South Coast 26

[tmleadr03]

I have been lurking for months, reading as much as I can and trying to learn something before posting a question. But this one I can find almost no data on or much of anything.

Does anyone know anything, can give a review of perhaps, on the South Coast 26? I am going to be looking at one this weekend.

 

[jssailem]

Welcome @tmleadr03 Glad you have stepped out off the shadows and are treading into the boat ownership world.
What draws you to the South Coast 26?
Details http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?CLASS_ID=1328.
Nice looking boat. Interesting features, lifting keel. Boats center and aft cockpits.
A boat can take you places. Some will do it better than others.
So the question is what draws you to such a boat?

 

[tmleadr03]

There are a few things. One is that it seems to be a lower cost entry into the sailing world. Two I am in a land locked state so a trailer sailor speaks to me. There are a few lakes/reservoirs close so I can drag it to them for long weekends. kThree It seems like compared to water ballast this will sail a bit better. But honestly I am not looking for speed. More a comfortable cruiser. Explore places. Camping on the water. My girlfriend and her family have sailed a trailer sailor quite a bit and I am drawn to that. This may also end up being a stepping stone to more serious sailing on the ocean some year down the road.

 

[jssailem]

All good ideas.
Nothing like th boat you can afford.
An old boat is that. It will have an affordable purchase price. Then come the repairs.
A sail boat is as free as the wind, but you need a strong system to keep the sail in the air. I would see if I could find a friend (or make a new friend) that has a sail boat and can help you examine the boat. You are looking to identify the boat value and if there are needed repairs then how much should the price be reduced to compensate for the repair costs.
Rust is the evidence of waste. Waste of the metal. So be on the look out. Some cases it is surface. Others it is serious and could be a reason not to buy a boat.
Your lifting keel will likely have a cable attached to a pulley and hand winch. It should work smoothly and be rust free. The wire lines that hold th mast up should be rust free and have no broken strands in the cable. The mast should look and feel sound. All the blocks and sheaves should move smoothly. Look for the fit of things. If they don’t fit they have been damaged in some way. Perhaps not much. You have to judge. Take pictures. You can post them here. You will get the opinions of the boat owners based on the quality of the images you take and post.
Good luck. A first boat is exciting. I still remember my first 15 foot pocket yacht and the day I picked her up in the driveway of the previous owner.

 

[tmleadr03]

I am a mechanic by trade so fixing things is not scary to me. I am more then happy to but a little effort into upkeep vs money into purchase price. My effort is learning the sailboat and learning to fix things that may fail... will probably fail, while underway. If it can break it will when you need it. So crawling around and repairing and upgrading sounds enjoyable to me.

 

[JRT]

Honestly, that one seems pretty odd and if there is a lack of responses from SBO that might be a clue it will be difficult to find parts and repair, especially if anything major is wrong with that keel and lifting mechanism. If I was looking for a project trailer sailor I'd consider either some of the more popular 20-22 foot size options, (Catalina, O'Day, Hunter). Post pics and pay very close attention to that keel.

Found a few links

http://southcoastus.tripod.com/
https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/south-coast-26.121136/

 

[tmleadr03]

Honestly, that one seems pretty odd and if there is a lack of responses from SBO that might be a clue it will be difficult to find parts and repair, especially if anything major is wrong with that keel and lifting mechanism. If I was looking for a project trailer sailor I'd consider either some of the more popular 20-22 foot size options, (Catalina, O'Day, Hunter). Post pics and pay very close attention to that keel.

Only 70-80 made. So I would agree it's a small production and a bit of an odd one. The company started making them when the owners son died and he sold it off. Only two for sale in all of the us. Fabrication might be the word of the day if I buy it.

 

[Jackdaw]

So the question is what draws you to such a boat?

I'm assuming it's nearby

Do we seek out things to covet? ... No. We begin by coveting what we see every day.
-Hannibal Lector

 

[jssailem]

@tmleadr03 All the skills and the interests make sense and a boat is as good as place to spend your time. I certainly enjoy the experience. One of the interesting discoveries for me is it is rare to see an unhappy person on the docks with their boat. Something about the water, a boat and the docks seems to bring out the good in folk. First time I walked down the dock to my current boat slip... "Hey how are you. You look new to this dock.. My name is Woody, which boat is yours? "
And it is contagious. The feeling spreads.

