Do You Have Any Thoughts On This?

[Oswego John]

Decisions, decisions, decisions. What to do? Hmmm.

Here's the story, boiled down to its lowest common denominator. I'm in my mid eighties. I've had a full share of sailing during my life. I'm not about to quit now. I will sail until I am physically not able to clamber aboard.anymore.

Lately, most of my sailing has been on a larger schooner. I presently own six or seven boats, not sure of how many. Not trying to be smart, but they are scattered all over the place and I should cut back. My main concern is I am now down to two CD Typhoon Weekenders and what to do with them.

One Ty W/E is a project boat that is half restored. I could continue restoring her and get a better resale price, or I could sell her as-is. The other Ty W/E, Grace, is my baby. I've had her for since I can't remember when, since Hector was a puppy.

I think that I want to keep Grace, spiff her up and put her in the water again. Poor girl, she's been put on the back burner, sort of neglected for over six years. I want to still own one boat that I can do as I please with for my time remaining. Working on her is good for both of us.

Here is the poser. Both Tys are old, very old. They were made before CD took over manufacture. If I concentrate on keeping and dolling up Grace, she has a keel stepped mast. For me to trailer her to so many lakes and salt water areas that I always talked about sailing on (pipe dreams?), I should really have a folding mast to make things easy for me.

On the other hand, chopping off the butt of her mast and attaching a tabernacle would be sacriligeous to modify an antique boat for practability. She is original and I feel that she should remain that way.

I'm in a quandary about what I should do. Summer is half shot for northern sailors so I'm not in a rush for this season. But then, again, I don't have too many sailing seasons to squander. I would really like to see Grace splashed by next spring if possible.

Do you have any ideas on this matter? I am open to all suggestions on what to do.

Thanks for any ideas, no matter how far in or out of the box.

O J

[bill2]

Hey OJ

I can appreciate the getting older thing - seems to take longer to recover ( or get things done ) than I recall .

Enough of that -

If I owned a " few " Ty's I would be thinking of keeping the ones that mean something to me - especially if they are of some " historical " ( would that mean also financial ? ) significance . I should like to think - iffen I was you - that I'd have the skill and knowledge to do a great job with this ( these ? ) Ty. So mark down one vote for keeping an " antique " Ty for " project boat " .

I would also want to go sailing. So I think that having a reasonably well cared for working Ty for sailing adventures is also called for . Much like some would do with cars - the show car / project car / collectable car and another " daily driver car " .

Along those lines - I'm thinking of Jay Leno . I hear he has a " boatload " of cars. He plays with them - they're good for his soul and there's always something that needs to be done. But he also has ( at least ) one daily driver that he can get in and go someplace when the weather is nice.

Moving along I'd also think about all those other Ty's. Someday I would probably want to see if relatives were interested in any but more likely they are not . Selling them could be an option as they surely cost you something but what about other options. I would consider an organization like Sea Scouts . I have no connection with them but from what I hear they take seaworthy boats, fix them up and teach kids about boating . Hmmm - not a bad thing and there's probably a tax write off in it to boot. Might be a thought to encourage sailors of the future . . .

Maybe they could even name their fleet - Oswego John's Ty's - or " OJT " for short

Fair Winds ( and if you ever get to Glen Cove let me know beforehand and I'll try to be there then also )

[Russell]

Definately dont modify an old keel stepped ty to deck stepped, the keel stepped likely ads value to certain buyers.

My 2 cents: Sell all the project boats, buy a boat ready to go that fits your needs. Stop restoring and start sailing. There are plenty of ready to sail Tys on the market if you want to stick with that, or countless other suitable boats.

[marka]

John,

I'm sort of with Russell on this one. You might consider trading one or both of the Tys for one that can be sailed today. there are enough of us out there who have the defective boat reclamation gene that you should easily find someone interested.

We just finished restoring a 1972 19ft. chris craft lancer runabout. the only thing on her that's not new or refurbished is the bilge blower. i reused this as-found just to be stubborn. you can visit her at blue 33 down at wright's landing (right next to Linda Jean).

M

[tartansailor]

The question is:
Does a keel stepped mast have the steel arch to support a deck stepped mast, unless you are considering a compression post?

dick

[mashenden]

Personally I would try to shy away from permanently modifying the keel stepped mast for the reason you gave. That said, I definitely see the value in having an easier way to raise a mast if you are going to get any trailerable use out of one of them.

Assuming both of your Tys are keel stepped, I believe I would look for a donor Weekender boat to get a short mast and tabernacle. It would not be too hard to modify Grace to have a semi permanent compression post that would help support the rig and serve as a place to anchor the semi permanent tabernacle. This would give you the type of mast you want for some sailing fun, and save the existing keel stepped mast for collector's value. If done with care, all changes would be reversible with no lasting marks.

