Congratulations on your New Boat!
Dec.11, 2000 Dear Bill, Sorry I didn't get back to you on the weekend but internet access on Saturdau and Sunday both was so poor I was unable to call up the site. Welcome to the Beneteau sailing family, you picked a great boat to go sailing in and do some club racing with as well. To answer your specific questions: 1) On instruments I use Brooks and Gatehouse which have proven to be very satisfactory. They are however, very expensive. if I was putting all new instruments on the boat now I would likely pick a full suite from Autohelm, a company which is now owned by Raytheon. This choice is governed by the fact that I have had very good response to service issues, and they have a very good fully integrated package that offers all of the options you could want. In addition to the electronic true/apparant wind speed, and true/apparant wind angle instruments and the usual log, depth sounder I would have an intagrated GPS. Beyond that, take a look at what they offer, there is a great deal to choose from. I would certainly put a large Windex angle indicator at the top of the mast in addition to the electronic sensor. 2) With respect to what to expect, at 20 years old you can expect almost anything to go wrong. With the boat out of the water and not knowing what kind of use it has had I would suggest it is time to replace the thru hull fittings and I would be taking a long hard look at my standing rigging, which may need to be replaced if it is showing cracking or fatiguing. I'd be very careful about that. I'd also take a hard look at the stuffing box and repack it as a matter of routine and inspect the strut, to make sure it's tight. Inspect the rubber insert inside the strut (strut bearing) for wear and the rudder for wobble, a sign that it's bearings are worn or loose. Put a dial gauge on the shaft to make sure it is still running true. Take a sample of the engine oil and transmission oil and send it to a lab for testing to help determine wear. Cummnings provides this service. At this point if you can keep the stick up, the rudder on, and the water out you've won half the battle and can go sailing. There is lots more I haven't touched on - are the lifelines safe or do they need replacing? When were the winches serviced last? What kind of shape are the sails and running rigging in, etc. etc. I would suggest that what you want to do is to get a good book on doing your own survey, meticulously survey the entire boat and then fix the things you discover. Remember if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Beautify one thing at a time so the process doesn't become overwhelming. Take your time and do the job right. And don't get discouraged by this list, you have a good boat, and good background for messing about with boats. You obviously already know how to work with your hands, and you are willing to learn, as evidenced by your reading. When it comes to boat repair there are no mistakes that you can make that you can't also fix , so have fun with it! Just make sure that you leave plenty of time for sailing as well, since that ultimately is the object of all of the hard work. One last tip, don't try regelcoating until you have tried compounding and waxing first. To restore the finish check out the Island Girl products discussed elsewhere on this site. They are expensive but I have seen some impressive results and its cheaper than gelcoating. Also before I gelcoated I would more likely repaint witha good quality paint like Awlgrip, which you can do yourself as well. Fair winds, Brian Pickton @BeneteauOwners.net Aboard The Legend, Rodney Bay St. Lucia Remember a boat is a do it yourself project that never ends, it beats the hell out of gardening as a hobby and can keep you amused for a life time
