SailNet Community banner
  • SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

Cal 21 Owners

47K views 140 replies 23 participants last post by  Arcb 
#1 ·
Doesn't seem like there are too many of us running around on the internets. She doesn't seem to have as big of a following as the other Cal boats, but I'm sure that's just due to the limited production run.

Curious if anyone knows of a email group or something similar for Cal 21 owners? Or, if none exists if anyone would be interested in starting one with me?
 
#109 ·
Hello Stermp ,
Just offering a friendly wave as someone else who took on a Cal 21 this year. Mine will be a little more of a project than yours .It's been gutted, and stripped of hardware (Most of it was pretty crusty anyway we have the rigging, been demasted at some point, had extensive keel housing damage and missing mainsail and boom. I affectionately call her "Humpty Dumpty" but I'm having fun trying to put humpty together again. I'll post some pics when I have time. Still time to go out once more for pictures and maybe a few more repairs. Making her watertight is the first task, addressing the keel, and getting her on the water so I can fit her out properly in front of my home , are on the priority list.Mast is non- original as is the "mast step" They're wonderfully simple boats however .
My ownership may only serve to complicate things more!

Pictures of this hot mess sure to follow, I've taken quite a few already and some short video clips
 
#110 ·
So it's like a year later, how have we gotten on? Lots of progress, but hampered by distance and travel to where I currently have the boat stored. I've fixed some things, and most things are "in progress " somewhere but maybe not that far along.

Here's the story behind this boat, I went looking for a trailer sailor. I wanted something on the small side I could take my son ( 11) out on. My son is autistic and took a sudden interest in sailing a year or so ago. Cant do much but seems to be enjoying himself immensely as mostly ballast and passenger on our little laser.

So this woman approached me and said yes I have an old Cal 21 stored at my dad's place, but it's been Gutted. I'm sure you could fix it up but it proved more of a challenge than what me and my husband could do. It's $500 . And so, I bought the boat sight unseen. Knowing it was disassembled and in poor condition, The idea is to launch it locally here in Ottawa and take my son out for a weekend or two in the summertime.

So what did I buy for $500? Pretty much a stripped shell. All the pieces have been removed and a lot of them, are non-original tot he boat.

lets start with the keel housing, Followed up by where I got with it last summer:
 

Attachments

#111 · (Edited)
This is the only picture I had prior to buying the boat. Except the boat didnt look like this anymore. All the deck Spoiler alert, the mast is off of a catalina and the tabernackle is constructed of heavily welded plate amuninum I'm sure it's strong had been removed. I have a crrent picture of that tabernacle. That sure isnt original. , but the two or three bolt holes through the mast that looked like they were chewed by a beaver sure werent! So, I've done the math, determined that a good wind will crack that mast in half and the wires are so dodgy they all need to be replaced anyway. This made it easy. I went on the hunt for a new mast, and, I've succeeded! I purchased a cal 20 mast which should be identically rigged to the cal 21. It comes without the bottom part of the mast step however these are still avalable from Seals Spars.It does come with all the stay wires in good condition! I have to drive to Oshawa area to get it.
 

Attachments

#115 ·
Lots of time spent epoxy filling holes and sanding down bits. I'm not sold on the rubber antislip and I think its damaged so it will probably be a kiwigrip application.Lots of time has been spent filling holes with thickened epoxy and removing a million screws from alog under the toerail. All these sharp ends are in the inside of the hull. I've removed most of them ( to be replaced with stainless bolts and washers) but there seem to be some that are holding in a piece of foam between the hull sections so the screw heads arent accessible. All te other holes have been filled with thickened epoxy and bolts will replace them . I'm really concerned about water ingress along the joint when heeled over . The access covers have been replaced. I got replacement jib sheet pulleys for the tracks and new LED navigation lights. I've made patterns to replace some of the bulkheads inside but not put together the replacement pieces of marine plywood yet. I've a lot of work ahead of me. I've long since determined any budget is meaningless, and I'm just fixing it to as close to original as possible. It's my hobby and the very definition of a "project boat".
 

Attachments

#117 · (Edited)
go back to page 11 Paul the pictures are there. before and after ( well as it stands currently) . Still to do, drop the keel, work the repair from outside the hull.

