Venture 22 Rescue Project

[wynkoop]

I already own a perfectly good Ericson 27 that I am refitting for her 50th birthday which is quickly approaching, but when last December I saw a Venture 22 on Craigslist about 70 miles away for free I could not resist.

I have been doing minor puttering with it at the previous owner's backyard dock for the last couple of months. I have to move it by April 4, so my work was geared at making her seaworthy for about a 2 mile trip to get her hauled and painted. Not out of the water for 10 years, and sadly no trailer.

The hull is sound, she has a working 7.5 HP Honda which someone replaced the pump parts in recently, good sails, good standing rigging (now that I did some work) and a totally trashed interior. Every piece of wood except the mast post is rotten, some like the dinette table and seats are just totally missing. She seems to be collecting lots of rain water. I have re-beded some deck hardware, so I expect the rain ingress will decrease, but I have to sit in the boat during a rain before I can put an end to the leaks.

I suppose I did this because while in university I wanted a Mac 26. I think that there is something to be said for a boat with a less than 1 foot draft board up in certain coastal and inland sailing areas.

A bit about my background, I have been sailing since 1977. Started in interclubs, rainbows and 420s then moved up to ocean racers. Stopped racing when I graduated, but kept sailing, so I am not new to boats and the ocean.

Now a few questions:

It seems there are no limber holes in any of the the bulkheads. This means that I have to pump water out of the area under the vberth, pump water out of the main cabin next to the trunk, out of the head area, and out of each area under the seating (which is of course missing) and out of the starboard storage area and......well you see my point.

Is the lack of limber holes by design or did a previous owner plug them up? There is evidence of multiple coats of paint on the interior and the exterior looks to have had a poor paint job at some point. I sure would like to put a pump someplace and just pump instead of hitting each compartment.

There seems to be no foam under the V berth. There is lots of foam in the stern. I understand the foam may have been a gimmick but when I am done restoring "Bottoms Up" I may want to sell her and I think "better than original" would be a selling point. How do guys that have foam in the bow pump the bow compartment, or should there be a limber hole? I think you see a pattern here.

The pop top is missing it's supports and hardware. Previous owner removed them and drilled big holes in the pop top and to bolt it to the main cabin roof. What do I need to make the thing pop again? I have not found any good source of close up photos for the supports or how they were attached. There is nothing left of the old hardware.

How does one anchor down the fuel tank? I presume the fuel tank is supposed to go in the hatch at the center of the stern next to the outboard cutout. I see a hole for the fuel line, but there seems to be nothing to keep the tank from moving other than the foam blocks that are also in the area, and which I rearranged to have room for the tank.

I would also appreciate any tips on solo dropping and raising the mast as I will have to do that to replace the halyards and topping lift sometime in the next 2 weeks.

The boat is at the moment near Barneget Inlet and has to transit to NYC.

Thanks so much for reading this long missive.

-Brett

 

[chip veres]

My Mac 22 has the compartment under the V berth stuffed with foam, and no limber hole. I also think its wrong but not sure what to do about it. The pop-top supports are one inch aluminum tubing similar to a Bimini top support. Be aware that the pop-top is really heavy and almost impossible to raise without adding gas springs. With the supports missing that could turn into quite a project. Our boat doesn't have a lazarette, so the gas tank stays outside. Have you seen the Macgregor Sailors Forum?

Chip Veres
s/v Sand Dollar

 

[chip veres]

About lowering the mast: please get someone to help. A long line tied onto a halyard or the forestay and handled by someone standing off the bow makes it pretty easy to gently lower the mast. By yourself is nearly impossible.

CV

 

[wynkoop]

CV -
Thanks for the info. She is along side the dock behind a guys house on a canal, so not sure someone can stand forward of the boat. She has no halyards, so I guess I will have to have a helper hold a line tied to the end of the forestay after the forestay is detached. This will be a quick down, install halyards and topping lift and then back up. I will probably drop it again after I get her hauled and painted so I can add some bits to the mast, like a VHF antenna and maybe an anchor light and steaming light. I know at her size she does not need to be lite that way, but having been watch officer on the bridge of freighters I know how hard it can be to tell what a small vessel is and what it is doing, so for me I will have the full compliment of lights for motor and sail as if she were a bigger boat.

-Brett

 

[wynkoop]

I have not seen the Macgregor Sailors Forum Chip.

