Resuscitating a 1993 Precision 15' CB

[Quantico Frank]

Hi, Brett! I've used these guys before, and they seem pretty good: https://onlineoutboards.com/. Looks like they're having a sale.

[tjspiel]

So...
Using one ton jack, two 4" X 6" X 8' beams, and 12 cement blocks, I was able to lift my boat off of the trailer and examine/ paint underneath. The centerboard had a few nicks, filled easily enough. Sea Hawk 33 AF bottom cost ($60 a quart online) for two coats, and she's back on the trailer. Raised the mast and boom just to get a look at assembly/ associated fittings. Found a couple loose rivets on one of the stays, easily fixed.
Next is replacing a few wood trim pieces. Thinking pressure treated, stained maybe twice, then three coats of marine varnish.
Maybe for Christmas Santa will bring me a 2.5 HP 20"shaft outboard for ramps and /or emergency. Any good outboard dealers online ?

Sounds like some great and satisfying progress !

Don't know if you made a decision on roller furling yet or not but you might need a different jib... or maybe not.

I think on most boats that size, the furler is made up of a drum on the bottom and a swivel at the top with the job essentially acting as the forestay. So the jib would need a wire in the luff suitable for that.

[Riggerdood]

Yes, that sounds right. That cord is called a "bolt rope". One of the few "rope like things" on a sailboat that's actually called a rope.

Tom, there are four ropes on a boat that I know of: boltrope, footrope, bellrope, and the one that, when mentioned, makes people laugh nervously and change the subject - the hangman's rope! 

[PapawBrett]

Hi, Brett! I've used these guys before, and they seem pretty good: https://onlineoutboards.com/. Looks like they're having a sale.

Suzuki 2.5hp 20" (long) shaft ordered. Supposed to be here by the end of the month. List as $1145, but on sale for $760. (which is about what everyone else is selling 2.5HP for end of year) Basically for emergency use and to avoid "ramp rage".
Also, there is a county park near me called Cane Creek Park. 1500 acre park wrapped around a 350 acre lake. The lake is maybe a mile wide, but a little narrow in some spots, and max depth of 40'. Shoals are marked with buoys.
Free access for 65 and older, not much happening there from October to March according to the Camp Ranger. Nobody there while I was checking the place out. Two Ramps in the "day area", one has a tree limb overhang maybe 15' up but the other is clear of obstruction. A North (or South) wind should give me access across the entire lake. 15mph with 25 gusts from the ENE today, so I'll wait to try my luck. Six miles of country two-lane between me and getting the hull wet for the first time !

[Quantico Frank]

Wow, that's a great price, Brett. I have that engine, and I absolutely love it.

[PapawBrett]

Ok, if anyone is still listening...
Mounted my outboard onto the back of the boat, set lower end in new trash can filled with water, and started up briefly. Maybe three minutes. Then removed water and can from lower end.
A friend suggested winterizing. I only ran it for three minutes tops, so don't see why it's necessary to drain/ refill oil or lower case. But I did add some stabilizer to the fuel.
'Cold' in the piedmont area is anything near freezing. Might get on week of nightly temperatures in the teens. Is there anything else I should do if I plan on leaving the motor outside ?

[Wayne Howard]

One man's opinion:

I would check the oil in the lower unit to make sure it is 100% oil and not an emulsion of water/oil.

The water you ran the engine in should have all drained out immediately after removing the trash can.

Anybody else?

[Krusen]

On most water cooled motors, water from the pump goes up into the block, fills it, and overflows out.  All that water is still in the block.

The instruction booklet should tell you how to get that water out.  Mine had a screw to remove, and after water quit running out, pull the start rope a few times to pump air into the pipe from the pump. Then replace the screw, so it cannot get lost.

Even though I removed all the water I could, I kept my motors in the garage, which was always warmer than outside, and usually above freezing.

[PapawBrett]

Using 2X4 and some decking screws, I built an outboard stand and moved the motor into the garage.
There is a chapter in the owners manual for storing the motor, next day off will be dedicated to just that.

[PapawBrett]

Warm today, time for replacing a few lines. Youtube (or you-stupid, as I call it) makes whipping easy. BUT I don't have a needle or the experience, so instead of using metal eyelets (thimbles ?) on the ends of the lanyards I am just tying bowline knots into Captive "D" Shackle (?). I would share pictures but I am techno-challenged, and my grandkids aren't around...

