Just bought a 1982 Island Packet 26 MKI

[Seafarer]

So the deal on the Sovereign 17 fell through and I began scouring Craigslist when I came across an ad that seemed too good to be true. An Island Packet at a price I could afford! So, it turns out that this is a kit-boat finished off by the owner. Just an Island Packet 26 / Bombay Express hull, while everything else is... "custom". A confusing mess of quality workmanship and seemingly poor (at the very least, ugly) design.

Still, it will suit my needs to get out sailing while working on the big boat. First thing tomorrow I am trying to get my 10HP outboard running again so I can move the IP26 from its dock in St. Petersburg, across Tampa Bay, and to a mooring I am building in my anchorage at Cortez. I'm planning to buy a Yamaha 9.9 4-stroke to power it later.

Here are pictures from the ad showing it's unfortunate abundance of right angles:

[Oldrig]

Congratulations!

This is a great boat for coastal cruising, IMHO. The hull design, with "barn door" rudder, broad beam and shallow draft (centerboard) is based, in part, on the Cape Cod catboat.

One of my neighbors, here in the heart of catboat country, has one of these boats, and it's great for shallow coastal waters. You can even bring it right up to the beach, if you're so inclined. Not an offshore boat, but definitely a comfortable boat for gunkholing and coastal romps.

Best of luck with her.

--Joe

[JWalker]

looks really clean on the inside!

[Seafarer]

Murphy has been reminding me that I am not forgotten. The 14 gallon aluminum fuel tank needed all new hoses, which I knew beforehand. The vent and the outlet are standard sizes (5/8 & 3/8) but the fill is a super-rare 1&7/8 that I can only get in Tampa (1-2 hours away depending on traffic).

This is annoying and has taken up a lot of my time, but not exactly critical since I can put the fuel line directly into a 5-gallon jerry can for the move.

I bought a great-running and well-maintained Yamaha 9.9 4-stroke to push the boat. This is the best small boat auxiliary engine that I know of. Brought it out to the IP26 and tried to install it, but the cutout in the transom is too narrow to fit the cowling through.

I'm headed out today with a sawzall. One way or another that engine is going in! Tonight or tomorrow morning I have to move this boat from it's marina in Boca Ciega Bay down to the anchorage at Bradenton Beach. The weather keeps holding out, the forecast for rain being pushed back again and again. Either it's cooperating with my needs, or it's waiting for me to finally leave the dock before pouring down. I'll find out soon enough!

[CharlieJ]

something to look at on that engine .My  8 hp Yamaha wouldn't fit either-til I undid the two screws and removed the cowling around the leg. Now it fits fine. the cowling was strictly cosmetic- made zero difference to the engine

[Seafarer]

The engine now fits, except that the cowling cannot be installed with the engine in the "up" position. It hits the cap rail. I'm going to have to cut the whole mounting setup a bit lower, most likely.

So... I decided that since I bought this boat so I could take off and go sailing whenever I want that I should be able to leave a slip and bring it from Maximo Marina in Boca Ciega Bay, across Tampa Bay an down to Bradenton Beach by myself. I've made this trip before and know where the maps are wrong.

I let the engine idle for 15 minutes to make sure it was pulling fuel through the spin-on filter and was nicely warmed up. I used the time to stow the food and drink I was bringing along.

