How to Buy a Sail Boat

How to Buy a Sail Boat

Buying any boat is a big investment. For most, you plan on having it for a number of years, using it as often as possible and you want it to be friendly to you and your pocketbook. The saying that a boat is a hole in the water you throw money into does not have to be a true statement, but it can be.

The first two questions you need to answer are size and type of sailboat. The size of boat sets a lot of limits on many things. Where it is kept, where it can sail (depth and height constraints), what equipment is needed on board, will it be trailered or stay in the water, will it need bottom paint, will it need a dinghy or tender. These are a few questions that need to be considered before you buy.

There are different types of sailboats. You can get a sloop, a schooner, a cutter, a ketch, a yawl, a cat boat and they all have different sailing rigs and sailing characteristics. These determine where the boat can sail and how easy it can be sailed and if a crew is needed. 

My own opinion, that is the result of many years of owning boats, is smaller is better than bigger. Here are my reasons for this. First and foremost is that a smaller boat is just as much fun to sail as a larger boat. A smaller boat is easy to get ready to sail, needs less equipment on board, requires less maintenance, and can go where other bigger boats cannot. You are not constrained by depth or height. If it is quick and easy you will sail it more often.

I saw an article about what a yacht costs to maintain. The article said that it can cost up to $1000 a foot in maintenance for a large boat with all the neat stuff you want or need on a big boat. You have to haul larger boats out to do a lot of work on them…many marinas will not let you do much of anything on your boat in the marina. It is now hard to find a boat yard that will let you work on your own boat when it is hauled out. For legal reasons they cannot let you do your own work in their yard.

I like to do a lot of my own work on my boat and with a boat that can easily trailered, I can take it to where I can work on it myself. I can also take it different places to sail. 

Where you are going to be sailing may help you pick the best type of boat you get. Wind conditions, depth of water, bridges and power lines over the water, and locks all are things to consider.  Docking and marina facilities, fuel stations and pump out locations may also be of importance and need to be considered.

Because of the tight economic times there are many good deals on used boats. If you go the used boat route find out as much about the boat as possible, do a test sail with them if possible, and check the boat from stem to stern looking at everything. Wiggle cleats, use a spoon to tap panels, look in storage lockers and any place you can look.  You can discover most problems on your own without paying someone to do a boat survey.  If you like what you see, note the problems you find and give the list to the person that you have do a boat survey. He may look at the list and say with these problems it may not be a good buy.  It gives the surveyor a few things to specifically look at when he does the survey and it tells him you already have looked closely at the boat and he will give the boat a closer look then he might have. It is smart to get a boat survey done before you buy a boat of any size. 

As noted above there are many types of sailboat rigs. Probably the most popular is the sloop rig. The sloop with a Marconi sail is an efficient, easy to sail boat and they come in all sizes. They can have dagger boards, center-boards, drop keels, and fixed keels and can be shallow or deep draft. Most people picture a sloop when they think of a personal sailboat.

A small sloop can be handled by one person; can have different size jibs for different wind conditions and the different hull designs can let them be shallow or deep draft. A small 20’ to 25’ boat can be easily trailered, is large enough to sleep 4, is big enough to do coastal sailing and they can be fitted out with good navigation instruments and comfort features. They are too small to live on board for any length of time with any comfort.

You can do some serious sailing in this size boat when they are fitted out right, but for the most part these are day sailor and small trip boats. The biggest advantage to this size boat is that it takes little to get it ready to go out and they are fun to sail. If it is quick and easy you will use it more.

I have a 21’ sloop that takes me about 15 minutes to have it ready to leave the dock. One person can sail it and it is large enough for 6 people to sail in it safely. It is great in a very light breeze, but it can handle a 25 to 30 knot wind. The boat has a drop keel and the keel can be raised so it can go over water that is only 24” deep. Two people can lower the mast to get under a bridge if needed. The boat is small enough to be able sail on the river we live on. The boat tacks well so the river is no major problem to sail on. A larger boat would have a problem with that.  The boat can have a 3 or 5 horse out board on it for getting it on and off the dock, but we use a small electric trolling motor. The trolling motor is less weight and there is no need for gas on the boat. For long trips the out board can be put on.  

