The "Betty L"-- My 1973 C22 Swing Keel

[gdudik]

Hello everyone--figured this section is as good as any to make an introduction.

I've been doing a lot of lurking on this forum since August, when I bought my C22. This is definitely the friendliest forum, populated by the most intelligent posters.
About me: Name is Graham, I'm 28 years old, home is Vancouver, WA (Portland, OR is closest). I raced FJs and Lasers all through college, but let it go after I got married. I started to miss it, and picked up this solid, if not particularly pretty, 1973 C22 on Craigslist. Riverworthy boat, decent trailer, and running 5HP 2 stroke for $3700.

The boat is named after my grandmother, who was the most adventerous woman I know. By the time she passed at 99 years old, she'd visited all seven continents (including an African safari at age 86!).

The guy I bought it from did a fair amount of work to it, including new running rigging and leading the halyards aft, but some of his choices in sealant and repairing of deck holes are questionable.

To-do's for me this off season:
1)Jiffy reefing and jib downhaul
2) Fix keel hold-down bolt leak
3) Re-do all boat wiring (PO's weakest suit, my specialty--I work in the RV industry). Running lights work for now and engine will charge battery, so I'm good for now.
4) Definitely want a drifter or super-light genoa for those fall days when I'm just drifting around.
5) Stem reinforcement kit has already been purchased and will be installed
6) Replace torture-screw traveler with effective equipment.

I have one question to the people who have seen more C22s that I have: Take a look at the pictures I've put up of my compression post. Most of the pictures I see have a nice lathe-turned piece of wood. I have a metal pipe. Anybody ever seen anything like that before?

 

[CaptDon01]

You're a lucky guy, you got one of the most knowledgeable C-22 guys right in your backyard, and an enthusiastic bunch of C-22 folks there in C-22 Fleet-20. Don Woodhouse is the local guru, not sure if he checks on this site, but I know he's pretty active on the Facebook C-22 Owners site. Can't say I've ever seen a metal compression post on an older C-22.

Don

 

[SVMOONDANCE]

Great looking boat! Welcome to the club. Look forward to see more of Betty L!

 

[Jacomo Sailor]

It's obvious that someone put a lot of work into refubishing that boat and the paint job looks great. Replacing the compression post with steel tubing is fairly common but just doesn't look as nice IMO. Yours looks like a homemade job but seems to be functional enough. I am rather curious about the plate and string though. I wonder if there was a switch panel or a light fixture there at some point.

 

[Gene Neill]

The compression post definitely looks like a DIY job. A little rough around the edges, but I dig it, personally. I'd paint it some bright glossy contrasting color, and rock it.

 

[AaronD]

Welcome to the C-22 club (and the neighborhood, roughly speaking - I'm in Newberg, OR, so not too far away). Good looking boat, and I love naming her after your grandmother!

 

[gdudik]

I have no idea what the plate is (maybe held a lamp?) but I know it has to go. I already have a few scalp scars from it when exiting the v-berth.
The string goes through and exits by the lower end through another open section. It appears to be sized for standard wiring conduit, as though somebody put the string through to facilitate fishing wires through later.

If the unit is homemade, somebody did a nice job with the reinforcing elbow at the bottom end. It looks like nice welding.

 

[LakeShark]

I have no idea what the plate is (maybe held a lamp?) but I know it has to go.

Since you're missing your center light because of the new compression post likely the plate was indeed for that light. I agree though it will easily scalp you or your guests best just to go without the light. Welcome to the club and it's a nice looking boat. I love the 1988 sticker you have for the Catalina Association. Now all you need is the current year to place next to it and they're still around! I think that has to be the best part of these boats, parts, manuals, and help are all still readily available.

 

[gdudik]

The support in parts and knowledge that's available for this boat was a major factor in my decision to purchase. As my dad said, "it's the F-150 of sailboats."

 

[pclarksurf]

Yea '73 , yea Washingtonian

Definitely not the stock post but what the heck-- I've seen multiple on eBay/Craigslist if you ever needed to go back , they're out there.

