive place to live if you had to rent there.  I greatly enjoyed living there, sharing the same view as the $5 million homes that line the shore.  The water is crystal clear and fantastic for swimming as it is only 6 feet deep with a sandy bottom where the boat is anchored.  If you were to buy the boat, you could work on the boat right where it is as long as you wanted to.  There are also several qualified people living in the anchorage that are willing to work for extremely reasonable wages.  Many of them have been working on boats for decades.

The boat does not currently have a dinghy.  However used boats up to 16 feet in length are a dime a dozen in Miami and can be purchased at a moments notice.  If you look on eBay for example, you can find dozens for sale on any given week in the South Florida area. In order to show the boat, it is not difficult getting a ride to and from the boat and my friends living in the anchorage are always willing to assist me. 

There are several qualified hard working people living in the anchorage that I can recommend to work on the boat, from $10 to $20 per hour for any kind of boat work, including mechanical.  You could even have one of them paint the hull to the waterline on a calm day using a dingy.  Most everything can be done right there at anchor at extremely low cost. 

update March 2008:

There is some stiffness in the main engine crank.  It's not frozen stiff, but the engine may need a top end job, which normally costs around $2000. 

Rather then reinstall the mizzin mast, what I would consider doing would be to install at the stern of the boat a platform of solar panels, which you could walk under.  In other words, it would serve also is a sun roof for a shaded sitting area at the stern of the boat.  One must remember that solar panels and wind generators did not exist until recently, and only recently have designs made allowance for them.  Adding this feature would make the boat something like a 2007 Ford Mustang-combining graceful classic lines with accommodating the latest innovations and desires for luxury.  Rainwater of course could also be collected off of the solar panel area, increasing the volume of water already going to the tanks. When of course it also added a quick access ladder so that one could do high jumps and dives into the water from the platform.