At 81 years young and over 50 years of solo sailing experience, Ed Hart knows a few things about buying a sailboat. His first boat was a 24 foot Islander.  He sailed this boat from San Diego to Hawaii.  His second solo trip to Hawaii, he purchased a Cal 25.  This was all before GPS. So his primary navigation instrument was a sextant. For his circumnavigation, Ed purchased a Cascade 29.  For this journey, he bought one of the first handheld GPSs.

Today, Ed owns a Seawind II 32.  Orginally a Ketch, Ed converted it into a sloop. Ed prefers sloops because as a solo sailor he finds them easier to handle.  Unlike his previous sailboats, he added a chart plotter, refrigeration, an electronic auto pilot, and AIS. But Ed is still a believer in mechanical over electronic.