My first boat- 28' Newport

SailingSouth180 · #1 02-19-2013

Hi all,

After many years of searching every pond and hidden hole in Florida, I have finally found a boat (or did she find me?) After many failed trips ranging from 30min to 5 hours, I have found my boat 10 min away. She is a solid hull boat with minor jobs feasible for me to tackle. While she was already sea worthy, I have decided to replace the bulkhead and tear down the kitchenette and make it my own. Along the way (in my young 3 weeks of owning her) I have already torn out all electrical wiring and all teak trim to refinish...what a fun job though, my dream has come true.

Faster · #2 02-19-2013

Welcome... they are pretty, good starter boats.. Hard to beat that era of C&C design.

GMC · #3 02-19-2013

Nice. Keep us posted on bulkhead project. I dread that chore and it is coming soon.

rhr1956 · #4 02-19-2013

Hello there South180. Sounds like you got yourself plenty to occupy your time with. I just replaced the main bulkhead (port side) on my Pearson. Like your boat, a deck stepped mast. It wasn't too difficult...in fact it was easy after getting the original bulkhead out of the boat. Removing the compression posts and header beam were pretty straightforward. Getting the fiberglass tabbing cut completely free was the chore that offered the most resistance. Getting the right tool was the trick. I used an oscillating tool. There are many brands available with Fein considered to be top of the line. I used a Makita. The blade I found that did the trick was THIS ONE. I was able to get the blade flat against the hull and it cut through the tabbing like butter. For what it's worth...
Have fun!

SailingSouth180 · #5 02-19-2013

I really appreciate all the information. Getting the bulkhead out was actually very easy (much like you said). Because of the water damage, there was virtually nothing to clean after the initial removal. With that being said, the original bulkhead was too worn to even trace for a new copy, so I am forced to use a cardboard sheet to manually trace/create a new one. I am new at this, but my girlfriends father has owned several boats and is helping me with the instillation. I hope all goes Smoothly. Fingers crossed!