New to Forum - Freedom 21

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Kraken
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2016 1:34 pm

New to Forum - Freedom 21

Post by Kraken »

New to the forum and Freedom Sailboats. I have traded for a Freedom 21 shoal draft. It is a 1983, hull #97 (if I am reading the hull serial number correctly). I did have a ‘89 17 foot Bayliner motor boat that I no longer used as the kids got older (youngest in college now). We tried to sell it but with no luck, so one day I posted on a trailer sailors FaceBook site to see if anyone wanted to trade for a sailboat of equal value. A guy in west TN had the Freedom 21 and was willing to do a trade. He had the boat for 3 years and did not know how to sail. He got the boat through a trade for work with an older gentleman. The last time the boat was in the water was about 10 years ago. It did include a ’96 Evinrude 8hp Yachtwin.

The boat is in a condition you would expect for its age.
Sails – Main is in great condition, but has an odd black eagle insignia on the sail? I looked at websites on sail insignias and cannot locate a boat it belongs to. The sail also has a ‘reconditioned’ tag on it so maybe it was an add-on to someone’s liking? It does measure within a couple of inches of the published spec on the sail. The stay sail is brand new, never installed, with sheets and gear. The spinnaker is in good condition with a small tear at the clew, sail tape should fix it.
Hull – scrapes and bumps. The bottom needs sanded and repainted. Previous owner started the process so kind off a mess, but easy to fix. A bad place in the cockpit seat where the core is mushy. I removed a section (about 10 X 5 inches) and dug out the bad core to let it dry out in this 90+ heat. I will fill and epoxy the section back in.
Motor – used 50:1 gas/oil ratio and started right up. A bit smoky so might try 75:1. Need to install a new anode. I was told the motor only have been used a couple times. Sure looks it with the cover off. And another oddity… The boat had two motor mounts? One brand new and the other in perfect shape… Took one off and will install a swim ladder.
Interior – Great shape, just need to rub down the wood. We will rewire the boat, install LED’s, and drop in a new battery. Plus, build the cockpit/galley table that is missing.
Trailer – is in good shape – rusty so a repaint may happen. Will repack the bearings and ensure tires are good. Last weekend we built fore and aft mast supports for trailering.

That’s about it. Really looking forward to getting this boat back in the water this fall! The Freedom is very intriguing – look forward to some 20 knot winds! I raced sailboats a lot, years ago, and have been sailboat-less for way too long.

Thumbs up and high five the crowd.
Phil
Huntsville, AL

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