New (to me) 1984 Morgan 323

[svturningpoints]

Hello everyone,

I just purchased a Morgan 323. While I need to do autopilot, refrigeration, and potentially AC, the boat itself has been meticulously cared for and is structurally sound. Nonetheless, I have a couple questions. Any help offered would be appreciated.

1. The cabin sole was damaged by a leaking battery (I think). See picture. How would you go about repairing this? I know the cover it up option already. Just wondering if there is an option to fix this section of the sole without doing the entire thing.

2. I am thinking of doing AGM batteries. As of our now, our intention for this vessel is to sail the Chesapeake Bay on the weekends and a few 1-2 week stints each season. The big draw on the batteries will be the refrigeration once I install. I am currently looking at the ISOTHERM Compact 2301. Otherwise, we are talking lights, phone/computer charging, and maybe an electric water kettle for coffee.

3. Has anyone ever added an extra water talk to this boat? For weekends it's fine as is, but being so small, I wonder if for week long trips, I would do well to try and add more capacity.

4. I am currently thinking the Raymarine EV100 wheel pilot will be sufficient for our purposes. I know quadrant pilots are preferred, but they are more than double the money and the boat itself will probably never be a full time cruising boat. Any thoughts on the EV100?

Anyway, I am sure I will have more questions as we are taking possession tonight. These are just some atop my mind! Thank you for any replies!

Taylor

[jpendoley]

That older Morgan is a nice design. I looked at several over the years and thought it would make a great small cruiser. No real "easy fix" for the sole. Its a teak veneer marine ply that is still available from specialty lumber stores. You could either replace the entire sole (big job) or find a way to tastefully splice in a patch with a router and templating bit. Done well it would not be very distracting to the overall good looking floor. Plus you must already have hatches in the sole that don't look offensive.

I just finished an isotherm classic new fridge install and box rebuild. The isotherm is an inexpensive and energy efficient solution-but it will only be as efficient as the box is well insulated-and the box needs to be reinsulated. That is a big job. Very doable for a novice (which I consider myself) but time consuming. When your done it will average 35-60 amps over a 24 hour period. You'll want some solar as well to replace those amps.

The EVO100 is an ok wheel pilot, but the difference between it and a quadrant mounted ram is like night and day. My wheel pilot was a squeakly little mother, belt dust at times and delicate. My quadrant pilot is silent, powerful and highly responsive and accurate. I'd save my pennies if I could and spring for the below decks pilot.

You could get 400 amps of golf cart batteries for $400 from costco and save the AGM money for a below decks pilot. No matter the battery bank you need to think about how you'll charge them during those cruises away from the dock.