Seems we bought a Project Boat.

[garyfdl]

Another source you may want to check out is the "Restoring Fiberglass Sailboats" group on Facebook.

[garyfdl]

Originally Posted by sinnerman

1. Try washing it first with TSP (Home Depot) . Next move from weaker to stronger solvents (Goo Gone-> Alcohol->Acetone - Adhesive remover). You may need a plastic scraper as well.

If you use acetone, you will need a metal scraper/putty knife. Acetone makes a plastic scraper go bye-bye...

Adhesive remover may do the same thing.

Another caution when using acetone, it will 'melt'/degrade the resin used in the fiberglass, so use sparingly.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by slfro85

We bought a 1979 PY23 sailboat a couple weekends ago. She’s been sitting neglected for a while and needs lot of TLC. It’s nearly all cosmetic, thankfully, but as we’ve been cleaning up, we have run across the following issues:

1. adhesive on the fiberglass from the foam wallpaper stuff we took down - will Goo Gone or something similar remove this, or will we have to sand it?
Consider just recovering it. That is likely a form of Contact Cement and very rubbery.
2. rotted plywood interior wall that will need replacing - we can cut a new piece, but how do I attach the new piece to the fiberglass? It looks like the original piece was attached with fiberglass cast strips. They are called 'Bulkheads". If it's the one under the mast it's important. A good should should be fiberglassed to the hull and deck. Google "replacing a bulkhead"
3. missing icebox - there’s a cabinet that opens from the front, but the icebox/fridge is no longer there.
4. Missing stove - what do we need to replace this? It’s a small boat and we don’t plan to do more than weekend cruising on it; boyfriend is thinking about a grill outside the cabin. A camping grill in the cockpit works well. There are cheap stainless steel ones.
5. Missing some of the rigging wire - what do I look for to replace it? Talk with a riggger. Or look at similar boats for ideas.
6. Needs bottom paint sandblasted off (will hire someone to do this) but we plan to dry-sail and trailer the boat home after every use; is it critical to replace the bottom paint if we opt to give it a good scrub when we get home? You dont need bottom paint if trailering. You could just leave what's there.
7. Teak parts on the top need help - they’re badly weathered. Better to sand/varnish or just replace? Sand and then oil or varnish or just douse with salt water now and then.
8. Battery needs replacing so the interior electric works. We have a solar panel but it’s small and we don’t know how to connect it. Can we convert the whole thing to solar, and how do we do that? You still need a battery.
9. Water tank is rotted through - where do we replace this?
More info needed but there are many sizes and shapes of plastic ones available if one fits.

There may or may not be more issues crop up as we continue working on this boat.

See bold above. It sounds like you don't know a lot about boats yet, so just take one project at a time. Get the essentials working and try sailing for a bit. Then finalize other things! Have fun.

[SieveSailor]

Congrats on your (new to you) boat! We did the same thing a few years ago and have had a lot of fun and learned a lot. This forum is a great place to learn. Lots of ideas already coming in but I just wanted to put my two cents in about a couple of your questions.


1. It depends on what you intend to do with the hull after you clean it. I just fished installing new hull liner in mine. The PO had glued in shag carpet about 45 years ago. After pulling down the carpet, I had about a quarter inch of old carpet backing and glue stuck to the hull. I used a corded makita oscillating tool with a bosch flexible scraper blade and it zipped almost all of it off in no time. The remaining 1/32 inch or so that was left behind was thin and porous enough to be fully penetrated and saturated by the hull liner adhesive I used for the new hull liner.
7. I also have teak handrails etc on the exterior that are weathered. I've tried cleaning and refinishing some of them but you have to keep it up at least once a year if you want them to look nice. Personally, I don't mind the weathered look and have decided to just leave them like that for now. The real beauty in Teak is that you don't really have to do anything with it, and in fact I suspect it lasts longer if you aren't sanding it and finishing it all the time, stripping the natural oils and replacing them with something that 'looks nice'.



Good luck with your new adventure!

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by garyfdl

Another caution when using acetone,
it will degrade the resin used in the fiberglass, so **use sparingly**.

