Seems we bought a Project Boat.

[Manateeman]

I’ve been building boats for over 50 years and one of the most interesting was a day sailor specifically designed for wheelchair sailors. The Shake A Leg Foundation taught the sailing. TPI designed and built the boats.
I’ve taught sailing big boats to wheelchair sailors. One of the manatee crew is physically challenged but a better navigator than any Captain I know.
I’ve lost several friends at sea and also two when we were all children.
I try not to be judgmental but taking children on a boat is taking a passenger who cannot evaluate the dangers involved. I have a good friend who quit scuba after recovering children from a downed aircraft.
I’ve given you as much guidance as I know how with regard to this boat.
Please do me one favor.
Find a USCG Officer to inspect the structural integrity and safety equipment before taking any child or physically challenged person aboard.
What you do with your own life and money is your affair but please remember the USCG rescue swimmer who jumps out of a helicopter has loved ones as well.
Please think about that fact.
Captain Mark

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by sailingchiro

ALL BOATS ARE PROJECT BOATS and you don't fix or repair it correctly until the 3rd attempt. Just sayin. Good Luck in your boat learning.

Boat owners find working on their boat as a hobby. Sailing is what our friends and family enjoy. We just tag along to fix stuff.

Hear, hear! I wish more boat owners would understand this!

[slfro85]

Originally Posted by Manateeman

I’ve been building boats for over 50 years and one of the most interesting was a day sailor specifically designed for wheelchair sailors. The Shake A Leg Foundation taught the sailing. TPI designed and built the boats.
I’ve taught sailing big boats to wheelchair sailors. One of the manatee crew is physically challenged but a better navigator than any Captain I know.
I’ve lost several friends at sea and also two when we were all children.
I try not to be judgmental but taking children on a boat is taking a passenger who cannot evaluate the dangers involved. I have a good friend who quit scuba after recovering children from a downed aircraft.
I’ve given you as much guidance as I know how with regard to this boat.
Please do me one favor.
Find a USCG Officer to inspect the structural integrity and safety equipment before taking any child or physically challenged person aboard.
What you do with your own life and money is your affair but please remember the USCG rescue swimmer who jumps out of a helicopter has loved ones as well.
Please think about that fact.
Captain Mark

I have insisted that it will be inspected before it goes into any waterway, and he agrees on that. He wants to spend the time and money trying to fix it and there is no talking him out of that, but none of the kids are getting on it until it has been checked out in person by a professional.

[Var Korall]

There are many boats out there for you, even many project boat that do not have the serous issues this boat has. Throw it away and keep looking for a reasonable project boat.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by slfro85

I have insisted that it will be inspected before it goes into any waterway, and he agrees on that. He wants to spend the time and money trying to fix it and there is no talking him out of that, but none of the kids are getting on it until it has been checked out in person by a professional.

Ahah.. he sounds just like me...
He'll happily cut off his nose to spite his face..
Sorry but I have to concur with the Walk Away chorus..

[dbraymer]

Let me just tackle number 4. I had a Ranger 23 about 417 years ago. Outside grilling on your sailboat is one of the best things in life, except when it starts to rain or a swarm of insects shows up. Alcohol stoves are a good way to set the boat on fire, and propane can kill you, SO....

Get a little stainless box type grill with fold out legs. The type that takes the tiny gas canisters. Rig up a way to use the stove both attached to the railing (or cockpit table), and also a way to use it inside, where the old stove was. Determine to always store the gas bottle on deck, where a leak cannot spill anything into the inside of the vessel, a little holster on the rail might work.

The grill will be stored below, no one can steal it. The gas bottle is stored where it cannot kill anybody (but it could be stolen). You are forced per the small bottle capacity to buy a new one now and then!

Oh, and I would not trust anyone to sand blast the bottom of any vessel

[slfro85]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Ahah.. he sounds just like me...
He'll happily cut off his nose to spite his face..
Sorry but I have to concur with the Walk Away chorus..

He would, too. There really is no talking him out of it but I did at least convince him to take one big project at a time - if the major concerns can be addressed safely, great, we can do the cosmetic stuff after those are done. If not, at least we didn’t spend a small fortune on making it pretty only to find we can’t use it.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by dbraymer

Oh, and I would not trust anyone to sand blast the bottom of any vessel

As the owner of a steel boat I take issue with not "trust(ing) anyone to sandblast the bottom of any vessel".

In the just about forty years I've owned her the bottom of Scorpius has been sandblasted three times. Twice I did it myself and once I had it done professionally. There are lots of people around who know what they are doing when sandblasting steel.

[Mickeyrouse]

Re: the grill
An outside barbecue is fine for many things, but unless you like cooking in the rain it is not a panacea. It is too inefficient for most cooking done in a pot or pan, though some have been able to coax coffee on one. A boat stove puts out a lot of heat into the cabin, though, especially felt in a 23 ft. boat.

The rigging is suspiciously original, which makes it 40-plus years old- overdue for replacement.

Ditto on the bottom paint for a trailerable boat, but if you decide to wet-sail it, you will be amazed at how fast bottom critters will grow on an unpainted bottom.

The rotted plywood bulkhead is a serious matter on a very integral part of the boat.

[slfro85]

If we can even get it on the water, we’re most likely to dry-sail for a while. We live an hour’s drive from the nearest marina (we’re kind of inland) and he doesn’t like the idea of having such an expensive bit of property so far away where we can’t keep an eye on it and/or get to it in a hurry if something happens. But if we ever change our minds we can always paint it/have it painted then.

