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Been looking at some newer boats lately and after getting rather frustrated dealing with a broker (calls not returned, incomplete info, etc) I've gone back to looking on my own. Did come across a Quickstep 24 that was vey appealing but the listing broker......
Heading out to look at the following over the weekend, another Sailmaster. Not the exact model I would like, this is a Daysailor with fibreglass coamings and I would prefer a Weekender with the wood. BUT she is supposedly sound, looks well kept in the pictures and seems to be very well priced though wihtout a trailer.
Based on the coamings, my guess is this is a US built hull will be interesting to see what she looks like in person. Most likely I'll make an offer if my inspection turns out positive - no reason I can't continue to look for a Weekender or something larger while this one is in service.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? I'll post pictures of my own (owner sent these) once I've looked at the boat. Anyone have anything particular they woul like to see a picture of?
Tom this boat looks good! Buy a brown that looks like wood and paint the toerails with that color! I am thinking of Pettit Easypoxy Brightwork brown. I have used it and from a distance it gives the effect of the traditional Herreshoff style brightwork.
Went to look at this on Saturday and am waiting for a few pieces of information from the owner, unfortunately he wasn't available t meet me at the boat today. From what I saw this boat is an excellent candidate for restoration - the hull seems structurally sound. The major issue is that the centerboard is gone - apparently a common issue and in some ways I guess preferable to the old one being mostly rusted out and jammed in the trunk. Unfortunately I couldn't get under the keel to look up into the trunk - you would know that was where there was a rather healthy looking poison ivy plant growing...... Damn stuff always grows in the exact spot I need to crawl into ....
Has both orignal hull plates (one from Sailmaster and one from the yard in Holland) - the old aluminum casting is a bit tough to read but I believe it says she is daysailor hull #3 built in 1964. I've got pictures to post once I look them over. Spar has been repaired at the head - nice looking job.
The cockpit is huge but has no storage. Benches are solid without lockers though all the space is accessible below.
I'm giving this one very serious consideration but need to get a few answers from the owner and make a few calls before I do anything definite .
I was thinking that at least the spar looked like the Dutch built ones; from the builder's plate it sounds like the whole boat may have been Dutch built (although I wouldn't be surprised if there were some transitional boats built here that got some Dutch parts).
Rachel
PS: One thing I love about the water - no poison ivy
definitely Dutch built......but can't get the pic of the builder's plate to load. calling Moday for some quotes on moving, just don;t want to get any rude surprises after I'm committed..... centerboard needs to be replaced so I'm not willing to put her in on the Cape and sail home.
Unless the centerboard is part of the ballast she looks like she has enough keel to sail home. However she won't point as well as with the centerboard available. Very similar underbody to my Soverel 28. AND I doubt that the centerboard added a lot of weight, but perhaps one of the folks more experienced with the boat can help there. Good luck on the inspection!
Tom Javor wrote:definitely Dutch built......but can't get the pic of the builder's plate to load. calling Moday for some quotes on moving, just don;t want to get any rude surprises after I'm committed..... centerboard needs to be replaced so I'm not willing to put her in on the Cape and sail home.
So far I have found there to be two styles of centerboards. They differ in hinge pin location and shape. On one the pin location is at the top forward end. The other one is also forward but about half way down from the top. Oops, Theres a third thats aluminum and the pin I think is half way down and maybe 7 to 10 inches back from the forward end.
Mine is like the first one. S&S recommended a replacement as per the plans. 7/16 " Steel plate cut and ground to shape and then hot dipped galvanized. 7/16" was not carried where I live but could be ordered and I would have to buy the whole sheet. $$$.$$ I bought 1/2" cut and shaped it, took it to a machinist who milled off 1/16", $125.00, then I welded on two 1/8" thick pieces (one to each side) in way of the pin to boss it up, (as per the plans), drilled the pin hole.
Looking back were I to do it again, I would just use 1/2" plate, boss the pin area with 1/16", drill the hole and be done with it. Total cost $60 or so. Oh, and the galvinize dip is about $350.00 plus shipping. I used spray on.
I've heard of various levels of trouble regarding getting the old board remnants out and the new one in. What was your experience?
I have gotten several good quotes today. Moving the boat and launch for 5.50/mile, same price would also put it in my drive with another 175 to splash her in several weeks. The moving quote is based on it being done at convenience of the mover wthin the next week and a half.
Out of curiosity I checked in with National Sail Supply for sail quotes;
main 5 oz dacron $520.00 (reef pts $50.00 per)
110 jib 5 oz dacron hank on $318.00
150 gennie 4 oz dacron hank on $416.00
maisail cover (toast sunbrella) $180.00
freight for all of the above at one time $34.00
delivery of 3-5 weeks from confirmed order. would I be ordering racing sails from an offshore loft? no, but from what I've read these folks build a good quality recreational/cruising sail. Anyone have any experience to share?
Oh yeah, made a formal offer this morning - waiting to see what the owner has to say.
A previous owner had fiber glassed the centerboard which had already rusted. It continued to rust inside and the glass work and spread out wedging itself. The board was in a half way down position and could not be moved up with the pennant. I had to run aground to shove it up in order to get it on a trailer.
Once the boat was on blocks in my yard I could pry the board down with a crow bar and raise it with a sledge hammer. Because the boat was taking in water at a couple of keel stud locations I had to drop the ballast keel in order to rebed it. Once it was off I was able to knock the cb out with a sledge hammer. The cb pin in my boat is located at the forward top end of the trunk and was a stainless bolt that was glassed over to make it water tight.
