Some tips for a brand new sailor?

[jcalvinmarks]

Hello all!

I just bought my first sailboat, a red 1972 DS II. It's in pretty good shape for a 37-year-old boat, but there are a few questions I have, and I figured this was the place to go for answers.

First, the inside of the cabin is pretty nasty. Does anyone have any tips on cleaning that space? I would assume a rag or a sponge and some soap would do the job, but I don't know if there are certain soaps that might not get along with the material of the deck. Would pressure washing be a terribly bad idea if it turns out that the scrubbing isn't doing it?

Second, I noticed that one of the spreaders has broken at the hole for the pin, and the previous owner had simply drilled another hole in front of it. Is this going to pose a problem that one of the spreaders is an inch-and-a-half shorter than the other? Is there any reason I should not consider making spreaders out of some stout hardwood?

Third, I'm replacing all the running rigging. None of the rigging looked to be in dangerously bad shape, but it was clear to me that much of it was either original or close to it, and it was dirty and uncomfortable in the hands. Based on what I took off the boat, it looks like everything is 1/4" except for the mainsheet/traveler (which was all one huge piece before, but I believe I'm going to change that) and jibsheet, which are 3/8". Can I just buy stout climbing/utility type rope by the foot at Home Depot, or does it have to be specifically sailing rigging?

[Peterw11]

I've only had my 1968 DS1 for a short time, and I had to address similar issues, as to condition. This is what I did.

I borrowed a pressure washer and cleaned the whole boat. It still had the original hull gelcoat, and the deck had never been painted, so accidentally stripping paint wasn't a concern (it can happen).

My hull cleaned up remarkably well. All the mildew and mold stains disappeared and a lot of the accumulated dreck in the cuddy and under the floorboards did, too. I gave it a quick scrubbing with tub and tile cleaner and a brush first, then the pressure washer.

My interior had been painted at some time in it's life and a lot of that paint came off, but it was flaking and peeling anyway, so who cares. I'll repaint it sometime in the future, but for now, it's fine.

As to the broken spreader, just contact Rudy at D&R Marine (they have a website) and buy a new one. They're cheap enough, and you'll have the right part, so nothing to worry about. You don't want to mickey mouse some critical part that may fail at the wrong time. Do it right and you'll feel a lot better

Same thing with the running rigging. You can get the correct stuff from D&R, color coded to match the OEM part. It may cost a little more, but it'll be correct and probably easier to handle than the HD stuff.

Just my 2 cents.

[GreenLake]

Can I just buy stout climbing/utility type rope by the foot at Home Depot, or does it have to be specifically sailing rigging?

To add to Peter's comments:

Halyards, the lines that raise the sails, should be of some low stretch material, or the sails will stretch the line whenever you get into a gust of wind. That would allow the sails more slack to bulge, which is the opposite of what you want in a gust.

You don't want massive here, because they go up along the mast and a heavy rope means adding weight where it has high leverage. So you want a material that's very strong and low stretch. Any sailing-oriented shop will sell you the right stuff, if you tell them what it is for.

Sheets, the lines that control the sails from the bottom, need to run easily through their blocks - they are often thicker than needed for their strength, since you want to be able to grip and hold them. Very slick rope would be a bad idea. (If you search for sheet or running rigging there's been discussions here on proper/suggested diameters). Again, get stuff meant for that purpose.

There are other misc. lines for the running rigging, depending on your setup, like traveller in the back or downhaul, etc.

Finally, you need at least one line to tie up your boat, or to pull it out of the water. If you keep your boat on the water for a long time and tied up to something fixed, you want something stretchable like 3-strand Nylon mooring rope, but if it's only while rigging at the start of a trip, get something that floats - or use whatever you can get from HD (3/8" is usually strong enough). Get at least two, for short term docking, one for the bow eye and one tied to something on the back side of the boat.