I haven't been here for many years but I still have my Hunter 22 and I thought I'd share her history:
In 2005 while driving a rural country road I saw a sailboat parked in the middle of a farm field. For a couple years I was thinking of getting a sailboat but I was not aggressively pursuing it, just a thought. Decades back I was a competitive wind surfer and often sailed a Hobie, but never a mono-hull sailboat. Curious about that boat I turned around and knocked on the farmhouse door inquiring about the boat. The man who greeted me enthusiastically said he needed to get rid of it. Long story but his brother brought it there to store a few months but several years had past... We walked out to look at it and it looked very rough. Dirt & mildew ridden (Florida). Trailer tires cracked & almost flat. A ladder leaned against the boat so I climbed up to check it out. It was not a pretty sight! Water almost totally flooded the cabin and was a putrid swamp green, There was no companionway door so exposed to weather for several years. The mast & rigging looked without issues save covered with mildew. I was told that sails were also included and I shuttered to think what they were like if inside the boat but thankfully he told me they were in his home (they were very worn and sagged as though made from thin cotton).
Perhaps in a moment of temporary insanity, I bought the boat and tandem axle trailer for a few hundred dollars. Aired up the tires and slowly towed it home. People passing me yelled out to me that some of the wheels were wobbling! Undaunted, I nursed it home. When my wife saw it she almost fainted! She could not see any merit to it at all but I told her I would restore it and it would be better than new!
A year later and hundreds of hours of research & work, I turned that rotten boat into a wonderful sailboat. After pumping out the water it took me over a week to clean it up to see what was left of the interior. Beyond repair the terribly delaminated bulkhead panels, electrical panel corroded, no cushions anywhere and nothing for them to lay on. All the bench seats and bed panels were missing. Topside all the teak was badly weathered & rotted with no chance for being refinished. All the trim around the companionway. hatch door was shot. The tiller looked like a short piece of driftwood but the cockpit table was salvageable. Cleaning the stench from every crevice of the boat proved to a be terribly daunting task and took an inordinate amount of time. I did however familiarize myself with every cavity in this boat.
I decided to delete the electrical fuse box and all wiring, added several new circuits and relocated it. I installed LED lights in the cockpit area along with new lights under the cabin benches. Also power points in cabin & cockpit. Rewired every existing circuit and soldered all connections. Added battery switch and anchor light. A new outboard motor mount & Nissan 9.9 4 stroke. Made my own tiller and almost all topside teak, new bow hatch & companion way hatch door and port lights. The existing teak table and backrests were salvageable & all removed and refinished. Replaced the jib cam cleats, all lines, lifeline cables and forestay & backstay rigging. Eventually new main & 120 hank jib and a storm sail. Had to find photos of many things such as the foam cushions to see what they looked like. My wife and I sewed all the interior cushions (4" mildew resistant extra firm marine foam) upholstery, curtains, etc etc. Also we made all the topside canvas. The floor boards are also new and I used abrasive strips for slip resistance and as an accent.
Replaced everything on the trailer, new skids, new s/s disc brakes, hubs bearings and brake controller lights & wiring. Installed new lighted compass & depth sounder/GPS. painted all topside. New port-a-potty (never used) Marine radio. There were also dozens of other replacements & repairs such as the decal striping & lettering. Hardware, oh the hardware $$$$! Anchors, anchor line, re-caulking, fiberglass repair etc etc. Replaced all thru-hull fittings. Installed DC water pump and bilge pump. The hull over all was in good shape all but badly faded, I restored some of the finish buffing with polishing compound. Looks great though with a well deserved patina. I did several embellishments such as adding panels to the front of the sink which are hinged and add counter space my wife really appreciated. Half our sail trips were at least three night ventures and we did a lot of cooking in the galley & cockpit with a small gas grill. When completed, Second Wind was a beauty! I towed it 1850 miles from Florida to northern Minnesota to our summer cabin on a lake which is 36 miles long with 1200 miles of shoreline and hundreds of islands. It stays there and added a new dimension to our lake cabin experience (almost 40 years). We would pack up and go for two to four day cruises. Find a nice bay to anchor, open a bottle of wine and watch the sunset. So many memories and worth every minute of effort!
In the process of restoring this sailboat I grew intimately familiar with virtually every nook & cranny on the boat and crawled into places only an insect could visit. That said If I can help anyone with the same boat feel free to ask as there's virtually nothing I don't now about her.
Here's a few photos of the Second Wind. I wish I had the before photos but lost them to a failed hard drive and learned a lesson about backups.
