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Venture 17 restoration

83K views 299 replies 30 participants last post by  NickMo 
#1 ·
Here are some of the pictures of my restoration project ( more like resurection), of my Venture 17 a couple of years ago.

link:IMGP0610 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

You can click the icon for Venture resto if you don't want to see all my other stuff.
 
#39 ·
Yeah, I had a couple of market style umbrellas that the fabric finally gave in to the stresses of weather. The teak was still in good condition. So all of the teak on my boat came from those. Hows that for recycling ?:D
 
#47 ·
hey guys, I just wanted to say you have all inspired me, and you may have single handedly saved my '72 from a scrap yard... I bought this last year for $300, and I'm sure I got what I paid for. when I bought it, I had to pump out a few hundred gallons (I'm guessing) of water, as it has no cabin door and a major (or a few) storms had come through and sunk it. The pond it was in was shallow enough that boat didn't sink, but the cabin was about half full of water... Anywho, it has a main sail that doesn't belong, no jib or other sail for that matter, no forestay (its a rope) missing some hardware I'm sure, and very dirty.

Anyway, I'm also new to sailing and bought this boat as my entry, as it was advertised "sailable" which, I suppose it could be, sort of... But I'm going to get started on getting all the parts and hardware together and installed properly, and take it for a few sails before I start painting.

What I want to know is how the heck do you take the deck of. I have never heard of that, and when looking at someones rebuild project (I'm sorry, i don't know whos, but it is saved under my favorites) and they had done that, then this last pic of it elevated, I think my job may have just become easier...

I'm glad to be in such company as yours, seriously!
 
#48 ·
separating the deck from the hull is pretty easy.

remove any shelves and molding (you've probably got woodgrain vinyl over thin plywood) covering the joint on the interior and you'll see there's about 100 bolts coming through from the exterior. pull the vinyl rub rail insert from the aluminum rubrail on the exterior, and you'll see the flathead bolts. get a partner and unbolt all those... after doing that i worked the joint from the exterior with a stiff putty knife and it pretty much popped loose... yours s/b pretty easy after a long soak. ;)

other than that, all you've got holding the deck to the hull are the mast support and the cockpit drain/support pillar... good luck
 
#49 ·
That sounds easy enough... Is it easy to put back on? I'm assuming just the reverse. About the drain tube, I don't remember that, but I saw a compressed one on the V17 that the deck had sunk on, any tricks for that, or just as simple? Also, I don't have a mast support... Should I? the deck seems solid, just missing paint...
 
#50 ·
I'm a long way off from this, but paint. I've been reading all your posts on rehabs, and I've read Epoxy, latex acrylic, I haven't heard anybody say anything about gelcoat? I have a $300 boat, I'm not looking to sink a ton of money in it (which I will anyway I'm sure) but what looks good, will last well enough, and be acceptable for resale. Also, someone somewhere did (I think) something called ice blue for their textured grip areas. Mine was white with blue, and I would like it to be again. Any thoughts?
 
#51 · (Edited)
Hey AJ

Hey AJ...
Did you read all the posts on this thread? If not, go back to the first one and look at all my pictures. I documented most of what I did. I didn't use words, just pictures, cause, ... ya' know, their worth a thousand words...:D
Anyway, if you read all the posts you will see that I used acrylic latex paint the second time around, with very good results, and you can't beat the price. And the center post, under the mast, definitely needs to be there. I put a new one in mine. I used an oak stair rail post from Lowes but anything will do.
I look forward to seeing some pictures of your boat. I started this thread , with the intention of drawing some of you guys out of the woodwork. I am so glad it's working. If this keeps up we'll have to start a V-17 club or something :)
 
#53 · (Edited)
Cool, You have a good platform to start on. The holes in the fore deck came from having the bow pulpit ripped off. The fore stay is supposed to attach to the bracket on your mast that you said you don't know what it is. There is a bolt that connects both of those side pieces and a block ( pulley) goes on that bolt for your jib halyard and the forestay also attaches to that bolt. I don't think I've got a good picture of that. I'll take one and post it.
 
