San Juan 23 as a power cruiser

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by willy13, Jul 13, 2022.

  1. willy13
    Joined: Jan 2022
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    Location: Canandaigua NY

    willy13 Junior Member

    My pleasure, pics attached
     

    Attached Files:

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  2. Tops
    Joined: Aug 2021
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    Location: Minnesota

    Tops Senior Member

    Thanks William!
     
  3. Chuck Losness
    Joined: Apr 2008
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    Location: Central CA

    Chuck Losness Senior Member

    You might want to try searching for terminal trawlers or strawlers. You will find some info on how people converted sailboats similar to your San Juan to a powerboat. When I decide to sell my Gulfstar 37 sailboat I plan to go this route. I have been looking for an Aquarius 23 for my conversion. One thing that I like about the Aquarius 23 is that the transom is designed for an outboard and it has internal ballast in a very shallow keel. Only a small amount of the ballast is in the centerboard.

    I used to have a CF 27 sailboat. I powered it with a 6 horse outboard that used just under 1 gallon of gas per hour at 6 knots. And that was a two stroke. Friends who used a 4 stroke outboard used less gas than my 2 stroke. Down to around 1/2 gallon per hour depending on how hard they ran the engine.

    Something along the lines of the pictures

    $_35 (3).JPG scan4.jpg aquarius 23 stern.jpg
     
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  4. willy13
    Joined: Jan 2022
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    Location: Canandaigua NY

    willy13 Junior Member

    Attached is a pic of the thru hull that the sink was hooked to. I am replacing the plastic thru hull with a brass thru hull because I read that regular plastic thru hulls should be used above the water line only. Do I need to use an actual seacock valve that bolts to the hull bottom. I know they are recommended in the case the thru hull fails. But how would a brass thru hull fail?
     

    Attached Files:

  5. bajansailor
    Joined: Oct 2007
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    Location: Barbados

    bajansailor Marine Surveyor

    Re your photo above -
    The drain hose is kinked - I am wondering if you can find a better way of running it?
    How high is the sink above the waterline - would it be possible to simply put the through hull fitting for the drain at or just above the waterline?
    That bulkhead which the hose passes through looks in poor condition, and it appears to be delaminated at the bottom - is it important re the overall strength of the boat?
    Re your plastic through hull fitting - you could replace it with a brass one (although a bronze fitting would be better, but more expensive).
    It appears to be about 3/4" in size (?) - you could then use a simple 3/4" brass seacock that screws on to the through hull fitting - it does not necessarily have to be the type that bolts through the hull.

    Jamestown Distributors sell 3/4" bronze through hull fittings and seacocks, - a 3/4" through hull fitting costs approx $22 :
    https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/product/product-detail/629
    And a 3/4" ball valve is approx $39 -
    https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/product/product-detail/1255

    It should be possible to find brass fittings elsewhere at less cost - although they are 'approved' for use below the waterline in Europe (Hallberg Rassy and others use them), they also say that they should be renewed every 5 years.
    I don't know if it is similar in North America?
     
  6. willy13
    Joined: Jan 2022
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    Location: Canandaigua NY

    willy13 Junior Member

    I should of said bronze not brass, I make the mistake of assuming they are the same when they are not. You are correct, it is 3/4" NPS, so just over 1" diameter hole. Since the hole is already there I plan on using it, otherwise I would of drilled a hole above the water line. There is also a below the waterline thru hull in the bow. It looks factory and is not being used by previous owners.

    I am moving the sink to above the current hole in the hull. I believe the sink was in the stock location which is at the entrance to the cabin. And I believe the hole was also that way from the builder. The sink area was meant to be the first step down. My wife said we are not stepping on our kitchen countertop, lol. The plastic thru hull was only hand tightened. The boat would of taken on water if I floated it right after buying it.

    I will need to address the bulkhead in the picture. So far I think thats the only place where there might be structural damage.
     
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  7. Tops
    Joined: Aug 2021
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    Location: Minnesota

    Tops Senior Member

    Check your cockpit drain hose as well. A cracked vinyl one on my boat allowed cockpit water into the cabin bilge to the point the marine ply failed within the CSM tabbings. I replaced mine with black radiator hose, the guy at the auto parts counter studied the vinyl for a moment and picked out a pre-bent one that fit the cockpit drain perfect for diameter and bend with enough left over for the galley sink.
     
  8. willy13
    Joined: Jan 2022
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    Location: Canandaigua NY

    willy13 Junior Member

    My cockpit drain hoses were both cracked. I replaced them with a 1.5" x 1.5" 90 deg coupler and straight rubber 1.5" ID fuel fill line. The thru hull in the cockpit had a 1.5" barb, while the thru hull in the transom had a slightly smaller diameter. The previous owner used a sealer plus hose clamps to make the corrugated vinyl tubing to fit without leaking at the transom. The rubber fuel fill line hose collapsed more unifrom with hose clamps to create a tight seal without sealant.
     
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  9. Tops
    Joined: Aug 2021
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    Location: Minnesota

    Tops Senior Member

    Preaching to the choir I was...
    :)
     
  10. willy13
    Joined: Jan 2022
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    Location: Canandaigua NY

    willy13 Junior Member

    IMG_20230316_173206781_HDR.jpg IMG_20230316_165612207.jpg IMG_20230312_123930420_HDR.jpg
    Some images of removing the steel centerboard. It weighs in at 56 lbs. To me it looks to be in great condition, so I plan on selling instead of scraping. What is a fair price?
     
  11. Chuck Losness
    Joined: Apr 2008
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    Location: Central CA

    Chuck Losness Senior Member

    Looking forward to reports on how your boat performs. Besides the Aquarius 23 I also like the Neptune 24's.

    neptune24 001.jpg
     
  12. willy13
    Joined: Jan 2022
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    Location: Canandaigua NY

    willy13 Junior Member

    2568.jpeg
    Above is a picture of the modified transom to mount a 9.9/15 hp Mercury ProKicker, 25" shaft. I went with this outboard because of its 12 amp alternator and it's centered tiller handle which will allow for centrally mounting the outboard.
     
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  13. willy13
    Joined: Jan 2022
    Posts: 91
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    Location: Canandaigua NY

    willy13 Junior Member

    2569.jpeg
    This was the first time my wife and I painted a boat. We used 2 coats of interlux epoxy primekote to hide the 70s green gel coat. Final color is red.
     
  14. willy13
    Joined: Jan 2022
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    Location: Canandaigua NY

    willy13 Junior Member

    2571.jpeg
    We filled a bunch of holes from removing the sailing rigging. We used Total Boat Totalfair epoxy.
     

  15. willy13
    Joined: Jan 2022
    Posts: 91
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    Location: Canandaigua NY

    willy13 Junior Member

    upload_2023-8-3_15-43-40.jpeg
    She has been on Canandaigua Lake a couple weekends this summer, a small NY lake that I grew up on. I will need a GPS to help me navigate the Florida Keys. She has 2 ft of draft and I would like to explore some of the shallow areas. I am not concerned with fancy fish finding technology. Is there a brand that has more specific water depth maps? Can I get away with the cheaper and smaller screen models? In other words are the maps on the cheaper models just as good as the epensive models?
     
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