In 2005 while driving a rural country road I saw a sailboat parked in the middle of a farm field. For a couple years I was thinking of getting a sailboat but I was not aggressively pursuing it, just a thought. Decades back I was a competitive wind surfer and often sailed a Hobie, but never a mono-hull sailboat. Curious about that boat I turned around and knocked on the farmhouse door inquiring about the boat. The man who greeted me enthusiastically said he needed to get rid of it. Long story but his brother brought it there to store a few months but several years had past... We walked out to look at it and it looked very rough. Dirt & mildew ridden (Florida). Trailer tires cracked & almost flat. A ladder leaned against the boat so I climbed up to check it out. It was not a pretty sight! Water almost totally flooded the cabin and was a putrid swamp green, There was no companionway door so exposed to weather for several years. The mast & rigging looked without issues save covered with mildew. I was told that sails were also included and I shuttered to think what they were like if inside the boat but thankfully he told me they were in his home (they were very worn and sagged as though made from thin cotton).
Perhaps in a moment of temporary insanity, I bought the boat and tandem axle trailer for a few hundred dollars. Aired up the tires and slowly towed it home. People passing me yelled out to me that some of the wheels were wobbling! Undaunted, I nursed it home. When my wife saw it she almost fainted! She could not see any merit to it at all but I told her I would restore it and it would be better than new!
A year later and hundreds of hours of research & work, I turned that rotten boat into a wonderful sailboat. After pumping out the water it took me over a week to clean it up to see what was left of the interior. Beyond repair the terribly delaminated bulkhead panels, electrical panel corroded, no cushions anywhere and nothing for them to lay on. All the bench seats and bed panels were missing. Topside all the teak was badly weathered & rotted with no chance for being refinished. All the trim around the companionway. hatch door was shot. The tiller looked like a short piece of driftwood but the cockpit table was salvageable. Cleaning the stench from every crevice of the boat proved to a be terribly daunting task and took an inordinate amount of time. I did however familiarize myself with every cavity in this boat.
I decided to delete the electrical fuse box and all wiring, added several new circuits and relocated it. I installed LED lights in the cockpit area along with new lights under the cabin benches. Also power points in cabin & cockpit. Rewired every existing circuit and soldered all connections. Added battery switch and anchor light. A new outboard motor mount & Nissan 9.9 4 stroke. Made my own tiller and almost all topside teak, new bow hatch & companion way hatch door and port lights. The existing teak table and backrests were salvageable & all removed and refinished. Replaced the jib cam cleats, all lines, lifeline cables and forestay & backstay rigging. Eventually new main & 120 hank jib and a storm sail. Had to find photos of many things such as the foam cushions to see what they looked like. My wife and I sewed all the interior cushions (4" mildew resistant extra firm marine foam) upholstery, curtains, etc etc. Also we made all the topside canvas. The floor boards are also new and I used abrasive strips for slip resistance and as an accent.
Replaced everything on the trailer, new skids, new s/s disc brakes, hubs bearings and brake controller lights & wiring. Installed new lighted compass & depth sounder/GPS. painted all topside. New port-a-potty (never used) Marine radio. There were also dozens of other replacements & repairs such as the decal striping & lettering. Hardware, oh the hardware $$$$! Anchors, anchor line, re-caulking, fiberglass repair etc etc. Replaced all thru-hull fittings. Installed DC water pump and bilge pump. The hull over all was in good shape all but badly faded, I restored some of the finish buffing with polishing compound. Looks great though with a well deserved patina. I did several embellishments such as adding panels to the front of the sink which are hinged and add counter space my wife really appreciated. Half our sail trips were at least three night ventures and we did a lot of cooking in the galley & cockpit with a small gas grill. When completed, Second Wind was a beauty! I towed it 1850 miles from Florida to northern Minnesota to our summer cabin on a lake which is 36 miles long with 1200 miles of shoreline and hundreds of islands. It stays there and added a new dimension to our lake cabin experience (almost 40 years). We would pack up and go for two to four day cruises. Find a nice bay to anchor, open a bottle of wine and watch the sunset. So many memories and worth every minute of effort!
In the process of restoring this sailboat I grew intimately familiar with virtually every nook & cranny on the boat and crawled into places only an insect could visit. That said If I can help anyone with the same boat feel free to ask as there's virtually nothing I don't now about her.
Here's a few photos of the Second Wind. I wish I had the before photos but lost them to a failed hard drive and learned a lesson about backups.
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