To buy or not to buy, that is the ?

Mako shark: I'm also very new to this board but there are a lot of guys here who really know these boats in and out so please take their advice and pass on this one unless you are an expert fiberglass man with a lot of time on your hands. if you really look around you can pick them up in good shape very, very cheap. I just bought a 83 with an excellent solid hull and long shaft transom that spent its life dry stacked which buffed out like new, a very good top, no damage to the teak or any structural problems etc. but had a junk engine for $1,000 . I put the engine from my recently ground up whaler on it , sold the junk engine for $200 to a boat recycler, slid a good trailer under her and I have probably got one of the best riding 20 foot rough inlet boats ever designed for not much money. Over the years I have had Gradys, Whalers and ALbemarles and for long runs way out to sea in rough conditions I still prefer my 27 albemarle but for what the little V-20 was designed for, I dont think anything out there can do a better job. I made a big mistake a few years ago with a 20 foot whaler revenge that spent the winter under 3 feet of ice in lake huron. I never got it dried out and I must have spent over 500 hours of *** busting fiberglass work for nothing as half way through the project I found that a 4 foot section of the keel and half of the transom had seperated from the foam and the stringers had turned to mush. To make a long story short look at the boat trader , ebay and craigs list or just look around. Regards Frank