-Brett

 

[wynkoop]

Where & how do folks store ground tackle on these little boats? Previous owner has the anchor and line sitting next to the CB trunk on the hull. Is there supposed to be slatted wooden decking there or are you expected to stand in the curved bilge?

I could mount the anchor on the pullpit, but there is no chain locker. I am open to being educated! My other boat has a chain locker!

-Brett

 

[rgranger]

I've done this once before. I removed all of the interior wood, ports, deck hardware etc. and started with just a fiberglass shell. I have a tonne of pics if you want to look at them. Let me know and I'll PM you a link to a folder. For the foam, I used the pink foam boards from Home Depot. Mice had made a nest in my foam... it was really nasty... and there was a bell hornet nest in my galley cabinet... I learned that adreniline can make you an olimpic runner when properly motivated and hornets will follow you.

My recommendation would be to strip her down, go inside with a pressure washer and a shop vac and blast away. I did this with my youngest daughter. I remember when she hit the interior wall with the pressure washer and mumbled "Oh, the wall is white". LOL. Then roll on a fresh coat of high quality enamel paint. I am a big fan of the oil based Rustoleum (in the can). It is very tough and holds up ... and you can always find an exact color match years later for those touch up jobs. To be honest, I'm a bit lazy on the touch ups and use the spray can Rustoleum for the touch up jobs.

Use the old wood for a template and redo with all fresh wood. Then stain and varnish the wood. Cut the limber holes as you go.

Here are some before and after pics of my restoration. The before pic shows the PO...

 

[rgranger]

Where & how do folks store ground tackle on these little boats? Previous owner has the anchor and line sitting next to the CB trunk on the hull. Is there supposed to be slatted wooden decking there or are you expected to stand in the curved bilge?

I could mount the anchor on the pullpit, but there is no chain locker. I am open to being educated! My other boat has a chain locker!

-Brett

 

[rgranger]

On the anchor issue..... I stored 10' of chain in the tube with the anchor attached and 150' of nylon rode on a wheel hung on the back of the cabin's bulkhead. See the second to last pic. in my first post and you can see the anchor rode.

 

[rgranger]

Here is the other side of that same bulkhead.

 

[rgranger]

When I reinstalled the ports, I used plumbers putty for the gaskets. It seemed like what was originally in there so I just went with the same. When you screw the window bracket tight, it squeezes out the excess putty and you just pull it away and it leaves no mess on the hull. I had the boat for three seasons and the ports never leaked.

 

[wynkoop]

rgranger-

Thanks so much for your replies and all the photos. That is a help. Sadly I may not be able to bring a pressure washer to bear as I will be doing most of the work on the hook after I get the bottom painted. I will try to pressure wash the inside when she gets hauled, but not sure the yard will let me borrow their washer. Does Lowes or Home Depot rent them I wonder.

My plan for the replacement wood is to hit every piece with totalboat low viscosity penetrating epoxy after it is cut to size and sanded. I have not decided if I will varnish the wood or paint it with restoleum tractor paint. If I can get the nasty wrinkled paint on the hull and decks smoothed out I plan tractor paint for the hull and decks. I expect it will be much cheaper than marine epoxy and I suspect it will hold up well enough for the cost.

-Brett

 

[wynkoop]

How are the benches held in place in the dinning area? Clues on the table also welcome. I was shocked to find nails holding some of the horizontal wood for the port side seats! Nailed to the fore and aft piece that runs along the edge of the walk area!

 

[wynkoop]

Her exterior the day he signed her over to me. Have interior shots someplace, but will have to find them.

 

[rgranger]

Benches held in with SS machine screws. I put a drop of gorilla glue in the original screw holes before I put the SS screw in.

 

[wynkoop]

So once the benches are in place there is no access below them. Wow. I think I will have to think of something else.

Thanks!

 

[rgranger]

So once the benches are in place there is no access below them. Wow. I think I will have to think of something else.

Thanks!

Nah! They are open in the front. I slid a rubbermaid tub under there.

Also the last pic of post #7 shows some trunk organizers (for cars) that I hung on the walls. I had a total of four of those in the boat. VERY handy. I stowed all sorts of things in there. I eventually took the galley out. It took up too much space and usually the sink ended up being a catch-all for random junk. I washed dishes in a bucket in the cockpit instead.

