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I have a sloop and made custom davits for my 424 sloop. The davits extend far enough out so that even if I had a mizzen, they would not be shaded. You really couldn’t put the solar panels in much closer without obstructing access over the transom.
The davits I had made weren’t expensive and are strong enough to hold a 400 lb dinghy. The Edson davits I had previously weren’t strong enough. The photos below don’t show the solar panels but you can see where they mount. I have four 1-amp panels mounted.
http://www.richardcarter.net/boat/davitSwimPlatform/davitsSwim2.html
Rich
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If you run the tanks dry and drain the water heater, you should be OK. The plastic hoses won’t break if water freezes in them.
Rich
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I’ve used Interlux 2-part over the many years I’ve owned BlackSheep. I had her awlgripped when I bought her 27 years ago. The paint lasted about 9 years or so before it started to dull, chip and peel. A repainting job like this is somewhere around $5k or $10k which is a lot of boat gear so my wife and I took on the job of repainting her. I filled and sanded the awlgrip finish and painted over with roller and tipping brush like the instructions say. We can paint the whole topsides in a weekend. The trick with applying the paint is to get it thin enough. If you put too thick a coat on there it runs. The paint hardens to a bright gloss. Dirt doesn’t stick to the surface. It’s almost like teflon. The gloss lasts only three to five years though so the paint must be reapplied to get the gloss back. Before you go running out to paint your boat, lower your expectations a bit. Brush-strokes can be seen in the paint surface if you get close enough. It’s not as smooth as spray job. For somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 plus a couple of days work, I think it’s a good value. (If you apply this stuff over bare gelcoat, add an extra day for the primer coat)
We used the interlux process every 5 years or so, but I’m going to try Pettit next time. I’ve had better luck with Pettit deck paint and wonder if their 2-part topside paint will go on easier or last longer. I’ve used interlux 1-part deck paint. It looks good the first year but loses its gloss by the next season. Once the gloss is gone, dirt sticks to the paint surface and my decks always look dirty. I use a power washer each spring to clean the decks. If the paint doesn’t adhere well, it blows the paint off. I painted my cockpit last year with Pettit paint and it held up much better. I’ve been switching from Interlux products to Pettit for the past few years and find their stuff works better.
Rich
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Sounds like the stuff you found might be Purple Power, sold at Walmart. It’s a good cleaner.
There are lots of wax products out there. I don’t wax my boat. I painted the topsides with a 2-part polyurethane. Applying a coat of paint is about as difficult as waxing with a buffer. Once the paint is applied, it has a gloss that lasts for several years. Dirt won’t stick to it. When it looks dull, I wet-sand and put a new coat of paint on. Wax would leave a residue that causes the paint to bubble. It’s hard to get off so I don’t use it. Once your gelcoat gets to the point where waxing doesn’t work, you might consider painting it. It’s not good for decks though; much too slippery.
Rich
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My rigger mentioned to me last summer that Profurl is no longer providing parts. If you can find a piece you are fortunate.
Regards
Rich
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I replaced my Hillerange with a new Hillerange about 3 years ago. The new stove is a drop-in replacement. It’s a nicer design however. It has electric igniters and thermal sensors that cut off the gas if the flame burns out. The stove locks in position when not in use so it doesn’t knock the top counter section off when the boat heels. My only complaint is that the door lacks a positive latch so the door can pop open if the stove is locked in position when underway. I use a strap to tie the handle off.
The old stove was pretty beat-up so I just tossed it. Sorry, I didn’t think of offering parts.
Rich
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I did the same. The shower sump is a diaphram pump so it is self-priming. With the suction hose down low, it does a good job of draining the bilge. All that’s needed is a Y valve and appropriate hoses and fittings.
Rich
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I keep a cheap home sump pump in one of my lockers along with a length of hose. These won’t hold up to repeated use in salt-water. It’s a good backup pump however. They can move a lot of water if you have a power source such as an inverter or onboard generator. They can move a lot of water. Since it’s portable, you can use it to pump out another boat if you can tie-up and lend a hand. I rinse mine out after using it in salt water. If the main engine is running, there is no risk of running the batteries down using the inverter.
Rich
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The original engine intake strainer on my ’79 424 was a piece of junk. It attached directly to the through-hull pipe with a nipple and elbow and was not mounted to a bulkhead. This put a bend in the intake pipe that caught seaweed and was difficult to clear. It was also dangerous IMHO since a failure of the pipe could cause flooding. I replaced it with a new Groco filter when I repowered about 5 years ago. A replacement is not expensive. If you have the same junk, I recommend that you replace yours with something better.
http://www.richardcarter.net/boat/pix/vdrivePan.JPG
I replaced the manual bilge pump with a Vetus pump many years ago. The Vetus pump has an integral handle so if you need to start pumping in an emergency there is no looking for the missing handle. There may be better manual pumps out there, but look for one that is similar.
Rich
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Holy smokes, $3400 + $4400 to decommission/recommission!! It costs me about $600 round-trip. This includes hauling, launching, power-washing and pulling and stepping the mast. I use my yacht club yard which is less than commercial so double this or even tripple it, but not 10X.
