Looking at a 21' to purchase. New at sailing. Any questions I should ask? It's a 1982. Looks good! Ed
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Ray Bowles
Ed, Welcome aboard and I hope this does'nt put
out the fire, but... 1. If you are a new sailer and do not yet understand what good standing rigging looks like then find, or make, a friend to go with you to inspect the boat. Loose or worn rigging will TOTALLY ruin a boats performance and the boats ability to do what you want. It is also expensive to repair. 2. Worn out sails also lead to the same result. 3. A blistered hull or soggy deck, ones that have absorbed more water than a good 2 ply piece of bunghole fodder is a massive repair, usually costing about 3 to 5 times the cost of the boat or more. There are a bazillion excellent boats in your area, of the same size and price range. Find that one boat that is the best for you. The boat that you are looking at could very well be that one "drop dead, stunning, once in a lifetime boat". But...a boat is much harder to judge and understand than a lovely lady you want to marry. With the lady you would never take a friend, with a boat you must. Just make sure you do find and buy a boat, then you will enjoy the second best joy of life, the one just after your wife. Lastly, go slowly, patiently and safely with your spouse aboard. If you as lucky as I have been then maybe someday she will say "why don't we sell everything and go sailing for the rest of our lives?" We leave Aug 9,02. Everything is sold, we will drive to the eastern seaboard from Washington State, find a 38 to 44 foot bluewater boat, fit her out, sell our car, re-name the new boat "Speedy's Sister" and sail south for the next 10 years or until we tip over. Good luck my friend. Now go out and start the first part of your journey, and....never lose the dream. Ray S/V Speedy
out the fire, but... 1. If you are a new sailer and do not yet understand what good standing rigging looks like then find, or make, a friend to go with you to inspect the boat. Loose or worn rigging will TOTALLY ruin a boats performance and the boats ability to do what you want. It is also expensive to repair. 2. Worn out sails also lead to the same result. 3. A blistered hull or soggy deck, ones that have absorbed more water than a good 2 ply piece of bunghole fodder is a massive repair, usually costing about 3 to 5 times the cost of the boat or more. There are a bazillion excellent boats in your area, of the same size and price range. Find that one boat that is the best for you. The boat that you are looking at could very well be that one "drop dead, stunning, once in a lifetime boat". But...a boat is much harder to judge and understand than a lovely lady you want to marry. With the lady you would never take a friend, with a boat you must. Just make sure you do find and buy a boat, then you will enjoy the second best joy of life, the one just after your wife. Lastly, go slowly, patiently and safely with your spouse aboard. If you as lucky as I have been then maybe someday she will say "why don't we sell everything and go sailing for the rest of our lives?" We leave Aug 9,02. Everything is sold, we will drive to the eastern seaboard from Washington State, find a 38 to 44 foot bluewater boat, fit her out, sell our car, re-name the new boat "Speedy's Sister" and sail south for the next 10 years or until we tip over. Good luck my friend. Now go out and start the first part of your journey, and....never lose the dream. Ray S/V Speedy
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Crazy Dave Condon
Check swing keel
so often the keel is over looked that needs to be checked. first the cable and secondly the swing keel attachment usually a bolt along. Do not forget the winch if there is one. Sails are important but look at the rigging and if there are any breaks, you need to replace. Also make sure the mast is not dinged. A severly dingged mast could lead to a failure. Also, stay away from repaired broken masts. Usually the repair is not strong enough. Crazy Dave Condon
so often the keel is over looked that needs to be checked. first the cable and secondly the swing keel attachment usually a bolt along. Do not forget the winch if there is one. Sails are important but look at the rigging and if there are any breaks, you need to replace. Also make sure the mast is not dinged. A severly dingged mast could lead to a failure. Also, stay away from repaired broken masts. Usually the repair is not strong enough. Crazy Dave Condon
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Ed
My Dream Exactly
Thanks for the good advice. Especially the advice about the dream. She squaked at the idea of living on a sailboat, but seems ok with the "little" boat. I guess she figures you can't live on something that small. But the dream will never die!!!!!!! Good luck to you and yours. The envy runs deep. Any advice on ports and cost of what your adventure intails. Magazines, organizations, ETC.........
Thanks for the good advice. Especially the advice about the dream. She squaked at the idea of living on a sailboat, but seems ok with the "little" boat. I guess she figures you can't live on something that small. But the dream will never die!!!!!!! Good luck to you and yours. The envy runs deep. Any advice on ports and cost of what your adventure intails. Magazines, organizations, ETC.........