Of course, this meant I had to leave a slip single-handed and without running into anything. Neither of which I've ever done before (I've managed to leave a slip with other people aboard and hit plenty of things every damned time). I won't go into all the details but I made it look easy ;D I motored out of the marina and down the canal to the bay.
Shortly out into the bay the engine ran out of fuel and died. I loosened the hose clamp to the filter and pulled the hose off- it was dry! The engine had ran for 30 minutes on just the fuel in the hose. I put the end of the hose directly into the tank and kept going. I can deal with the rest of the fuel system later. I was using NautiCharts Lite on my smart phone to navigate and it was mediocre. My previous knowledge came into play in slipping through uncharted cuts to get to the first bridge. I only had to wait about 10 minutes for the opening so I put the engine in neutral and drifted down to the bridge.
After passing through the bridge I skirted an unmarked sandbar and was talking to the next and last bridge that separated me from Tampa Bay. I heard the engine make "a strange sound" and noticed it had quit pumping water. White steam came out the exhaust water port and the engine died. I notified the bridge that I'd lost engine power and wouldn't be needing the opening, then unfurled the jib.
I had taken the jib sheets that belong to my Cal and put them on this boat. I ran them inside the shroud but this quickly proved to be wrong. A quick dash forwards and they were re-routed. I lowered the centerboard and attempted to go upwind to the anchorage on the other side of the small bay, and the other side of the big sandbar. The best I could manage was a close reach, and I was lose all the ground I'd gained and more when I gybed around as tacking was out of the question. I sailed North towards the bridge I'd just come through and gybed around and headed back towards the other bridge. At the angle I was holding I might have made the opening, but I would be trapped once outside as the channel turns directly upwind. My next gybe brought me dangerously close to the cement barrier wall of the Tierra Verde Marina. I was going to hit it if I didn't change course, so I headed downwind towards it to pick up speed and then squeezed past the corner of the wall close enough that I could have jumped to it easily. The dinghy on it's painter passed by with barely a foot to spare.
I was being driven towards the shoreline of seawall and docks and decided to quit trying to sail my way out of (into!) trouble. I furled the jib and dropped the anchor- a 33lb claw on 36' of 3/8 chain and lots of 3/4" line that I had just added. I've never used a claw before, and was happy with how fast and well it set in the sandy bottom. It looked as though my arc of swing would bring me into contact with a "No Wake Zone" piling, so I rigged the large Danforth that came with the boat onto 100' of 1/2" line and rowed it out to the end of its line. Then I rowed back and hand-set that anchor as well as I was able. I pulled the centerboard back up to minimize the currents effect on the shallow-draft design of the hull.
After some texting back-and-forth with the previous owner of the engine he assured me that the foot could be removed to access the impeller without going through any gaskets. After an hour the engine had cooled to the touch and I tried starting it to see if I'd blown the head gasket. It fired up and I shut it off immediately. Without the proper tools aboard to work on the engine, I put the boat to bed and rowed into the marina where they allowed me to leave it overnight and gave me a ride back to my car after they closed for the day.
Back at Maximo Marina I sat down with the old salts to tell them my tale and hear some of theirs. One of them has the exact same engine as mine, and said that the coolant exhaust gets clogged with salt crystals and needs to be periodically poked with a toothpick to restore water flow. I think I'll try that before pulling the foot, which requires wrestling that beastly motor back into the cockpit without dropping it overboard.

More to come, I assure you!

[JWalker]

(I've managed to leave a slip with other people aboard and hit plenty of things every damned time)

;D

grog fer da honesty!

sounds like an exciting fun sail!

[Mario G]

I wished I knew you were looking for a boat, my old Chrysler C-26 is for sale in Miami and is very sail ready and comes with 2 OB's a 9.9hp and 15hp nearly new sails and a ton of extras, and could be had for a little over a grand.

[Seafarer]

Yeah, I really wanted a Cal 25 as it has a simar underwater profile to my Cal Cruising 35. However, the only ones I could find were on the wrong coast. One of the selling points of this boat was its proximity to my anchorage. Without problems like I've had, it is just a day-trip from Boca Ciega to Bradenton Beach.

I checked the boat Wednesday and added some solar-powered walkway lights and  chafe protection to the stern line. The currents run strong and cross-wise to the direction I'm anchored, so I've been worried about it ever since. The bow anchor is using my first-ever rope-to-chain splice and I'm not sure I got it tight enough. Definitely worried about the chain chafing through the rope down there!

