28 CK with extra ballast?

[peaceandfreedom]

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?

[peaceandfreedom]

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

[1980raven]

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!

[peaceandfreedom]

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

[1980raven]

I haven't seen the supports under mine so i can't comment.

[Rick Simonds]

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.

[peaceandfreedom]

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

[rafontaine1]

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

[peaceandfreedom]

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

[CrazyRU]

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?