wish bone to boom converstion

[numbknots]

C,

No that is my real picture they must have copied mine. Handsome mug no? But really someday I probably will wish it was me. Seemed fun, I just liked it. Numbknots

[Michel]

Hi Chandler, thanks for your compliments. Buying a boat that you really like, makes you do the things like I did. A boat may perhaps be more rewarding to your investments than a wife.
If you opt for bronze ports take into account that these are very expensive and have the same glass and rubber seal as the plastic ones. They are not more watertight. And they don't show any flexibility towards the hull that may distort a bit now and then. Bronze ports break their seals in that case.

You state that you want to make wooden hatches..... are you serious?

About your head liner: molded plywood does not exist, as far as I know. You have two options, either plywood (which will rot over time) with vinyl glued to it or foamed PVC sheets. Search this board to find pros and cons and lovers and haters of both approaches.

Re your Q about the state of the boat when I found her:
I bought the boat in Mobile, AL (hence the name I gave her) as a victim of hurricane Katrina. Both masts were sawn through halfway by an overhead powerline (the tensioning wire, that is, the electricity lines snapped) close to the mastheads. The boat floated off her stands and was parked by the flood with the masts against the powerline. She sat there for a few weeks. Topsides full of scratches and dents, some into the balsa. Deck was crazed by brittle gel coat and 25 odd years of tropical sun. Interior was as can be expected in a 25 year old boat. Freedom build quality is excellent on these boats, hull, deck and interior so it's worth the job to restore an older Freedom. Headliners were completely rotted away by condensation caused by the air conditioner. You could freeze fish in the saloon if you set the airco at high. Unfortunately it stopped working and is hard to repair because the cold agent is now illegal in Europe.

[chandler]

Michel
Molded ply wood I was speaking of is any ply with a molded texture, i.e tongue and groove or bead board. It won't rot any faster than the rest of the ply in a freedom, which is abundant throughout the boats.
Wood hatches? Yes I'm serious!
The 82 freedom 33 has a lot of wood, rubrails, toerails, grab rails,etc. I don't think they would be out of place.
Bronze port lights? It's not the frp that moves, it's the bronze, the reason most builders use plastic thru hulls.
Bronze port lights are actually cheaper here than lewmar plastic ports, $150 per compared to 200+
The 33 is not as modern looking as the flush deck 44. I've seen 44s with teak decks, now thats a bad idea!
I see on another thread you are a fan of "Roxane". My dream boat, but as you mentioned too little accommodations.
I've been working on a design of my own for 6 years based on "roxane" but can't seem to get the p.c. within more than a tub with accommodations that I'm comfortable with.
The Roxanes and Romilly's being built in the Netherlands have wood and bronze throughout on deck.

[Michel]

Chandler,

We have more things in common than I thought. Yes I was and remain a fan of Nigel Iren's Roxanne and Romilly. When I'm old and want to daysail on the lakes here, I buy one of these.

It's not that I dislike wooden hatches, on the contrary, but they are very difficult to make and difficult to keep watertight. The British magazine Classic Boat had an excellent article on making wooden hatches once. Perhaps 15 years ago? Can't remember. Perhaps you can still get a copy of it from the publishers. But anyhow, I think wooden deck hatches are nowhere as seaworthy as metal hatches. One of my sailing friends sailed the OSTAR 2009 in his selfmade boat with a large wooden deck hatch. Note that this guy is a marine engineer by profession and knows his stuff. His 2' x 2' fore deck hatch was swept off the deck completely some 700 nm off Ireland by a wave hitting the seam. He screwed and caulked a floorboard onto the hole and completed the race.

And if you can get bronze ports for a good price, It's certainly adding something to your boat. But I would think bronze is much stiffer than plastic for ports.

A teak deck on a any boat is eye candy for me, but even so I'm glad I have painted decks!

[numbknots]

A friend of mine has a Hans Christian in Sullivans Island S.C. with teak decks. The p/o sailed all around the world and when he made land fall in Thialand he had all the teak decks removed and replaced with new teak decks that were glued down instead of screwed down. One way to eliminate the leaks. Labor and teak must be cheap over there. Numbknots

[chandler]

Yes they are
Checkout a thread on woodenboat forums about a schooner being built in Vietnam,
I'm not sure I agree with the premise but a guy is having a large schooner built in vietnam for next to nothing. Alot of good pics worth taking a look at.

[Rick Strand]

Hi Chandler,

I am the engineer that did the structural design of many of the Freedom masts. The only reliable way to check a used CF mast is using an ultrasound. There are few people in New England with this capability. I implemented the first ultrasound QC program for all Freedom masts in 1983. If your masts are older, they never had this kind of check. IF you don't have any circumfrencial cracks you are in good shape. Some laminate changes were made to eliminate that problem in the early 80's. I have ultrasound equipment and could check your masts for you.

Rick

[midnightsailor]

Rick S.
I own a 1982 Freedom 33CK with standard booms and the stainless circumferential attachment band. My mast does have some cracks that goe around the circumference of the mast. They are very fine and not too noticable unless you are up close, they are also only evident from a few feet above the boom and upward, but not sure how far up the mast they extend. I would be interested in getting in touch regarding having them ultrasound examined. I can be reached at slooprdv at gee maile dot com. BTW, I keepmy boat in Greenport, NY, Rick V

[GeoffSchultz]

MidnightSailor,

I would send Rick Strand an e-mail via this forum. He may not be monitoring this thread. Simply click on on the "E-mail" icon under his post.

-- Geoff

[midnightsailor]

Geoff, thanks for the tip, I will do that. Still fairly new to these forums., I can't tell you how many threads I have replied to , and spent a lot of time and thought composing them, only to have them dissappear on me when I go to post them.. . I learning to write shorter posts to be safe now Rick