Clipper Marine ?

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

Congrats on the find! The only people that seem to complain about CMs are the people that have never been close to one, or close to one in good condition. More CM info at www.clippermarine.org & www.clipper-sailor.net The last web site has original drafting sketches of CMs.

i owned one and i would never own another.
1/8 inch hull choppergun with poprivet hull to deck connection, lightweight rig--sailors who sailother than flat lakes are prone to buying heavier boats more capable of sailing choppy waters. back in late 1980s uscg deemed cm unfit for any body of water. ok fun . have fun with it--it is a good starter boat.

[Mitch K]

Hi All,
Just this past weekend I picked up a 1975 CM Mk26 in pretty good condition that I will be getting back in ship shape to also use on the Columbia River between Richland, WA and Mcnary dam. Possibly even some time on the Snake river above Ice Harbor dam. I purchased the boat so that my wife and I can learn to sail. I have spent may years on power boats, but never on a sail boat, so this is a new adventure for us.

My boat is in pretty good condition for a 41 year old boat. It does have some issues that I will be addressing over the winter with the plan of putting it back in the water come spring. The biggest issues is the pop top has had water intrusion, and the issues that caused. I've rebuild a few boats in my years, so the this particular repair in no problem.
The rest of the hull and top are fine, no delamination's or other issues. Looks like the gel coat will buff out pretty good too.

I checked the deck to hull connection. On my particular boat, it does indeed have rivets, but it has also been glassed over too. When I pressure washed it, I didn't get any water inside from that area. There is also no flex to the hull side when I push on it.

I will have to replace some if not all of the standing rigging, as a couple of the side stays have wire breaks right at the turnbuckles. I did order some longer terminations to make a short term repair until I can get the new rigging.

As soon as we get a nice sunny day, I'll take some pictures and post to the group.

Thanks for being here

Mitch

[softgoodsint]

Hi Mitch, until a short while ago, your reference to sailing on the Columbia River just made me think "ah, nice - sailing on one of the most beautiful rivers I've ever seen up in the Pacific NW - good for him", but now I learn my next assignment is in Longview for a few months, my perspective is "wow, I'll be right in his neighborhood". Of course, not exactly prime sailing season in December through February, but I think I'd have an opportunity to say hello when I'm up there and see your new pride and joy. I love puttering around with boats, but who in the right mind doesn't (LOL).

[Mitch K]

softgoodsint,
I do not think I will have it water ready before about Feb, but you are more than welcome to stop by if your in the area. For what its worth, Longview is around a 5hr drive from where I am located. But again, if in the area, drop a line and we will try an meet up.

Mitch

[softgoodsint]

Hey Mitch,
No worries, I wasn't trying to press you to a "call to action", these things take time, I completely appreciate that. After all, we're sailors, not jet pilots (LOL). I just thought I might be in the neighborhood, but I didn't realize that was five hours away - are you way up river? I should check a map, of course (my bad). But I just thought it might be a nice weekend detour to drop by in person and see you new baby. I'm not an owner (yet) myself, but almost. I'm in the fact gathering mode to decide how much sweat equity vs. $ equity to invest. Cheers...

[Mitch K]

softgoods int,
No problem. I did not take it as pressuring me in any way. As I said, If you are up my way, please do not hesitate to drop me a line so you can see my new to me lady!

As for location, I am just a couple of miles below where the Snake River dumps into the Columbia River. Right near where the Columbia River take a relatively sharp turn to the West (going down river). Roughly 30 miles above McNary Dam. Lots of wide and deep water for me to play on!

You can PM me if you would like, so we can continue this conversation off forum.

Mitch

[Mitch K]

All,
I plan on starting the repair on my water damaged pot top this weekend. I need to determine if the pop top is arched on the inside surface or flat across the inside surface. Would one of you that have a Clipper Marine with the pop top take a look and let me know how it is configured. Also, an estimate of how much arch the top has from side to side. My best guestimate is that its between 1"-2" from the middle to the sides. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mitch

[Mitch K]

All,
Here are some pictures of the repair process for the delaminated pop top. I made a large jig to place the top into to hold the curve when I epoxy in the new foam (Divinicell H-80), and re-attach the lower skin. I discovered that there were no ribs or stringers in the top, and that the foam is only 1/2" thick. I also discovered that the lower surface is also arched at the same radius as the outer skin. That should make the repair pretty straight forward. Anyway, here are some pictures to show the progress.

Mitch

[Mitch K]

All,
Here are some pictures of my boat after a quick external cleaning. All I did to the interior is remove the cushions. The inside still need a good cleaning.

All the cushions are in excellent shape except for the starboard aft bunk. The end that is damaged is right where someone would probably set a cooler or other items.

The sails are all in excellent shape with a relatively new main sail (Rolly Tasker).

It even came with a main sail boom cover, and the curtain for between the main cabin and the foreward bunk looks like it has never been used.

