But I really hate climbing over the side of boats from the dock.
I’m sitting here at the lake, writing this from my Macgregor 26s, waiting for the wife and slip neighbors to get up before we go sail to one of the coves and raft up for the night. When we got to the boat last night, she started piling our supplies up in the cockpit, and I was carrying the heavy stuff… well, she piled stuff right where I board the boat, and I almost fell on my face stepping over the coaming and the stuff. Case in point.
And more than that, I really hate having to climb so far out of the water to get over the coaming when you're finished swimming at anchor.
And even more than that, That one tiny scupper is the reason I have the boat -- a blocked scupper, flooded cockpit during rain, downflooding...
I considered the Ericson 27 the “little sister” to the 29, and I’ve often envied the outboard cutout some of them have in the back of the cockpit. It looked like a great place to gang plank off of to get on and off the dock, or the spot to put the swim ladder to make boarding easier from the water. I wanted something like this in our E-29 (I really do need to give her a name now..but first, getting rid of the old name…)
The old backstay chainplate was another glassed in, no sealant, questionable at best, 50 year old affairs anyways, and I wanted to go to external split backstays for simple adjustment and inspectability. So…. Time to whip out the sawsall and get crackin’.
Crap...we're really doing this aren't we.
I'd hatched a plan whereby I would cut out the cockpit side of the transom, then use my newfound access to help reinforce everything with wood, screws and epoxy and glass, so nothing changed relative position for the next step, then I would cut out the top of the transom (where 90% of the strength is, yikes) and the outside of it in one fell swoop. Then would come glassing everything inside and out, and we should wind up with a fairly strong transom again once everything was tied together.
Not gonna lie, I was terrified. And once I made that first cut, I was committed to finishing the job and cutting out the rest of the transom; rain was in the forecast, and unless i was going to repeat the incident that trashed her in the first place, we needed to get at it.
I made the cut with the sawzall and the oscillating multi-tool for the detail parts..
Crap.. I actually did this.
Fun fact, when I pulled that back panel off, and turned it upside down, about a quart of water came out of the glassed-in-chainplate pocket. Total trainwreck...so glad I did this, that stainless had to be completely compromised. Note to self for other '29 owners.
That's gonna take a lot of fairing compound...
But she kinda looks racey now, don't she?
If you squint? in the dark..
Bonus -- she was no problem, no more. I can officially say the name is erased.
More to come..
I’m sitting here at the lake, writing this from my Macgregor 26s, waiting for the wife and slip neighbors to get up before we go sail to one of the coves and raft up for the night. When we got to the boat last night, she started piling our supplies up in the cockpit, and I was carrying the heavy stuff… well, she piled stuff right where I board the boat, and I almost fell on my face stepping over the coaming and the stuff. Case in point.
And more than that, I really hate having to climb so far out of the water to get over the coaming when you're finished swimming at anchor.
And even more than that, That one tiny scupper is the reason I have the boat -- a blocked scupper, flooded cockpit during rain, downflooding...
I considered the Ericson 27 the “little sister” to the 29, and I’ve often envied the outboard cutout some of them have in the back of the cockpit. It looked like a great place to gang plank off of to get on and off the dock, or the spot to put the swim ladder to make boarding easier from the water. I wanted something like this in our E-29 (I really do need to give her a name now..but first, getting rid of the old name…)
The old backstay chainplate was another glassed in, no sealant, questionable at best, 50 year old affairs anyways, and I wanted to go to external split backstays for simple adjustment and inspectability. So…. Time to whip out the sawsall and get crackin’.
Crap...we're really doing this aren't we.
I'd hatched a plan whereby I would cut out the cockpit side of the transom, then use my newfound access to help reinforce everything with wood, screws and epoxy and glass, so nothing changed relative position for the next step, then I would cut out the top of the transom (where 90% of the strength is, yikes) and the outside of it in one fell swoop. Then would come glassing everything inside and out, and we should wind up with a fairly strong transom again once everything was tied together.
Not gonna lie, I was terrified. And once I made that first cut, I was committed to finishing the job and cutting out the rest of the transom; rain was in the forecast, and unless i was going to repeat the incident that trashed her in the first place, we needed to get at it.
I made the cut with the sawzall and the oscillating multi-tool for the detail parts..
Crap.. I actually did this.
Fun fact, when I pulled that back panel off, and turned it upside down, about a quart of water came out of the glassed-in-chainplate pocket. Total trainwreck...so glad I did this, that stainless had to be completely compromised. Note to self for other '29 owners.
That's gonna take a lot of fairing compound...
But she kinda looks racey now, don't she?
If you squint? in the dark..
Bonus -- she was no problem, no more. I can officially say the name is erased.
More to come..