[edlepera]

I bought a 1976 C-22 swing keel a few years back. This season an a few thousand more dollars.finally going in the water. It has a functional sliding gallery. The cushions were trashed. So that was a bite. For cockpit cushions I use a few throwable cushions. Never again will I buy a project boat

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by slfro85

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

As for the teak, we don’t mind the weathered coloring, but the wood itself looks really dry and the cabin top is sticking in the sliders. I suspect that will only get worse over the summer with the humidity and rain. Yay, tropical climates. It at least needs a good oiling.

Congratulations on your new boat. Many of us had started small, too. We started with a Catalina 22.

Without a picture of your exterior teak, it is hard to suggest to you the proper next steps. The majority of replies have suggested sanding as a first step. I would say that would be a second, if not last step.

Do research on teak cleaning and brightening. There are treatments that combine the two, but I've found the separate ones to be better. You use a lot of water and sponge the teak cleaner onto the wood, wait a bit, and scrub it off, and you'll be amazed at how much dirt comes off! Then the brightener goes on next.

Only then can you decide what to do: leave it to go grey or treat it with Cetol or varnish.

The cleaning and brightening for my handrails and above deck teak takes just a few hours.

Good luck.


Don Casey's This Old Boat is great. Resources for boat electrical systems online:

Maine Sail's website: https://marinehowto.com/

Electrical Systems 101 http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5977.0.html

[nofacey]

Lots of readers making mountains out of molehills here.....this a small project boat, great to learn how to fix & sail....good choice!

I’d suggest you do the minimum now to make it useable, and tackle the cosmetic once you’ve been sailing & have decided that work is worthwhile.


1. adhesive on the fiberglass : cosmetic =phase 2

2. rotted plywood interior wall that will need replacing. Critical - but exterior ply good 2 sides is more than strong enough. Tab in place, paint to seal. Tabbing video below

https://youtu.be/Drc6zdlLGY0

3. missing icebox - find a cooler that fits for now. A fridge requires too much power for round one = phase 2 project, once you know you need it.

4. Missing stove - camp stove in cockpit will be just fine.

5. Missing some of the rigging wire - critical to replace degraded wire.
a) Measure your old wire, and go to a local rigger or online - here’s Link to one shop that does this. There’s many of them....find one close to you

https://foghmarine.com/wire-rigging-work.html

b) rest of wires - inspect before blindly replacing. You were smart enough to recognize first bad wire. If unsure, get local rigger to inspect....and show you how to set up mast first time.

6. Needs bottom paint sandblasted off - why? If you’re just daysailing, don’t worry about it.

7. Teak parts on the top need help. - Definitely cosmetic. Sand & varnish when you have time, but don’t remove unless you think they are leaking inside the boat.

8. Battery needs replacing so the interior electric works. - more importantly so your navigation lights work too.
a) step one.....get a battery that fits your battery box/hold down and existing terminal connections, charge it up, and install it. Good chance most things will work. If not....go get the recommended books & figure it out, too complex to cover in a paragraph.
b) step 2 - assuming lights work.....how are you going to recharge?
- if just daysailing, recharge at home.
- solar - go to the books. If it is a very small mobile panel you can just clip it onto the battery when the boat is stable.....likely good enough if you’re only driving led lights.
- there are outboard motors that have charging abilities. More $$, but that’d be pretty straight forward (& works in the dark.)

9. Water tank is rotted through - assume this was metal? Cut out & replace with plastic. Lots of options online, but shipping gets expensive....take a look at local chandlery (or better yet used boat gear shop).
- for daysailing, a large camp water jug will work.

You haven’t mentioned sails. Spread them out on the lawn and take a look so there’s no surprises.

Go for the quick win.....do critical work to get boat in the water, go sailing, and then decide how much more work/$$ you want to commit.

It’s a great first boat......enjoy!

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by nofacey

>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

- solar - go to the books. If it is a very small mobile panel you can just clip it onto the battery when the boat is stable.....likely good enough if you’re only driving led lights.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If using even a small solar panel, NEVER connect one directly to a battery without a controller. You WILL cook and kill a battery with direct solar connections without a controller. An inexpensive controller will cost ~$20.


Why? Solar panels' voltage is too high for battery charging.


Do I Need a Controller for Solar?

http://forums.catalina.sailboatowner...d.php?t=144557

[wing15601]

Fiberglassing is not hard, there are plenty of videos on youtube. Use epoxy resin with the fiberglass and sand the area you’re attaching to to provide a “tooth” for the epoxy. The advantage of epoxy over other resins is that epoxy will form a stronger mechanical bond. Tab the bulkhead in with several 2”x4 or 5” pieces of fiberglass. When that has cured sand the tabs. Then use strips of fiberglass in whatever lengths are convenient. You’ll want 4 or 5 layers each overlapping the one below by an inch on each side. You can use the original fiberglassing of the bulkhead as a guide. DONT walk on the deck with the bulkhead removed. You should determine where the water came from that rotted the original bulkhead. You may have to remove deck fittings, chain plates (those things the shrouds and stays connect to) and re-bed them with marine sealant like 3M 4200. If you have any thruhulls with seacocks (valves), remove the hose, Spray in some lubricant and make sure the valves can be shut off. If they do, pour some water in them from inside the boat and check outside that none is leaking out. Join Boat/US. if you break down they will tow you for free. If you run out of gas they will bring you some for the cost of the fuel. Once you’ve ensured the hull is water tight the rest is easy.