I am in the process of replacing the cabin sole in my 1983 keel version F28 CK. In order to remove the old cabin sole I had to pretty much disassemble the entire interior because the floor boards extend underneath the joinery and are fiber glassed to the hull. While disassembling the port locker, in front of the diesel tank, I found that this locker has a false bottom. I assume I will find extra lead ballast under this false bottom. Does anybody know if this is how my boat left the plant in 1983, or if the lead was added afterwards to even out the boat? Has anybody else found extra ballast in this location?
The port locker in front of the diesel tank does indeed contain lead underneath the fake floor. Has anybody else seen ballast stored in this location? I am guessing there must be at least 200lbs of lead there.
What type of wood was used for the sub floor in the Freedom boats? What type of wood would be best for the sub floor beams? I have some rot on some of the beams that needs to be addressed, but generally the wood has stood up pretty good considering the age of the boat.
Jim D
I am in the middle of restoring a 1980 F28CK centerboard version. My cabin sole is teak & holly plywood (thin veneer). Most of my restoration has included removal and replacement of wet deck and cabin top balsa core (about 70% of the deck and cabin top). The deck is restored and repainted and I will repaint the topsides this spring. A word of advise; check and rebed all of your deck hardware!
My cabin sole is teak/holly veneer plywood as well. I am wondering what wood was used for the structure underneath the cabin sole. Is it oak?
I plan to rebed all the deck hardware in the spring.
Jim D
I haven’t seen the supports under mine so i can’t comment.
I did some repairs on my cabin sole and the subfloor supports underneath many years ago, when the mast leaked on my 32 and rotted some wood. The sub floor wood was easy to cut and shape (it certainly isn’t oak or some other very dense, hard wood) and it didn’t show much grain. It wasn’t a pine species. My guess: It is probably Poplar.
I think you are right about the wood being poplar Rick. I brought a piece of wood to work today and showed a colleague who knows about wood, and he also thinks it is poplar.
Thank you
Jim D
When I redid my 1986 Freedom 36 in 2001 I replaced the floor timbers with 2 x 4 poplar which is a hardwood used in furniture and boat building. I cut them to fit and coated with west epoxy to seal against moiture before installing. See photo. The light colerd wood in photo is the poplar floor timbers.
Rich Fontaine
s/v Liberte
Portsmouth, RI
Nice work Rich, I will stick with poplar and was indeed planning to seal it with epoxy prior to installation.
I assume the teak and holly floor boards you posted for sale are long gone?
Does anybody have a good source for 1/2 teak and holly marine plywood. I am looking for one or two 4ft x8ft sheets.
Jim D
On my f28ck centerboard version, all subfloor structure is fiberglass. Beams are L shaped massive fiberglass things. I guess it is because they take loads from centerboard trunk. No wood down there.
All my ballast is under floor too, there is no misterious side ballast.
Jim, are you sure it is lead?
yes, definitely lead. I think the lead might be counter ballast for the 50 gal water tank on starboard.
Jim D
Regarding the sole/subfloor and supports - I had to delay launching my 39ph due to a diesel tank leak which meant pulling it all up. The sole is teak and holly (actually the holly is really maple, not sure why the suppliers made the switch but its the naming convention). The subflooring on mine was 3/4" exterior plywood. In most cases marine ply is used, but exterior grade is ok since the only difference is there are voids and knots present in exterior grade and not in marine - the glue is usually the same. Unfortunately TPI epoxied the T&H along with screwing down making reuse just about impossible. The main ‘glassed in cross-members down in the bilge are a dense and somewhat dark hardwood most likely oak. I was surprised to find the longer cross-members over the top of the tanks were 2x2 white clear wood. This was spruce. This was cut from larger stock to match the contour near the hull. Poplar was used to back all corner joints in floor as well as interior cabinet work. The raised portions of the nav station and settee were the same. Overall, everything held up amazingly well even though it sat under water (interior had a few feet of rain water while yard owned) for a couple years. There was only some signs of mold and the very beginnings of rot unlike the rest of the cabinet work which was veneered interior grade plywood (and was a total loss). Basically other manufacturers are the same. T&H is readily available via catalog or online. All other wood should be available (or at least can be obtained) at local lumber yards. I found that shipping marine plywood made it cost ineffective and the ‘expensive’ local guys were about the same total price and easier to transport to the boat yard. One of the guys at the boatyard seals all his wood prior to install (I try to always edge seal to prevent wicking). We agree that’s overkill, especially since the OEM stuff held up well. HTH
-Dean
Nothing like reviving an 8-year-old thread, but can someone with a 28CK CB boat tell me how to remove the floorboards? Can’t for the like of me figure out how to remove them. PO has 3 random holes cut, but I can’t seem to find any fasteners…
Completely removing the floorboards on my Freedom 28 CK (keel version) was a big undertaking, because the floorboards extend way underneath the Port and STB settees. For me, this meant totally disassembling the entire cabin, from the head back.
If I were to do this job over again,and the settees were in good shape, I would cut vertically along all settees with a vibratory tool to keep the settees intact. I also used the vibratory saw to cut through screws I could not remove conventionally. BTW, my second F28CK has the same added lead on the port side as the lead that started this thread.
Happy sailing
Jim D.
Thanks, Jim-
My centerboard model doesn’t have floorboards that extend under the settees. The interior liner extends from the base of the settees, curving from vertical to horizontal, and then appears to turn down into a lip that supports the boards, making a flush transition between the two. No visible screws or way to pull them up. I’m thinking they’re somehow bonded in place…
Jeff
Have you searched carefully for plugs concealing the heads of the screws? If the job was done properly they may be very hard to spot. My UK built F30 CK had screws holding the floorboards down (somebody took them out long ago). For some mysterious reason the floorboard aft of the centreboard trunk was fitted before the mast step, so I haven’t planned to try taking it up to look underneath.
I’ll get down and look more closely, maybe a sponge and a bucket will help!
On my 1980 f28ck floor just glued to underlying fiberglass.
It is 1/4 inch sheet of plywood.
Also mizzenmast step is set on top of the plywood.
Yep=I looked a couple days ago, and there are no screw heads/plugs down there. P/O cut a few access holes, and the flooring is a lot thicker than 1/4" on mine…Maybe closer to an inch?