Consider, while boats are all pretty similar (think Car not Ford/Chevy), there are some parts that just fit better than others because of the manufacturer (Hunter, Catalina etc). If the parts for your unique boat are no longer made by the manufacturer (these guys come and go through the years) you may need to be resourceful.

• Perhaps find the guy who has bought the mold and is manufacturing the part under a different name.
• Find a similar part
• Make the part yourself
• find a new part that does the same work.

Your mechanical skills will come in handy.

Guard against the idea of starting a project boat and saying... "When it is 100% finished I put it in the water and sail." If like many projects the 100% finished never happens. If you are looking to restore a project to mint condition that is ok, but you will never be sailing.

Me, I bought a project. I sail it and work on it and sail it and work on it. I try to schedule the work time when the weather is not favorable for sailing. But to each his own.

That is what I love about a boat. It is yours. You get to decide.

I just started watching a YouTube video done by a guy who gets a boat in Florida. Spends time fixing it up, Goes out on the water before it is "perfect". Has fun with friends. Meets interesting people. As he has progressed he keeps fixing the boat but it keeps breaking. More than a years has has gone by since he started his adventure and he is still sailing and fixing and meeting folk. https://svzingaro.com/

If you want opinions take pictures and post them of the boat. There is some value in finding a boat with limited challenges.
Check out a boat builder near Golden CO. Sage Marine. http://www.sagemarine.com/ Dave is a fellow Pacific NW sailor. Had a Montgomery 15 before he got together with Sage. Nice guy. Could be a resource for you in Colorado.

 

[shemandr]

I just looked at it on sailboat data.com. I like it. Transom hung rudder, lifting bulb keel, nice forward and aft over hangs (There are harmonious), and a good looking boat. I hope the one you're looking at isn't the center cockpit - 26' is too small to pull that off design wise. By the numbers the SailArea/Displacement ratio of 21.93 suggested pretty good sailing performance. The ballast to displacement ratio of 29% is a little low so you can expect it to be a little on the tender (Tilty) side. Crew placement will matter. The displacement to length (A measure of heft) is 117, which is good. A fat cruising boat may be over 250 even 300 for a tub. You should note it is a masthead rig, which means the jib goes all the way up the mast (Not all do.) These boats tend to have a smallish main. Why that's important is that it won't sail very well with just the main up. If you want to sail with one sail it will likely be the jib. You should look at the sails when you look at the boat and see if you are buying different sizes of jibs and what size they are, and if the boat has been equipped with roller reefing. That feature will make it much easier to go for a casual sail like I expect is what you want.
It is true that replacement parts may be hard to find. You should be careful that the boat is complete when you buy it. An area that causes problems beside the lifting keel is the attachment of the boom to the mast. That should be in good condition and complete.

 

[tmleadr03]

I just looked at it on sailboat data.com. I like it. Transom hung rudder, lifting bulb keel, nice forward and aft over hangs (There are harmonious), and a good looking boat. I hope the one you're looking at isn't the center cockpit - 26' is too small to pull that off design wise. By the numbers the SailArea/Displacement ratio of 21.93 suggested pretty good sailing performance. The ballast to displacement ratio of 29% is a little low so you can expect it to be a little on the tender (Tilty) side. Crew placement will matter. The displacement to length (A measure of heft) is 117, which is good. A fat cruising boat may be over 250 even 300 for a tub. You should note it is a masthead rig, which means the jib goes all the way up the mast (Not all do.) These boats tend to have a smallish main. Why that's important is that it won't sail very well with just the main up. If you want to sail with one sail it will likely be the jib. You should look at the sails when you look at the boat and see if you are buying different sizes of jibs and what size they are, and if the boat has been equipped with roller reefing. That feature will make it much easier to go for a casual sail like I expect is what you want.
It is true that replacement parts may be hard to find. You should be careful that the boat is complete when you buy it. An area that causes problems beside the lifting keel is the attachment of the boom to the mast. That should be in good condition and complete.