 

[rgranger]

These little boats really do sail well if you have decent sails and can be made very comfortable for overnight camping. I took mine all over the place. (see attached PDF docs for two of our adventures)

 

[RustyVenture]

The hull is sound, she has a working 7.5 HP Honda which someone replaced the pump parts in recently, good sails, good standing rigging (now that I did some work) and a totally trashed interior. Every piece of wood except the mast post is rotten, some like the dinette table and seats are just totally missing. She seems to be collecting lots of rain water. I have re-beded some deck hardware, so I expect the rain ingress will decrease, but I have to sit in the boat during a rain before I can put an end to the leaks.




It seems there are no limber holes in any of the the bulkheads. This means that I have to pump water out of the area under the vberth, pump water out of the main cabin next to the trunk, out of the head area, and out of each area under the seating (which is of course missing) and out of the starboard storage area and......well you see my point.

Is the lack of limber holes by design or did a previous owner plug them up? There is evidence of multiple coats of paint on the interior and the exterior looks to have had a poor paint job at some point. I sure would like to put a pump someplace and just pump instead of hitting each compartment.

There seems to be no foam under the V berth. There is lots of foam in the stern. I understand the foam may have been a gimmick but when I am done restoring "Bottoms Up" I may want to sell her and I think "better than original" would be a selling point. How do guys that have foam in the bow pump the bow compartment, or should there be a limber hole? I think you see a pattern here.

The pop top is missing it's supports and hardware. Previous owner removed them and drilled big holes in the pop top and to bolt it to the main cabin roof. What do I need to make the thing pop again? I have not found any good source of close up photos for the supports or how they were attached. There is nothing left of the old hardware.

How does one anchor down the fuel tank? I presume the fuel tank is supposed to go in the hatch at the center of the stern next to the outboard cutout. I see a hole for the fuel line, but there seems to be nothing to keep the tank from moving other than the foam blocks that are also in the area, and which I rearranged to have room for the tank.

I would also appreciate any tips on solo dropping and raising the mast as I will have to do that to replace the halyards and topping lift sometime in the next 2 weeks.

The boat is at the moment near Barneget Inlet and has to transit to NYC.

Thanks so much for reading this long missive.

-Brett

Hi Brett,

Congrats on your new project! I've got a '72 V222 myself, purchased in "ugly but functional" condition, and I've been gradually fixing it up over the last couple years. A couple of insights:

1. Rain ingress: a problem I'm dedicating this spring to chasing down, my primary suspects are the window frames and the inspection port on the foredeck. I'm going to try removing and re-bedding the hardware, hopefully that will do it.

2. I do have limber holes, but "consistency in manufacturing" must have been a foreign concept at MacGregor Yachts (I was doing some sanding over the weekend, and found a number of voids) . Possible yours were covered up by a PO, or maybe you never had them. Attached a photo indicating approximate locations of mine, note that nothing goes through the keel trunk so if you WERE to install a bilge pump, it would probably have to have port+starboard intakes?

3. I do have some foam chunks under the V-berth, which I would eventually like to replace. Right now it's doing double duty as anchor storage. There is a limber hole leading out of it.

4. I don't have anything at all that holds my fuel tank in place, wouldn't be the worst idea to maybe glass in a couple strips to keep it from moving around too much, but that hasn't been a problem in the 3 years since I've owned it, even if I forget to move it before trailering.

5. I'm also including a couple photos of my pop top, it's possible that the big bolt holes are not from the PO, but the factory means of locking the pop top down. They're terrible. I plan to fill mine in, and hopefully replace with a latch mechanism. Enough problems with rain ingress as it is, not sure who said "Hey, let's drill a bunch of gigantic extra holes in the deck!" There should be a couple of brackets on your deck for the support struts that hold the pop top in the "up" position. If you plan on using it, the gas strut mod is a must.

Good luck, looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

[wynkoop]

RsutyVenture-

Thanks so much for the photos and info! I will have to look and see if I have the holes from the poptop frame attachment next time I make the 70 mile trip to work on "Bottoms Up". I suspect the PO may have the frame pieces in his boat house and just not know it. He bought the house and the boat came with it as well as some wind surfers and other assorted things in the boat house.

When he gets back home I will ask him if I can rummage through the boat house looking for the frame pieces.

I was wondering why there were fittings for posts at a 45 degree angle on the cabin top. How is that supposed to work with the top?

Yes if I get the poptop popping I will do the gas strut mod.

I figured any bilge pump install would have to be port and starboard, but that is better than pumping each area. Let's face it since they are all in general open at the top it is not like they are really doing water tight bulkhead duty, and if they were they would have pump suctions in them and there would be a big manifold for selecting the desired suction in the pump room.......Is my professional background showing here?

-Brett