Bristol 32

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by malbert73

Could the mold be in 2 halves? I.e. after layup uncouple the 2 sides of mold and remove from hull with flange?

Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Yes, you could do that...

Maybe some should e-mail Dieter Empacher, or ask him at the Bristol get-together, next year.

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Finally balsa cored decks that are 40 years old are going to be big failure points and lots of money to fix.

You don't have to "fix" this. It's already strong enough with the balsa rotten.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Finally balsa cored decks that are 40 years old are going to be big failure points and lots of money to fix......

My Bristol 27 is a 1974 and amazingly my decks are very strong without any soft spots.

The boat leaks where the hull and deck come together and possibly through a couple stanchions but it all drains to the bilge without wetting the settees, cabin sole, or V Berth area.

Not bad for a 41 year old boat

[MarkSF]

I recently snugged up all the bolts that go through the hull deck joint. That took a while, 31 ft x 2 with a 4" spacing! The butyl tape still looks good and pliable. No leaks at all on an 84 model.

[roverhi]

Originally Posted by Shanachie

I have copies of the Bristol brochures, and I could find no mention anywhere of this two-halves building technique.

I posted a question on the Yahoo Bristol list to see whether anyone knows any more.

The original source of this story about cracked hulls may have come from Webb Chiles' solo circumnavigation on an Ericson 35, Egregious. The boat was built in two halves and developed a leak where they were joined, according to his book.

There have been a couple of heavily used Ericson's that have had hull leak problems caused by the keels flexing the hull. Wasn't the hull joins but a lateral crack at the forward end of the keel. It was a design issue in the overall overall strength of the hull. FWIW, Chiles' Egregious was an Ericson 37, an IOR racing design and those are the type of boats that seem to have had issues. He did own an Ericson 35 Mark II but don't think he sailed it very far or owned it very long.

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by thomm225

My Bristol 27 is a 1974 and amazingly my decks are very strong without any soft spots.

The boat leaks where the hull and deck come together and possibly through a couple stanchions but it all drains to the bilge without wetting the settees, cabin sole, or V Berth area.

Not bad for a 41 year old boat

Then your one of the few that did regular maintenance and corrected problems before they became big headaches. There is no real life limit to a boat well taken care of.
Unfortunate for buyers of used boats, there is no real way to tell if the previous owners were so diligent. Would advise to get all leaks fixed to prevent water entering the corded deck areas. Also the stainless bolts holding deck to hull will over time erode. Stainless is not forever; maybe monel is but not stainless. Lack of oxygen, constant contact with water, and continual stress will eventually rot stainless fittings.

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by roverhi

There have been a couple of heavily used Ericson's that have had hull leak problems caused by the keels flexing the hull. Wasn't the hull joins but a lateral crack at the forward end of the keel. It was a design issue in the overall overall strength of the hull. FWIW, Chiles' Egregious was an Ericson 37, an IOR racing design and those are the type of boats that seem to have had issues. He did own an Ericson 35 Mark II but don't think he sailed it very far or owned it very long.

Not just Ericsons. Most fin keeled boats will eventually show longitudinal cracks in the hulls unless the hull was extremely well made(read expensive). Yamaha used a boxed girder system to give the bottom third of their hulls strengths well beyond the stresses produced by their fin keels. But then again, the Japanese racers sail in all weather conditions almost year round. 30 knots wind and 12-18 foot seas no problem for them.

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

You don't have to "fix" this. It's already strong enough with the balsa rotten.

Possible. The Hans Christian boats prior to 1990 had fiberglass decks thick enough without needing any stiffeners; but they added ply and covered the decks with teak. A lot of folks waste their monies in tearing out the rotted ply that really has no impact on the structural strength of the decks. But we do not tell them that.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Then your one of the few that did regular maintenance and corrected problems before they became big headaches. There is no real life limit to a boat well taken care of.
Unfortunate for buyers of used boats, there is no real way to tell if the previous owners were so diligent. Would advise to get all leaks fixed to prevent water entering the corded deck areas. Also the stainless bolts holding deck to hull will over time erode. Stainless is not forever; maybe monel is but not stainless. Lack of oxygen, constant contact with water, and continual stress will eventually rot stainless fittings.

I've only owned the boat since 2011, but you may have a point.

When I researched the PO who had passed while the boat was on the hard before I found it, I discovered that instead of your typical funeral he had arranged a Celebration of Life at the boat yard where he kept the boat and probably hung out.