I'll explain what you are seeing in the first pictures. The repair area around the securing bolts was ground down almost to the gelcoat, then alternating pieced of chopped matt and woven fiberglass were laid up over the thin remaining fiberglass. It took me all day from breakfast through to 8 at night to let each of the layers kick off before laying the next. I'll need to drill out for the new securing pin for the keel. The Keel bolt looks in good condition and maay have only been in the water briefly if at all, Stiff plastic was used inside the keel housing in order to provide structure to mould around and removed afterwards. It was an ambitious first project at fiberglassing :)

I should also mention the keel winch timber is teak, and almost rotted through. It will need replacing and I'm considering installing an electric keel winch. Most of the rest of the rigging replacements have been purchased but not installed for the most part. I need to finish the fiberglass work so I can paint the deck before any of the new shiney bits can be installed.
 
#118 ·
I recently acquired a cal 21. I believe her to be built in 1969 #24 is on the main sail and is also stamped on the inside of the hull on the transom. Like everyone else there is rotted wood in the cabin. I have a question about an outboard motor. Should it be a long shaft or will a short shaft work?
I have attached pics of her when I bought it. Outside picture when I brought her home.
Water transportation Vehicle Boat Skiff Watercraft

Here is some pictures of the cabin and inside the hull
 

Attachments

#119 ·
I recently acquired a cal 21. I believe her to be built in 1969 #24 is on the main sail and is also stamped on the inside of the hull on the transom. Like everyone else there is rotted wood in the cabin. I have a question about an outboard motor. Should it be a long shaft or will a short shaft work?
I have attached pics of her when I bought it. Outside picture when I brought her home.
View attachment 122342
Here is some pictures of the cabin and inside the hull
Hi Silver!
Yes, that is some rot!
Pretty much the entirety of the interior woodwork has to be ripped out, and new wood tabbed in.
I faced pretty much exactly what you have there, except that a previous owner had already ripped out all the bulkheads chainplates and all the wood in general. So it's really interesting to see your pics, you have an advantage over me in that your "templates" for the replacement wood is still in place. Use this to your advantage, take lots of pictures and paper templates of the bulkhead so you can make new ones out of marine plywood.

I wasnt aware there was a bulkhead across underneath the ccockpit sole by the end of the quarter berth.I was aware of the longitudinal piece running from the end of the keel housing . It would be useful to see the section where the keel housing is inside under the compression post I have some questions on it's original construction.
 
#120 ·
Seana,
I will try and take some more pictures of the inside to help you out during the day. You are correct about making patterns.
One thing I learned today reading a lot of posts is it's not a good idea to sail without those pieces intact. Sounds like it puts stress on the hull.
I'm still trying to find out if I need a long shaft outboard motor or if a regular or short shaft would work.
 
#124 ·
I dont know about interior damage per se...it's just not there! I'm sure whatever firepit it got thrown into it was just as rotted as yours :)
I'm in Ottawa Canada and "Humpty Dumpty" as I affectionately call her is in a local rural area called Almonte. I get cheap storage in the same field I bought her out of and go out when I have time to work on it. Yes, it'll be a Lot of work from the leaking portlights to the stripped off hardware and mismatched mast ( I bought a new one off a cal 20 complete with stays!) but as It's only ever meant to be something to camp out on the water on the odd weekend in the summer, I'm sure it'll be fine. Was only meant as a bit of a fun project, and I dont really care what it ends up costing me at this point. I'll always have more into the boat than its value, but that is boat ownership.

Seana
 
#125 · (Edited)
Also, looking at your pic its very clear to see the center piece of plywood is contiguous. In the corner where it crosses the bulkhead are each of these plywood cut with a slot? Are the side bulkheads seperate pieces ( they look a different grain) . Details of the original joinery in this area would be VERY helpful especially as strength is through the design. Lots of epoxy needed over the new wood. I'm considering encapsulating it in fiberglass so this never has to be done again.

The only advantage you have over me is having the original to use as a pattern. You're actually going to have to do just as much work as almost all of your wood is going to need to be ripped out to get to the point I am at now.
 
