Thank you , Greenlake... at this point, we're all turning into a bit of history, so why not? What impressed me about this hull is that it's 60 years old and solid as a rock - no osmosis, no problems around the chainplates, doesn't even flex when I stand on it on the trailer. The rest can be worked on.
Speaking of work, here's question #1, shrouds:
- Mast
- IMG_20180818_102509.jpg (237.23 KiB) Viewed 23869 times
A little hard to see against the trees, and yes, I need to wire the portside shroud to the spreader, but...... jumper stays? Those can go, right? And the lower shrouds - going from spreaders to after-market chainplates about a foot forward of the standard chainplates - is there any reason to keep them? I'm not planning to race (these extra shrouds are definitely not class-legal), but I don't see where they add anything other than a stiff mast waiting to capsize me in a gust. Otherwise, it's just something for the jib-sheet to get tangled in.
Question #2, flotation foam. I read where everyone is taking out the original foam (old, water-logged) and replacing with pool noodles. How do I know if the foam is water-logged? There's foam up forward, behind a wooden(!) bulkhead:
- Fwr'd Foam
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It looks cut to fit, when I press on it with my thumb it feels very fine grained and dry. I'm not really loving the idea of crouching under the cuddy and stuffing foam noodles up there.... This boat has been sitting in a North Carolina barn for the past 20 years, the owner hasn't sailed it (nor does he even know how to sail! Inherited it from Dad). So how can I test if this foam is any good? Gouge some out and try to float it?
On the other hand, I need to figure out the side "tanks." Here's the cockpit, welcome aboard, mind the mess, don't sit on anything:
- Cockpit
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Except for the coaming and that drawer(*), all the wood is rotted and is going to be replaced. While I'm at it, I want to secure the flotation in the side-tanks (behind the vertical blue/grey side bulkheads). I'm pretty sure there is foam in there because I stuck a screwdriver down a larger hole and pushed SOMETHING that made a foam-like shifting-sliding sound. This area is definitely a candidate for pool noodles. How to do it? I'm thinking of cutting two inspection ports (fore and aft) on each side above the line of the seats, digging out all the foam I can then replacing with pool noodles and then putting on inspection screw-hatches (maybe even leave a small area behind the plates for waterproof storage, using a round plastic food tub). Any other ideas on how to do this? The side "tanks" are walled off forward with a tiny bulkhead, maybe 4 inches wide, I dont think it's worth trying to access the area thru there at all. But what about leaving the foam as is? If I can pull out a sample and again, test somehow...?
Lastly, the aft "tank" is a 18 inch by 6 foot area under the aft deck with an access hatch and an utterly not-waterproof plate. It was filled with junky foam bits that I already took out and tossed (those white garbage bags). Newer than the stuff in the forepeak, because it had the large "grains" of modern styrofoam. It was mildewed to all hell, just pure junk. I'm thinking of putting dinghy-style float bags right under the deck (top half of the tank) and opening up the bulkhead at the bottom, from side to side like the 60's-style DS-1's so that I have a bit of storage for fenders, etc. I have some calculatin' to do before I go that route (make sure I have enough foam+bags for positive flotation), but my rough estimate it that I'll be OK. After all, that area has no flotation at ALL in newer DS's, and I have more flotation in the side tanks and forepeak than the newer boats (and it's up high = less chance of turtling). Yes, I'll be stuffing noodles in the mast as well.
Any thoughts, comments, warnings, or facepalms would be appreciated!
*Yes, old No. 37 comes with a drawer - slides underneath the port bench on little rails, has a locking drawer-handle to keep it from falling out, and has holes in the bottom to drain water. Definitely going to include it in my bench rebuild, a handy place to put my boarding axes, pistols, and small cannon shot...