New Typhoon Owner with Questions

[Jim1945]

I recently purchased a 1977 Typhoon Weekender that is in very good condition. It has a round, four inch access port just above the tiller base. Has anyone cut in a larger opening to have better access to the area under the aft deck? I'm thinking of some kind of a square port maybe something like 6" by 6". This would make it a lot easier to access the fasteners so that the hardware can be re-bedded.

Thanks for any input you can provide.

[Dick Villamil]

You should find a friend with long skinny arms! I encountered the same issue and may eventually do what you want to do! It is also possible to place a hatch on the surface of the poop deck as well and there are several posts that illustrate what had been done. They were a few years ago on this board.

[Markst95]

I put a 6" round Beckson port in mine, it gave decent access to all the stern deck fittings.

[Jim1945]

The 1981 online manuals shows a "typical" chainplate as through bolted in the area where there is no balsa core. It doesn't appear that way on my Ty from a visual inspection through the inspection port. I will soon unbolt mine and take a look but wanted to know what others have found.

[Jim1945]

Does anyone have sketch or a detailed description of the rudder detail showing the parts of the whole system? I would like to understand how everything is put together if I need to repair anything. I assume there is some kind of a glassed in tube that the rudder shaft extends through to what I see in the cockpit. If it was necessary to remove the rudder I assume I would have to remove the shoe and drop the rudder-correct? Would like to know how the shoe is attached - through bolted or with self tapping screws.

Thanks.

Jim

[Jim1945]

Has anyone added a garboard drain to their typhoon just to insure there is no water buildup during winter storage?

[swhfire21]

If you have someone of moderate build that's not claustrophobic its actually not that hard to access the space in the stern. I usually get in and out by sliding in and under the seats from the cabin. I'm 5-10/165 lb and can get in back far enough to work with one arm and reach most of it. You'll need someone to hand you stuff via the access port of course, but at least you can see what your doing (main problem with working from access port).

I've not gone in far enough to get both arms free as I did not have anything to lay on the inside of the hull ( the liner stops just past the rear of the cockpit) to make sliding easier across the unfinished fiberglass of the hull easier (a trash bag maybe?). Was afraid I'd get stuck if I could not slide backwards across the rough surface of the hull!

[ronkberg]

Hi Jim, in response to "Has anyone added a garboard drain to their typhoon just to insure there is no water buildup during winter storage?" Just type garboard drain into the search engine at the top of all pages and you will get 84 messages showing different discussions.

This board is great for just about any sailboat discussions.....and many other "weird" discussions which usually occur during the winter months. ( You members know what I am talking about........ tee, hee! )

Ron

[sharkbait]

A small grandson with an interest in sailing can solve those problems in the trunk. You can always attach a rope to one leg to drag him out.

[Jim1945]

Hi Jim, in response to "Has anyone added a garboard drain to their typhoon just to insure there is no water buildup during winter storage?" Just type garboard drain into the search engine at the top of all pages and you will get 84 messages showing different discussions.

This board is great for just about any sailboat discussions.....and many other "weird" discussions which usually occur during the winter months. ( You members know what I am talking about........ tee, hee! )

Ron

Ron, thanks for the reply. I've searched for "typhoon garboard drain" but didn't see anyone discussing how they installed one in a typhoon. I'll look again just under "garboard drain". In one discussion I thought I saw someone refer to a small sump in the typhoon. In other words the surface of the top of the keel was not straight throughout its length but had a little dip toward the back of the keel. This would be the place for a drain. I wouldn't think there is a sump (little dip) in the keel surface as we have no access to this area.

[Jim1945]

If you have someone of moderate build that's not claustrophobic its actually not that hard to access the space in the stern. I usually get in and out by sliding in and under the seats from the cabin. I'm 5-10/165 lb and can get in back far enough to work with one arm and reach most of it. You'll need someone to hand you stuff via the access port of course, but at least you can see what your doing (main problem with working from access port).

I've not gone in far enough to get both arms free as I did not have anything to lay on the inside of the hull ( the liner stops just past the rear of the cockpit) to make sliding easier across the unfinished fiberglass of the hull easier (a trash bag maybe?). Was afraid I'd get stuck if I could not slide backwards across the rough surface of the hull!

Steve, thanks for the reply. I started to scoot back under the seats but then worried I would get stuck as I was by myself at the boat. I may just put in a 6 or 8 inch access port and use that for access. I would be nice to be able to actually see in that area.

Jin

[Jim1945]

The 1981 online manuals shows a "typical" chainplate as through bolted in the area where there is no balsa core. It doesn't appear that way on my Ty from a visual inspection through the inspection port. I will soon unbolt mine and take a look but wanted to know what others have found.

Removed the chainplate today and found that the bolts do not run through any balsa core. There is a metal backing plate that is glassed in through which the quarter inch bolts pass. There is also some other kind of thickened material that adds to the pretty significant thickness at the chainplate. So doesn't look like there is any need to worry about water contaminating any balsa core in this area.

[StanC]

I replace the 6" access port with an 8" access port on my Typhoon in order to install a traveler. With the 8" opening I could place nuts and washers on the bolts holding the traveler. I used the 8" template that came with the access port. Worked fine

StanC

[Jim1945]

I replace the 6" access port with an 8" access port on my Typhoon in order to install a traveler. With the 8" opening I could place nuts and washers on the bolts holding the traveler. I used the 8" template that came with the access port. Worked fine

StanC

Thanks for the info, Stan. My Ty has a four inch port and today I measured the area to see if it would take an eight inch port and it looked like it would but good to know someone else has actually done this.

[Jim1945]

My boat has a bow pulpit. I wanted to re-bed the bases but the headliner inside came so close to the hull liner that getting at the backing nuts was impossible. I searched this forum and found that others had the same problem and had to cut away a small portion of the headliner to gain access to the bolts. I did this today and found that two of the screws of the rear bases were through bolts but the third was a self taping screw. The one self taping screw was used in the most outboard position. The two most forward bases used self tapping screws for all three holes in the base. Even though the self tapping screws are not as secure as though bolts the most stress in on the rear bases (with the two through bolts) so I think that use of self tapping screws is not a problem.

Just an FYI for everyone.

Like many others I think that the pulpit sort of detracts from the classic lines of the Typhoon and may eventually just remove it but I'll keep it for now.