+1

You may want to try Un-Hesive or an alternative (here's a Practical Sailor article that names various marine adhesive removers in the context of trying to remove the toughest adhesive of all: 3M's 5200) https://www.practical-sailor.com/boa...moving-3m-5200

Step-by-step...
LittleWing77

[Lionshooter]

The first thing that came to mind is; Why is the bulkhead rotten?

I don't think I've ever seen a rotten bulkhead in my 45 years of rigging and sailing. I have replaced particleboard bulkheads with proper plywood because of swelling at the bottom from water penetration, but that about it.

[Scorpius]

Thank heavens it's a small boat. I've just seen far too many abandoned project boats after the new, inexperienced owners discovered just how much work was involved.

You are getting good advice here. Do what needs to be done for safety (structure including structural bulkheads, hull, mast, rigging, and keel), get all the required safety equipment and a vhf radio (a handheld will do) aboard and working, the nav lights working, a small outboard engine, and go sailing. You can do the rest once you're also having some fun with the boat.

Join some kind of local sailing group and find someone experienced who can advise you. Pay him/her if necessary.

[garyfdl]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

[B]It sounds like you don't know a lot about boats yet... Get the essentials working and try sailing for a bit. Then finalize other things! Have fun.

LittleWing77 gave me a "+1 " and I'll pass it on to Cheechako!

His is sage advice. Get the boat seaworthy and sail it! Work on the other stuff as time and money permits. Most importantly? Have fun!

[slfro85]

Originally Posted by Lionshooter

The first thing that came to mind is; Why is the bulkhead rotten?

I don't think I've ever seen a rotten bulkhead in my 45 years of rigging and sailing. I have replaced particleboard bulkheads with proper plywood because of swelling at the bottom from water penetration, but that about it.

I wish I had an answer for that question. We’re at least the third owner; prior owner brought it home on the trailer and never touched it. He said there weren’t any leaks when he bought it. Prior owner to him had left it in the water for goodness knows how long, unused. Beyond that, I have remarkably little history on this boat. The fiberglass is in good shape and it’s just one side of the bulkhead that’s damaged - the side by the (camper/removable) toilet, but I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. We’ve had a couple good rainstorms since we brought her home and have had no water in the cabin afterward so I don’t think there are any leaks on the top, and no holes or weak spots in the hull that we’ve found.

I’ll take some pictures this afternoon when I have a minute so y’all can see what we’re dealing with.

[sail sfbay]

Originally Posted by slfro85

...........TAlso, is that a trolling motor on that boat? We had been led to believe we need at least a 6hp outboard. The guy we bought the sailboat from and the guy we bought the dinghy from both suggested a 9.9.

You could get by with a trolling motor if all you want to do is motor a short distance from and back to the dock. However, too get the right amount of horsepower needed to efficiently propel a sailboat, divide the displacement of the boat in pounds by 550. Therefor for your 2460 lb displacement a 5 hp works. A 9.9 hp motor might be too heavy for the transom.

https://improvesailing.com/guides/ho...-for-sailboats

[slfro85]

Originally Posted by sail sfbay

You could get by with a trolling motor if all you want to do is motor a short distance from and back to the dock. However, too get the right amount of horsepower needed to efficiently propel a sailboat, divide the displacement of the boat in pounds by 550. Therefor for your 2460 lb displacement a 5 hp works. A 9.9 hp motor might be too heavy for the transom.

https://improvesailing.com/guides/ho...-for-sailboats

The owner’s manual recommended a 6hp, we presume to account for passenger and equipment/supply weight; it also says it can support up to a 12hp, but I’m not sure how much heavier each motor upgrade is.

[slfro85]

Originally Posted by SieveSailor

Congrats on your (new to you) boat! We did the same thing a few years ago and have had a lot of fun and learned a lot. This forum is a great place to learn. Lots of ideas already coming in but I just wanted to put my two cents in about a couple of your questions.


