Don’s reply: That has been my fear. I just remember all the fun and happy times with family and friends over the years. It would like cutting up a faithful old friend.
Rehabilitating a sailboat stored outdoors for 10 years
- Thread starter Don Rudisuhle
- Start date
Don’s reply: Trusting my friends with beer and power cutting tools would not be a good idea.
Don’s reply: We have all of the major components. The mast is a lightweight French-made Isomat. It had two stress cracks at the spreaders which were repaired eons ago. I wouldn’t trust the swedging on the shrouds and stays after my dad’s Erickson was dismasted at night in heavy seas off the coast of Mexico when the swedging failed on the inner windward shroud. The sails are the original ones from 1985 and are beyond blown out. But who needs sail draft when the winds come howling in off the prairie and can drive you to hull speed under bare poles? OK. Maybe an exaggeration, but you get the picture…Need more info. Like Benny said, is any of the major components missing?. If I were to guess, I bet the mast and boom went bye bye and was recycled for a few bucks. If so, donate to the local fire department to use as boat fire training
Don’s reply: The thought of a giant Jacuzzi using the through-hulls as jet ports had crossed my mind, however fleetingly.
Don’s reply: That is good advice. We will try that before consigning the boat to Monsieur de Paris.
Don’s reply: The neglect wasn’t really deliberate. It just happened. We loved that boat and had wonderful times with it in Wyoming for a dozen years. However, we were busy running our businesses and the marina is located 238 miles from where we live, a 3 ½ hour drive. Furthermore, we live at 7,200 feet and experience serious snow which frequently closes Interstate 80 during the period of December to April, making winter visits difficult.
Don’s reply: Agreed, because at our ages we are no longer in the big project phase of life.
Don’s reply: Agreed. Most Lancers were Chevys Vegas and Ford Fiestas, except for the superb Bill Lee/Bruce King–designed Lancer 36 which was inspired by the famed racer “Chutzpah.” I sailed one a few times.
Don’s reply: Yes, with a deep, dark bilge harboring untold mysteries just as unfathomable as the poetry of Ishmael Reed.
Two pics
1961 Rhodes Meridian abandoned in boatyard in New York for 15 years-before and after. She now has close to 12,000 cruising miles. If the boat is solid otherwise-
1961 Rhodes Meridian abandoned in boatyard in New York for 15 years-before and after. She now has close to 12,000 cruising miles. If the boat is solid otherwise-
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Don’s reply: Will post a few. The boat followed my career from California to Laramie, Wyoming. Actually, Lake Flaming Gorge in Southwest Wyoming is huge and can easily be located without a divining rod. It is 92 miles long and has over 350 miles of shoreline.
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Thanks for this. It is encouraging to see that an aging derelict can be transformed into a beautiful cruising boat.
Thanks to the mariners out there who generously took the time to help us assess this dilemma. Below are the facts of the situation. I have also replied individually to each of you.
Why Wyoming: When a career move brought me to Wyoming from San Francisco, my big boat, salt-water sailing days were over, except for a short stint of racing a decrepit S&S 30 on weekends in the Gulf of Paria out of Chaguaramas, Trinidad. Lots of fun races except for one highly unpleasant course that took the fleet through the untreated effluent of all Port of Spain. After my move, we discovered that the market for used non-premium fiberglass boats was pretty soft. We decided to put the Lancer on a backhaul on a double low boy trailer and hired a 90-ft crane to lower it into the water at Buckboard Marina in Flaming Gorge.
Lake Flaming Gorge: Lake Flaming Gorge is a 1960s-era reservoir fed by the Green River. It is 93 miles long and has over 350 miles of coastline. This is world-class sailing with blue skies, azure water and howling winds that often have you blazing down the river channel with two reefs in the main. There are spectacular vistas and deep narrow canyons where you can anchor for a few days, cook gourmet food, drink wine and watch movies on your laptop at night. If you are lucky, you might wake up to see a bighorn sheep staring down at you from the canyon rim, or, you could catch one of those 50-pound lake trout that lurk in the 400-foot depths of the Gorge. Warning: they didn’t get that big biting any old lure.
The Boat: The Lancer 30 hulls are a Cuthbertson and Cassian design. Back in the late 70s, Lancer bought the used molds from C&C when that firm came out with a newer model. It has a French-made, single-spreader Isomat ¾ rig with a split backstay. Power is a 22 HP Yanmar 3GMC diesel with a saildrive. The boat was originally berthed at Marina Village in Alameda on San Francisco Bay for about five years. It was in charter with Club Sail.