The boat has save me many times already due to my lack of experience (beach cat racer not a cruiser) especially with anchoring in spots that can get nasty in hours. (anchors and rode)

Also all thruhull hoses had been recently replaced and many other things...........like the stuffing box packing looked relatively new for a boat that had been on the hard for 5 years.

I was surprised after I found out only having paid $2,000 for the boat, but it was an estate sale sort of situation with the boat in Virginia and non-sailing son in California

[reed1v]

For $2k you got the buy of a lifetime. Sounds like the previous owner was in love with his boat, which is a good sign for you. If its an early production b32, it may have monel tanks. Monel lasts for eternity. Pearsons used various metals in the layups. Earlier models used first class stuff. Later models, once the company was sold, started to cost cut, like using lead and iron mixed with cement in the keels. For the b32s, the older the better.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by reed1v

For $2k you got the buy of a lifetime. Sounds like the previous owner was in love with his boat, which is a good sign for you. If its an early production b32, it may have monel tanks. Monel lasts for eternity. Pearsons used various metals in the layups. Earlier models used first class stuff. Later models, once the company was sold, started to cost cut, like using lead and iron mixed with cement in the keels. For the b32s, the older the better.

It's a Bristol 27. I got a good deal but still had to replaced the diesel with an outboard and buy a new main. Plus I added solar and an inverter etc

I've had lots of boats, but this on is the first with a depth finder and GPS. (and) It's my first sailboat with an engine

The PO sailed it from his home in Falmouth, Mass to Florida for a couple years and left it near here on his retire trip North where it sat for 5 years until I found it

Since I'm a single handed sailor it doesn't have to have all the bells and whistles some couples need and I sort of enjoy going to the mast to raise the main and reef etc. Plus it's my favorite spot to be in the late afternoon on autopilot having a beer and enjoying the scenery

[reed1v]

An outboard will give you lots less headaches than an inboard. My first "real" sailboat was a ranger 26 with an outboard. With that small a boat, you can sail near anywhere. If it has a tiller, you can learn to skull with it into slips. That is an ideal size for single handing at any age. Not sure what your rig is like but at that size, a battenless/lazyjack system really tames the mainsail. I also raised my boom so no matter what point of sail, the boom was above my head. Keeps your brains where they belong. A gallow or crutch will also be appreciated on windy days at anchor. Enjoy.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by reed1v

An outboard will give you lots less headaches than an inboard. My first "real" sailboat was a ranger 26 with an outboard. With that small a boat, you can sail near anywhere. If it has a tiller, you can learn to skull with it into slips. That is an ideal size for single handing at any age. Not sure what your rig is like but at that size, a battenless/lazyjack system really tames the mainsail. I also raised my boom so no matter what point of sail, the boom was above my head. Keeps your brains where they belong. A gallow or crutch will also be appreciated on windy days at anchor. Enjoy.

My boom isn't pinned; it's floating. I did tie some line around the mast though to hold it up a bit. see attached. Also, all my sailboats have had tillers.

I have lots of time sailing from racing 10 month out of the year on Beach Cats while in Florida for 12 years so dodging the boom isn't a problem especially one I don't have to crawl under when tacking...........and you tack and gybe a lot during a 45 minute WLWL Buoy Race plus pre-race X 4-5 races per regatta.

[Don C L]

You got that boat for $2000? That's it, I'm moving to the east coast.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Don C L

You got that boat for $2000? That's it, I'm moving to the east coast.

The weird thing is it didn't have a for sale sign on it. I had been looking for quite a while for an old full keel boat.

I raced high performance catamarans in Florida and had to sail off the beach into a head wind between 2 docks forming the upper left hand of a square with a break in the left corner.

We had to tack twice within 60' -100' to get out then tack again after we were clear to sail out all the while trying to get the daggerboards down.

Point is I got to know the good old full keel boys on the docks who had watched our craziness with the sailing off the beach between the docks and not hitting any boats.

So after burning out on racing after 15 years then cycling for a few years I happened upon this boat on the Eastern Shore of VA.

It had been on the hard for 5 years at Deep Creek Marina near Onancock. He also had a Catalina 25 for sale. $500.00

There is a young 30 something girl living on it now at our dock.

You can also see a Westsail 32 in the background in one of the pictures. It's still there I believe and has been there at least since 2011.

The pictures below show what it looked like when I found it. You have to understand the big city of Onancock has a pop. of about 1500-2000 and this boatyard is 6 miles out in the boonies from there. I know the place because we used to buy peeler crabs directly from the crabbers back in the day for gray trout fishing in the Chesapeake Bay.

Bristol27.com » Hull #335 – Winter Dream