summary :
in 2009, I’ve bought a Freedom 33 locaded in Bristol.
After crossing the Atlantic (with little problems…) and reaching the city of Rennes, in Brittany,
the renovation began.
At this moment, i work on the chart table.
Almost every thing is disassembled-reassembled in the boat, to be sure to have a future boat in very good condition.
My F33 chart table is similar to the standard model.
After removing the table.
Why this part of the chart table is stratified ?
With a screwdriver and a hammer, everything is possible !
I have succeeded in removing the front part. The location of the treasure Plymouth lead or nothing ! Just a question :
Who knew the presence of this lead ?
Too bad it’s not gold or some other valuable material. I too found a stash of lead in my Freedom 28 CK. In the bottom of the port quarter berth locker, I found a false bottom with lead. For now I will just leave it in place till I get to launch my boat and find out if she is balanced.
Happy sailing
Jim D.
To have an idea of the renovation, here is three pictures from 2011.
I’ve bought a Freedom in bad condition,
but its price was very very interesting : less than 14000$
I wanted absolutely this F33.
F33 are very nice sailboat.
The hull is splendid : all those who discover it, here in Brittany, fall under its charm.
I’m a former professional who built I.O.R sailboat In the 1980s and 1990s,
I cannot help but work with a great requirement.
This F33 will leave the hangar, like new.
Lorenzo,
I am very interested in what you have/are doing to you your F-33. I also have a 1982 F-33 CK, but I have the deep fin keel and tall rig. I would love to keep in touch as I am also doing extensive renovation. I agree that it is a wonderful boat and impresses most who see or sail her.
Your “treasure” is quite interesting , I have not explored those netherregions of my boat yet but when I pulled out my starboard settee to get to the water tank, I found several qute large lead ingots heavilly glassed to the inside of the hull. I will get some pictures and posgt them. Did you have any lead under your starboard sette? I wonder if they place them in both positions or one or the other. Now I am curious to see if there is any more lead ingots in my nav table. I had planned to open that area up as I had assessed that there was good ,unused space(i thought unused) there and thought to fabricate a concealed stowage compartment there. Rick
Rick,
My F33 was built in 1981, number 23.
And I have not found lead under the starboard sette.
Under the nav table, there was perhaps around 330 lb (150 kilos).
I am inclined to put those ingots in the boat’s bilges, the F33-centerboarder doesn’t seem to have enough ballast.
or should I say the interior of the boat (and the masts) are a little bit heavy for a centerboarder.
I am inclined to believe that those ingots are there to incline the boat , er , I mean trim the boat . Mine are place as far outboard as possible . In looking at the boat its joinery, systems hoses , etc, and where they are placed, I think without those ingots the boatwould list to port. Moving them inboard while perhaps improving its stability may cause its trim to suffer. why not just add extra lead ingots to the bilge if you are trying to incease its stability? Just be certain to glass them in heavily or other method of securing them, hate to see them flying about id=f you ever were knocked down, or worse. :ugeek:
Result :
80 ingots X 2.4 lb (2 kg) = 192 lb (160 kg)
attachment (resin-wood) : 11 lb (5 kg)
I’ll see how will be the trim.
The F33 could heel, but just a little bit I think.
Batteries will be on starboard and the tank on this side will be last used.
The plastic tanks are moulded in one piece and quite in good condition after 30 years of use.
There is a problem with the inlet and outlet tubes which are screwed on the tank :
the screw-threads are damaged and I’d like to find a product to insure their fixing.
A product as food approved Sika will be perfect but I don’t know if it exists.
I prefer not imagine the price of new custom tanks…
I was down at the boat today working on changing the single piece of plywood that forms the bottom surface of the starboard settee(covering the water tank) to 3 pieces, so that I can more easily remove sections above each end where the tank fittings are. Getting to them now involves removing a lot of screws that secure the plywood and then removinhg that whole section in the confines of the salon ,along with all the cushions and berth slide out platform. I am changing it so that I can just lift a smaall section or cutout above ech end. It requires that I frame out the platform for supporting the three sections . Anyway, while I was there I snapped some pictures of the tank installation and “MY TREASURE TROVE” so you can compare.
I think the file is too large so I will try agai tommorow.
Wow. This interests me a great deal. Flutterby is a 1981 F33 (Hull #14); I would not be surprised to find similar things under my chart table!
In my case, I was seriously considering using that “dead” space under the chart table and behind the drawers. I thought it would be a good locker for computer or radio equipment to be stowed out of the way. I also thought it would be empty, instead of filled with foamed in lead blocks!
I moved my battery banks; A prior owner had installed two batteries in the forward section of the port lazarette. (I don’t know where Freedom put the batteries) I ended up with a small starting battery in the engine compartment, on the port side. My house bank is three batteries in a row under the quarterberth. With those three batteries placed, Flutterby now list to starboard most of the time. Someday I think I’ll look for some lead to remove there.
If I do this…are there any tips you can give me on removing the chart table without difficulties and without messing up any more woodwork?
Whimsey, you might first check under your starboard settee, as it is fairly easy to get to. Just remove a bunch of screws around the perimeter of the plywood base of the settee /berth, you will find your starboard water tank there and if like my 1982 F-3 red large ingots of glassed in lead.(see my previous post) I am still trying to post some pictures, haven’t had the chance to “shrink” the photo’s took., Rick
I’ve been under the starboard settee previously. All I saw were my tanks, a little accessible plumbing and some foam.
Next time I’m in there I’ll see if I can see any signs of lead glassed in around the foam. I didn’t look too closely far outboard.
I’m still wondering if there are any “tricks” in getting the chart table out cleanly. I remember seeing a few screws that would have attached it to the bulkhead forward of it, but If there was anything less obvious I’d love to know about it.
I’m back on this topic 11 years later.
Since the first post, the 192 lbs of lead have been deposited in the bottom of the boat.
Now that Lotus is back in salt water, the masts are perfectly horizontal and the Freedom isn’t tilting !
