San Juan 21 Class Association

Hello. My name is Jim. I live in Portland, OR. After 30 years of wanting to buy a sailboat, and many years interested in San Juans, I've just become the new owner of an SJ21. I just picked up a 1976 (or is it a '75?) Mark I, hull #1150 I believe. I got it from a guy in Shelton, WA where it has been for a couple of years. Before than, I believe it was in Montana and Eastern Washington State. As far as I can tell, the boat is in pretty good shape, although needs some cleaning and some superficial gelcoat/FG crack repair on the cabin and gunwales, and the portlights installed (the previous owner removed the "smoked" originals to have a new set of clear & colorless portlights made... just need to be installed. The previous owner had the bottom painted before mooring it near Shelton in salt water for a year. Bottom paint looks good, although I'm concerned about apparent "oil canning" of the hull near the forward edge of the port side trailer bunk. I noticed after trailering it 120 miles (+/-) that the centerboard/keel is "up" -- not lowered onto the trailer as I understand (after the fact) that it should be. Perhaps the cause of (or contributor to) the oil canning. I'll probably store the boat in my driveway short term, but hope to find a boatyard in the Portland area that has its own launch ramp, where I can store it on the trailer with the mast stepped... being able to launch and use occasionally, but also able to works on some of the fiberglass repairs. My driveway isn't ideal for repair wirk due to the ginormous cedar tree that hangs over it and drips sap during the warmer months. If there are any local SJ21 owners who can recommend a yard for storage as described, I would appreciate it. I look forward to learning from all of those who have contributed their thoughts and ideas to this forum, and perhaps will provide something useful along the way. Sorry, by the way, my "informative" username is more than a bit misleading in this forum... selected before I saw the recommendation to use your own name or boat's name. I'm not so sure I want to be known on the forum as "Cool Runnings" though. Cheers. ~ Jim

OIl canning isn't too terrible a problem, and can be fixed... But you need to work on the bunks. Get them properly fitted and the hull should pop back out. My hull rested on two 2x6's that were only about 5' long, and now she's on 4 2x4's at a full 8' length. The hull is much better supported and there is very little dimpling.

I think we have 2 fleets down in oregon, but i'm unaware of any in the portland area.

Later
C