Tomorrow (Saturday) I am heading back to the boat and will hopefully continue this 'adventure'. Winds are predicted to be 10-15mph all day from the NNW which would mean I could sail it the whole way if I had to.

I'm very nervous about bringing in into my anchorage. It has a tricky entrance and is rather crowded. I'm undecided between tieing it up to my bigger boat overnight and staying on the public dock. Technically the dock doesn't allow overnight stays....

[tom_beckstedt]

Ya some times we don't get want we wont , I had my eyes on a cal 30 didn't happen,  Wanted more of a trailerable boat.
So last December I bought a 1969 cal 25 It will be replacing my Catalina 22. I have some work to do on the cal 25 this spring through fall to get it ready to sail. Cant wait till April I took a week off of work to work on it.  Will be welding a perminent cradel on the trailer and reseal windows this will take about 2 days then I will get my cat 22 ready .

[Seafarer]

I cannot catch a break. The predicted 10-15 knot winds for Saturday (10 Feb 2012) became 20 gusting to 30 from the North as a cold front moves through. This is basically the only unprotected direction where I am anchored, and gives me nothing but concrete and pilings for a lee shore.

Anchored bow-and-stern the IP was cross-wise to the wind. I wasn't even sure it would still be there, but headed to West Marine to earn some more points on my membership anyhow.

I took JWalker's advice and bought a port-a-potty with MSD fittings. Later, I'll add the 7-gallon holding tank from Starquest to give the system a 12-gallon capacity. Bought some toilet paper and a couple gallon jugs of cheap water to use in the head. Also picked up a 12v socket inverter with a 110v and USB outlet to charge my phone and laptop at the same time while aboard.

Half expecting the worst, I drove out to Tierra Verde and while I crossed the bridge was relieved to see the IP still hanging on her anchors. I walked into the back yard of a house (for sale and vacant) to get a better look at what I was dealing with- it wasn't good. Both anchor lines were very tight and the boat was visibly heeled over. On my walk back I met an older couple walking there dog and we got to talking. I knew when I'd first seen them that they were "boat people". It turns out they were done with their boating days and now living in a condo across the street. Anyhow, they gave me the idea to move the stern anchor's attachment point up to the bow to get a Bahamian Mooring setup

The wind and waves were so bad that I could not row against them after leaving the shelter of the marina. I flagged down some fishermen who were kind enough to give me a tow out to my boat. I tossed my gear aboard as the dinghy would be jumping violently on its painter. I was amazed that the oars and cushion were not thrown out, as it nearly flipped over side-ways a few times in addition to all the fore-and-aft gyrations it was performing.

The first order of business was rigging the Bahamian Moor. I tied a loop in the bitter end of the stern anchor and checked to see how close to the bow cleat I could get it- within 5'. I tied another rope to this one and cleated that one off, then went to the stern and uncleated the anchor. Holding onto the rope I controlled the swing so it was smooth and steady, then went back to the bow and began pulling in the slack so both anchors would be holding. The boat immediately began riding smoother and there was noticeably less strain on the anchor lines. Once both had about equal strain I took a couple towels and wrapped them around the chafe points. While I had a much broader angle than the ideal 45 degrees, this setup worked well for me. It held the bow very firmly in place, not allowing it to sail back-and-forth at all. In gusts, the boat would squat down a little lower in the water and the waves had less effect on it- a very comforting feeling. The wind continued to build and the waves got larger and more confused.

I brought my binoculars out and kneeled over the mooring cleat where the anchors are attached. Using the compass built into the binoculars I took bearings on 3 distant objects and three close ones, then went below and drew a diagram of this, adding date and time. This will give me one way to check if the anchors are dragging. A more immediate visual reference was acquired by lining up a dock light post with the corner of the house behind it while poking my head out of the companionway. If the boat moved back at all, more space would appear between these two. Even the stretching of the anchor lines in the gusts allowed enough movement for this, and I would be worried until the lines retracted and the boat moved forwards again. Having this visual reference gave me the immediate reassurance needed to continue with my other work aboard- with quick dashes out to check my position (which never wavered!).