Because the 21’ boat is easy to get ready and go we use the boat often. Our 37’ boat takes a lot more work to get her ready to go out and we have to motor to open water to be able to sail her. She is not convenient to take out so she stays docked a lot. You will not sail the boat if it is not convenient to do so.

Motor sailors are sailboats that are popular. They often motor better than they sail…they are power boats with sails.  My feeling is you buy a sailboat to sail and a motor boat to motor. A motor on a sailboat is for motoring only when you cannot sail…IE docking, going through locks and such. 8-)

After you have picked the size of boat you want, you have a choice of the type you want. Look at the common type sailboat that is used in the area you will be sailing in. There may be a reason for that type of boat in that area. Ask sailors in the area what they suggest and why. You may quickly find why some types of boats are not popular there.

A sloop, a schooner, a cutter, a ketch, a yawl, and a cat are all types of sailing rigs you can pick from. A single mast vessel like a sloop and a cat can be sailed by one person, but a two or more masted vessel like a schooner, cutter, ketch or yawl will, as a rule of thumb, need a crew.  

A cat boat and a sloop are the two most common one mast sailboats. The cat boat has the mast in the bow of the boat and has one large main sail. A sloop has the mast about 1/3 the way back and has two sails, a headsail before the mast and a main sail behind the mast.

The most common sailboats with more than one mast are schooners, cutters, ketches and yawls. These boats can have multiple sail configurations and they require more than one person to sail. They each have their own sailing characteristics and many were originally designed for a specific use.

   

Pick the size and type of sailboat that fits your need. If it is not easy and convenient to use, you will not use it. If you buy too much boat it will sit and not be used, and that is hard on the boat and it is expensive to maintain.

The links here will give you a little more info on the different type of boats.

A Sloop Sailboat Rig

A Sloop Sailboat Rig 

The sloop sailboat is one of the most common sailing rigs today because it is easy to sail and very efficient. It is a sail boat with one mast and a fore-and-aft rig comprising a mainsail and a single foresail.  The name sloop is from the Dutch sloep.

The typical Bermuda rigged sloop is what most people think of and picture as a sailboat, most  have a fractional rig. The mainsail may be smaller than the headsail, which is then called a genoa jib.
A modern sloop carries a mainsail on a boom aft of the mast and has a single loose-footed headsail (a jib or a genoa jib) forward of the mast.

A sloop sailing rig is simple and efficient sailing setup. After the cat rig, which has only a mainsail, the sloop rig is one of the simpler sailing rig configurations. A small sloop can be sailed by one person easily. The different headsails that are available lets you easily pick a sail set for different wind conditions making it a very versatile boat to sail.

Sloops tend to perform very well when sailing close hauled to windward and they are usual good on all points of sail. The ability to sail well close hauled makes the boat popular with many sailors.

Brightwork is the Woodwork on Your Boat

Brightwork is the Woodwork on Your Boat.

Why the varnished wood on your boat is called Brightwork I have no idea, but the saying go’s “ Bright it should … and Work it is. I wanted my Dad to get a wood decked runabout, but my Dad’s comment to that was “ An owner of a boat like that has to have too much money or too much time or both if he wants the boat to stay looking nice.”

My little sailboat has only a small amount of bright work that can all be done in one day. My wife’s boat has about 10 days’ worth of bright work. Both boats are easy to maintain in that respect. I built a small wooden schooner. It takes at least 3 weeks if I am lucky to do the deck and all the rest. But I do it slow.

For the sake of the environment, major bright work should be done off the water. Dust from sanding and the use of solvents and varnishes are not good for the water or the life in it.

You can use a product like Sikkens Cetol that does not require major prep work to get a nice finish. If you do a full preparation like what is described below, you do get a much better finish. Cetol can give you a durable, nice looking finish with a minimal amount of preparation. Cetol has a tint in it that blends the wood shades and gives nice over all color. Two or three coats give good protection and a nice looking finish in a short time.  I have heard it called a paint and go sailing finish. You do a light sanding and varnish and you are ready to sail.

