Plan B?
Perhaps you need, as they said in
Animal House, a "road trip!"
Friend of mine just brought home a bargain Montgomery 15 on a decent trailer from Colorado to PDX. He wanted a pocket cruiser that would tow behind his VW diesel. So far so good, after several hundred miles. He went to Alaska and back last summer on his larger boat and wanted a 'winter cruiser' to take to Arizona.
As for boat shopping further away, arguably he has more time than money, as it were, being retired, but still....
While there are other makes of trailerable sailboat built in the 70's, the Ericson was one of the best constructed ones, imho.
Observation: It's always better to buy a smaller yacht from a high-end builder than a scaled-up POS from a cheapie company.
After 40 years they all need some restoration, but it's a lot better to have have sturdier scantlings underpinning your restoration. I wish you well.
Let us know how your quest goes.
Cheers,
Loren
ps: while Googling for more info on the ODay, this was at the top of the list. Nice pix and lots of words about the Ericson.
http://www.ericson25.com/2012/09/why-i-bought-ericson-25-part-iv.html