#129 · (Edited)
I did use a short-shaft outboard temporarily a couple of times on our CAL 21, it will work in a pinch, but is FAR from ideal! Even with a long-shaft the prop will sometimes come close to coming out of the water as you move forward to the bow to pick up a mooring or other line handling tasks. At hull speed the short-shaft will be deep enough usually, but at slower speeds the transom rises enough that without having everyone sit near the aft end of the cockpit, you will barely get the lower unit and prop deep enough. A 20-inch (long-shaft) is definitely needed, a 25" Extra-longshaft is not really needed, but would nearly always prevent the prop from coming out of the water, Still I'd have confidence in the 20" as long-enough (standard, or short-shaft is 15"). We started out in 1970 with a British Seagull "long-shaft" SILVER-CENTURY (about 4-5HP) model that actually had a 22" shaft. Replaced in 1981 with a 20" shaft Johnson 4.5hp which worked fine 99.9% of the time. Replaced that (after overheating damage) with a Johnson 4 DLX with the 20" shaft (4DLX was really same as the 4.5 HP, just slightly less HP). When we sold our CAL 21 in 2008 that 4DLX was still running fine, but new owner ultimately moved up to a 6hp. I wouldn't put more than a 6 HP on a CAL 21, more HP really won't push her any faster (and I'm not sure how much faster a 6 would be than the 4.5 we had, but the extra "oomph" would be good in reserve). Incidently, I didn't notice that the owner of that CAL 21 with the short-shaft outboard replaced the decals at some time, that is a 6hp or 7.5, maybe an 8hp.. but NOT a 9.9 <GRIN!>.

In the picture of the top of the keel well: the brass plates on each side were added by my Dad to better secure the bushings for our modified keel locking bolt. Original fiberglass bosses (reeforcements) had sheared off many years prior when we hit a rock with the keel. New locking bolt was 1/4" brass and designed to shear on impact, unlike the original 5/8" stainless bolt (or even hte 5/8" monel bolt that we replaced the ss one with. The Monel bolt bent from the impact. CAL 21 keel really does need to be locked down under sail for proper use and saves some wear and tear on the pivot since keel stays fixed instead of constantly moving against pivot.
 

Attachments

#130 ·
Rjohnson,
Thanks for the reply. I bought my Cal 21 for $800.00. Came with orig main sail, jib and a Genoa along with the trailer. The sails are in good condition. My brother was given a 7.5 Ted Williams outboard motor years ago and never used it. I was hoping I could use it on the Cal 21. I am currently resurrecting the motor, rusted gas tank replacing, rebuilding the carb, cleaned out the old gear lube and installing a new impeller. Was hoping I could get by with this motor. I guess once I launch the boat I will find out for sure.
Thanks for posting the pictures of the different length shafts.
Silver
 
#132 · (Edited)
When the wind is blowing strong, the CAL 21 sails pretty good with just the mainsail, or with the main reefed and using a smaller jib (like the 110% "working jib". You may not point as high under just main, but sometimes laying off just a little (and retrimming the set of the sails) make it a lot more comfortable and boat often goes faster when nor over-canvassed! One thing that 38 years of CAL 21 sailing experience can teach you! <GRIN!> Oh, and a boom vang to help flatten the sail will also make it more comfortable in higher winds. With 360# of lead at the bottom of her keel, the CAL 21 is pretty stable, but seems to heel just so far..... then stiffens up. A quick gust may lay her over if she isn't moving fast enough to "shake it off", but letting go the sheets lets her come back upright easily. We did take a couple of water flooding the cockpit knockdowns over the years, but never had her go beyond that. Had water inside after one, but only because it flowed in through a vent that we had on the inside of the cockpit coaming, and even then it wasn't much. I was surprised to find that she heeled less with 2 persons aboard than with one...... surprised because that was even with the second person sitting on leeward side.

The 21 really won't plane, at least not like my current O'DAY Day Sailer (centerboard) but like most Lapworth-designed CALs, she will SURF! WOOOOW!
 
#133 ·
Well after trying to resurrect the Ted Williams 7.5 hp that was a no go, I bough a Nissan 9.9. Took the boat out on the Lake yesterday. Had good winds and a lot of fun. My question is how do I release the chain from the keel and then how do I reattach it. I sailed for 3 hours, got a sunburn and had the winch in place the whole time.
I'm thinking of using a D shackle to release the chain from the winch, attaching it to the inner side of the opening where keel rises up to.
Anybody have any better ideas?

Silver
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top