Help! I have been given a sailboat and don't know what to do

[kylemac]

Someone earlier posted real world advice regarding how much it will cost to get that sailboat on the water. That poster was telling the truth.If you lack a lot of expendable dough, a boat is not the answer. It will quickly suck the money right out of your pocket...
Worse yet, I saw you're interested in getting a mooring. Well, that's not free and I'd price it. It may be enough for you to embrace being a trailer sailor. It's a lot cheaper.
Being a DIY guy is nice, and learning is fun, too. But there comes a time when free isn't free. But, hey, at least your neighbor got that boat out of his yard!!
Lastly, it is said the only thing that works on an old boat is the owner. That's a truism...

[PutSon IV]

Originally Posted by mlydon

Run, do not walk, to Amazon, and order This Old Boat, Second Edition: Completely Revised and Expanded by Don Casey.

It will tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about fixing up your boat. -

Another great resource for tips & techniques is marinehowto.com.

Both authors are active here on cruisers forum

Matt

I can vouch for Don Casey's, This Old Boat. I have the 1990s edition that a friend gave to me. July 17, 2017, I purchased a 1982 Morgan 383. This Old Boat became my Bible for her restoration. However, for electrical get the last version of Nigel Calder's book.

[PutSon IV]

Don Casey's, This Old Boat is your bible. Nigel Calder's book for electrical.

[Pcpete]

Judging by that almost powered boat of yours, you have some reasonable skills, but maybe lack some experience. You are doing well to ask the questions you are. I’m a stink potter, so I can only speak to things below the mast. For your wood boat, the easiest steering to install is a rack and pinion system similar to this. https://www.fisheriessupply.com/u-fl...ing-system-kit
As a lower cost resource for equipment, there are a couple of used boat equipment chandlers around. One, Second Wind, is in Gig Harbor and has a website, another is in Poulsbo and probably has more inventory. Port Townsend or Hadlock likely has one or two also, but I’m not sure. As our kids were growing up I’d take one or two of the four on searches for parts and stuff at places like that, plus pawn shops, as outings. The dangerous one was Poulsbo, Sluys Bakery. Even though they are in their 30’s (our b-g twins are 32) and 40’s now, no trip near Poulsbo can be made without a stop at Sluys.
The question of where do you live is accurate, the address isn’t important, what community is good enough. There are folks that would love nothing better than to come over and advise and lend a hand. Personally, I’m one of those that will do my best to get or make that small part in a broken assembly rather than buy a new assembly if it’s at all reasonable.
There are a few sailing schools around aimed at kids that may help engage them. Some are run by Yacht Clubs (don’t let that title scare you) others are by Parks Departments.

[scareygary]

Where are you located? I've done a fair amount of work on a number of sallboats and might be able to come by and look, and advise, in person. I'm NOT stepping up to do the WORK, though! I'm in WA state, not far from Portland.

[sailingharry]

Congratulations! And welcome to the inpatient nut ward.... you'll never get out with positive bank account.... LOL.


Here's what I'd do.


* Do as little as possible at first. Band aids, patches. Keep the sails if they work, ignore any damaged fiberglass if you can, use existing lines as much as possible without replacement. Too much focus on making it "right" will keep you from ever going sailing.

* Treat it like a day sailor. No systems are "needed." No electrical, no lights, no water, no sewer (OK, get a portable camp toilet), no nothing. My 19' day sailor (Lightning) had a lot of miles with my 2 kids, and it had nothing. You really don't need much to sail for 3 or 4 hours on a nice day in sight of your launch ramp.

* Ensure you have safety gear. The USCG minimum, a handheld GPS, a hand held VHF (well, OK, the electronics are a luxury -- I rarely carried either GPS or VHF on my Lightning and never on my 420, Laser, and other small boats). That should be fine for daytime protected harbor/creek/lake sailing.
* Sail it a lot. Enjoy it!
* Over the next year, start to fill in the systems. Get it clean enough and nice enough to spend a night out with the kids. Get enough of an electrical system for an anchor light, running lights (the one at front, back, and on the front of the mast), and one or two inside lights. An adult with two smallish kids is just fine in that boat for a weekend. Cook on a propane camp stove, use 1 gallon jugs of water for your water system, a cooler for a fridge. And by "cook" I mean "heat up." It is surely "camping on the water" but it will be fun!
* Never succumb to over-improvement. That boat will never be great, and never be worth what it will cost to make it great. But it can be nice, and you can learn to ignore the parts that you can't fix.