Getting below and out of the wind into the calm and cozy relative warmth of the interior probably gave me a false sense of security. Certainly the boat had an easy motion to it, despite the conditions outside. A funny wobble at the bow on occasion as as the anchor lines kept it firmly in place. I was able to sit down at the dinette and have a drink of water, but my stomach was too tied in knots to allow me to eat. I allowed myself a brief calm period to rest before focusing on another project.

I was out there to work on the outboard, but didn't feel comfortable with the gymnastics involved in raising and lowering that beast in these conditions. Instead, I set about installing the head. I took the fenders and odd pieces of plywood and plexiglass out of the compartment and moved them to the peak of the V-berth. Then I arranged the tools I needed and did some measuring. I set the head on the shelf that I have to install it on and moved it around until I found a place for it that I like. The center of the head is 15" from one bulkhead and 18" from the other, giving me enough elbow room while being close enough to lean against one of the bulkheads for support if needed. This also gives me room to build storage or add a sink on the other side. I used the template and a tiny drill bit as a center punch to mark the holes, then drilled them and installed the brackets. After a quick test-fit and a little re-alignment, I tightened everything down and went about pouring water into its wash tank. Of course, this tank is on the side with less room, and I was spilling as much as I was getting into it what with the motion of the boat and all. I made a funnel out of a water-bottle by cutting the bottom off of it and that made the process much simpler. I do have one criticism about the head, and that is the tiny bowl size. The packaging claims "adult sized bowl" but I doubt I'll ever be able to pee sitting down on that thing. While doing this, the shape of the hull began showing itself as the flat aft sections began slamming on the waves that were bouncing off the seawalls surrounding the boat. It was a little unpleasant and loud, but tolerable.

That being done I packed the tools away and sat down to text my girlfriend about the progress made so far, and let her know that I would be trapped aboard until the wave action subsided or someone passing by gave me a tow into the marina. I was not at all confident that I could row past the break-wall of the marina and before being pushed into it in those conditions. That was when I felt the jittery motion that I associate with a dragging anchor. I could feel the blood drain out of my face and I rather slowly walked back to the companionway and stuck my head out. There was a space between the lightpost and the corner of the house, but not a big one. Even as I watched, the lines contracted and the space disappeared. I wasn't dragging anchor- so what was making that motion? I looked into the rigging at the furled jib. It was tied closed about 7' off the deck, but above that the wind had blown the sail open a little bit. Maybe that was vibrating the rig and sending those vibrations into the hull? I knew the sail could be lowered without unfurling it, so I set about doing that and soon had the sail on deck and laced into a bundle. Still, the jittery motion came back every so often- I would just have to live with it.

A home nearby must have had an unsecured wireless network, because I was able to pull my laptop out of its Pelican case and go online with nearly full signal strength. Having previous experience as a pilot, I know how to access and read METARs, which are weather readings put out by airports and weather stations at frequent intervals. I also looked at forecasts, radar imagery, satellite pictures, and grib sheets to determine what the weather was likely to do next. Pretty much everything agreed that it was to remain the same throughout the night and the next day before calming on Monday. No predictions of worsening weather, and my ground tackle taking everything thus far in stride, I decided that it should be alright to leave the boat unattended, provided I could get off of it and into the marina with a relative chance of success.