[wvanderclock]

I bought one 2 years ago and have been having a blast with it. I added the self-furling jib last year and I really love it as I sail alone most of the time. I'm adding the ladder because I found I could not get back up into the boat after righting it. I added a trolling motor which is a really good solution with a lot less weight and hassle than an outboard. One of the rivets on a spreader popped out,any advice on replacing it? I love the idea of the top-lift and may add that this year.   

[PapawBrett]

I bought one 2 years ago and have been having a blast with it. I added the self-furling jib last year and I really love it as I sail alone most of the time. I'm adding the ladder because I found I could not get back up into the boat after righting it. I added a trolling motor which is a really good solution with a lot less weight and hassle than an outboard. One of the rivets on a spreader popped out,any advice on replacing it? I love the idea of the top-lift and may add that this year.   

I replaced two rivets on one of my spreaders. It's easy. a small collection of various size rivets, a rivet tool, and the ability to squeeze a tennis ball is about all you need. Choose the rivet hat barely fits in the holes (spreader and mast), line it all up, put the rivet in the tool, set the rivet and start squeezing. really simple.

[wvanderclock]

Thanks so much for the response. You make replacing the rivet sound very easy. I'll let you know how it goes.

Does anyone have any advice on sail trim? I used to race Lightnings which had lots of sail trim information online. I can't seem to find any other than the tiny bit in the owner's manual for the Precision.

Also, has anyone worked out a good way to single handed get the boat back upright after going over? I can't reach the centerboard from the water.

[PapawBrett]

What a Total disaster. First Sail, set up and launch without difficulty. But half way out, I hit a dead spot on th lake (pond ?) and sat there. an occasional puff of air would give me hope, before going slack again. After drifting onto a rip-rap shoreline, the wind returns to try to keep me there. Centerboard and ribber up, row against the breeze far enopught to start up my 2 1/2 Hp and move out. heading towards the ramp, the wind picks up a good 10 mph and drifts me onto a rip-rap on the other shore. After four tries, and getting blown away from the ramp, an elderly couple helps me ramp and trailer my boat. then, pulling out without looking up, catch a tree branch and rip the forestay out of the bow, opening about a four square inch hole right on top of the bow.
Thinking sailing is not for me. Maybe look for a bow plate, than sell the Sea Urchin

[Charles Brennan]

PapawBrett, Your statement: "Thinking sailing is not for me." Might be a little extreme.
So you basically put a 4 square inch hole in your boat, after a mast mishap? 
Naw, that's not a mast mishap; HERE'S a mast mishap!! 
You cannot view this attachment.

You cannot view this attachment.

At least, your mast came home in one piece! 
You cannot view this attachment.
Needless to say, never made it out to go fishing, that day.

That happened to me in 2016.
I replaced the mast, and have had many sailing adventures, since then.
Including, fishing:
You cannot view this attachment.

I don't think it's a  case of "sailing is not for me", I think it's a case of: Not looking up, is not for you.
Look at the cool story you got to tell, now! 
I purchased that boat in November of 1976, at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show.
Picked it up after dark, after work, on the last night of the boat show and went directly to Crandon Marina, in Miami, Florida.
Quickly loaded it with all the required USCG safety gear borrowed from my power boat and went out in Biscayne Bay sans motor, sans experience, sans skill. 

Promptly went aground and the rudder kicked up off the gudgeons and started floating away.
Had to go over the side in the dark to swim after it and reunite it with the hull.
Did I mention I picked the boat up, in November?!? 
Had to fight to get the pintles back in the gudgeons, because every time I got close, the boat started sailing away and it pulled the rudder away from the gudgeons.
Certainly a disastrous start, but I licked my wounds, learned (a lot!) from it, and moved on.

Coming up on 49 years ago, and every one of those years, I was grateful that I did not decide that maybe sailing was not for me, on that night.
I've had a TON of adventures since then; some of them fun, some of them scary.
And I've fixed TONS of broken stuff over those years.
Without something busted or malfunctioning, you have no stories to tell, do you? 

I've got stories.
The time I couldn't find my way back to the ramp in the dark.
https://trailersailor.com/forum/index.php?topic=965.0
The time I nearly sank in Biscayne Bay due to a manufacturing defect, that had occurred decades before.
The time I got trapped under my hull and nearly drowned.
https://trailersailor.com/forum/index.php?topic=978.0
And for every story like this:
You cannot view this attachment.

You get many, many, more stories like this:
You cannot view this attachment.

Sounds to me, like you're 4 square inches of fiberglass away from making MORE stories!
Just look at all the things you learned on one outing!! 
You need to get the hole fixed, and get out there again and make more stories! 

One guy's opinion,
Charles Brennan