That all said, if you cannot find a substitute mast/tabernacle within x months, I'd throw collector's value to the wind in lieu of sailing - start choppin' 'cause time is a wastin'

[rorik]

I used to own a 1959 Cheoy Lee `Frisco Flyer Mark I. The early one with no doghouse and a fractional rig. Full length teak planks riveted to ipol frames with a solid spruce mast. Folkboat sails fit her perfectly. I spent a couple of years rebuilding her; new deck and deck beams, smaller cockpit, new coachroof and beams, new coamings, rub rails, winch bases, toe rails, spreaders, jumper strut, sistered nine frames, removed the non working single cylinder Lister diesel, gutted what was left of the interior and started over.
I've left a lot off that list, but you get the idea......
When I removed the mast to strip the peeling paint, bleach it and varnish it, the British coin that Cheoy Lee had put under the mast base was still there.
And then, because of 9/11 and the general economic slowdown, I had to sell her.
The people who bought her sail her on a lake here in the PNW.
So, they cut that beautiful piece of spruce off just above the house top and added a tabernacle.
I will never look at her the same way.
Even though I haven't owned her for almost a decade now, it still disgusts me me that someone would cut a graceful creatures limb off just to fit under a bridge.
Sometimes the relationship with the boat is more important than where you sail.....

[Steve Laume]

Rorik, Spruce and aluminum don't have the same soul. I would be upset if someone cut off a fine spruce mast too.

O.J., if Grace is your sweetheart I see no reason why you couldn't modify her in a way that was reversible to make her deck stepped. Picking up another mast so you could keep the old stick would be ideal. If you had to, you could cut the mast you have because the extrusion is still available to anyone who would want to go back to a keel stepped mast. If you go back a long way, changing boats just isn't the same. Do what you have to to stay together.

I know the feeling of having too many projects, boats and others. I friend of mine once came to visit with a friend of his. When he introduced us he told his buddy that I had more projects than my grandchildren would ever be able to finish, Steve.

[rorik]

Rorik, Spruce and aluminum don't have the same soul. I would be upset if someone cut off a fine spruce mast too.

...*sigh*....
my point was about the relationship.... not the material..... look a little deeper next time....

[bill2]

On the subject of Grace's mast - my thinking is that she's special partly because she's been a great companion but partly because of who she is - I'd keep her mast as is ( built ) . fwiw - I don't want my spars " shortened " unless its life threatening !

If you'd like to trailer Grace I think I'd find a way to make do with local help to raise the mast - maybe local " yacht club " has an extra hand or a few bucks to the " locals " would suffice .

otoh - using boat #2 for travels preserves Grace and still gets you out .

Bottom line is to keep in mind that these are your boats - you get to do with them what you want for your satisfaction .

Fair Winds

[Carl Thunberg]

I can't help you with your decision, and don't have anything substantive to add to the mast discussion. I can, however, relate to your feelings for Grace. I cannot justify my current restoration of my 1964 Rhodes 18 on any rational grounds other than she was my first love. She should have been a candidate for a chainsaw and a dumpster. BUT, she's the first boat I ever owned, and I could never live with myself. After all, I'm the one who neglected her while I was off sailing bigger boats. So, it's time to come home.

[Gary M]

Hi OJ,

I don't know what you should do!

If it were me, I'd feel that the main thing on my side is time.

I really don't need to launch the boat within 1 hour of arriving at the ramp, I can launch tomorrow or the next day.

So I might just hook ol Grace up to my tow vehicle and head on down the road.

I'd be counting on some help from people I meet at the ramp to step the mast.

I'd have a plan ready to go, just in case some one said, "what can we do to help?"

If it worked out, what a story I would have to tell. If it didn't, maybe I'd get a better idea while hanging around by myself at the ramp! Or maybe what I need is a different ramp location.

I wonder how much luck Grace still has in her? Plenty, I bet!

Gary

[plumber]

John,

How the heck are you! You have a dilema that we all will (or have) to face sooner or later. As it sits rite now I have to thin out the fleet and am not sure what I'm going to do. With the smaller boats I think I'm going to give them to a couple of kids I know who want to start sailing on there own. I'm going to keep the CD14 cause I'm having a lot of fun with her and it will come with me when we move down south soon. Our EO33, although not done yet will go to market soon as our life plans have changed and I will not have the time to finish her.
All these things have not been easy to decide but things are what they are. I lost my dad this year, 91 and was still runnin to the last and that has left a big life lesson for me to ponder. His passion was his cars, and they were also the thing that kept him going.
First you need to ask yourself a very important question, which do you enjoy more, sailing or working on em'. Both in my mind are equal.
I would think with your connections at the foundation keeping your boat in the water would be a viable option. There is also the option of finding a good trailer sailer and explore.
What ever you decide it will be what is best for you and hopefully will put a great big smile on your face and make your tummy flutter!
smooth sailing my friend
Brace

[billc]

i have a vintage lightning that presents the same problem. keel stepped mast and its gettin to be a handful. if there was any way to modify it without compromising it structurally i would do it in a minute, so many old boats are headed to the junk yard because of lack of use or no one wants to want work on them. and you cant seem to give them away.

[mike ritenour]

OJ,
If you need a water ready Ty to sail, I can bring Dorothy up in a heartbeat.
She is yours as long as you need her.
Rit