Messages

Mike,

My boat is in the water at J&M.  It has a green hull and off-white deck.  The name is Lucky Break.

Mike,

Sorry, I've been out of touch for a while--I just saw that you were still looking for a plug this week.  I am in Deltaville at the mouth of the Rappahannok.  I live in Richmond and have the plug at my house.  BTW  I've heard that if you want to operate with the plug in you need to bolt or glue it down.  That could also be why there is a gasket around yours Pete.

We definately need to meet on the water sometime this season!

Talk to you later.

Mike,

I have a plug and am only an hour or two away.  You are welcome to borrow it if you'd like.

Pete,

Thanks for the offer, but  I think I have a procedure similar to the one you spoke about.  t looks like a lot of work.  I think I'll keep that project on the list for another year or so, and then decide if I want to fork over the $$ or appply the elbow grease.   I've got enough on my plate for now, I'm sewing new cabin cushions and replacing the windows this winter, painting the deck (again) this spring.  These projects will keep me occupied for now.  I'll let everyone know how the hole job goes if I do it myself.

I have a great book for these types of projects called "This Old Boat" that tells you how to do just about anything you might want to undertake yourself on your fiberglass boat.  It is fantastic at sitting on my bookshelf and making me feel guilty when I eschew an improvement project to take a daysail.

Bill,

That may be the route to go.  How many hours did the yard wind up charging you for?  Was the materials cost significant?

I too Have gone the Porta-Pottie route, but I have just put caps on the thru-hulls.  For those of you who have removed them, what did you go through?  How much glass and reinforcing is involved?  Is it worth the effort?

Mine came with a Furlex system that has been fantastic.  I would highly recommend it.

Mine is located under the cabin sole just aft of the bulkhead.  with empty water tank I am very slightly stern heavy untill I load about 4-200 pounders into the cockpit for a daysail.

When someone wonders how she floats to the waterline I ask them to lean over the side and let me know--as they stick their torso over the rail, I gently nudge their posterior with my boot.  After the resounding splash I say "How's she floating now?"

The doors that I am talking about are not betwen the cabins, they are in front of the shelves that are along side the main cabin and serve only to hold items on the shelf--like a cabinet.  I assumed they were standard equp. but was mistaken.  I have found a solution to my problem, I am going to use the type of track that you would use to put a sliding glass door on a trophy cabinet.  I'll let folks know how that works out and try to get some pictures so folks will know what I'm talking about.

I do have a solid laminate covered particle board door for the opening in the main bulkhead, but I removed it and have replaced it with a curtain.  I don't have any sag, but I am now thinking that the door may have helped support the strongback over the years (before I owned the boat)  I may wind up reinforcing the strong back as suggested in the manual, but I have so many other jobs to do and I like Mike's attitude about ain't broke.

Will you need to add a support spar sticking out the back of the boat to stay the mizzen and to attach the sheet?  Can the transom support the additional load of the mizzen mast?  You obviously know a great deal about boat construction.

BTW--You've done a great job on Spirit.  I've got to post a few of my pics from the restoration (paint job) of Lucky Break.  Did you move the bow rail to the top of the cabin?

Well from looking at the photos on the Yahoo site I must have a customized set up in the cabin.   The shelves behind the quarter berths have been covered with sliding doors that make them "heel proof" and keeps a neat look in the cabin regardless of the mess on the shelves.  I will try to get a photo, except I don't have electronic photo capabilities at this point.  The only disadvantage is that there is no back cushion on the berth (when used as a setee) and the seating becomes bench style.  I guess I will have to check out a cabinet shop to see if I can find a new set of glides for these doors.

I'll let everyone know how it goes and will try to get a photo in the future.

I'm in Deltaville, about half a mile up the Rappahanok in Broad Creek.  I had to cancel a trip that I had planned to go down to Norfolk, but when I reschedule, I'll let you know.  Maybe we could get together and compare notes (or boats).

The sliding doors are located behind the berths in the main cabin, along the 'walls'  The cabinets that they enclose are about 6" deep and are located about where the back cushion for sitting in the main cabin on the berths would be located.  I assumed that these cabinets were standard, but perhaps I'm wrong.  My doors for these cabinets are sheets of fiberboard covered with woodtone laminate and the tracks that they ride in are plastic and have cracked and broken away.  Let me know what kind of cabinets are in your boat.   Maybe these were added to mine before I bought it and I didn't even realize it.

Has anyone changed out the slider doors on the sides of the main cabin?  My tracks have broken and the doors are not in that great a shape either.  I like the slider concept and would like to stick with something similar, but maybe a little more reliable than  a plain old plastic track.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

My Mercury is 74#'s  The last one that I had was 85# and I definately would get water in the lazerette when sailing, but mostly because of the heeling of the boat.  Once the boat was level, the lazerette water would drain back out.  I have only been sailing w/ the new motor once and did not notice the water filling the lazeratte, but I was not heeled very much.

I have done both a re-power and a rudder repair.  I chose a 9.9hp 2-stroke.  I leave mine in the water.  I sail on the Chesapeake and hve not had too much problems with motor deterioration in the past, but I did just replace a 1993 motor with a brand new one (not as a result of corrosion).  If 8-10 years of life is all I can get out of an outboard that is left in the well, it is still worth it to me to avoid having to pull the motor up every time I sail, besides I have remote throttle and start cable hooked up and don't want to connect/disconnect them every time I go out.

I was surprised at the hefty biece of bronze that comprised the rudder shaft.  When I first bought the boat there was some play in the rudder that I attributed to shaft deterioration, but I realized that this was not the cause when I took my rudder off.  I did have some loosening of the rudder boards, and I solved this with filler and glass (directly over the teak rudder boards)  The looseness that I spoke of was caused by the tiller end fitting and a larger than necessary clearence around the rudder post head.  I was able to have the fitting pressed, which gave it a snug feel, but has also introduced some stress ( I've since noticed a tiny crack begining to form in this piece, and will probably need to get myself a new one in the near future)

I also recomend that you don't go buying the shaft until you know that you need it.