Super Cheap Yachting

Sep 20, 2014
1,320
Rob Legg RL24 Chain O'Lakes
Most young kids crave attention. The key to a successful program is staying small, where the interaction is very personal. They second key is getting a fast boat, like a Holder 20 would be perfect. (of course if you can find an RL 24, that would even be better) My kids hated sailing with my first monohull, but grew to like it with my second much faster boat. The boat must be light, fast and responsive, big enough to move around on.
 
Nov 1, 2017
635
Catalina 25 Sea Star Base Galveston, TX
Fritz,

Good morning! I hope you're doing well; I've been watching this feed for a few days and it seems to have blown quite far off topic...suffice to say, I know your frustration ;). Anyway, as an 18 year old kid, I don't know TOO much about money, but I am taking economy classes, watching plenty of Dave Ramsey videos and plan to be an attorney; thus, learning to manage my own personal funds has been of interest, and I've learned a lot. It comes down to every little thing you spend money on, which includes (unfortunately) your boat, assuming you've got the money to purchase one in the first place. I can relate to you just as well as anyone, as I've always looked into the cheapest way of making repairs on my projects and personal vessels. I have two personal boats, an AMF Sunfish and Catalina 25 Tall Rig, and three projects, two of which I sold, and one I'm almost finished with: The first is a Bruce Kirby Sonar. I picked her up just outside Houston from an old farmer my dad is friends with who had it on his property and didn't know what the heck to do with it. The trailer needed new wheels, but other than that, it was good to go (minus registration)! The fiberglass on deck was in poor condition, but the hull was perfectly fine, and the cockpit just needed a good cleaning. After spending about three weeks cleaning out the cabin and settees of mice and birds, I finally got to cleaning, and a pressure wash made her look a million times better than she had before! Unfortunately, I had to put the Sonar on halt for a short time while I went and picked up my second project, another Sunfish. It had the hull and rigging for the sails, but no tiller, rudder, or daggerboard. It took me two months to cut, sand, shape and varnish those, all the while working on the sonar here and there.....all in my two car garage :)...no, my parents were not happy. The Sonar costed me quite a bit; she ended up being about $5,500 dollars to repair, because she's a racer and I wanted her to be back to her original build, so I had to purchase parts directly from Kirby, but it was definitely worth it! I brought her home for free, flipped her and sold her for $18,000. I finished the Sunfish a few months afterward after only spending about $200, and sold her for $1750. After those two, I picked up an AMF Sunbird from a fellow Sea Scout's property on a good trailer, pressure washed her, redid the running and standing rigging, spreaders, minor fiberglass repairs, polishing the hull and servicing the swing keel, she's almost ready to be sold; all I need to do now is go get some non-skid surface adhesive pads from West Marine and get that stuck on there! The sails were also in decent shape, but had a few tears from the spreaders which I was able to stitch up easily. Now, the running rigging was free because I know people and they're nice enough to give me stuff :) but I went to a boatyard and found some standing rigging from a Capri 14.2 and replaced the old rigging with it; worked like a charm!
Hope this helps!
God Bless,
S.S.
 
Jul 25, 2017
65
MacGregor 25 Madison, WI
Thanks Dave, Simon, and Will.
I'd always heard that the key to successful engagement with kids is always being there - not moving away or getting busy.
Simon, hoping my daughter grows up to be half as resourceful :) I sure wish I'd thought of trying something like what you're doing when I was in high school.
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,045
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
fritz, I think there is nothing wrong with contributing anything in this forum that reveals your personality, including your faith. I am affronted by jwing's sanctimonious response to leave religion in church. In fact, I think he opened the door with his "gospel" reference, but I suppose he was being flippant. First off, he is wrong about the definition of gospel, secondly, what arrogance to suggest that only he knows unquestionable truth!
In my opinion, it is far more interesting to learn about a person by his remarks on anything he/she sees fit to say, rather than see a response that is stunted by trepidation over what others may think of it. I'll give KG credit for revealing his personality via his thoughts & confessions! :biggrin:
 
Jul 25, 2017
65
MacGregor 25 Madison, WI
Thanks Scott. I didn't feel trepidation. It's been my experience that nobody ever wins arguments on the internet, so the only way to have meaningful interactions is to avoid them or move to a really heavily moderated forum. Debates sure.
 
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JCall

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May 3, 2016
66
Macgregor 26D Ceasars Creek
Fritz, circling back to KG’s 5%. That number of kids would be fantastic! Just one kid would be worth it. Thank you for your efforts. Blue skies, fair winds, and following seas to you!
 
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Oct 15, 2006
29
MacGregor 26X Central Florida
One way I cautiously approach the issue of replacing standard rigging on my 1998 26X, especially the shrouds and stays, was to replace the forestay first. I have been taught that they deteriorate from the inside out so it is hard to know the condition of one until it is cut and examined. But doing all at once is expensive. So I took one stay at a time. After the old forestay was off and the new one on, I cut the old one and examine it. Since the old forestay is/was not very deteriorated, I delayed doing the side shrouds a couple more years and paced the replacement of more standing rigging out over several years. Now, my boat has been almost exclusively used in fresh water, so that helps. So far I have replaced the forestay and upper shrouds over a three year period. Lower shrouds are next year. Back stay year or two after.
 
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