1. It depends on what you intend to do with the hull after you clean it. I just fished installing new hull liner in mine. The PO had glued in shag carpet about 45 years ago. After pulling down the carpet, I had about a quarter inch of old carpet backing and glue stuck to the hull. I used a corded makita oscillating tool with a bosch flexible scraper blade and it zipped almost all of it off in no time. The remaining 1/32 inch or so that was left behind was thin and porous enough to be fully penetrated and saturated by the hull liner adhesive I used for the new hull liner.
7. I also have teak handrails etc on the exterior that are weathered. I've tried cleaning and refinishing some of them but you have to keep it up at least once a year if you want them to look nice. Personally, I don't mind the weathered look and have decided to just leave them like that for now. The real beauty in Teak is that you don't really have to do anything with it, and in fact I suspect it lasts longer if you aren't sanding it and finishing it all the time, stripping the natural oils and replacing them with something that 'looks nice'.



Good luck with your new adventure!

We intend to paint it. I soaked a test spot in Goo Gone for half an hour yesterday and it didn’t help much to soften the residue; might try something stronger, might just sand it, haven’t decided yet. But the lingering smell of the Goo Gone gave me a headache this morning so I’m thinking I might just sand it as smooth as possible.

As for the teak, we don’t mind the weathered coloring, but the wood itself looks really dry and the cabin top is sticking in the sliders. I suspect that will only get worse over the summer with the humidity and rain. Yay, tropical climates. It at least needs a good oiling.

[endlesspursuit]

Youtube can be your friend. Lots of videos out there on about everything. some good some not. So watch several on each repair. Good luck.

[sail sfbay]

Originally Posted by slfro85

..........I soaked a test spot in Goo Gone for half an hour yesterday and it didn’t help much to soften the residue; might try something stronger...........but the wood itself looks really dry and the cabin top is sticking in the sliders....

There are other adhesive removers like Debond MF12 Marine Formula, Rapid Remover Vinyl Letter Remover and AlbaChem Vinyl Letter Removing (VLR) Solvent No. 1020 WITH a plastic putty knife (get a couple), which I used to remove 14 year old decals from my dinghy. As far as the wood unless it is damaged then sanding with an electric sander will eliminate sticking.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by slfro85

We bought a 1979 PY23 sailboat a couple weekends ago. She’s been sitting neglected for a while and needs lot of TLC. It’s nearly all cosmetic, thankfully, but as we’ve been cleaning up, we have run across the following issues:

1. adhesive on the fiberglass from the foam wallpaper stuff we took down - will Goo Gone or something similar remove this, or will we have to sand it?
2. rotted plywood interior wall that will need replacing - we can cut a new piece, but how do I attach the new piece to the fiberglass? It looks like the original piece was attached with fiberglass cast strips.
3. missing icebox - there’s a cabinet that opens from the front, but the icebox/fridge is no longer there.
4. Missing stove - what do we need to replace this? It’s a small boat and we don’t plan to do more than weekend cruising on it; boyfriend is thinking about a grill outside the cabin.
5. Missing some of the rigging wire - what do I look for to replace it?
6. Needs bottom paint sandblasted off (will hire someone to do this) but we plan to dry-sail and trailer the boat home after every use; is it critical to replace the bottom paint if we opt to give it a good scrub when we get home?
7. Teak parts on the top need help - they’re badly weathered. Better to sand/varnish or just replace?
8. Battery needs replacing so the interior electric works. We have a solar panel but it’s small and we don’t know how to connect it. Can we convert the whole thing to solar, and how do we do that?
9. Water tank is rotted through - where do we replace this?


There may or may not be more issues crop up as we continue working on this boat.

Given that this a rather old 23' boat, I'd just get it sailing and forget the interior stuff though that bulkhead does need to be repaired with new marine ply and tabbed to the hull. At that size, I'm surprised it even had a galley but a separate plug in cooler/ freezer would probably get you by for weekend trips which is about the max the boat is good for. For a stove, just get a rail mounted propane grill. You won't be fitting much solar on that boat but could probably find space for 300 watt model ( these panels have advanced a lot in the last few years in terms of watts per sq.ft.) Any battery left sitting for awhile will be shot. Try to spend as little as possible on this boat (it'll never be a true live aboard)- just get it sailing and have some fun with it.