Refit - How much is too much?

[s/v Faith]

I split the next few (anchor related)  posts off and moved them here so as not to sidetrack this thread.

[SV Wind Dancer]

I'm also gutting and refitting a '77 H27'...but it isn't costing me ANYwhere that much.

[mitiempo]

If you like the boat and want to travel south in her I don't think you're crazy. However your list can be either shortened or modified in my opinion. Lazyjacks can be handy but can be made rather than bought. If you need new sails the main could be purchased new but any headsails could be bought used. A production boat like yours should be quite easy to find headsails for at Bacons or any of the other used sail places near you. A lot of people sell older sails that have had little use. I like the Engels portable fridge idea and will probably purchase one and use my icebox (very uninsulated from the manufacturer) as dry storage. Roller furling isn't necessary. Reef points in a jib are easy to deal with. Another solution I will probably install is a solent stay. This is a stay just inside the forestay - maybe 5" or 6". It parallels the forestay so doesn't need runners. This lets you sail wing and wing easily with 2 jibs (spinnaker not needed) and if offshore where tacking is not as frequent as inshore you couls have a storm jib ready to go. This stay is attached to the bow fitting with a release lever so it can be removed easily and tied off at the mast. Invest in good anchoring gear - AdriftArSea's advice is good both on that and solar. I'd skip a wind gen and go with just solar. What engine do you have? Unless it's a disaster I'd rebuild rather than replace. Get a shop manual and do it yourself - saves money and you learn the engine whicj will pay off when you're down south. Good batteries like Trojan T-105 (x2) are a good investment as is a battery monitor like the Xantrex link series. You're not leaving yet so I'd keep my eye out for a good used dinghy - you never know what might turn up. Then buy a new or newer small outboard for it.
Brian

[Lynx]

It depends on how good of shape the boat is in and where you are planning on going.  All of this stuff adds up. My list was well over 500 items. I had a safe 5000 mile coastal voyage with only 3 breaks that was easily fixed.

I spent more than what has been said. If you are going coastal or upper Bahamas you do not need that much and you will motor a lot and anchor most of the time. AND you can get parts easily and can get help!

Find out how to do your on survey, How things look bad, and do that.

[MikeTurner]

You can design and make your own lazy jacks for a lot less than the purchase of a new kit.  All that's really involved is a couple of small pad eyes on the mast and one on the boom (more if you intend more "web" to your design), some line, some bronze, SS or nylon rings and a cleat.  There are several different websites that can give you design ideas.

Our boat, Fiddlestix (a Rob Roy 23 yawl) was already set up with the pad eyes on the mast/boom and boom cleat - all I had to add was the line and a couple of bronze rings.  Even adding the eyes would not have pushed the cost up much.  The lazy jacks are nice to have in heavy weather, but frankly I'm finding I don't use them too much - usually leave them tied off forward at the mast.  We didn't have lazy jacks on our Catalina 30 and didn't particularly miss them.  First thing we do when we drop the main is  to get a sail tie around the sail about 2/3 of the way down the boom from the mast, that gets the sail out of the cockpit, and we clean things up from there.  Didn't have much of a problem with the sail getting in the water with either boat.

Overall, we've found lazy jacks nice to have but not essential.