 

[greg_m]

Nice looking boat, inspiration for me on the other side of the pond!

I am needing to replace the original mast support post on my boat and was considering an aluminium pole. Another major refurb thread done by a guy who can weld stainless steel saw him build one out of stainless tubing. Looked very good indeed.

You could clean up the post and pretty it up a bit with some "aluminium" looking metallic spray paint.

 

[Jacktar]

Welcome to the forum lots of posts here you can check in on to see how things can be done or just post a question and one or more of us will weigh (pun) in .

 

[Hardhead]

Congratulations - great find. You will have a lot of fun with it.

I wrapped my compression post in old style hemp rope, and painted it with spar varnish. Kinda nice if you'd rather not look at the cold steel.

 

[greg_m]

Congratulations - great find. You will have a lot of fun with it.

I wrapped my compression post in old style hemp rope, and painted it with spar varnish. Kinda nice if you'd rather not look at the cold steel.

Now thats the kind of ingenuity/creativity I like to hear and see... ehm, pictures of said wrapped and varnished post please!

 

[CloudDiver]

I'm feeling a little sticker shock for you, $3700 seems a bit rich for any C22 older than 85. Then again, looking at the pics it appears to be in outstanding condition, the non-skid on deck looks flawless and that is pretty rare. Is the hull actually gelcoat or is that Flag Blue painted? At the least you can sail it and not be doing a resto going on 3 years like me ;-)

BTW, I'm almost positive that compression post is bronze. If you don't like it I will gladly swap you my teak compression post for it... But seriously, that weird plate you been hitting your head on could be carefully cut off and the welds filed and polished down. I would strip the paint and then polish and oil rub the bronze. Trim those protruding bolts or just buy shorter ones and then put acorn nuts on them.

 

[rpludwig]

Now thats the kind of ingenuity/creativity I like to hear and see... ehm, pictures of said wrapped and varnished post please!

I too want to see a pic of that wrapped post...really dislike the pre-85 bedpost look in mine...but that's far down the list....

 

[Hardhead]

Thanks guys - believe me, it doesn't look THAT nice. I like it though, compared to before..

I have 2 coats of spar varnish on it now, and after judging the look for a few weeks, I think I'm going to go for a third to polish it up a bit extra. I'll be working on the boat this weekend, and post up a pic.

I've learned a lot from everyone's posts on this forum-

 

[gdudik]

I'm feeling a little sticker shock for you, $3700 seems a bit rich for any C22 older than 85. Then again, looking at the pics it appears to be in outstanding condition, the non-skid on deck looks flawless and that is pretty rare. Is the hull actually gelcoat or is that Flag Blue painted? At the least you can sail it and not be doing a resto going on 3 years like me ;-)

BTW, I'm almost positive that compression post is bronze. If you don't like it I will gladly swap you my teak compression post for it... But seriously, that weird plate you been hitting your head on could be carefully cut off and the welds filed and polished down. I would strip the paint and then polish and oil rub the bronze. Trim those protruding bolts or just buy shorter ones and then put acorn nuts on them.

It was a turnkey sailboat for 3700 including a great condition outboard and a trailer, including good condition sails. Even if compared to other catalina 22s it seems expensive, from an absolute standpoint I thought it was great.

The blue is paint, not gel coat. The non skid is mostly in good condition, but there are some questionably-filled holes from old deck hardware.

It's not that I don't like the post; it works and I'm fine with it. I was just curious about its provenance. I will definitely be busting out the angle grinder and removing the plate.

What makes you think it's bronze? I haven't inspected closely enough. Been sailing, not poking around below.

 

[greg_m]

Been sailing, not poking around below.

I can dig that!!!! Wish I was ready to float my boat...

 

[CloudDiver]

What makes you think it's bronze? I haven't inspected closely enough. Been sailing, not poking around below.

Looking at the chipped off paint and especially the tube for wiring exit with no paint on it... no rust, could be stainless, but def looks bronze to me... Oh, and the weld beads tell me is probably bronze too (I can spot that even under paint)