Removing the ballast keel took a long time because after removing all the bedding between it and the hull and being able to see daylight all through, it wouldn't drop. Turns out that the bedding compound that was squished up around the sides of the studs where they pass through the hull was holding up a 1000 lb. keel. That was removed by running a hole saw bit that just big enough to go around the studs, around and down and plop she dropped the 1/4 " to the blocks waiting below.
If you have to make a cb... I'd make it like I said in the post above. S&S told me to NOT, repeat NOT use stainless steel to fabricate it from as it would destroy the iron ballast which I kinda thought would. To make it a little tougher you could coat it with epoxy and while it's still wet sprinkle on a healthy layer of cayenne pepper to retard the barnacles. (insert smiley here).
The boat sails OK without the cb but is better with it. It really points higher with it and handles a little differently when it's all the way down. It has an effect on the roll moment making the boat feel bigger. Down wind I don't use it unless we really start rolling.
Those sail prices sound good. Where are they made? Never mind, I found em.
Made the offer Tuesday morning and I haven't heard anything back. Left a phone message this evening and stll nothing.
My offer wasn't that far off the ask and I was very willing to up it but no counter offer.
There is a Tartan 27 Yawl in Ct that looks interesting...there goes my decision to stay small enough to trailer.
Seems he was serious when he said he wasn't sure he wanted to sell! That's a drag for you. As far as trailerable and the Tartan 27 goes - I'm trailering my Yankee 30, it's just a different kind of trailering, where the benefit is that I can bring the boat home for the winter without a boat hauler (we don't really have them here in NS), rather than being able to bring it home between sails. I'm not sure that bringing a keelboat home between uses is a reasonable thing to do anyway - stepping and unstepping the mast of even a 23' boat would get quite tedious, I think. It would also add wear and tear at a pretty good rate, wouldn't it?
I think that trailering most anything is tough on the thing. There's gotta' be a science to trailering of which most of us are unaware. There's gotta' be a correct relationship between spring rate, dampening, and load, so that the trailed item rides in adequate comfort with little vibration. There's got to be adequately placed and stiff structure which correctly supports the load but does not impart twisting or bending to the load. This is clearly less of a problem for a heavily-built small load than it is for a long light load. I suggest that the large amplitude flexure imparted to the load is similarly important to more constant small amplitude vibration.
I'm coming at this problem from the concern for my fleet (three) of Flying Dutchman, the oldest, and probably weakest, one of which is nearing readyness for water. A 20' 280lb hull with another 100lbs in associated stuff like rudder, cb, mast, boom and sails to be squired on a trailer preferably light enough to be manhandled around a yard. Often, FD trailers are gussied-up 14' or 16' jonboat trailers: adequately sprung for the light weight, but nowhere near long enough or stiff enough. Such a long, lightly-built boat would seem quite susceptable to vibration and flexure.
To get back on track for the Tartan 27 or Yankee 30, my dad's Morgan 27 was damaged in shipping on the factory cradle when new. The cradle bore on a poorly supported place on the hull.
project #1 - before the boat leaves the current owner's yard - paint the bottom so she can go right in the water. probably just going use a basic bottom paint in a green. spar varnish appears sound, a new coat may go on depending on schedule for getting it stepped. (current owner says it was done a year ago in anticipation of launching that never happned so I shoud be ok -especially since I'll want to strip it this winter anyways)
project #2 - which may occur at the mooring - get that blue non-skid painted tan.
The now PRIOR owner has been paid and I have the endorsed title in hand.....
One thing that came up at today's 2nd inspection (which I sort of expected since the sails had been stored in a shed) was the mouse nests in the sails. All 3 sails have holes though the main and genoa are not that badly damaged, the jib has an area about 12 by 12 inches that looks like swiss cheese. Final price was adjusted a bit a a result, probably could have pushed for more of a reduction but had always figured there would be some sort of a problem with them - and holes can be repaired. It's unfortunate, for older sails they seem to be in decent condition outside of the staining and holes. Part of me is saying "just order the new ones" but the other side is uging caution and not ordering anything until I've sailed the boat a bit. Heading to a local loft tomorrow tomorrow to see what repairs will cost and the time involved.
Tom Javor wrote: Part of me is saying "just order the new ones" but the other side is uging caution and not ordering anything until I've sailed the boat a bit.
Listen to "the other side".
You can always spend too much money on your boat later when you know better. ;>)
Congrats on your new boat, go sailing.
Dave Finnegan
builder of Spindrift 9N #521 'Wingë'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gresham’s Law of information: Bad information drives out good. No matter how long ago a correction for a particular error may have appeared in print or online, it never seems to catch up with the ever-widening distribution of the error.
If the sails are usable now, use them at least for a few sails till you can see what you might like to have in your new sails.
I'm a firm believer in good sails, but also think that using the old ones for a time (hopefully short) is smart before pulling the trigger on something new. Just so you can make informed decisions when you order the new ones.
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Was at the sail loft this morning, estimate is $180 to repair all three plus $3/pd to wash. I should have scrubbed them myself before bringing them in but I'm so used to the monstrous main on the S that it never dawned on me to consider doing these myself.
Sailmaker assessment was that the main, though older, was still in decent condition and that the jibs would be serviceable after repairs. Should be ready in 10 days to 2 weeks.
He gave me the same advise as folks here, which I knew to be the right way to go, fix up what I have and sail the boat in oorder to decide what I want in a new suit. (his ball park prices made me that much more impressed with the ones from National Sail - local guy was 80 - 90% higher. Of course I would then have access to someone local for fitting/service etc but this is not a racing boat so when the time comes.....)
