Refitting a Compass 47

[cpa]

Originally Posted by frigment

Just joined Cruisersforum.
What a great thread, your boat is looking great, very envious!
I too, want to do what you've done one of these days.
My biggest problem is living 600Kms from the sea!
Well, many happy sails to you on your Compass 47.

Thank you.

[cpa]

We are still plugging away on the Compass. We pulled the main out and scrubbed with a brush and simple green. It cleaned up OK. Then I purchased a couple yards of sticky back Dacron and went to town. There were 3 major areas that need repair from the UV exposure. I dont expect the main to last long and I do believe that I will be repairing this thing every time I go sailing.

[cpa]

We also went sailing yesterday. I was excited to get the main up, but felt we were in the upper end of the sail's wind range...that is if we want to use it more than once. It felt like 13-15 knots and with out slightly dirty bottom we were cruising 5-6 knots. Not too bad. Boat sails great.

[cpa]

More sailing:

[JPA Cate]

Hey!

CPA, victory at last! How sweet it is.

Ann

[cpa]

More:

[Exile]

Excellent! Can't get over how great those decks look too!

[cpa]

Originally Posted by Exile

Excellent! Can't get over how great those decks look too!

Thanks!

[cpa]

Wow I can't believe it has been over two months since my last post. Things are going well as far as boat work goes. We have sailed a little and motored a lot. I guess it's summer here in FL! I started working on the anchor windlass. I decided to get a manual windlass because :

A: I can't afford an electric one (I am poor-ish)
B: Due to a bulkhead location it has to be a horizontal windlass with no motors below deck.
C: I have never had an electric one and I figure if I don't know what I am missing I should survive.

I tried to locate a SL555 but had no luck and picked up a Lofrans Royal. A little small for this application, but I could get it to with 3/8 HT gypsy. My 5 year sailing plans will probably be Bahamas, so mostly shallow anchoring. Plus I am decently strong for a short guy. Hopefully it will last a few years.


The install went smooth other than cracking the teak riser That I made from some scrap teak that came with the boat. I need maybe another 1/4 inch of height so that did not bother me too much. All the fiberglass stuff I needed for the install I already had so it was a low cost project, minus the windlass. I had two holes from the old windlass. I sanded and beveled the holes. I made a three layer patch of 1808 and epoxy for the bottom of the holes and then let it cure. I then used some leftover Coosa BW26 to replace the missing core and Superbond epoxy adhesive it. Then I laid another patch of 1808 on top. It came out pretty good and I did not even have to use any filler to fair the areas. I then primed them and put the nonskid on top. Then I installed the new windlass with the help of my dad.

also on a side note I finally got the sail cover done. The company made it a bit small and it did not fit. They redid it and while it fits it seems a little small and nerdy. But They were half the price of the other guys. This is a mega low budget project. Well at least until I get a job. Here are the pictures.

I did not take any before pictures, so here is one from the old days. As you can see there is the windlass hole and the hole for the windlass foot switch.

[cpa]

I never seem to take enough pictures during the process.

[cpa]

Here is a picture of the deck core and fiberglass sample. Most of the wood core had to be pried out to allow the hole saw to cut through. This is one of the two areas of the deck that have core. First is the cockpit floor and then the forward section of the foredeck.

[cpa]

Can't forget the nerdy sail cover.

[cpa]

Which I did .

[JPA Cate]

cpa,

We just learned through a friend's experience with a mainsail, that the very light colors of Sunbrella allow more UV through onto the dacron. So, when you think about replacing the mainsail, it would be prudent to go with one of the dark colors (which absorb more UV) rather than a lighter one.

Ann

[Exile]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

cpa,

We just learned through a friend's experience with a mainsail, that the very light colors of Sunbrella allow more UV through onto the dacron. So, when you think about replacing the mainsail, it would be prudent to go with one of the dark colors (which absorb more UV) rather than a lighter one.

Ann

We were also told this when replacing the Sunbrella for our bimini several years ago, and so went with a dark color. The fabric still looks great and, who knows, maybe it's not as hot sitting under it. Seemed counterintuitive at the time and still does, but seems to be working out fine.