San Juan 21 Class Association

Well I haven't seen any new news lately here so I thought I would offer some. Hull #2560 MKIII has had the topsides painted, the steel bulkheads have been powder-coated, the cabin has been painted, I have an upholstery friend about to do the cushions and I am now starting to re-fit the hardware: I now have a deep respect for poly butyl tape. I think the deck hardware was in original condition because the wenches and the genoa car tracks on the cockpit coamings had regular silicon caulk under them and the deck hardware all had poly butyl tape under them. The balsa inside the deck ended up being about 99% light tan and in very good condition. I was amazed. I have to wire wheel each screw or fitting to get it off....very gunky... I'm almost tempted to use it now although coming from being a power boater for 20 years I always fall back on my known sealants... I am about to tackle the windows now which is why I have the Dow 795. I really do not like how the port lights/windows are constructed and the plastic frames are brittle, heck the on the older boat they are all cracked. I cracked two of them while sanding them so I'm going for the acrylic/poly-carbonate solution like on Kuriti's Dire Wolf. I am going to use the 3M VHB tape and the 795 for sealing them but what would be the minimum thickness of the Lexan/Plexiglass that I could use. The original windows had 1/4" Plexi on the fronts and 1/8" Plexi on the rears, I thought that was weird to have two different thicknesses. The 1/4" does not like to bend very well so I'm leaning towards the 1/8" thickness. I am only going cruising on the lake so I don't think I will be taking on any ocean storms any time soon although I have thought about possibly hitting a fleet race at Lake Norman in the very far distant future. Whaddya think?
Thank you, Grant

Looking good, keep it going! I used 1/4 and I think you might later regret the thin ones for the price difference. I don’t remember the details, but the method I stole and used is still holding up great 4(?) yrs later. I have put a beating on her too. I like the smoked color still as well.

Thanks Kuriti for all of the ideas I 'stole' from you! And thank you all for the inspirations to restore this old boat. I did go ahead and use the 1/8" although I think I might have wanted 1/4" in the end. They seem to be fairly strong but if I get poked possibly by a stiff tree branch...not good: The thing I like about this type of window is that I can replace these from almost any stock material and with a little elbow grease and I can replace them easily, although, I do like the look of the framed windows better but I did not like how they have basically three pieces to seal where this has only one, this seems to be an issue on these boats as there are major window failure issues on both of these boats I have. I painted the underside of the acrylic white (after sanding the outer edges) so in the sun you can see a hint of a 'frame' and used I white Dow 795 for a clean look, I will try to get a pic later in the sun. The bulkheads installed nicely and I'm glad you all talked me into doing metal ones, I know that I will never have to worry about them rotting...ever: Other than that she is coming along great as I have been re-fitting all of the deck hardware. Later on I'm going to set her up for single-handed sailing but for now the deck will be 'stock': Next will be re-wiring everything electrical including the mast. It's taking a little longer than expected to get out on the water but I gotta do it right, I don't want to do it twice! I'm thinkin' maybe late July or August for the maiden voyage, I now need to come up with a name for her.....

Lookin great! Did you make that companionway hatch? I like.

SHE FLOATS!! We had her on the water yesterday testing the engine and the keel functions. After patching holes in your transom one always has reservations about floating! Everything went smooth for the most part, the engine is a little finicky, I will have to re-adjust the float level again. The keel goes up and down perfectly the only thing i noticed was the play of the keel on the pivot pin. While the boat was anchored and wake from other boats would hit us the keel would sway back and forth a couple of inches. I snorkeled under several times to watch it and inside the boat it would have a bumping sound. Should the keel be fairly tight on the pivot pin or does it tighten up as you are sailing? Are there any bushings to replace? Thank you, Grant

There are two brass bushings but I think I reused them when I replaced my pin. The bolt goes through them and they are glassed into the bolt, so not exactly what you may have been asking, they don’t shim it to stop play. I hope you mean a few inches at the bottom of the extended keel and not inches of slop at the pin. I haven’t noticed much play on mine, but others may have more input. I would pull the inspection plate and drive it around having someone turn sharply. If it looks wrong it probably is, otherwise if the forces seem sustainable, they probably are. Glad to see the progress. This too shall pass and provide years of worry free sailing.