5hortBu5 Buys a Boat

[5hortBu5]

I went and did it.

I drove about 1.5 hours north of me and bought a 1974 O'Day Javelin. I got her home safe, and almost immediately turned around and ran to the boat launch on the Cooper River here in South Jersey.

We rigged her up without too many snags, launched and sailed for about an hour in a gusty mess of a day. Let me tell you, skippering a dinghy on a gusty day is a little more intense than manning the jib sheets on a 32 footer.

Things I did right:

• Rigging
• Launching

Things I did wrong:

• dragged the rudder for a few feet in the parking lot (I didn't expect it to kick down)
• Forgot to put the centerboard down until I was in the middle of the river, wondering why I was making no headway.
• Cleated the mainsheet where I couldn't uncleat it quickly (more on that in a sec)
• Forgot my cell phone was in my pocket until -after- we swamped

Things that need work:

• The starboard shroud's turnbuckle is jammed. Need to get on it with some penetrating oil.
• The centerboard is a rusty mess, and they retail for twice what I just paid for the boat. I wonder if I can get one fabricated for less.
• The mainsheet cam cleat doesn't hold the rope. This is the killer. I couldn't point at all today, because any attempt to haul her in close just slipped. Hence, the cleating of the main. We got a puff, and I couldn't ease it quick enough to keep the starboard quarter from dipping under the water and sucking in a bunch of the Cooper. I had to bail with my girlfriend's water bottle

Rigging, launching, sailing and de-rigging all took about 2.5 hours. It was a good day, and I think my lady is hooked

[Allanbc]

Sounds like a good first trip!

[CalebD]

If you didn't break anything, were able to set up, launch, sail and get the boat back on the trailer without anyone getting hurt you really had a good day.
Do you launch the boat at the Cooper River Park?

The time it takes you to launch and 'de-rig' the boat will get to be less and less the more you do it.

I found this picture of an O'Day Javelin on the web: O'Day Javelin, 1973, Jacksonville, Florida sailboat for sale, yacht for sale
It looks like your main sheet has a fairly standard 'double fiddle block with becket and cam cleat' for the lower sheet hardware. The cam cleat part must be what is not grabbing the sheet (two little spring loaded jaws). Before you do anything you should see if you can clean and oil the cam cleat jaws. There may be screws that hold them in place that you can loosen and then clean out any crud that has accumulated there - just be careful you don't loose the spring mechanism that tensions them. Lots of WD 40, a Q tip or 2 and a rag may be all that it takes to get the jaws to 'bite' again so the sheet holds tight when cleated. If this piece of hardware is working it will be much easier to control your main sail and boat.
If you want to price a new unit for this look here: Garhauer Marine Hardware -1530772
but all that is wrong with your current hardware is probably a little cleaning and lubing.
As to your centerboard being a hunk of rust: I'd tackle that this winter when you don't want to be sailing. When that time comes you will want to get a wire brush attachment for a drill or grinder and grind off as much rust as you can, then treat the metal with Ospho, Naval Jelly to deactivate the rusting process, then you could either just paint it our coat it in epoxy/cloth (and paint the epoxied surface). This would also give you time to find a cheaper alternative to buying a new replacement (finding a good metal shop that will do it for a decent price is a good idea).
An empty bleach or laundry detergent bottle with the bottom cut off makes a wonderful bailer.
Congrats on your new boat!

[smackdaddy]

Congrats short! Very nice!!!

Do me a favor and dump that in the BFS thread (either that or I'll steal it myself). That's what it's all about dude!

[5hortBu5]

So, in chatting with some sailing buddies, and some internet sleuthing, I managed to find the original rigging instructions for the Javelin. Turns out the PO had the mainsheet all wrong, and I had 1:1 purchase at the *center* of the boom. No wonder I had such trouble keeping her sheeted in!

Edit: Oh, and CalebD: That image is actually an aftermarket setup. The stock rigging makes use of a couple of swivel blocks on the outside corners of the transom. It's crazy looking, but I'm gonna give it a shot. I *think* the stock setup will get me 3:1 purchase, and it'll get it out on the end of the boom where it oughtta be.

Holding the mainsheet fast was still definitely a hardware problem though. Upon disassembly, the spring for one of the cams disintegrated, and I found out just how busted the teeth on the cleats were. I did some buggering about, and sharpened up the cleat teeth, but without that spring, I think the original hardware is screwed, even with a new rig plan.

So, I hit up DRMarine and ordered a new swivel jammer for the main ($54, woo!), and it should arrive in the next couple of days. Here's hoping I can squeak a couple more sails out of the season.