Good luck!

[scareygary]

Sorry, I asked where you were before reading down the thread. Duh. As another guy on a budget who's worked on a number of boats, you have some good advice here. I second the opinions of getting a used engine, not new. The advice about checking the hull for cracks is good, as is checking the rigging. If the stove is a PRESSURIZED alcohol stove (old school), I'd ditch it. They are notoriously sketchy, but a NON-pressurized alcohol stove is about as safe as one could get, imho. The keel cable (swing keel) needs to be stout. That could be an issue and will need checking every so often, as salt water is tough on metal. I have not checked Sailboat Data on your boat, but a weighted swing keel can be great for trailering and shallow water situations, but one that drops suddenly or won't winch up can present a real problem. I second checking the trailer bearings and re-packing them. It's a DYI job. UTube is your friend. Rebedding the deck hardware can keep water out (important), and will prevent the sort of wet decks that can be a real issue. I disagree with the advice you need a 'survey', especially on a 'free' boat. Do your own 'survey' by using the methods given here . Waste of money you don't have. Clean her up good, check the through hulls to make sure they are closeable, get a reliable engine used, check the rigging, and get out there! The South Sound is a great place to learn to sail. Not too much wind, usually, nice destinations, and protected water. Perfect.... Oh...a depth sounder might well be on my list. You can get one that will shoot through the hull and read up to 200' for about $100. Worth it, imho. And a cruising atlas or a chart will serve you well to keep you out of trouble....onc you learn to read it....

[dandawes]

Let your boys do part of the project so they get some ownership into the idea. Enroll them in a local junior sailing program so that they learn a bit about sailing and it doesn't come as a crash program that was Dad's idea and not theirs.

It is more important to get your boys interested in sailing and boats than to get this boat seaworthy.

[Ike]

A lot of good advice here. I will just add a few things. If you get your boater card in Washington (it's not a license by the way) you will know that kids 12 and under are required to wear life jackets, there are a few exceptions, like when they are in the cabin. Thats both a state and Federal law. Get them some good ones, not the horsecollar type. They will fight you tooth and nail over those. Let them pick the colors. Make sure they are comfortable. If they get to pick and they are comfortable they'll soon be saying things like, "DAD! Where's your lifejacket!"

The end of Hood Canal near Shelton has some very shallow areas and at the end of the Canal the tides can come in and trap people out on the tides flats. Before you go sailing or power boating, learn to read nautical charts and tide tables, and talk to the locals about local conditions, where is it safe to sail and where to avoid.

You have available to you one of the greatest boat rebuilding areas in the country, an hour away in Port Townsend. Go there. Talk to folks in the Boat Haven. They know where to get stuff you will need to do this job. There is a shop that sells salvaged, used, and consigned boat gear. The name is Marine Thrift (I think). it's next door to the Blue Moose Cafe. But they are not open every day.

What people have said about the cost is right on. I restored a 1972 18 foot Sea Ray. I got it essentially free because I wanted the trailer it was sitting on and I only paid $400.00 for the trailer. It was trashed but the hull was sound and I really like it so I decided to restore it. At about 3k I stopped adding up the cost (and stopped telling my wife what it cost). So follow the advice given. Keep it simple. From the looks of the pics it looks in fair shape.

Take a boating course from the Auxiliary. I am retired Coast Guard and was for several years an Auxiliary Director (the regular CG people who over see what the civilian volunteers auxiliarists do) and I have great respect for them. They do a bang up job and it's almost for free.

FOr electrical see this web page on wiring your boat. Boat Building Standards | Basic Electricity | Wiring Your Boat

But as has been said repeatedly here, you need a plan. Otherwise you will find yourself undoing stuff you have already done and having to do it over again because you either forgot to do something or simply didn't know you needed to.

[harbourboy]

You do you, but I wouldn’t spring for a brand new outboard if funds were tight. We bought ours at least 5 years ago for $200 and it has yet to skip a beat.

[MartinR]

This looks like a nice boat. Front pulpit can probably be easily repaired if you have a friend who can weld. Motor, you can probably get away with 6 horsepowers. Rigging and sails are probably the issues here.

