Now that it's getting really cold, I'm not getting much done out on the boat. I've been calling her Neena lately. However, earlier in the week I pulled up the floorboards/sole after removing the bunk fronts and trim. The supports are all wet and rotten and will need to be replaced. I've got some white pine that I've been hoarding for years. I'll mill it up with tongue and groove and lay it down with unbunged screws with several lift out sections so I can get to limber holes. I'll either oil it or paint it. The bunk fronts will require some 1/2 inch okume plywood, painted both sides. There are pieces of lead under the sole which will go back but somehow fastened down with either screws or goop or both so they don't slide around or worse. I'll have to buy some doug fir to use as sole bearers to replace the rotten ones. Since the bilges are so flat, I need to come up with a way for air to circulate everywhere down there, to keep things drier.
  I've known since the start that water had been coming in around the opening ports, either with the ports left open or with bedding problems. So I started removing the ports from the inside and sure enough, there's problems. Some, the plywood core is wet, some, the core isn't wet but was. I'm not sure how I'll deal with it yet.
  So now I've exposed the rotten plywood below and I have a better idea of what needs replacing, I need to start rebuilding. First will be the structural bulkheads in the middle of the cabin that support the transverse loads from the bilge board trunks. They're 1 inch ply and hopefully I can scarph new wood to old in place. Then on to sole supports and some kind of temporary sole along with cleaning and repainting as needed.
  Meanwhile, indoors, I can work on the sails. The nice new Soling main sails need reefs put in. I need to figure out where exactly the two reefs should go. Maybe I can come up with a percentage of areas or something. Then I will lay out the positions of the  tacks and clews followed by the reef points. Sailrite has the parts I need and I can do the rest on my mom's old Necchi machine. Judging from old photos, I want to raise the clew up some which will require cutting the foot of each of the sails. I'll cut a curve in them anyway so their loose footed. I also want to add slugs with shackles to the hoists so the sails remain attached to the masts when lowered. I'll also need sail covers, buy used or make?
  So plenty to do and lots of planning ahead.

Well, here we are almost three weeks into dealing with the new boat, now named "Neena". She's covered and ready for winter but I'm still clambering on board to do stuff.
  Monday and Tuesday, I drove down to N.J. to pick up the trailer. The hauler we hired to bring her up to Seekonk, advised against using her old trailer, because of the expense if there was any problems. I wasn't about to pay someone to haul the trailer, so I was a truck drivin man for a few days. The trailer is 32 feet long, so it was a long day but no problems. It's off to one side in the yard.
  More rotten plywood has been coming out from below, along with bits of old wire and debris. Today was a mixed bag of the good and the bad. The good was finding out one of the transducers works with the Standard ds 45. Now I can get rid of the other two transducers! The bad news was two fold. First I found some serious rust on the bottom of the heat exchanger and nearby fuel pump. Maybe just cleaning up and painting will be enough but I might need some new parts. Then I removed the bunk fronts on the aft two settees and found lots of wet wood at their bases and in the cleats etc. Looks like I'll be pulling up the sole and be dealing with new sole supports and repairs to the structural bulkheads in the middle of the cabin. This is important because of the support the bilge boards need. Oh well, It'll be a whole lot sweeter with new wood down there.
  Spent the better part of yesterday, cruising around to marine consignment shops with my buddy Wayne. I'm looking for a 1 1/4 i.d. tiller head fitting in bronze, to replace the awful steel fabrication, that was on there. No luck but Maybe I'll get lucky. A new one costs upwards of 300 bucks! I was also looking for dodger frames, finding a couple of possibilities.
  Looks like it might be difficult to get all the things done, to be able to go sailing next summer. We'll be lucky to day sail a few times! Of course I under estimated the scope of the project. Every thing has to be looked at and dealt with. At least the basic hull and deck structure are ok. I can live with cosmetic imperfections for awhile but the thru hulls, the steering, the bilge boards, the pumps, basic electrical system, deck and house leaks, misc. small holes, all have to be dealt with, not to mention the engine and the rig. Plenty to do and limited time and money. Same as it ever was. Aren't boats fun.
  Here's a few pictures.

 evil rust 

inboard side of port bilge board trunk with repair and rotten plywood for the bunk face to screw to.

starboard side

very wet at the edge of the sole.

More pictures

Rudder bearing exposed, will need to replace the rubber gaskets and find a nice 1 1/4 bronze tiller head.

Pvc and cable tie cover frame with Sunbrella cover someone gave me.

Cleaned up MaxProp, I'll fill some surface corrosion with epoxy mixed with bronze powder.

Mostly old wire, miles of it, thirty odd years.

windlass will go. Maybe a samson post, another chain pipe?

looking frwrd, bilge brd tackles, aluminum tabernacles(not original)

Cool head details on forword blkhd. Nice bronze Perko opening port

Rotten head plinth

down below, lots to be done here. Alot of refinishing, reconfiguring and replacement of rotten plywood.

starting to remove the cumbersome tiller head

Lets see if I can figure out this posting of pictures with descriptive tags. Yesterdays first post showed the boat in my back yard. I'd like to show  some pictures of her in N.J. on her trailer as I first saw her. Then some more pictures of her at home.

Trailer with new paint, bearings and lights.

On her trailer in early Oct.

The First Week

After owning three wooden sailboats over a forty year span, I've bought a fiberglass sailboat. I love wood but time is growing short and I wanted to experience a shoal draft presto sharpie. I thought I could build a boat and I could but I had a thirty five foot sloop and couldn't sell her and even if I did, I would need upwards of twenty thousand dollars to build. Two things happened this fall to change the landscape. While searching Craigslist, I found a presto sharpie in N.J. for little money. We ended up buying her with a trailer and 98 Yanmar diesel among other things. This made us try and sell Miracle, our 1961 Eldridge McInnis mast head sloop with new found urgency and lo and behold we found a buyer who fell in love. So, in the space of a few weeks, I've gone from a wooden boat guy to a plastic boat guy. Pretty easy actually. So much of what I do has always been about aesthetics, especially boats. Bronze and wood are about perfect in every way, stainless and plastic, not so much. So here I am with a plastic boat, crazy! But this isn't just any boat, this is a Sandpiper 32 designed by Walt Scott and built in Clearwater Florida in 1978. Walt, like me had been enamoured with Commodore Munro's writings about his pioneering days in south Florida and his designing boats for shoal waters. So Mr. Scott scaled down Muro's famous Presto and built a dozen or so at Marine Innovators, a company he started. He also built a 25 footer called Beachcomber. I had no idea these boats even existed. I knew of many wooden builds of Egrets and similar craft. I bought plans from Reuel Parker for his Exuma 27 and was familiar with his great interpretations of Monroe's work. A dream come true for me, now I have a true presto boat, for the price of a day sailer. Of course, you don't get something for nothing, she needs lots of work.
  This blog will be about the re-fit and the experience of the new boat. We had a de-naming ceremony on Sunday. No new name yet but lots of ideas. We've got all winter to come up with the name.

In the backyard

Skinny

1.