advice needed for 23'yacht

Hi all very new to this forum posting, so bare with me.
Can anyone give me some sound advice, as i have been given a 23 foot grp sailing boat. It is more like a failed project as there is no interior, no mast, a half hearted attempt of a cabin and only steel twin keels, i think at one stage there was a long centre keel aswell as it has been badly patched up in this area. I need some advice on how to replace this keel and what with. I would ideally like to keep the twin keels for a couple of reasons 1. easier for grounding the yacht as don't have to bother with yacht legs or cradles and
2. the boat seems to been designed to have them. The twin keels are to far aft to have just them as the boat seems to be bow heavy.

Any help and advice is appreciated as would like to get started on this massive poroject.

 

Having read your description of the boat, I cringe as I imagine what you're up against. No mast! what about sails? And what else is missing? and you're not sure about a central keel having once existed?
IAre you sure you want to continue? It is obvious from what you've said that the project is going to cost you more in maney and labor than it would take to buy two restored yachts put together.
So, you may not know this yet, and may need someone to say it.
Anyway, your first job, before anything else, is to identify the maker of the boat. The next thing is to see what perfectly sound sisterships are selling for.
And what do they look like? Three keels?
Next, inventory everything you got with the boat. Price what is missing.
The keel won't be easy to find, if indeed it ever existed.
Is this the kind of advice you wanted?

 

It is the kind of advice he needs. Hopefully he's not stuck with storage, transport or disposal of the hull. Even putting in the effort you suggest (mostly for education I suspect) is too much and will cause pain beyond worth.

Given global financial circumstances, 23' sailboats can be had for next to nothing in sailable condition. I would run, not walk away from this one.

--
Bill

 

It's pretty clearly a run-don't-walker, but some folks dabble in this art for reasons of their own, among which reasons might be a need to create something from nothing (money may not matter much, but psychology is the primary motivator).
It's sort of like a man asking how to get across the river with his raft and you point and say, "Hey, why not use the bridge?"
Sailing for most of us is like that. It would be quicker to use the bridge, or to recognize we never get anywhere, just back to the trailer or the mooring.
Not that this gentleman obviously needs to spend two or three years involved in some "dark night of the soul". He may be desperately looking forward to sailing, and he cringes at the thought of grinding fiberglass every day for a month.

 

i say give it a whirl and see where that takes u but dont forget the nails :!:

 

Hi Tim, I too agree with Alan and Bill. I'm all for DIY and building your own boat, but what you said doesn't sound good. For all you know the whole design may be problematic. In my novice opinion the keels should be an integral part of the hulls and not something you add afterwards simply because you may not be able to join the hulls and the keels strong enough, but that is just my opinion, maybe someone else knows something I don't.

Putting up some pictures would help to get a better idea of what you've let yourself in for, maybe it just sounds bad and maybe there are alternative solutions.

 

If all you have is a second rate hull with big issues. You have no interior, no fittings, no mast, no sails, no motor then you do not have much do you.

Cut it up and scrap it, or sell it for $20 on eBay, if you get that. You may have a hullform that is nice, but if it was designed for keels in a different place then this is going to be a big problem..

 

My usual advise is to run as quickly as you can from this sort of thing, particularly if repair and restoration experience is in short supply.

Some pictures would help at this point, assuming you're not put off by the previous comments and general advise I'm sure you've gotten locally. With pictures, we may be able to identify the boat type, of course you'll still be stuck with her issues.

At first blush, I'd disagree in that it needs three keels. It's not uncommon, especially in your neck of the woods, for a centerboard yacht to have this removed in favor of bilge keels, for all the reasons you mentioned. In other words, it's likely the bilge keels are it and you just need to clean up the scab repair where the centerboard use to live.

Given this, the hull will likely hold water on the outside, assuming all through hulls and holes are patched or closed.

I'm not sure I understand you too far aft and bow heavy comments, but trim can be handled further along in the process. This does raise the question, is she still on the water? If she is, you need to get her on the hard (not mud flats) at home or in a place where you can work on her.

Do I recommend this, nope, but if you're bent on tossing money and effort at it, the least we should be able to do is steer you right during your troubles.

We need images of the hull profile, deck, keels, etc. and any information you can offer about it's heritage. Do you own it and does it have a title? If so, what does the title call it?

Again, the comments about it costing twice what it may be worth aren't unreasonable, in fact are quite accurate. It may be better to work from a more complete starting point, but then again, you have this one in hand . . .

 

I have since found out that the yacht is a falmouth gypsy possibly a mark 2. I'm not afraid of doing the work in fact i'm looking forward to doing it. The yacht is in a tidal estuary but water comes up to her only about a cpl of times a year. I have been reading about laminated keels and thinking this might be the answer.

 

Accept my apologies, the Falmouth Gypsy does have three appendages.

http://www.falmouthgypsy.eclipse.co.uk/gallery/slides/freya_before.jpg

Do you have the all 'glass version or the wooden deck and 'glass hull version? The MK 2 version will have wooden upper works, the MK 3 is all 'glass.

 

Its the mk2 version. any ideas where i can find more information about making the laminated keel? Would this be suitable?

 

Nope not a clue, though some net searches should produce some class information.