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Hi, we too got a new/used Cal 21

23K views 61 replies 12 participants last post by  othomas3 
#1 ·
Hello folks, we got an old Cal 21 (Jensen) and I am planing on restoring it. I have been away from sailing for a few decades, but hey its like bike riding, you fall and learn real quick again.....LOL.

Any input is appreciated.

Has anyone come up with a solution of having a detachable winch for the keel?
I have a young daughter that I like to have roam in the cockpit without getting hurt.
???:confused:

We live at Lake Elsinore, CA anyone wanna let us tag along, once she's seaworthy again? We have been on the lake and boy it was fun, 18 month old daughter seams to be the born skipper......
 
#2 ·
Welcome back Bonito...

Howzit Cal sailor,
Welcome back to the fold (Sailing). I too recently returned from a long break of 15 years. I had a small fishing boat and finally decided to go back to sailing. Maybe wrap a PFD around the winch to pad it up or some other type cover. Enjoy the rest of the summer.
Aloha ka'kou,
Leonard
 

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#3 ·
Thank you fellow Skipper

Thank you fellow Skipper,
I have found a way, I will hide it underneath the berth/cockpit only part of the wire will show. I will post some pics when its done, right now, I tore all apart and its in pieces, LOL. Way to many.
 
#4 ·
18 month old daughter seams to be the born skipper......
Heh, most girls are ; -)

We are currently restoring our Cal28, and have her berthed on the bay. She's a bit big to trailer easily, but when we are all done with the sweat equity and grunt labour maybe you can trailer to the bay for a little weekend sailing and we can be a mini Cal fleet!
 
#6 ·
bonito,
I own a Cal 21 as well. Here's what your cockpit should look like absent the winch!


As you can see, and already know, it get's in the way unless you're just launching to do a quick day sail.


It's easy enough to get it out of the way, especially if you're to leave the keel lowered. You should have a board, a stout board, that spans the cockpit seats that a trailer winch is bolted on to. You can use it with the winch pointing down but it's easier if you have a hole cut in the board that your winch cable passes through and you'd then leave the winch upright.

What do you have on the aft end of your keel for the winch cable to attach to? I have a steel ring that was on the boat when I bought it. It's actually a piece of heavy steel rod bent and welded into a ring with a tail on it. The tail is embedded in the lead of the keel. Mine was adrift when I bought it and that made for some tense raising and lowering along with the need to keep a certain amount of tension on it to keep it in place. Some thickened epoxy took care of that and secured it quite well in the keel.

I tried line on the winch but soon went back to 1/8" aircraft cable from the local hardware store. But I still did not have a good method of securing it out of the way when sailing and my keel trunk grate did not fit properly or the keel stopper. The device below and a Home Depot boat hook (broom handle) solved that problem.


The previous owner was in the habit of diving over the side to attach and unhook the cable from the keel and I tried that for a season or two. But when you endeavor to sail as long as there is no ice on the lake, the prospect of diving into thirty degree water to attach the cable daunts.

With the grab and go hook I lower the keel and then release the hook, all from the cockpit. Reattaching it is a bit more of an effort, but I painted that ring international orange and I can see it well enough to hook it with the grab and go on the boat hook.

As mentioned, you should have a keel stopper, which is a long tapered board hinged to a shorter board, that resides in the keel well when your afloat. It does hold the keel somewhat in position if you have not pinned it in the cabin, but it mostly serves to keep the cockpit dry. The trunk footing or hatch cover sits over it and your feet stay dry. You'll see a bolt through the aft end of the keel well and that is designed to go through the short board off the hinged portion of the keel stopper.

Just for fun, here's a well known sailor experiencing the benefits of well trimmed sails and the boat virtually steering herself!


Here's the same fellow the week before Thanksgiving at the fall knockaroach, some time after we removed all the ice from the cockpit!


Here's the Emily Marie in more benign conditions.


Here are a couple of photos of some modifications that have occurred over the life of the boat to make it a bit more usable while sailing.




You can see the "pockets" in the gunwales in a previous photo.

Here's a link that will provide you with much information and will give you a schematic of the keel stopper if you're lacking one.
Cal 21 Sailboat

The boat is a bit tender and easy to over power but SailorTJK above will verify that you can have water pouring over the gunwale flooding the cockpit and she'll not go over. A reef in the main and you'll still more than keep up with anything of similar size out there. Simply put, if you cannot have fun sailing this boat you're likely to never have fun sailing a boat. You've got a keeper well worth any time you invest in her restoration.
 
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#7 ·
Thank you soo much!!!

