[heinzir]

Weird. This boat has been popping up all over recently- in the latest issue of SCA, and also in the Durabak thread in the "Gear" forum here.

That's probably because I got laid off last month and have been spending my time playing on the computer instead of looking for a job! Bad time to get laid off--I can't sail because the ice is 3ft thick and I can't afford to go where it's warm. Bummer!

I put the full article about Chiquita's sinking and some others in the Macgregor 23 Knowledge Base: MacgregorOwners.com - 23

 

[heinzir]

Thanks, Mike,

Nice to meet you too. I see that you are in NY. How did you originally hear about my article in "The Favored End?" It is a local newsletter of the White Bear Lake Yacht Club here in Minnesota. I had never heard of them but a guy I worked with is a member and he asked if they could run excerpts of the original article in "Great Lakes Sailor."

Chiquita is as good as ever. I have owned her for over 30 years but she is still a "work in progress." The dismasting took about a month out of my (already too short) sailing season. I replaced the mast and lived with the cosmetic damage until the fall. I redid and repainted the entire exterior that year and tackled the interior the following season. I'm pretty happy with the results but there are always new ideas to try out.

How long have you had your V222? I think the interior layout of your boat is the same as mine. They are reasonably comfortable boats, given their size. We used to trailer to Lake Superior or Lake Michigan every year but are now content to leave the boat on her mooring a couple of blocks from our house.

 

[heinzir]

Were the hatch boards in place? The picture indicates that the hatchway is large. And in any kind of seas they should have had it closed up. And then possibility they may not have sunk.

No, the hatchboards were not in place. And yes, having them in place could possibly have saved the boat. I included that in "Lessons Learned."

Note that the article in "The Favored End" is just an excerpt from the original article in "Great Lakes Sailor." See the full article here:
MacgregorOwners.com - 23

Don't be misled by the picture. The staff artist at the magazine used a little "artistic freedom" in his depiction. There were no seas of any size at all. Chiquita went down on a small inland lake. Even if the wind builds to 40+ knots there is not enough fetch for waves much bigger than 2 ft. Our biggest waves actually come from powerboat wakes. It was the wind, not waves, that caused the capsize. Local law enforcement called it "wind sheer."

Of course there are things I coulda shoulda done that would have avoided the situation altogether; I just never saw it coming. That's why I wrote the article and included the section "Lessons Learned." I'm older and (I think) wiser now but, like Chiquita, I am also a "work in progress."

 

[heinzir]

Awesome pictures! Thanks!

 

[heinzir]

Thanks for the compliment!​

I had been thinking about doing the wood ceiling thing for a long time and finally got around to doing it a couple of winters ago. I was able to remove the bulkheads from the boat to make the job easier -- they needed replacing anyway.​

I used 1/2" or 3/8" plywood cut into 1-1/2" strips for the backing ribs. I cut kerfs in them half way through from the back side to facilitate bending. I glued them into place with Gorilla Glue. Epoxy would have been better (it would have actually strengthened the hull) but the Gorilla Glue has held up ok so far. I put lengthwise backing strips along the sheer and at the berth tops.

I thought about putting some closed cell foam insulation between the ribs but just went ahead without it. I got lazy and didn't even remove all of the carpet liner in some places. (I had replaced the original carpet hull liner with a foam backed waterproof carpet some years ago so I knew it would not hold moisture.)​

The cedar I used is tongue and groove wainscotting from Menard's or Home Depot. I attached it to the ribs with brass screws starting at the bow with full size pieces at the top and cutting the lower ones to fit. It was not necessary to get a perfect fit at the bottom since the berth cushions would cover that area. I cut the cedar ends off square at one of the ribs to make a uniform seam of butt joints that could be covered with a single batten.

The picture shows the unfinished cedar going in for a trial fit. I ended up pre-finishing all of the cedar in my garage with a couple of coats of varnish before installation.​

Henry​