Tonight was the first night in months that my girlfriend and I were going to be able to go on a real dress-up date, out to eat someplace nice. We'd been planning on it for at least a week. I knew she was even less happy than I was about me being trapped aboard the boat. I packed everything that I wanted to bring with me into the box that the head came in, and set it on the cockpit seat. An hour or so later, the tide began going out, heading straight for (and through) the marina's breakwater barrier. With the fast current running the same direction as the wind, the wave action dropped dramatically. In a matter of minutes smooth rollers had replaced the washing machine surface of before. I managed to swing myself into the dinghy, toss the box aboard, and get the oars into their sockets without losing too much ground. Then I began rowing like mad. The same current that flatted the waves was sucking me towards the barrier, but the smooth surface allowed me to get considerable speed. I rounded the corner without about 20' to spare. Another 100' downstream was the entrance to the marina and shelter, but that entrance had three standing rollers gurgling away. I spun the dinghy around so I was facing against the current and as soon as I was into the first roller I crabbed it sideways and slipped through to safety. A gentleman inspecting his beautiful Bristol 30 in its slip had watched me come in, and cupped his hands to his mouth to shout "You've more balls than I have!"

I let my girlfriend know that I was on my way, and the for the rest of the night, everything finally went as planned.

Just as I finish writing this, the gentleman who suggested switching to the Bahamian Moor called to say the boat was still doing fine. About 100' off a houses dock, but the wind has settled to a constant 13-15 knots. I'll be out there again tomorrow to try to get the engine running and finally move it to a more sheltered location.

Of course, what I plan on shore is often much different than what happens once I set foot aboard!

[Captain Smollett]

I cannot catch a break.

I respectfully disagree.  You caught many breaks.

You got some advice from a new boating friend that enabled you to take action...action that resulted in the boat riding better and being more secure in her berth.

You devised on the fly a method to confirm that she was, indeed, doing better and holding firm.  Getting peace of mind is a HUGE positive break!

This increased confidence in the boat's situation enabled you to get several projects done.

The weather / tide situation improved allowing you to dinghy ashore in relative safety.

You kept your date with your lady!  That's a big break, too!  

I'm sorry, but "good luck" vs "bad luck" is often only a matter of perspective.  I see a whole bunch of positives in your post...both positive reactions and positive outcomes.

Fair Winds.  The Journey has begun and is going as it should.   ;)

(We need Zen to come back and post some of his brand of philosophical encouragement...)

[JWalker]

Grog for Smollett, I have to agree!  ;D


You still have the opportunity for action! It may be slow, and it may be painful....but its working!

See Eric Hiscock:

"That I bought my first boat on a Wednesday, sailed her away on a Thursday, and found her wrecked on a Friday is an unfortunate fact."

[Seafarer]

A break would be a gentle 5-10 knot North wind for the same two days that I have off work. Or an engine that runs like it is supposed to- like it did when I checked it out before buying it.

What I get is beautiful weather all week while I work and then an upcoming 4-day weekend that I might actually have off both jobs as yet another cold front moves through and puts my boat into yet another survival situation in my exposed location. It is an hour's drive away from me and with my busy schedule I don't get much time to work on it over there. If I can't get the time to figure out what is causing my engine problems I am going to have it towed to a marina and shell out more money to have a mechanic deal with it while I pay even more money to be tied in a slip instead of hanging comfortably and freely from the 110# anchor waiting for the boat to get to Bradenton  Beach.

I don't see "my boat hasn't been destroyed (yet)" as catching a break.

[Oldrig]

What I get is beautiful weather all week while I work and then an upcoming 4-day weekend that I might actually have off both jobs as yet another cold front moves through and puts my boat into yet another survival situation in my exposed location.

What a perfect description of the life of a sailboat owner who also has to live and worke ashore.

You've got a great boat, and you're already learning new boating skills and making new boating friends. Not a "break" perhaps, but it's all part of the sailing life.

Enjoy it as much as you can, and keep posting your adventures. (At least your boat is in the water.)

--Joe

[Seafarer]

Nothing exciting happened yesterday, thank goodness! The waters were as smooth as a mill pond as I launched the dinghy at first light. I packed a few things aboard and went straight to work on the engine.
I poked the "pisser" hole with a toothpick and cleared all the salt buildup out of it, but it still wouldn't pump. I pulled a corroded thermostat out of it, but it still wouldn't pump. I began pulling the foot off of it and oil ran out, so I gave up and called Eckard College's free Rescue and Towing service. I convinced them to take me to O'Neil's Marina by the Skyway Bridge instead of Tierra Verde from which I was anchored only a stones throw away. I had to call ahead to O'Neils and arrange a slip for the weekend and repairs to the engine which would start on Monday. They are charging me only $40 for the slip for the weekend and then a reduced per-day slip rate while the engine is being repaired.