I had a board over the keel hole in the cockpit, with the winch bolted on top of it. I took it off and I am thinking of running it from the inside, via some rollers, still in my mind and later replacing it with a electric winch to make it even easier and able to do for my wife too. Since now it takes too long to raise or lower it. The board was toast and fell apart soon, so I made I temporary new one, but didn't like it since water got in and the stumbling part having the winch there in the way. I still have to drop and inspect the keel and bearings. So I am still far from done, I am looking for any insight and a do appreciate all you have given especially with the photos, thanks.

Here's a link what she looks now, sort of naked:

MobileMe Gallery
 
#9 · (Edited)
You can probably come up with a boom from these guys. Seal's Spars and Rigging
If I remember correctly, the boom on the Cal 20 is the same length and design as the 21.

I probably wouldn't be sailing that boat until you get the framing back in it; you're missing the entire structure between the chain plates! When I haul my boat I'll take some pictures so you can see what you're missing in your's.
The good news is that everything is more than accessible now!

Here are some photos I took today of the winch...I didn't have time to pull the keel stopper but will take a photo of it so you can relate to the drawing you have of it.

I can understand your desire to move the sheet but you'd have to go to mid-boom sheeting so as to clear the tiller and I think you'd find that the traveler was then right in your way. I suspect that the pushpit that has been installed on your boat might interfere with the main sheet. The boat did not come with it or the lifelines. If you want to keep the lifelines, I'd secure them to the gunwale and get rid of the pushpit as I think it's just going to be in your way all the time.

Here is the keel slot. I had a slight leak between the cockpit deck and the keel slot. It leaked only when the boat was sitting on the trailer and not when it was in the water but it drove me nuts. I added the stainless steel flat stock that you see in the picture to reinforce it above and below after I separated the deck from the keel trunk and resealed it.


Here's a closer photo of it. Note that the winch you see is actually sitting athwartships across the cockpit seats and you're seeing it's reflection in the water in the keel well. You can see the aft end of the keel stopper secured inside the trunk by a wing nut to the threaded bolt through the aft end of the well. The portion you see is about a foot long and the hinge is on the bottom of it. The keel stopper is tapered at it's forward end and extends all the way forward to the aft end of the keel when the keel is in the lowered position. If you can get your boat up on boat stands, you can lower the keel and dry fit the stopper after you fabricate it.


Here's the winch and it's board sitting nearly in position for lifting the keel. You'll note the grab and go hook on it. The winch board spans the seats when raising and lowering and if the keel swings freely even your wife should be able to raise and lower it. Of course, the big concern is keeping a good grip on the winch handle and not letting it fly!


Here it is upside down and you can see the locating blocks and the hook. The light line attached to the hook is the release line for tripping it when the keel is lowered.


Here's the footing that covers the keel well once the keel is lowered and the keel stopper installed.



This is a view looking forward in the cockpit; you can see some of the interior that you're missing. I'd have moved things around and taken a better photo if I'd known that so much of your interior had been removed.


I'm very serious about not sailing that boat until you do quite a bit of structural work on it. You're missing two or three frames and the keelson forward of the keel trunk. The aft end looks marginally better but it appears that the aft frame has been cut out when the settees were removed. The boat is seriously structurally compromised as it exists now. You've quite a bit of marine plywood and fiberglass cloth work to do to restore her to a sound condition. It's all do-able of course if you've the time, patience, and a modest sum of money.
 
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#10 ·
Thanks for the picture, I did not sail it like that, I sailed it when all was still in there, but it was dry rotted, so I bound her to my driveway and started cutting all the dry rotted wood out and I will replace it one by one.
How does the keel stopper work? Just a piece of wood that keeps the keel from coming farther into the cockpit? Or is there more to it I don't understand?
I know I have some work to do, but given the age of the boat, I rather do it right and know it will float even in heavy winds/waters. Most of the bolts that hold the chainplates have been rusted through and the boxes inside, next to the keel, have been dry rotted so bad, that by hand they would crinkle like paper. So I cut it all out and will do some reconstruction, but with some modifications, since this is the best time to do it. That's why I want to know as much as I can to know what to do and what not to.....LOL.
 
#13 ·
Great pictures to both of you. I bought my cal 21 a year ago and still learning. I like the hatch in the cockpit. Looks like it allows you access to some of the area you can't get to without crawling. Looks like bonito has a little work ahead of him. If I can help in anyway let me know. I haven't had my cal out this year yet because I'm trying to catch up on all the maintenance to the boat. My cal was sitting for the last 8 years.
 
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