I assume that you have a radome on your mast. The stock 424 has a set of wiring blocks under the seat in the V-berth that allow you to disconnect the stock wiring harness in a few minutes. Your RADAR should have a wiring connector at the base of the mast to allow the mast to be pulled. If not, you’ll have to disconnect the harness at the back of your RADAR unit and pull the cable through to the base of the mast. Coil up the wiring and stuff it inside the base of the mast. Put duck tape across the mast base to keep the cables from sliding out during shipment.
Pulling the mast is pretty easy. Three guys can do it in an hour using a small crane. I’ve used a local sign company or my local rigger. My yacht club got a small crane last year so they do it for me now. It costs me $60 each way. Even a greedy boat yard can’t charge more than $500 to pull your mast. You hook onto the mast just above the spreaders near the seam using a mast sling. You run a down-haul from the sling to your winches. Take the slack out of the crane cable and pull the pins on your rigging. The mast should come right out. You need a tag-line at the base of the mast to position it across two saw-horses.
You might have to take your radome off the mast. When I truck my mast home, I don’t bother. The shipper hangs the mast on the side of the truck and they tuck the radome inward away from passing vehicles. I remove the halyards and lace the mast up tight with sisal cord. There is no need to remove the stays, but lace-up the turnbuckles so they don’t unscrew and drop on the road. Pad the roller furler so doesn’t get damaged.
I paint my boat bottom myself as do most owners. It takes about 4 hours to roll-on a coat of paint. If you’re picky and wet-sand afterward, add another 4 hours.
Winterizing takes about 8 jugs of RV anti-freeze and about 2 hours. Drain the water tanks and water heater. Dump a jug in each water tank and your holding tank. Dump a jug in your toilet. Run a jug through your engine cooling system. Dump some in the bilge. Don’t forget to drain the water heater.
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Paul,
I truck my boat home each year for winter storage. Preping it for transportation is the same as preping it to be hauled for any other reason. You of course must pull the mast and lace up your rigging for shipment. All canvass must of course be stowed and anything below must be stowed. Height above pavement is about 13’4″, more or less depending on how the boat sits on the trailer. Antennae on the pushpit must be stowed but nothing else is an issue. I usually lash the rudder amid-ships and latch the hatches.The only issue might be if you haven’t pulled your mast in several years. As discussed earlier, the mast step can corrode, making it difficult or impossible to pull the mast.
I pay $700 each way for transportation to my home, about 50 miles from my boatyard. The shipper can transport my mast for an additional charge. They hang it on the side of the trailer using special brackets.
Rich
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I went with a 1.5″ block because this let me screw the threaded rod directly into the base of the step. The original step had a flat plate welded to the top of the step where the rod attached. The distance between this plate and the base was 1.5″. I rebuilt the step without this plate and drilled and threaded a hole in the base where the rod now attaches.
I bought one of those double-cut saws from harbor freight to cut the mast; went through the aluminum like a hot-knife through butter. I found that it works best with plunge cuts, leaving the mast a bit long and grinding off the extra later.
Rich
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Nice job! Please let us know how you like the engine after you’ve run it for a while.
What’s the cutout in the cabin sole on the port side of the engine box? Was this something needed for your old engine?
As I recall, the cost of a new engine was about 1/2 the cost of the full repower, not including labor. It ran me north of $20K.
Rich
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Tor,
My rigger recommended starboard plastic sheet for the block under the mast. I didn’t have time for him to cut it and I had piece of pressure-treated hanging around. I think the pressure-treated wood will work just fine. I bedded it with liquid-nails and installed new stainless lag-bolts, long enough to compensate for the 1.5″ block of wood. I paid $50 at a local welding shop to make the new mast step. I painted it with several coats of metal primer and paint. Now that it’s out of the bilge, it doesn’t rust. Total cost for the job was $50 and it tool about 4 hours including cutting the mast. I’ll send a photo of the mast-step when I get a chance. It’s not exactly the same as the old one because the steel rod now mounts to the base of the mast step instead of the top.Rich
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Water around the mast step causes the step to rust. The inside of the ring expands and clamps around the mast base. If you haven’t had your mast out in several years, expect to cut the bottom two inches off your mast in order to pull it. The fix then is to build a replacement step and set it on a block to raise the mast up off the bilge bottom. I pull my mast every year but after over 30 years. Each season I cleaned and painted the mast step. After sitting on a wet step for that many years, the bottom inch or so of the mast was looking pretty sad. I cut mine off and built a new step, placing a block of pressure-treated pine under the step.
As far as the little dam, I cut a channel on each side to let water drain past into the main bilge. This helps but doesn’t solve the dampness problem.
I’ve thought of dumping a small amount of concrete into the forward depression just to fill the space. A layer of epoxy paint over this should seal it.
I’ve also thought of dumping a large amount of concrete into the bilge to make the bottom accessible. I haven’t convinced myself that this will work.
Rich
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