Got a new boat.... new to me at least..

[ScotiaSailor]

Hello folks, as you may recall is was looking to upgrade to the smallest, big boat i could find.. well i bought a Grampian 28..  its got good standing head room (6'2" - 6'4") and decent layout, supposed to be well built, and good boat to sail..





She is a project boat that is for sure.. has been sitting for a few years, almost have a whole season of repairs refit.. cleanup.. etc.





The keel had really bad blisters and such i guess, so the PO ground down the bad glass and no i have to re seal the keel and fair it up.. (keel bolts and nuts look nice and relativly new..)





some minor repairs to the prop shaft strut, and proabably need to change the shaft packing in the hull..

The interior is rought but just needs to be cleaned and organized..  Engine looks rougher then it actually is.. the wiring on the other hand has to be redone. luckly it is my favorite part to do!!





The only other big issue with the boat is the cracking of the gel coat.. Especially where the outside grab rails bolted on.. I assume water has gotten in there at some point in it's life and spit when froze..





Does anyone have any recomendations to remedy this.. i figure i will have to widen the cracks out and inject some epoxy into the hole then finish with some gelcoat mixture.. any other sugestions.. should i bother with the epoxy and just the gelcoat?

Any one use winches like these.. how do they hold up?? there are two on this boat.. used with the main and jib halyard.




Its rough but for the price i couldn't resist.. i enjoy a good challenge!!!

I Just can't wait for the darn snow to melt so i can get this thing home and work on it!!! 2 More Months!!!

[Tamboo]

Its rough but for the price i couldn't resist.. i enjoy a good challenge!!!

Don't pull her down; she doesn't look that rough from the pictures and apart from the inevitable 'unseens' you seem to be aware of most work that needs doing.

Are you keeping the name? I really like it, but it could be interesting over the VHF if either party was short-tongued!

[skylark]

What I would do with those grab rail bases is to tape up the lower parts of the cracks with plastic packing tape, then start filling the cracks with straight epoxy, and just keep adding it little by little till it won't take any more, or until it appears that the epoxy is just disappearing somewhere.  Let the epoxy cure and then reapply packing tape a little higher and fill it with epoxy again.  Repeat until you have completely filled the cracks up to the top.

You might be able to improve the appearance by adding some silica filler to the  2nd and additional batches of epoxy which would give the epoxy a white-ish color.  However this would not really match the rest of the deck color.  Your best bet if you want a color match is to touch up paint the epoxy crack areas using a good automotive grade paint rather than gel coat.  Gel coat is finicky and it works well when you are spraying it into a mold for a new part, but adding it on later is not really what gelcoat is made for in my opinion.

[AdriftAtSea]

congrats on the new-to-you boat. :)   Just remember, all the work that you put in to a good boat is paid back in full and then some.

[skylark]

Just a few words of advice on the approach to fixing up the boat:

1. The most important thing is for you to get some sailing time in.  Well thats actually number 2 after making sure the boat is safe.  So make a priority list of the minimum that needs to be done to get her into the water as a safe, functioning sailboat.  Do that and try to have it done by June.  Even if it is not perfect cosmetically, sail it this summer if you can.

Safety:

Check through hulls.  If they are gate valves and look like water faucets you must remove them and either fill in the holes or replace with a ball valve.

It sounds like you know wiring but check the wires from the battery positive to the fusebox.  Make sure a previous owner did not add any unfused circuits.  Check the fuse amperages, they should all be pretty low, 2 to 5 amps unless there is some big draw load on the circuit.  Then check to see what works and what doesnt.  If all nav lights and anchor light work (and maybe a compass light and spreader light), then the electrical system meets the minimum standards.  The rats nest of wiring is pretty much standard on old boats, unfortunately.  Frequently previous owner additions to the electrical system only add insult to injury.

The motor will have to be in working condition, looks like you lucked out with a diesel.

Another biggie is to check the chain plates and other places where rigging connects to the hull.  Is there sign of water damage? drips, rotted wood, stains?  If there is rotted wood underneath you will have to figure out a way to reinforce it or even replace the bulkhead if that is how it is connected.

A good way to get started on the interior is to remove all of the stuff inside, get a bucket(s) of hot water with bleach and soap and a brush, and scrub down the entire interior.  Avoid letting any of the oily bilge water spread out in the bilge if you can, unless it is already too late.  Stick towels or absorbant pads in the limber holes that exit from the engine area.  The boat will be much more comfortable after you scrub down the interior.  This is something that you will probably want to do every season.

Those are my thoughts for now, post more pics!

I took some pics of a Grampian that a friend was selling, they are here:

http://www.cruisenews.net/images/Grampian/

[s/v Faith]

Congrats,

  I have seen a couple of the 28's out there doing it, and raced against / sailed aboard a 26 quite a bit.  Good strong layup, great interior layout use of space / stowage. 

I would not put epoxy into the cracks until you open them up a bit.  I have used the dremel on some of mine that were deep like that.  The couple I missed are showing up again.  I think the epoxy wants a bit more surface are to bond to, and if you can round out the bottom of the crack you remove the stress point that the crack is following (kind of like drilling a hole in the end of a crack in a metal plate.)

  I think that the steel keel is just something you will learn to work with.  My friend with the Grampian 26 refers to the rust that breaks through as 'mushroom heads' because that is usually what happens once whatever paint system you use fails..... but there is no great threat there, just a bit of sanding to do on the next haul out.... no big deal really.

  Grog for you to toast the new boat.  ;D