is she worth saving?

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Moderator: GreenLake

is she worth saving?

Postby danielbenavides » Wed Aug 15, 2018 7:39 pm

I thought this would be a cool project, I picked it up for nearly nothing. the goal was never to get her back to factory specs but to get her sailing again so I can learn. with that being said I know its going to be labor intensive and its probably going to cost me a dime or 2. I hope the photos do her justice, not included in the photos is the mast, boom, sails, rudder, and lever with 2 triangle pieces. what do you think?
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danielbenavides
 
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Re: is she worth saving?

Postby GreenLake » Thu Aug 16, 2018 3:05 am

DaySailers, especially the single-hull DS1s are infinitely repairable. It's simply a question of how much effort you are prepared to put into it. If repairing things is itself one of your hobbies, you may decide this is a worthwhile project. If you are just trying to get on the water the cheapest/quickest way possible, then no.

All the required projects that your photos reveal have been successfully tackled by others on this forum, but usually not all on the same boat!

We just had a fresh thread on transom repair, that's something you are looking at. Within the last year, we had someone who re-built the top edge of the cuddy opening - looks like that's seen a botched repair on your boat.

You will want to build a new centerboard and while you are at it, a new rudder. There are older threads and archived articles on those project. I have built a rudder from scratch and it's something like a two-weekend project. That happens to be one repair that could end up with foils that are way better than the stock ones. That's the reason I rebuilt a totally working rudder.

I would make sure that your boat doesn't have any issues with the main part of the hull: if the laminate is soft or warped in some spots, that might be too much effort to bring back - although one forum member lined his hull with foam, turning it into a sandwich that was stiffer than a factory new hull. He wrote a report here, it's a few years old, but while doable, it's quite the project and not for beginners.

Have you worked with fiberglass before? There are good instructions in the general techniques out there, and you'll definitely be an expert when you are done. Rudder/CB will need some woodworking. Mostly cutting/gluing and shaping.

Do you think that you would enjoy the process? If so, the forum is definitely the place to get detailed information on each project.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: is she worth saving?

Postby Lil Maggie » Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:40 pm

Hello,
Having been one of those here who inherited (well, bought for cheap) an old DS1 with many a flaw, and done all the necessary repairs myself, including, transom, cuddy edge and sides, and built a foil centerboard, can say that though it requires some skill and knowledge on working with fiberglass, woodwork, etc., it is doable, it can be done on the cheap since materials are not really that expensive; hired labor (and skilled boat repair labor is not cheap). We all have done it, thanks to the people and info on this forum and are more than willing to lend a hand-so to speak-to at least point you in the right direction.

I gotta, be honest, though, that boat has seen some serious neglect; The worst of the damage is in the cuddy, assuming your cuddy sides are not cracked, what happened to your boat is most likely due to two things: 1) you are missing the thwart seats, which have the structural job of keeping the boat sides from sagging out and partly causing your cuddy top/sides to crack 2) the cuddy edge cracked like that means the rebar support underneath is long gone (rusted out) AND partly due to #1. To a lesser degree, the wood coamings, which you are also missing, also have a structural job of adding longitudinal stiffness to the deck.
Other areas that need attention are the replacement of the wood backing on your transom-this is probably one of the easiest jobs to do, rudder and centerboards can be obtained at places like D&R Marine or you can make your own...

Other areas that are not as obvious but will need attention GUARANTEED, are you flotation....there are old bead foam blocks under the bow (fo'c'stle area) and under the bench seats, which will require cutting/installing inspection ports to remove the old foam and replace it with pool noodles.
Less critical would be the inspection and condition of your standing and running rigging and sails, but the main priority would be restoring the missing structural support to help your boat regain and retain its original shape

Feel free to peruse through my photo gallery where I have documented most of the work done to my boat


That being said, had I been offered your boat, I might have had passed on it (and I attended boatbuilding/design school for two years), back when I got my boat 6 years ago and before I knew this site existed

We're here to help
Cheers
Mike
A crappy day sailing is better than a good one at home...
DS 1 #2313
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