Hull #2555 Restoration Begun

[kingtoros]

Hey Guys,

So my restoration work has begun! Thought I'd share some photos of progress and my overall project plan. I have read through a LOT of your guys's posts on the various work you have all done and I am very impressed by all of you. Here's the full album: https://imgur.com/a/XZjuKTS

Current Plan:
1. First float in April. If no leaks, proceed. If leaks, identify leaks. -- COMPLETE (she floats, possible leaks, but not noticeable at this time)
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2. Replace bulkheads -- IN PROGRESS
3. Keel Horn Repair
4. Complete a full rig of all items, identify what needs replacement
5. Take measurements for Sails
6. Drill inspection hole for starboard coffin bunk to inspect and possibly add fiberglass support for oil canning
7. Boat Cushions by Amy
-- Sailing authorized at this point.
8. Receive new sails (June)
9. Build wooden gantry crane
10. Identify further interior repairs needed
11. Begin repairs on internal hull and fiberglass
12. Design and build interior
13. Acquire porta-potty after platform is built

2019 To-Do:
1. Keel Horn Repair -- IN PROGRESS
2. Clean and Sterilize interior -- IN PROGRESS
3. Bulkhead Reconstruction -- IN PROGRESS
4. Outer Hull Paint -- In Sourcing (Pricing out at local yards, otherwise Gantry Crane at In-Laws')
5. Keel Winch Cable -- In Procurement (E-Mail out to Stephen @ http://www.sjsailboats.com)
6. Find motor -- In Sourcing (prices seem all over the place)
7. Take measurements for sails

[Krysia Ry]

You shouldn't need to measure your sails. The measurements are in the specifications for sails 3.5 Article V section of the class association handbook. You can give these to the sailmaker or have your sails made by someone who regularly makes sails for Sj 21 boats.
Have fun
Been der, done dat
Bill

[kuriti]

I switched from keel cables to dynemma atv tow lines. something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50X1-4-Dyneema ... ctupt=true

50' would probably give you two spares.

[kingtoros]

Okay! Progress has been made today...

BULKHEADS:
I got myself a sheet of Marine Plywood and used the old bulkheads to trace out new ones. I'm not sure how permanent this setup will be, I've not treated the plywood yet. But, in accordance with my restoration plan, I needed them to rig up the mast. I bought all new stainless steel hardware (kudos Lowes) and bought 1/2 inch longer and added a washer. They're on there really good now, chain plate feels very well supported.

KEEL HORN REPAIR:
So I got this super wambodine bolt (read more in a post about it here http://www.sj21fleet1forums.org/viewtop ... =2&t=13121 ) to repair the Keel Horn. Well, a 1/2" drill bit is not sufficient to just jam it in there. So I got a tap kit with a 17/32 bit and 5/8" tap. Works great for the first 3 inches, except, the bolt is 6" long. So I'm dremmeling the end of the tap (the tap is going in easy because it's fiberglass, not metal) to fit on a 1/4" socket extension bar. My dremel battery died, so I won't be able to finish that today, but likely tomorrow.

I went with the ATV cable Kuriti mentioned, thanks for the tip! There's a few different models on Amazon; I went with one of them; couldn't tell the difference between them all.

Mast Raising
So, I bought a Reese safety chain and a six pulley hoist to attach to the D rings on the truck bed... In the end my buddy strong armed it with a rope on the forestay while I shouldered it up. I was going for one man lift, my first mate has been demoted to passenger due to a previous mast raising incident involving the bow of the boat lifting up into the air when I stepped on the ladder to help step it up ...

But! We got it up just in time for the rain to start.

UPDATED PLAN:
Here is an updated plan for 2019, everything else has been moved to 2020.

1. First float in April. If no leaks, proceed. If leaks, identify leaks.
---
2. Keel Repair -- IN PROGRESS
a. Keel Horn Drill & EyeBolt -- IN PROGRESS
b. Replace Keel Winch
c. Install Keel Cable
3. Replace bulkheads -- COMPLETE
4. Complete a full rig of all items, identify what needs replacement -- IN PROGRESS
5. Take measurements for Sails
-- Sailing authorized at this point.
6. Clean and Sterilize Interior
7. Drill inspection hole for starboard coffin bunk to inspect oil canning and possibly reinforce
8. Receive new sails (July)

You shouldn't need to measure your sails. The measurements are in the specifications for sails 3.5 Article V section of the class association handbook. You can give these to the sailmaker or have your sails made by someone who regularly makes sails for Sj 21 boats.
Have fun
Been der, done dat
Bill

I agree, but it doesn't hurt to do so. The gent at Precision said as much, but ... I'm not in a rush to get new sails, so I'm using this to stall... I'm still pre-empting my worst case which is that something catastrophic happens when we go out for our first sail.


