Fell in to a fairly well kept DS, great forums thanks!

[rhino]

I'm pretty sure she's a '78, stock in all respects, possibly including the running rigging. Pretty well kept overall, likely inside mostly. I've been around a lot of boats- many motor... sailed a Sunfish as a kid and owned a San Juan 23 for a few years, so have done a bit of sailing. I'm in North Central Michigan surrounded by small lakes, and plan to drop it in the closest one soon. There's 6" of damage on the starboard bow, a few feet back from the very front, but i think some good gorilla tape will get us through the season.

My plan was to replace all running rigging and then get it out, but i may just toss it in as is, assuming the sails raise easily at the house and I rig a basic vang. Halyards are some braid that has a waxy feel. All the wood on the tiller and doors need TLC or replacement. Of course I have grand dreams of a winter of repainting, re-rigging, moving halyards back for single-handing...but also read the wisdom here of...one step at a time.

Many thanks for all of the collective wisdom on these pages, so very helpful!!

[GreenLake]

Welcome to the forum.

"Some braid that has a waxy feel" could be AmSteel (Dyneema). Give away would be a fairly loose braid that you can push open and very smooth feel (no coarse fibers). However, hardware store nylon braid would also feel a bit waxy (but not as slippery as AmSteel). It would also be loose, but fibers tend to be noticeably coarse. A tight braid would be Polyester and any waxy feel would be from a coating.

Nothing wrong, I always say, with first sailing with what you've got. You'll get a much better idea of what you like and don't like. Just be sure to inspect running rigging for weak spots and standing rigging for hints of rust. Even with that, you're liable to break something on your maiden voyage. Happened to all of us.

I single-hand a lot and never felt the need to take the halyard cleats off the mast. I did rig a halyard tensioner for the jib. That one leads to the edge of the cuddy. So try it out and see how things work out.

The bow section is pretty strong on the DS. So sealing up a gash with tape, especially if high off the waterline is not a bad approach. Use the clear gorilla tape, perhaps, that way you don't get the messy residue.

I had this damage on my bow, below the state registration numbers and finished sailing a race before even realizing the hull had sustained damage.