Thank you so much for this! Very helpful!

 

[tmleadr03]

I'm assuming it's nearby

Do we seek out things to covet? ... No. We begin by coveting what we see every day.
-Hannibal Lector

That is certainly a consideration. Though I have also looked around the surrounding states.

 

[tmleadr03]

So I bought the boat. My girl friends dad was with us and he is pretty experienced with a sailboat. He and I went over it and while it needs some work (holy crap the electrical gives me twitches! Gonna gut it and start over) it is in good condition. Filthy from having sat for a while. Sails looked in good condition. All the sheets were very good. Some of the turnbuckles had a bit of surface rust but nothing major. The plumbing was meh. The trailer is... in need of a lot of TLC and a rebuild of all the brakes before I tow it anywhere. All in all what I thought it would be; a project for my girlfriend and I. I am going to head out to it (3 hours away) and rebuild the brakes on the trailer this next weekend and drag it to my shop. My girlfriend is heading elk hunting so wont be around to help and because of that I am not allowed to work on the ship... grumble.

Pic dump!

 

[shemandr]

Congrats ... There's a lot of work to be done there but I gather you know that. Are those Flopper Stoppers in the lazarette?

 

[tmleadr03]

Congrats ... There's a lot of work to be done there but I gather you know that. Are those Flopper Stoppers in the lazarette?

Yes they are. I never even knew it was a thing. There is a port-a-john that comes with as well.

 

[kloudie1]

Congrats.. looks like she has good bones.. When ya say a little rust on the turnbuckles, ya may want to look very carefully at the swedge fittings where the wire is stuck into the end fittings.. Clean off the lip where the wire is inserted and inspect with a magnifying glass for cracks in and around that lip.. Chances are they are OK but a little rust in those areas is one of the early signs of a failure..
Two curiosities: what is the metal box on top of the steering pedestal.. looks to be something to do with steering? What is the red wheel in the forward part of the starboard settee? I haven't seen items like those ..
I see what you are saying about wiring.. but it looks worse than it is, I think.. Problems, yes, but fairly easy fixes..
God luck

 

[tmleadr03]

Congrats.. looks like she has good bones.. When ya say a little rust on the turnbuckles, ya may want to look very carefully at the swedge fittings where the wire is stuck into the end fittings.. Clean off the lip where the wire is inserted and inspect with a magnifying glass for cracks in and around that lip.. Chances are they are OK but a little rust in those areas is one of the early signs of a failure..
Two curiosities: what is the metal box on top of the steering pedestal.. looks to be something to do with steering? What is the red wheel in the forward part of the starboard settee? I haven't seen items like those ..
I see what you are saying about wiring.. but it looks worse than it is, I think.. Problems, yes, but fairly easy fixes..
God luck

I didn't open it up but I was just assuming it was the gearing and such for the steering wheel.

The red wheel is a fan just tucked off to the side.

Anything rusty is going to get taken apart and cleaned and examined. Possibly replaced if its in poor condition and the time spent cleaning it is more then the money to just order a new one. Turnbuckles are cheap.

 

[jssailem]

Looks like you guys will be having a lot of fun this winter. Congrats.
Looks like you may have a couple of Barient winches on the boat. If so send me a picture of the top (showing the Number) and I'll see if I have the matching exploded parts diagram.

 

[tmleadr03]

Looks like you guys will be having a lot of fun this winter. Congrats.
Looks like you may have a couple of Barient winches on the boat. If so send me a picture of the top (showing the Number) and I'll see if I have the matching exploded parts diagram.

I plan to document what we do with a build thread. Might be interesting.

 

[shemandr]

I'm surprised to see a steering wheel there. I assumed with the transom hung rudder, it would be a tiller. This may have been converted. I checked back on sailboatdata.com and it does show it as a tiller. I would seriously consider converting it back. A wheel on that size boat is a lot in the way in the cockpit. At least you'll want to take the wheel off at anchor if in fact you are going to do that.