I have hired a local rigging company to make me a new set of rigging for her. I found three stays that had a couple of strands broken right at the turnbuckle, so I figured it was time to get new rigging. I should have them in a couple of weeks.

Anyway, here are some pictures.

Enjoy
Mitch

[Mitch K]

I finished removing the inner surface of the pop top, and scraped off all the foam that was still attached. A previous owner had done the drill a hole and inject epoxy fix. There were quite a few little cylinders of epoxy that I had to break off when I removed the foam. Anyway, I will be prepping the surfaces for the new foam over the next week.

While I have been waiting for the epoxy supplies to arrive, I have been working on other systems that needed some attention. I have access to a small metal lathe and milling machine that I can use to make parts. The sheaves in the mast head were in terrible shape. I'm surprised they were even working at all. So I took some black delrin I had on hand and made some replacements. The halyards on my mast are 3/32 stainless cable. I made the grooves in the sheaves 1/8". I may switch over to rope halyards, so it will be easy for me to widen the grooves to accept up to a 5/16" rope. I haven't made up my mind about that yet.

Also, when I picked up the boat, I had noticed the spreaders were going to need some attention. When I took the spreader boots off, I found that a previous owner had made a fix to one of the spreader end caps with a piece of leather. Again, to the lathe and milling machine to make a replacement set. The old ones were some sort of extruded plastic. I made mine out of solid delrin. They should last for as long as I will have the sailboat.

That about sums up where I am at with the boat at this time. I'll post more as things progress.

[Mitch K]

All,
I have a hopefully easy question for the group. On my CM26 where the spreaders connect to the mast is a U bracket on each side of the mast that the spreader fits into and is held in by a clevis pin. Since both of mine are loose, I need to know what is the orientation of the brackets. Does the clevis insert vertically or horizontally. Since apparently both of my spreaders have been damaged a number of times, and the previous owner had swapped them end for end at least a couple of times, I am not 100% sure which way they should mount. Judging by the multiple holes on each end, and the damages to the ends, it looks like the clevis pins should insert vertically. The clevis pins on mine are the push button ball detent type. I do not know if they are original, or they have been changed from something else, like bolts with nylocks. Anyway, if anyone knows or could look at theirs, and let me know, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mitch

[Mitch K]

I have another question for those of you that own or have owned a CM with the pop top. I placed the pop top back on top of the CM26 yesterday evening. We were calling for rain and freezing temps, so I figured the solid top was way better than a tarp to keep the weather out. Anyway, after I had placed it on top, I discovered that there are no top locking dogs to dog the top down with. They do not appear to have ever been any installed. So the question is, to those who have pop tops, or who have had one, does/did yours have dog latches? If so, what style are they, and where are they located. Not the small hatch over the forward berth has a single locking dog (but no seals). I also want to install some sort of seal around the top of the pop top. Right now, I am leaning towards purchasing the thick white foam seal that the Catalina store sells as a replacement for the seals on various Catalina boats. Anyway, unless someone has a better suggestion, that is the way I will go.

Oh, after I placed the pop top back onto the boat, I took a stroll across it. It felt very solid under foot!

Mitch

[Tybee Girl]

I have a 67 clipper marine with a swing keel. Man that little girl is perfect for a weekend sailor. As with anything, you get out what you put in. I love my boat.

[Tybee Girl]

Originally Posted by tjr818

For anyone looking at a Clipper 21 all I have to say is that I loved mine. Dollar for dollar I had more fun on that boat than any of my others. Bill Crealock designed them; I have faith in his designs, but this was not intended to cross any oceans. Buy it, have fun with it and when you want to go on a sailing adventure move up to an appropriate boat. My only complaint was the centerboard winch - upgrade that.
Fair sailing, TJR

Yes! I need to replace my wench & cable. I think it is the original, Lol.

[Mitch K]

Tybee Girl,
The winch and cable replacement is not hard. However, you need to be able to lower the keel down and support it while you replace the cable. I did that exact job just a few months ago. I replaced the winch with one made by Dayton, and the cable I picked up locally. The winch is Dayton model 12U370 800lb rated. They are current production and can be had on ebay for about $50.00. Fortunately I have access to a swaging tool, and all I had to do was pick up the appropriate tin plated copper swages and a replacement thimble that goes through the hole in the keel. You can use stainless steel cable clamps, but use three for full rated strength. Depending on which model and year, determines how much room you have up in the keel trunk. My CM26 is a 1975, and it has a different keel winch configuration than earlier models. Actually, mine is build 999 out of approx. 1030 made. There is a couple of face book groups for our boats as well as the Trailer Sailor group that has a lot of info on our boats. I posted most of what I did to my 26 over on the Trailer Sailor. Check it out if you get a chance. Also, if you send me a private I will be glad to share any info I have learned on our boats.

Mitch