Just bought a 1981 Independence 31 Cutter!

[David Vaughn]

We haven’t measured Kotona exactly but from looking at photos from the last haul out, 5’ or thereabouts looks right.
I know the distance from the bow roller to the waterline is right at 5’, we measured that for anchor rode calculations. And that looks to be, in the photos, roughly the same as the waterline to the keel bottom. Give or take a few inches for perspective; but I don’t think it would be over a foot in error.

The specs Sailboatdata shows are the same as in the original brochure. In the brochure an optional deeper draft is not mentioned. I’d go with the 4.9’.
There a copy of the original brochure in the Resources section here.

 

[DTrail808]

We haven’t measured Kotona exactly but from looking at photos from the last haul out, 5’ or thereabouts looks right.
I know the distance from the bow roller to the waterline is right at 5’, we measured that for anchor rode calculations. And that looks to be, in the photos, roughly the same as the waterline to the keel bottom. Give or take a few inches for perspective; but I don’t think it would be over a foot in error.

The specs Sailboatdata shows are the same as in the original brochure. In the brochure an optional deeper draft is not mentioned. I’d go with the 4.9’.
There a copy of the original brochure in the Resources section here.

Makes sense. Thanks!

 

[dt222]

I've used 5 feet as a default (hull #60).

 

[dt222]

On thing to check carefully are the chainplates. A previous owner changed to external chainplates on mine due to a failure of a starboard side plate at the deck level.

 

[DTrail808]

On thing to check carefully are the chainplates. A previous owner changed to external chainplates on mine due to a failure of a starboard side plate at the deck level.

Thanks Don. I haven't looked yet, but aren't the chainplates glassed in?

 

[David Vaughn]

On the later hulls, they are glassed in and that’s a bit of a problem. Stainless does not like to be deprived of oxygen. It gets all cranky and corrodes in places you can’t see and then fails catastrophically.

On the early hulls, the chainplates were fastened to knees that sat under the side decks and were bonded to the hull. The factory brochure shows this in the interior photos. And our boat came with a copy of a set of drawings from Bruce King’s office, showing this layout in detail. At some point Ericson went to glassing them directly to the hull. I don’t know what hull number that started with but if you don’t have the knees under your side decks then yours are glassed in.

Unfortunately, if yours are glassed in, as mine are, inspecting them is, shall we say difficult. You can dig out the sealant and inspect what you can at deck level. But to go further requires disassembly of the teak behind the settees. Oh and some of your galley cabinetry, for the port side. At that point you can see some of the plate that comes through the deck and goes into where they are glassed to the hull. Further inspection is not really an option without grinding out a great deal of fiberglass. Ask me how I know and I’ll point you to this: Teach Me About Chainplates

Fortunately for me, once I got in far enough I could actually see the chainplate I discovered that a previous owner had apparently already replaced them. Once the glass residue was off, the plates themselves looked brand new. No discoloration of any kind. I counted my lucky stars, glassed them back over properly, put my cabin back together and called it a day. Well, several days actually.

 

[DTrail808]

On the later hulls, they are glassed in and that’s a bit of a problem. Stainless does not like to be deprived of oxygen. It gets all cranky and corrodes in places you can’t see and then fails catastrophically.

On the early hulls, the chainplates were fastened to knees that sat under the side decks and were bonded to the hull. The factory brochure shows this in the interior photos. And our boat came with a copy of a set of drawings from Bruce King’s office, showing this layout in detail. At some point Ericson went to glassing them directly to the hull. I don’t know what hull number that started with but if you don’t have the knees under your side decks then yours are glassed in.

Unfortunately, if yours are glassed in, as mine are, inspecting them is, shall we say difficult. You can dig out the sealant and inspect what you can at deck level. But to go further requires disassembly of the teak behind the settees. Oh and some of your galley cabinetry, for the port side. At that point you can see some of the plate that comes through the deck and goes into where they are glassed to the hull. Further inspection is not really an option without grinding out a great deal of fiberglass. Ask me how I know and I’ll point you to this: Teach Me About Chainplates

Fortunately for me, once I got in far enough I could actually see the chainplate I discovered that a previous owner had apparently already replaced them. Once the glass residue was off, the plates themselves looked brand new. No discoloration of any kind. I counted my lucky stars, glassed them back over properly, put my cabin back together and called it a day. Well, several days actually.

Wow. That sounds like a nightmare! (with a good ending anyways)

I spent several hours on the boat yesterday doing some basic topside cleaning (hadn't been cleaned in years I think). It uncovered a much better looking boat than I thought. That was super rewarding even though it was just superficial prettying up effort.

I tied to turn on power to the boat through shorepower, but I just got beeping from the converter (I'm pretty sure). This uncovered a spiderweb of wires, loosely attached electcal components, and generally a mess. I think I have to address this part first so that I can get power to the boat, ensure the batteries are getting charged, and get (at least) the electrical systems in place to move on to the engine and getting her started.

I may call a marine electrician to help out with this as I'm not very good at electrical (yet) and I don't want to burn the boat down in the first week of owning her.

 

[David Vaughn]

Nigel Calder’s Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual is a great place to start learning boat maintenance and repair. Make sure you get the latest edition.

 

[DTrail808]

Nigel Calder’s Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual is a great place to start learning boat maintenance and repair. Make sure you get the latest edition.

Thanks David. I just bought it!