I like the interior.

You better get handy soon, otherwise this will become very expensive;-)

[VoyagerCT]

I’ve been inspired by a few solid YouTubers who have taken “book learnin’” and made it practical. Some of my faves are SailLife, a Danish SW Engineer who bought a complete wreck of a boat and weekend-by-weekend is completely restoring her. This guy has never done most of these kinds of repairs before but is willing to try anything. And he’s a complete perfectionist.
Then there’s Boatworks Today, a guy from the upper Midwest who’s a professional boat mechanic and repair guy. He takes the time to show average boaters how to do basic repairs on sail or power boats.
A great progress report type restoration is presented by Boat Bros, who adopted a 70s era 28ft Cheoy Lee sailboat. Again, barely afloat, they’re 43 episodes in and it looks great. Also not boat professionals but knowledgeable about repairs.
Finally for wooden boats there’s Tips from a Shipwright, Louis Sauzedde of Narragansett Bay RI, who’s been a wooden boat craftsman all his life. Lots of great tips and techniques.
You could learn a lot — I did.

[MartinR]

Yes, correct, the Internet is a great tool to learn. Boatworks today is a good school for any kind of fibreglass job and more. You will sort it out.

[Islenya]

Oh my gosh, Bigtree! Give it to ME!



To be given a sailboat! Sorry for gushing, but you are so very fortunate.


Islenya

[GrowleyMonster]

The Don Casey book is very good. So is anything written by Nigel Calder.



As projects go, that boat isn't so far gone. Honestly with a rudder, the sails, running rigging, outboard mount and outboard, potapotty, (a proper head and holding tank can wait) running lights, (optional except after dark, anyway) and all the required safety equipment, you COULD go sailing maybe a week from now. You would still have a long way to go, to bring it up to its full potential, but it wouldn't be a big thing to make it ready for use as a day sailer for you and your crew. Leaky stanchion mounts? Won't stop you from sailing, won't sink the boat. Shrouds and stays should be replaced, they are probably original. IOW, very old. Lack of rust doesn't mean they are still good. Your local boat stuff shop will be glad to tell you what safety gear you need to buy. They want to sell stuff, after all. You need flares, horn, (an air or freon canister type horn works fine) a bilge pump, life jackets, a throwable device, appropriate number and size fire extinguishers, first aid kit, and a few other goodies.



Usually we say that a free boat is generally the most expensive boat you can get. That one looks like it might be worth messing with, though. You need to raise the sails and make sure that there will be no issues hoisting or lowering, and you need to make sure that the sheets can be lead to the winches so you can control your sails.



One common issue with old fiberglass boats is deck core rot. If the deck feels spongy then the balsa or plywood core is likely rotten. Leaks such as your stanchion leaks are one way that this can happen. Water gets in over the years and the core rots away, leaving just a top and bottom skin of fiberglass. This can be a lot of work to fix but you will learn a lot about fiberglass while doing it. Probably NOT worth it to have a yard fix it, if it is present and extensive.


A 10hp outboard is sort of overkill for that boat, though. I would go for a 6hp long shaft Tohatsu or similar. Be very very careful that gasoline fumes absolutely cannot ever get down into the boat! Fire and/or explosion can and sometimes do happen.



Don't try to use a car battery to run lights etc in your boat. It just won't work. You want a proper deep cycle battery or two. Best bang for the buck would be two golf cart batteries in series. Check out Sams Club for them. The GC2 size is popular and very cheap for what you are getting. Connect two of them in series and you have about the equivelant of a D4 size 12v battery at half the cost. Every curcuit needs a fuse or a circuit breaker. Don't wire anything directly to the battery. Amazon has lots of great books on boat wiring. You will want a DC/DC converter for 5v and a USB plugin or two. You will need to mount a marine VHF. Or get a handheld but you still need a way to charge it. Two handhelds is a good idea. Funny how easily your only radio can slip out of your hand or get knocked overboard.



Fingers crossed here, that your rudder is actually still around, maybe with the sails. Tiller, too.



That will be a fun little boat if you get her put to rights. I can promise you that at least part of the work will be three times harder than it seems like it will be. Unforseen problems always crop up during a refit. But you could do a lot worse, I think.