Why Wyoming: When a career move brought me to Wyoming from San Francisco, my big boat, salt-water sailing days were over, except for a short stint of racing a decrepit S&S 30 on weekends in the Gulf of Paria out of Chaguaramas, Trinidad. Lots of fun races except for one highly unpleasant course that took the fleet through the untreated effluent of all Port of Spain. After my move, we discovered that the market for used non-premium fiberglass boats was pretty soft. We decided to put the Lancer on a backhaul on a double low boy trailer and hired a 90-ft crane to lower it into the water at Buckboard Marina in Flaming Gorge.
Lake Flaming Gorge: Lake Flaming Gorge is a 1960s-era reservoir fed by the Green River. It is 93 miles long and has over 350 miles of coastline. This is world-class sailing with blue skies, azure water and howling winds that often have you blazing down the river channel with two reefs in the main. There are spectacular vistas and deep narrow canyons where you can anchor for a few days, cook gourmet food, drink wine and watch movies on your laptop at night. If you are lucky, you might wake up to see a bighorn sheep staring down at you from the canyon rim, or, you could catch one of those 50-pound lake trout that lurk in the 400-foot depths of the Gorge. Warning: they didn’t get that big biting any old lure.
The Boat: The Lancer 30 hulls are a Cuthbertson and Cassian design. Back in the late 70s, Lancer bought the used molds from C&C when that firm came out with a newer model. It has a French-made, single-spreader Isomat ¾ rig with a split backstay. Power is a 22 HP Yanmar 3GMC diesel with a saildrive. The boat was originally berthed at Marina Village in Alameda on San Francisco Bay for about five years. It was in charter with Club Sail.
The Condition:
Hull: Looks good, at least superficially.
Keel: Some gel coat cracks
Rudder: Extensive gel coat cracks, could have waterlogged foam core.
Powerplant: Yanmar #3GMC with relatively low hours for its age.
Saildrive: Good condition but the upper and lower (inner and outer) hull seals are rotten to the point of crumbling. Prop was mangled at the final haulout.
Sails: Original 1985 main and 100% jib. Seriously blown out with many repairs over the years. Aging stitching may have questionable integrity.
Standing rigging: Swedging may have dangerous internal corrosion
Running rigging: OK. Stored indoors.
Winches: Self-tailing Lewmars. Good condition. Covered with shrink wrap.
Trailer: Decrepit and un-roadworthy. Missing tires.
Hull: Looks good, at least superficially.
Keel: Some gel coat cracks
Rudder: Extensive gel coat cracks, could have waterlogged foam core.
Powerplant: Yanmar #3GMC with relatively low hours for its age.
Saildrive: Good condition but the upper and lower (inner and outer) hull seals are rotten to the point of crumbling. Prop was mangled at the final haulout.
Sails: Original 1985 main and 100% jib. Seriously blown out with many repairs over the years. Aging stitching may have questionable integrity.
Standing rigging: Swedging may have dangerous internal corrosion
Running rigging: OK. Stored indoors.
Winches: Self-tailing Lewmars. Good condition. Covered with shrink wrap.
Trailer: Decrepit and un-roadworthy. Missing tires.
Don’s reply: The spirit is willing but the flesh is over the hill. The two of us who must perform the labor are 65 and 77 years old and no longer possess the youthful enthusiasm or the stamina, strength and flexibility required for hard manual labor. My days of hanging upside down by my knees in a cramped engine room with a flashlight in my teeth are behind me now. Not too old to sail, however. Remember Sir Francis Chichester.Going thru rehab after 10 years will be tough. You can do it.
I have, but in my case the boat was in fairly good shape. A little elbow grease cosmetics, and a atomic 4 rebuild which I did myself.(I'm a old motorhead).
However in DR's case I would pass on the restoration. The standing rainwater is a killer.
Run a add interview prospects find a young couple and pass your dream on with a contract to take you and wife sailn one more time
The boat doesn't look all that bad.
The cabin sole is an insert (confirm) and not part of the hull. Therefore, freeze crack from water under it is only cosmetic.
However, if it were my boat in your circumstances:
You're just too far away. Even if you fix it up, it will deteriorate again in the same fashion. The amount of work that it needs, none DIY, will be too costly.
Sell it. It's worth several thousand, especially with a good diesel.
Take the money and buy a newer 22-ish footer with an outboard. Easy maint, even tow it home to monitor and do winter tasks.
And enjoy sailing.
The cabin sole is an insert (confirm) and not part of the hull. Therefore, freeze crack from water under it is only cosmetic.
However, if it were my boat in your circumstances:
You're just too far away. Even if you fix it up, it will deteriorate again in the same fashion. The amount of work that it needs, none DIY, will be too costly.
Sell it. It's worth several thousand, especially with a good diesel.
Take the money and buy a newer 22-ish footer with an outboard. Easy maint, even tow it home to monitor and do winter tasks.
And enjoy sailing.
Don’s reply: The only mitigating factor regarding the rainwater is that there is some sort of gray protective coating on the interior of the hull, but its integrity cannot be verified without removing the inner liner and cabin sole, an impossibility.