A boat show finish requires a lot more work. The preparation is the most important  partof doing bright work. First you start with removing all the oil/varnish that was originally on the wood. This is done by wood stripper and sanding and a lot of elbow grease. Sanding with 100-grit sandpaper will remove most it. A sanding block should be used to keep the sandpaper level and should always be sanded with the grain. A sponge sanding block can be used for curved surfaces. Once sanded with 100-grit, re sand with 150 -180 grit to smooth all surfaces. Multiple coats of varnish are then put on with a light sanding with 220-grit between coats.

The surface needs to be cleaned of dust from sanding before putting the finish on. A 75/25 mixture of liquid dish soap/chlorine bleach is an effective cleaning solution to wash the wood and boat off with.  Wet the surface, add the solution and then scrub the wood with the grain. Rinse thoroughly and let dry.

A wood stripper may be needed in areas where the old finish was not removed by sanding. Clean areas that wood stripper as used on with mineral spirits to get rid of all the wood stripper residue.

Use the blue safe-release masking tape to tape off the fiberglass so the finish you pick will not get on areas you do not want it on.

Follow the recommendations for application of the finish you pick. Put on multiple coats of finish with light sanding between coats. A high quality brush, not a cheap one, makes getting a good finish much easier. A good quality brush makes a world of difference and is worth the cost. (A badger brush can cost $30.00 or more.)

Some experts say you need to have 6 to 10 coats of varnish. The result is a head turning finish that is so nice you may not want to put it in the water and get it wet.

I would consider this power boat...What Lotto Numbers should I try this week!

Some day when I have too much money along with way too much time, I still want to get one of those wood runabouts to run around in.  8-)

Stuffing Box Maintenance

Stuffing Box Maintenance On Your Boat.

Power boats and sail boats that have an inboard engine and a prop-shaft that goes through the hull, has a stuffing box that is supposed to prevent leaks where the shaft goes through the hull. The stuffing box on the boat needs to be maintained and adjusted regularly. It should be part of your regular boat safety check.

Most stuffing boxes have flax packing in them. Over time the flax hardens and requires adjustment and eventually the flax needs to be replaced. A properly adjusted stuffing box should drip several times a minute while you are underway and this lubricates and cool the packing. It should not drip at all when at rest. It is necessary to tighten the stuffing box as the packing wears.

Engine misalignment, worn cutless bearings, or out-of-balance props will cause the stuffing box to leak faster. The small drip from the stuffing box will not or should not overwhelm a bilge pump. 

The job of re-packing a stuffing box is straight forward and can be done while the boat is in the water. It is easier when the boat is pulled out of the water though.

A new alternative to flax packing is Teflon and Gore-Tex packing. These drip less or not at all.

If the boat has not been used for a long time, you need to keep a check on the box and note how much it is dripping. Adjust and re pack as needed. A leaking stuffing box can sink a boat.

Clutter Cleanup

Cleaning up the clutter!

With the holidays my wife was been doing a lot of little projects for the clubs she belongs to and friends and she were leaving a trail of stuff. She was not cleaning up after herself and the clutter was getting out of hand. I needed to confront her about it when she got home. I thought why should I clean up and put away the stuff she used. I decided I would just clean up the stuff I had used and left out.

I started picking up and cleaning up and putting the stuff I used away. Man, I can be a real pig. I found things I had used weeks ago. I spent a good 40 minutes just going around and collecting things I had used and not put away. I even found things I could not remember using ( These were things that my wife must have used, but they were my stuff so I put them away so I could find them when I needed them). 

As I put things away, I started feeling good that I was getting rid of some of the mess. It is nice to be organized. I even cleaned up part of my work bench, emptied waste baskets (the ones you seldom use) The amount of stuff I threw out was impressive…sure glad I did it before big trash day so it would not have to sit around for a week.

I must have tidied up for about 90 minutes, and I could actually see a big difference. Looking around my first thought was that I must have cleared away most of her mess also. 8-) I smiled to myself…I am sure glad I cleaned up my mess and “had not said anything to the wife about her mess”. When she gets home I think I will offer to help straighten out her mess. It should only take about 10 minutes. 8-)