My dad is leaving me his sailboat, what to do?

[thefantasea]

Your position is unique. Being situated in a marina, you can strike up acquaintanceships with other boat owners who often welcome company rather than sail alone.

You'll quickly find how you adapt to sailing and gain valuable knowledge and experience.

[Saasaan]

So it rained for the first time since we have had the boat, it rained for 3 days straight, the bilge had a good amount of water in it, my dad was aware of the leak ( we got this boat for very very very cheap ) I guess we are at the stage of trying to figure out if it came through the teak deck or the hatch, some of you have already expressed to me that i am looking at expensive repairs if it came through the teak deck, lets hope it didnt !

[sailingdog]

The most common culprit for leaks in the rain are: the mast, if it is keel stepped; the chain plates, unless they are external to the hull, and any hatches or ports, especially opening ports.

One good way to help trace leaks is to sprinkle baby powder around the inside of the boat, and then any leaks will leave traces and tracks in the baby powder.

One word of warning... leaks, once they enter the boat, can go a long way before they are actually visible inside the boat. On a friend's boat, the forward port chain plate was leaking, but it didn't show up inside the boat until about six or seven feet from where the actual leak was, and initially appeared to be a port on the port side of the hull.

[Saasaan]

Found the leaks, there was 4 holes drilled in the cockpit that was leaking a good amount of water, I am just hoping that was the only leak !

Any suggestions for bringing the silver railings back to a chrome look, they have some rust on it, not to worried about price, I would like to get them looking as good as possible, and the white hand rails should I just bleach them, they are pretty yellow now ?

[sailingdog]

If the rust is just surface rust, not deep structural affecting rust... then get a Miracle Cloth, about $7 at most marine chandleries... Here is a link to it at Worst Marine.

[deckhanddave]

Congrats on the new aquisition! She's a real beauty. I'm also 22 and working on a Tartan 30 from 1973. Right now she isn't quite in bristol fashion, but that'll change in the next few months. One thing about boats though, if you're not handy, you have to be wealthy. They go hand in hand, especially with fixer uppers like you and I have (though me much more than you it seems ). Listen to the guys on these forums but temper all the advice with good hard reading. Good luck and keep us informed.

[sailingdog]

Listen to the guys on these forums but temper all the advice with good hard reading. Good luck and keep us informed.

But Dave, what we all say is gospel, straight from Neptune's mouth... I'm wounded that you would want to tamper with such wisdom...

[T34C]

Originally Posted by Saasaan

Any suggestions for bringing the silver railings back to a chrome look, they have some rust on it, not to worried about price, I would like to get them looking as good as possible, and the white hand rails should I just bleach them, they are pretty yellow now ?

Saasaan- Are you talking about the lifelines running down both sides of the boat?? If so, and if they are that old you may want to consider replacing them. It is possible for rust/corrosion to weaken the lifelines under the plastic coating where you can't see it. One of the sailing magazines, I think Good Old Boat, had an article recently on how to replace lifelines yourself. They recommended, as many do now, to use bare SS cable w/o the plastic coating to allow for better inspection. I'm sure someone else will know which mag. had the article.

[sailingdog]

I think he is talking about the pushpit and cockpit pulpit railings, not the lifelines...

[Saasaan]

Yea im talking about the lifelines that run around the boat, they are pretty sturdy, are the expensive to replace ? Is bleaching a bad idea?