#54 ·
#57 ·
So the bolt is as simple as a hex bolt from Home Depot? Is that a regular nut or a lock nut? And the forestay loop just goes straight on there, or is there a block there too?

After I went back and looked at ALL your pics (which I missed somehow, I saw most of them) I have lots of questions... hehehe

What is the steel I beam under the bow?
On your new wood sitting area in the front of the cabin, you put fiberglass off the walls straight onto the wood? Why?

Okay, you used acrylic enamel house paint for the white, what about the black bottom paint and trim?

What color did you stain the wood pieces, and where would I find teak replacement wood?

On the keel, you installed a copper pipe? Did you J.B. Weld that?

and the toe strikers, are those just screwed into the deck? Do all the screw holes get sealed somehow?

Final question (for now) do you or anyone have a bilge pump installed? Any thoughts on the matter?

I love the research aspect of the project, that way hopefully I have thought through most of the "big" things first, and then ask smaller questions as those things pop up.
Thanks for you input!
 
#56 · (Edited)
Thanks for these pics Joe! I couldn't see them via the links in your original post; just the finished product. that's a lot of nice work.

it's going well here... a lot of sanding/grinding right now. the goal is to make her as stout as possible, so it's more mods than repairs. i'll be doing a lot of sailing on lake dillon and lake granby, which are at about 9k and 8k feet respectively. winds blow hard enough to force boats off the water daily, and I want to be able to hang as long as possible w/o breaking anything.

i'll post some update pics this weekend... didn't get the camera out last time.
 
#61 ·
Thanks for these pics Joe! I couldn't see them via the links in your original post; just the finished product. that's a lot of nice work.

it's going well here... a lot of sanding/grinding right now. the goal is to make her as stout as possible, so it's more mods than repairs. i'll be doing a lot of sailing on lake dillon and lake granby, which are at about 9k and 8k feet respectively. winds blow hard enough to force boats off the water daily, and I want to be able to hang as long as possible w/o breaking anything.

i'll post some update pics this weekend... didn't get the camera out last time.
Yikes. I hope you can keep her upright. Sounds exciting
 
#62 ·
Hey, does anyone on here have an extra Jib sail that they don't use, don't need that they would sell? And/or a main sail too, I suppose because I got word that the mainsail I got with my boat is from an Apollo, and its ripped anyway. I was going to have my wife patch it, but if anyone has one to sell used that functions, I will probably want/need them by the time I'm done making it pretty again.
 
#88 ·
Ajsemtb, you might try calling Bacon & Associates in Annapolos. They may have something in their used sails inventory that'd work or perhaps be cut-down. Always most helpful staff. And, they'll ship. Bacon Sails & Marine Supplies

******************​

Seeing and reading this thread has been fun. I learned most of what I know sailing with my dad/family on our 1968 24' Venture.


Here's September Song in front of our house on the ICW in Lake Worth, FL.


My dad was a traveling salesman in Florida and would trail her to various parts of the state and use it as his floating motel and occassionally would invite his customers for a sail (sure fire way to close the deal!).

Thanks for the smile today! :) Great pictures of your work(s)-in-progress and I'll be checking back for updates on your Ventures!

Michele
 
#67 ·
Yea I think they are pretty good in all respects. I like the keel design in concept, but I've always wondered if they are stable enough without the weight being down as low as a swing keel.
 
#69 ·
No, they have a centerboard for the purpose of reducing leeway, but the weighted area is in a stub keel along the bottom of the hull.
There could be exceptions of coarse, but the ones I have looked at were that way.
 
#70 ·
This one appears to be a heavy keel i may be wrong about the boat it looks like a swing keel the pivot looks like its outside of the boat. Also it does have small cabin that the part that sticks up is very rounded. It also has a large cockpit for the boat size it has pull i guess toe rails as well as a pulpit. The boat is white deck with yellow gelcoat bottom btw i belive thats the original color at this point.
 
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