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My first problem, is that I don't back up my work often...and therefore lost about an hour and a half worth, when all of a sudden "IE experienced a problem and needed to close." GRRRRR
Alright, last time we washed the boat...While we were washing, I was also taking mental notes and checking it out...every corner...The next day, while everything was still fresh on my mind, I took pictures to help me keep things in perspective, and to help me organize the order of things.
Also, to help with organization...I started a "Refit Log". It is basically a spiral-bound notebook with 70 pages. I may start another page featuring the log...after it takes a bit more "shape".
OK...Lets take the tour...Shall we?
Obviously there will be quite a bit of sanding to do...Fortunately, this is the pop-top, and it can be removed somewhat easily, and flipped over for refinishing. The real problem is the bolt (middle of pic)...It is too long. As are most of the bolts in the pop-top, that hold the hardware for the sliding hatch, and the grabrails. Why is that a problem?...
Some of the bolts are rubbing holes in the gelcoat, on the top of the cabin. This will not do! They can be shortened easily enough... I think that they need locknuts behind the original nuts also, and judging by the nuts found in the floor of the cabin...they did at one time. I would also think that some bumpers, and even some weatherstripping might be a good idea here.
In doing some research, I read that originally, the pop-top had six studs holding the pop-top in the down position, with six wing-nuts and washers. There are only two now, and there are several repaired spots around the cabin top where the other studs were located...These will all have to be sanded and checked. There also needs to be some kind of clamp for the pop-top. I don't know if I like the factory stud and wingnut idea, but I definitely want it to be secure when in the down position. Especially considering that when it is locked down, it will probably be due to inclement weather, or being hauled. Two times, that I really don't want to see it "fly away"!
There are several problems in this next picture...Can you spot them all?
One is that horn (bottom left)...It's gotta go!
One is that unprotected electrical panel inside the cabin.
Also, I really don't like that stantion being so far inboard.(far right) Although building a foot for it, a few inches outboard, may prove more work than it is worth.
And finally...The biggest problem in the picture...(Did you see it?) The support bar is not lined up well enough to slip into the base. The other side is the same. I cannot see any evidence that the base has ever been moved, so that would lead me to think that the stud is not in the factory position. Also notice the hole for the stud to slip through, there between the support pole and the stantion. It does not look "factory" either...I'm sure that, in 34 years there have been many little changes made...I wish that this little boat could talk...
On around...Next to the horn, is the mast step. It fell, when vandals cut the rigging on one side, where she was slipped at Lake Lanier. This will be a fairly straight forward repair. My biggest concern will be making sure that the holes stay exactly where they are now. The mast has been shortened by about two inches...The previous owner used a square piece of oak between the deck and the aluminum step...Now, might be the time to glass in a permanent fix.
The bow could use some improvement, but that is a topic for another page! The only problem I have, is trying to figure out what that stantion base is for, there in the middle of the deck. Anyone got a clue? If you do, click HERE.
Hmmmm...Teak...'Nuff said. (Might be a good time to ask "Star-Board" about sponsorship! hahaha)
Oh yeah, and there's that rusty latch on the sliding hatch! (I'm a poet, and didn't know it, but my feet show it...They're long fellows! heheheh) (Sorry.) :-)
What is that speck above the latch...Can we zoom in on that?!?
It is, surprisingly, a little known fact that stainless steel needs oxygen to be stainless. Don't paint your stainless, if you want it to stay "stainless".
Here is the starboard side of the same problems we talked about before...the sanding, the horn, the stantion taking up precious deck space, some rusty stainless, and the support pole. You can see the stud from this angle, that the support pole is attached to.
The gauges, of course...do not work...That is a problem.
Hmmmm...Ten knots on the knotmeter...Is that like having 120MPH on the speedometer of a Ford Focus? LOL!(Sorry...I really do love my little boat! hahaha)
I wonder what the little button is for?
OK...Being competely new at this whole "sailing" thing...This may not BE a problem...But this block and these two little screws holding it to the deck seem awful small...It's NO wonder that people are always complaining that things are getting broken on their boat! I will take a couple of pics of the equipment that I use at work...and you will see where my amusement originates from.
OK...You see that? THAT is a block! (LOL) It weighs about 60 pounds, and is rated for 15 tons...We have three of them on the truck, for when things get "sticky". I generally "don't DO" undersize equipment...If I am pulling a tractor-trailer back over onto it's wheels, or up and out of a ravine, and ANY piece of my equipment fails...it could be disastrous, and somebody could get hurt...or worse. So, I tend to use things that are not likely to reach their load limit.
Now, I'm not gonna run out and try to install 9/16 standing rigging on this little 24foot sailboat...But, I wonder about those itty-bitty blocks, mounted to the deck with those teenie-weenie screws!
This seems a bit wimpy to me also...Of course, there is the fact that it has worked just fine for 34 years...but, I won't let a little factoid like that get in the way of a more "beefy" rudder mount!
Why, yes....That big ole' honking crack in the keel fairing IS a problem!
(Almost as big a problem, as the one on the other side!) Removing and refairing the keel will be one of the first projects.
I am assuming that this depth transducer, and this paddle wheel for the knotmeter, were "kaput" already when the bottom paint went on...It makes me feel better to assume that...(heheheh) They are getting replaced anyway...So, I guess this really isn't a problem, after all! :-)
Oooooh! Look at the nifty little crack in the front of the keel...(It's days are numbered....)
This Bow eye appears to be coming out...(or am I just having a vision?) ;-)
These knarly lookin' cracks are on the port side of the bow...Hopefully, they are only "skin-deep".
Wow...that is a LOT of caulk...Looks like silicone too...If you look closely...you can see daylight...(It doesn't help, that the sky is almost the same color as the boat...hahaha) I am not sure how to go about getting the rubrail to fit better...It is integral to the boat (It holds the deck to the hull.), and as such, can't just be "slid over". Well, OK...It CAN...but it will be a royal PITA.
The poor thing has been waiting 34 years for this corner to be faired out!
What I don't understand, is that the hull rakes out to meet the rubrail, all along the side...but not on the back.(er, stern.)
Speaking of rubrail problems...She had a run-in with a piling up on Lake Lanier. The piling won. The previous owner had already purchased the replacement, and graciously "threw it in". (Along with a truckload of stuff! Thanks, Jack!)
Most everything in the cabin, will be mild improvements, and therefore do not qualify as problems...But there are still a couple of spots...
Call me crazy, but I feel that this runner should butt up against the transom, and be glassed in.
This pic shows the hull to deck join on the portside, near the stern.
I had more of a problem taking this picture, than this board is, due to the fact that it is coming out anyway! (I am completely inside the aft locker area.) Note the "positive flotation" blocks, located under the cockpit. They take up a LOT of room...The jury is still out, on whether the styrofoam makes the grade...I think that if the boat wants to sink so bad that we have to rely on styrofoam blocks to hold her up...well, lets just have two bilge pumps, and a backup manual pump...and not think anymore about THAYAT!
And, other than the rigging...that is about all of the problems that I am aware of, right now!! (Should be a breeze...HAHAHA)
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