Anyways... Here are some photos, and a higher resolution album from today! https://imgur.com/a/OjIamTc

[Gman377]

Hello King, man I was trying to get this pic of my boat on here before you made the bulkheads but I was out on her this weekend and I have to resize pics to upload here and I couldn't on my phone. Anyway I am so glad these forums are still here because when I restored #2560 I did the bulkheads like this and I am glad I did because I have so much more room in the cabin:

bulkead1.jpg (190.83KiB)Viewed 28697 times

I made mine out of 1/4" steel (I got the steel for free!), welded them and got them powder coated but for weight sake I think most people on the forum made them from aluminum (Thank you all here for the ideas!). I see that you have some dark spots around the where the hardware is embedded in the interior. Look up the 'fill and drill' technique for installing deck hardware on here or Google search it. When you drill the oversize holes it will tell you whether you have a good balsa core on your deck or not. If all the wood drilled out is tan then you should be good! So I use a 1000lb trailer winch from Northern Tool (like $23) for my keel and it has been great as long as you wind the cable right, I found that when winding the keel up I like to wind forward because I have more strength that way. I still use the cable but I have a dyneema backup just in case the steel wire breaks (Thank you Kuriti for the idea!). I hope these couple of ideas help and good luck!

[kingtoros]

Hey Gman!

Thanks for the photo and all the tips! I have a couple thoughts and so many more questions...

There is a LOT of chatter on the bulkheads here, and while I agree with the overall consensus, I have a lack of access to raw materials, talent and tools for the metal work to fabricate a replacement bulkhead out of anything other than wood. Barrier to entry with wood (for me) is low, so I could get the boat on the water this season lol

A quick update on the keel horn repair... The threading worked, somewhat, but I got impatient and after putting in only 4" of the shaft threading in, I put some tension on it and bent the bolt. So I have a shorter bolt with similar break rating on order and will install tomorrow before our first sail tomorrow.

Questions!

• Is the wood trim on your boat original? Mine is completely rotted away.
• The cushions you have, I priced out some on various foam websites and came out to a $500-$1,000 for the cockpit alone. That's a lot but maybe I just need my expectations reset on how much cushions are supposed to cost...
• Not a question, but an observation.. You have an access port on the bunk on what looks like your starboard side, it's missing on mine, presumably because they used the electrical panel as access to get in behind the bolts. I used that without issue, but would have liked the port (it exists on the port side, pun intended)

[kuriti]

I sewed my own cushion covers for the coffin berths. I never sleep in the v-berth. I got the foam from a local fabric wearhouse and the material on eBay. Bought the sewing machine used for $25. Might have cost $250 in all.

[Gman377]

So to answer your questions. First yes the wood is original but it was in really bad shape when I got it. I had to pull it all off and sand the heck out of it and then I have used teak oil to finish it.
Secondly I had a friend that worked at a local chair factory and I was able to get all of the new foam for free. I guess they let them have the extras from these huge blocks of foam. Heck I even gave them the measurements and they laser cut it for me. I was able to find on eBay the outdoor marine cushion fabric for about $100 and that was even me ordering approximately 7 yards extra just in case I did not have enough. My wife already had a sewing machine and we had to buy some good synthetic outdoor thread but other than that all the cushions cost to be about 100 bucks.
Lastly those are screw out inspection hatches which you can buy them for real cheap on eBay. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2032916518
I ended up putting two extra inspection hatches there by the bulkhead screws on both sides so I could get my big hand in there to tighten all the screws down, it made it a lot easier. Good luck with the restoration man!

[kingtoros]

Thanks kuriti and Gman for your replies!

It seems like sewing my own cushions (at least for this year) may be the most economical way to go.

First float was successful! I went out in Marsh Creek State Park, despite wind reports, it's notoriously dead there, which is what I wanted for this first sail. The San Juan is remarkably stable in the water, much more so than my dinghy. Anyways, see drone photo below.

Some general notes:
It took me 3 hours to figure out how to rig most of the boat, Helman's post about rigging with the pictures that you guys answered was tremendously helpful to eliminate some basic questions. The MarkII manual helped a bit too, as did some basic seamanship experience from my 14' Hobie Holder. I identified a bunch of stuff missing, mostly blocks and shackles. I replaced all the codder pins with ring codder pins for ease of getting them on and off when trailering.

Keel Repair
I ended up leaving the bent bolt in to see if it would even work to raise/lower the keel, and it sure did. Now I need a way to bend it back before extracting it to use the shorter bolt.

Porta Potty
The porta potty linked to in another thread is... interesting. It is, in the end, a porta potty. We only spent 2 hours on the water, and despite filling the fresh water tank with water, we refrained from using it this cruise.

Sails/Bimini
I'm opting not to measure the sails, I was able to rig the boom high enough that we didn't crouch, and I liked that. Maybe not enough room for a bimini, but possible under motoring conditions.. Stay tuned on that topic.

Here is an updated project plan:
COMPLETED:
1. First float in April. If no leaks, proceed. If leaks, identify leaks.
2. Replace Bulkheads
3. Keel Repair
a. Keel Horn Drill & EyeBolt
b. Replace Keel Winch
c. Install Keel Cable
4. Complete a full rig of all items, identify what needs replacement
5. Take measurements for Sails --CANCELLED
-- Sailing authorized at this point.
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IN PROGRESS:
6. Clean and Sterilize Interior
7. Drill inspection hole for starboard coffin bunk to inspect oil canning and possibly reinforce
8. Receive new sails (July)
9. Repair Windows?
10. Trailer Wiring repair + Extra Bunks?

-Toros

[Gman377]

She looks great!