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Ray Bowles
Ed, Ray again, I thought your last post might
have been directed to me. If not you just have to suffer through it. There were 3 "learning to sail type books" that we bought our first winter. We consumed them. My wife and I actually sat on the living room floor and played out sailing situations. We could not afford lessons and felt if we read, practiced and played we would make it. Stay simple!!! When we first started out we stayed with the basics until we had them down cold. We did have the luxury of being able to spend about 60 days total sailing our boat last summer. We anchored better than 45 of those days and slept aboard. The sailing illness bit us so hard we just decided to sell the farm and go sailing. We leave in 2 weeks. At all costs you must include your wife in all items concerning your boat. Bring the boat home even if you haul her on a city bus. Do this before you even sail the boat after its purchase. If your lady see's you working on, and learning about, the boat BEFORE launching then she will think you are really conserned for the families safety. Clean the boat up spotless, sit in the cockpit and pretend to sail. Ask your wife come out and look at all the things you fixed. Ask her to come out and show you how to clean or fix something on the boat that she does well in the house. Share the learning about sailboat maintanance. Have her sit in the boat with you while you practace your sailing moves in the driveway. This way she will feel included in your sport. She will start to share your ownership and joy in this boat. I'm a blessed man with a wife that shares the same passion, or even a greater passion, for sailing. But in the beginning of our relationship as man and wife, as ranchers and farmers and finally as sailers we have always shared every chore, every joy and every pain. If you want your spouse to share in the sport of sailing, then don't wait until you untie the dock lines for her to come aboard. If she has no hands on ownership of your dream, and no inclusion in the work done on this boat, then you will sadly sail alone. Sailing should be a family activity, not a terrifing ride on a boat she knows nothing about. Inclusion is everything! Ray S/V Speedy
have been directed to me. If not you just have to suffer through it. There were 3 "learning to sail type books" that we bought our first winter. We consumed them. My wife and I actually sat on the living room floor and played out sailing situations. We could not afford lessons and felt if we read, practiced and played we would make it. Stay simple!!! When we first started out we stayed with the basics until we had them down cold. We did have the luxury of being able to spend about 60 days total sailing our boat last summer. We anchored better than 45 of those days and slept aboard. The sailing illness bit us so hard we just decided to sell the farm and go sailing. We leave in 2 weeks. At all costs you must include your wife in all items concerning your boat. Bring the boat home even if you haul her on a city bus. Do this before you even sail the boat after its purchase. If your lady see's you working on, and learning about, the boat BEFORE launching then she will think you are really conserned for the families safety. Clean the boat up spotless, sit in the cockpit and pretend to sail. Ask your wife come out and look at all the things you fixed. Ask her to come out and show you how to clean or fix something on the boat that she does well in the house. Share the learning about sailboat maintanance. Have her sit in the boat with you while you practace your sailing moves in the driveway. This way she will feel included in your sport. She will start to share your ownership and joy in this boat. I'm a blessed man with a wife that shares the same passion, or even a greater passion, for sailing. But in the beginning of our relationship as man and wife, as ranchers and farmers and finally as sailers we have always shared every chore, every joy and every pain. If you want your spouse to share in the sport of sailing, then don't wait until you untie the dock lines for her to come aboard. If she has no hands on ownership of your dream, and no inclusion in the work done on this boat, then you will sadly sail alone. Sailing should be a family activity, not a terrifing ride on a boat she knows nothing about. Inclusion is everything! Ray S/V Speedy
J
John Powell
Former newbie.
If you and your wife are new to sailing, my advice would be to avoid the mistake I made. My first boat was a Hunter 23.5. The first time i tried to sail it was in 18-20 knot winds and my wife was scared silly - me too. I took the basic keelboat certification course and was shocked at how much I did not know. Now, I am not great, and my wife is still nervous, but she knows I have a pretty good idea what I am doint. So, my best advice to you is to take your time on that size boat and build up to sailing in stronger winds. John
If you and your wife are new to sailing, my advice would be to avoid the mistake I made. My first boat was a Hunter 23.5. The first time i tried to sail it was in 18-20 knot winds and my wife was scared silly - me too. I took the basic keelboat certification course and was shocked at how much I did not know. Now, I am not great, and my wife is still nervous, but she knows I have a pretty good idea what I am doint. So, my best advice to you is to take your time on that size boat and build up to sailing in stronger winds. John
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Butch Berchem
swing keel
The best thing to get the most performance out of the 212 is to check the board for side to side slop. If the board is moving from side to side it is best to drop the board on out of the boat. This is easly done by removing the two bracket bolts located on top of the centerboard trunk. Just sand the top of the board and lay up several layers of glass on it till it fits snug in the bracket. The next thing to do is after the board is back in is to place a gasket along the bottom of the board opening. Hardly anything slower then having all the water going by the bottom and going up into the trunk slowing you done. It's easy. Pull the board up into the trunk all the way. Get a piece of mylar and cut it about 1" wider and longer then the entire trunk opening. Using contact cement glue this to the bottom of the hull. After it has dried, take a razor blade and cut it right down the middle allowing the board to drom through the new gasket. less disturbed water in the trunk = speed. Then finally you can add a new jib to the boat that's 37% larger then the one that comes with it and still use the same sheet blocks on deck. You won't believe what a differnce this all will make to your boats performace
The best thing to get the most performance out of the 212 is to check the board for side to side slop. If the board is moving from side to side it is best to drop the board on out of the boat. This is easly done by removing the two bracket bolts located on top of the centerboard trunk. Just sand the top of the board and lay up several layers of glass on it till it fits snug in the bracket. The next thing to do is after the board is back in is to place a gasket along the bottom of the board opening. Hardly anything slower then having all the water going by the bottom and going up into the trunk slowing you done. It's easy. Pull the board up into the trunk all the way. Get a piece of mylar and cut it about 1" wider and longer then the entire trunk opening. Using contact cement glue this to the bottom of the hull. After it has dried, take a razor blade and cut it right down the middle allowing the board to drom through the new gasket. less disturbed water in the trunk = speed. Then finally you can add a new jib to the boat that's 37% larger then the one that comes with it and still use the same sheet blocks on deck. You won't believe what a differnce this all will make to your boats performace
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