New to sailing / to DSI and the immidiate duties at hand

[Roger]

On my boat the blocks were about the size of cheese bricks from the grocery store maybe 2 x 2 x 8 or so inches.

On the newer DS II's the foam was sprayed in under the seats and poured in in the forward of the bulkhead compartment.

[jpclowes]

Hi Sean
I'm not familiar with Brookville. Sorry. I have been to Ceasar Creek and Cowan (although never been sailing on them.) They both look like nice lakes.

I have also been sailing on Lake Erie, although not in my DS. I don't know that I would take the DS out on the big part of the lake by myself. I think you would be fine in a place like Sandusky Bay, where there is a lot of powerboat traffic. The DS is virtually impossible to get upright if you capsize. Storms pop up so quickly on the lake I don't think I would want to be too far from shelter in any boat without a keel. Towing your boat to Put In Bay, and then sailing around there might be an option too.

[navahoIII]

Good thread!

Where does one find the 6" inspection ports?

Is the integrity of the bench seats compromised in any way by installing the ports?

[seandwyer]

Good point NavahoIII - I've been wondering about that myself. The seats / tanks in the boat seem to already have some give to them. My kids got into the boat and I could see a little flexing going on with the seats - as well as feel it myself. Not a lot, but some. I've also noticed that there are some cracks in the seats - this looks to be no more than gel coat in depth (64th of an inch or less), so I don't think anything structurally has gone awry, but I still wonder about cutting holes in the 40 year old seats and wonder about cracking etc when people sit on them afterwards. Primarily it will just be me and my kids in the boat and I'm less than 130 pounds myself so I'm not too worried - but what about a heavy "guest"? By the way - someone had asked what the hull looked like and if it had any warping from possible water in the tanks and being on the trailer - as far as I can see the hull looks perfectly fine - just needs a good polishing up.

This weekend my plan is to build a small loft type shelf in the garage to store the floor boards, tiller, rudder and misc. equipment. I'm also planning to go see if I can pump up the tires enough to take verything over and have the tires replaced. Then I'm ordering a new tarp. The one on the boat is good quality, but old and has a few holes. Then the cleaning of the interior begins (scraping old paint etc). I'm not going to try to start painting yet - I know the 60 degrees forecast this weekend is a fluke and we'll be back to snow and ice in no time.

The engine that is with the boat is a 3.5 hp and only about 3 or 4 years old. It mounts on an external engine mount that someone installed on the stransome years ago. The metal brackets look like they are in very good shape, but the piece of 3/4 plywood (covered in flaking poly) looks risky. Two questions: Should I replace the plywood with something "marine grade", or can I get by with regular plywood covered in several coats of spar varnish or something like that? Also - as for the engine - what's the best way to store it? Can I lay it on its side in the garage or should I be placing it upright on a saw horse or something? Lying on its side would be easier since I could put it up on the shelf with the flooring etc.

I'm getting too excited!

Thanks folks!

[rrcrazy]

Hi Sean!

I'm echoing a bit of what JP said, the Daysailer is a great boat for a lot of different water. The championships are held on all different kinds of water.

Cowan Lake has an active sailing group, [url]http://www.clsa.us[/url] and the site for the park says that sailing is popular on the lake.

The guys at Strictly Sail have told me Brookville Lake is a good place for sailing as well.

The one thing I will say is make sure you have at least four feet of water to sail in! The centerboards of our boats are fairly long, and my wife and I have some stories about trying to sail in water that was less than that.

We're always looking for different places to sail ourselves, as the winds at Leatherlips Yacht Club can be squirrelly. So far, we've only had success on one of our three road trips, if you can call it that! Do your homework on where you are going, look for large stands of trees that block winds (Google Earth is your friend!) and ask around.

Good luck, hope to see you up at LYC!

Dan Mejak
DSII 12375

[Roger]

I note from your profile that you hail from Ohio. I assume you have a freeze thaw cycle there. As such I would store the motor upright, and follow the drill each fall of changing the lower oil to remove any water. Stored upright any water in the cooling system will drain rather than freeze, expand and potentially crack the housing. A stand against a wall or a short 2 x 4 attached to a stud to attach the motor to is ideal. If you must lay it down, make sure it stans upright for a few weeks to drain water, and follow the layaway procedure closely... run it dry, then turn the motor over a few times to evacuate the cooling system, then the oil changes, top and bottom.

[MarcCram]

I used the circle jig that came with my Dremel tool to cut my inspection ports in my seats. All I had to do was determine my center and drill a pilot hole, it did the rest. I have a Rotozip too but the Dremel doesn't have half the power the Rotozip does and it doesn't take much to cut into the seats. If you have a really steady hand then use the Rotozip.

I ended up installing Beckson 6" I.D. ports because like cmschulter said my blocks varied in size, there wasn't one duplicate and after drilling for 4" I.D. ports I realized they all wouldn't come out. The Beckson has an O.D. of 8-1/8", it's not small does fit and when installed causes no flexing in the seat.

What I found after installing the port and sealing the small drain hole below it is the seat/hull joint at the stern had cracked and separated sometime prior and when I sat down you could hear air escaping. This had to be where the water was entering! It was and now being able to remove the pool noodles the void which used to be damp and full of mildew is clean and dry.
[thumb=622]
I just need to post some new pictures of the shiny new interior.
marc

[algonquin]

The engine that is with the boat is a 3.5 hp and only about 3 or 4 years old. It mounts on an external engine mount that someone installed on the stransome years ago. The metal brackets look like they are in very good shape, but the piece of 3/4 plywood (covered in flaking poly) looks risky. Two questions: Should I replace the plywood with something "marine grade", or can I get by with regular plywood covered in several coats of spar varnish or something like that?

You can use standard plywood with ample coats of poly. I suggest applying the poly to all of the plywood surfaces before mounting it. If you elect to go with a marine grade plywood I would still apply several coats of poly. Even though it is technically “marine” grade is not waterproof and will delaminate if left saturated for extended periods of time. In either case you should apply a liberal amount of silicone sealant on the threads of your mounting bolts to help seal the bolt holes from water. Brad

[Roger]

I would also apply a layer of either chopped strand mat CSM or fiberglass cloth to the outside face of the plywood. It takes a lot of abuse from the motor clamp, and just epoxy will eventually wear through.

[seandwyer]

Hello All

Sorry - I've literally been "out" with the flu for a week.

Roger - would you put the fiber glass cloth on the outboard mount first, then coat in polyurathane, or is it the other wayt around? Is poly the way to go? For some reason I thought spar varnish was what folks used on boats - is that the older method? Oh, and I wonder if it is possible to still get a copy of your book on maintenance for these boats?

Thanks everyone!

[Roger]

If I said polyurethane, I meant polyester resin. Polyurethane is a varnish. Polyester is a type of resin like found in popular automotive supplystores. Bondo is one particular brand name.

To your question: Mix up the resin and hardener and apply to the plywood, then apply the cloth or CSM, then saturate with more resin and hardner. You ideally want a bit of the 'tooth' of the cloth above the surface of the resin, not a mirror smooth surface. this will give the motor mount a bit more grip.