While they were waiting for an available crew to send my way I began preparing for the tow. I put out my big fenders (off a 60' motor yacht!) and arranged all the dock lines by their respective cleats. I've never been the person in charge of tieing a boat into a slip before, but I've seen (and untied) so many that I think I know how it should go.

When the tow boat arrived I directed the retrieval of the anchors, which went very smoothly as they had not twisted the rodes together. Then we were underway for the short pull to O'Neils. I've never been here before, but always wanted to visit. I heard there is a Bombay Express staying here and I would love to check that out and see the differences in the boats.

When we got to O'Neils I could see the Bombay before we even entered the marina. We warped my boat into the berth right beside it, though stern-first as I thought it would be easier to get on and off the seawall that way. Too late I realized that it is very shallow by the seawall and my rudder would likely hit at low tide if I were all the way back in my slip. I rigged spring lines (?) to pull the boat forward at low tide, a pair of crossed stern lines, and a pair of direct bow lines. The slip is rather narrow so I moved the fenders to keep me off the pilings, but for two days and a night I've barely used them (for which I am grateful).

The owner of the Bombay lives aboard and is a very nice guy. He seems very much the Sailfar type. I got a ride back to my car and stopped by WalMart, then headed up to the climbing gym to celebrate with my first climbing session since before I bought the boat. When I returned I made up the V-berth and spent my first night aboard. This morning I awoke to the sound of classical music playing from somewhere in the marina. It feels great to finally get to enjoy this boat, even if it is still broke down!

Next update should be on Monday as I help the marina crew wrestle the outboard off the boat. It shouldn't take them more than a day to fix it, by which time I'll be back to work, of course....

[Seafarer]

If I'm lucky (and how long has it been since I've had anything but bad luck?) the yard will finish all the repairs required to get the outboard operational again by Friday. It'll only cost me $1,000 plus two weeks dock rent (and I don't even know the rate for that yet).

Turns out that when I tried to remove the foot myself I broke a shift linkage and carrier bearing in the foot. They had to send it out to a machine shop to get everything freed up. The parts alone aren't that expensive but all the labor for tearing into the foot and then rebuilding it adds up fast. Looking up the proper method online before just going at it would have save me so much time and money.

So... $800 for a motor and it will probably end up costing me $1500 in repairs plus slip fees. That seems to be about normal for me with outboard motors. If it breaks down again it is swimming with the fishes and I'm building a yuloh.

Also, it is the last time I buy a used outboard. I want something with a warranty from here on out. I've never gotten more than an hour out of the 4 or 5 that I've owned, and I've always run them easy because I was worried about breaking them!

[skylark]

My strategy on outboards is buy new, use them (and maintain them) until they are no longer reliable, then sell and buy another new one. 

Every time I have bought a used outboard, I have regretted it, even though I used to work as a small engine repair tech and think that I should be able to repair just about any outboard.

In order to feel better about buying a new outboard, check out the prices on a new inboard, then the outboard will seem cheap in comparison.

[Seafarer]

Apparently I broke some parts that never break and therefore nobody carries them. Was informed to expect a month to get the parts in. Later, they told me that they might be able to weld the shift linkage back together and that the carrier bearing would only take a week to get. Either way, I paid about $300 for the slip for the month, so if it gets fixed early I'll just sail around up there until the month is up.

[Seafarer]

Making good use of the boat this week by allowing some friends to stay aboard for 3-4 days while they visit St. Pete. A cold front came through last night, which was their first night aboard. That made it much more comfortable for them and they reported as having a wonderful time.