Just wanted to look; fell in love-- Morgan 28

[Dave_R]

This may be a controversial reply, particularly since I am NOT a diesel mechanic. But I have gone through several automobile engines, and a new head gasket is often not a major task. Neither are new valves.

OTOH, if you find out there's water in the cylinders, and rust on the pistons or cylinder walls, then you've got a full rebuild ahead.

Again, if you can get the engine out of the boat, that may not be a huge deal, if you are an experienced wrencher. It would appear to me that marine diesels may be simpler than exotic auto engines. (No Weber or SU carburetors to tune, etc.)

Any Diesel mechanics want to correct me of that opinion?

[wyb2]

Were you able to keep the mooring ball?

Lot of responses have focused on the dead diesel, but for local cruising I would think just keep the outboard setup, pretty common on sub-30 footers. A good future project could be to pull the dead motor so you can make use of the space (fresh water tank?).

Make sure you have confidence in the mast/rigging, steering/rudder, and outboard. Do a good once-over of the electrical and cooking systems for any fire hazards. Make sure all through-hulls seem secure and can be closed. That should keep you afloat, not on fire, and able to get home. Everything else you can chip away at.

[thomm225]

I pretty much did what you are doing in 2011 with a 1974 Bristol 27.

I got the boat for $2,000 (no survey) but "wasted" probably another $2,000 pulling and replacing the diesel's gear box which jammed in gear then the Bukh 10 blew the head gasket so I replaced that with the old leaky diesel I had purchased for the gear box then it failed.

So I pulled everything having to do with the inboard stinky/leaky diesel to include prop shaft, prop, muffler, fuel tank, copper fuel line, stuffing box, motor mounts, control cables, etc, etc then spent hours scrubbing the area where the diesels had been mounted.

Then I bought and mounted a new Mercury 5 HP 4 stroke 25" shaft outboard for $1550 on the stern and it has been fine.

It's pull start so there aren't a bunch of cables etc attach and no alternator either.

My 220 ah 6 volt batteries are in series for 12 volts and they provide the power for all my electronics, computers, HDTV, lights, and autopilot.

The batteries are kept charged with 2-4 solar panels depending with a max wattage of 155 if all are connected but usually I have just 115 watts worth of panels hooked up.

[wtubbs]

Originally Posted by wyb2

Were you able to keep the mooring ball?

Lot of responses have focused on the dead diesel, but for local cruising I would think just keep the outboard setup, pretty common on sub-30 footers. A good future project could be to pull the dead motor so you can make use of the space (fresh water tank?).

Make sure you have confidence in the mast/rigging, steering/rudder, and outboard. Do a good once-over of the electrical and cooking systems for any fire hazards. Make sure all through-hulls seem secure and can be closed. That should keep you afloat, not on fire, and able to get home. Everything else you can chip away at.

Yes!!! That really was what sealed the deal for me. There is such a long waiting list on mooring balls here in the area. When it was confirmed that I could take over the lease, I contacted the seller and worked out the price. A really nice guy who has been super helpful the entire way; yes he wants to sell me a boat, but he has been extra great.

I will certainly take a look at all of these items when we are out for the last sail on the boat this Saturday.

Even concentrating on work this week has been so difficult, I always has a browser window open with tabs about Morgan 28s There is just not enough information about these boats on the internet...

Thanks again for the response!

[wtubbs]

@thomm225 Thanks for the information, especially the details about your outboard and size of your batteries and charger. That will be helpful. You have a beautiful boat. Well done!

Looking forward to when mine looks nice as well. I think that i will follow your advice and just get out sailing to begin with, collect a list of everything that bothers me, prioritize everything, and then later get started on the larger projects based on that list.

I am planning on doing everything I can with the boat in the water first: a thorough servicing of the outboard, replacing and/or sanding & varnishing all of the woodwork, getting the standing rigging checked out, cleaning EVERYTHING, etc.

Later, when my list if complete then getting her on the hard and pulling the mast to redo what the previous owner "made work" when sealing a leak around the mast with tape and construction foam. I would still like to fix or replace the motor, or just remove it entirely. sand and repaint the hull.

I really want a good looking boat in the end. She is over 50 years old; a year older than me! She deserves to look great.

[Don C L]

I would echo what Thomm said about holding off on major refits and just get her sailing now. Refitting can disable a boat for a long time and then you could lose enthusiasm for what you got the boat for! My boat is similar in design and vintage (older!) and she did not come with any provision for an inboard. I have to have an outboard, which is not pretty, I fully admit, but there are a few upsides: no stink or oily bilge, two less thru-hulls, more interior room for stuff. Feel free to see my albums, I have some shots of how my outboard engine hoist works, it is super easy to pull the engine up and reduce all the prop drag. I have a 9.8hp with a power prop and that is more power than I need. I think if you have a mooring and she makes your heart skip a beat, you got a good deal! Good luck!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by wtubbs

@thomm225 Thanks for the information, especially the details about your outboard and size of your batteries and charger. That will be helpful. You have a beautiful boat. Well done!

Looking forward to when mine looks nice as well. I think that i will follow your advice and just get out sailing to begin with, collect a list of everything that bothers me, prioritize everything, and then later get started on the larger projects based on that list.

I am planning on doing everything I can with the boat in the water first: a thorough servicing of the outboard, replacing and/or sanding & varnishing all of the woodwork, getting the standing rigging checked out, cleaning EVERYTHING, etc.

Later, when my list if complete then getting her on the hard and pulling the mast to redo what the previous owner "made work" when sealing a leak around the mast with tape and construction foam. I would still like to fix or replace the motor, or just remove it entirely. sand and repaint the hull.

I really want a good looking boat in the end. She is over 50 years old; a year older than me! She deserves to look great.

Good luck with it then.

And Btw my boat only looks really good for a few months after being in the yard because it gets used a lot, and then I get a lot out of a single $100 gallon of EX-Poxy one part paint.

Bottom paint is expense though and I do that every 4 years.

Boat is more "normal" looking now after 3 years out of the yard.

Looks like they built 157 Morgan 28's.

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/morgan-28

[danstanford]

I blame my ex-wife. We were having lunch and she pointed out a boat for sale....

[thomm225]

lots of good info on the atom voyages website about old boats and their new owners.

He says don't buy and immediately do a detailed refit.

Just get the thing useable and start sailing it and go from there.

A final word of advice to the novice sailor – resist the temptation to undertake a major refit and extensive modifications on your new old boat right at the start. It’s best to make only the obvious repairs needed and go out and sail locally and on some limited coastal passages to learn exactly what is and what is not needed for you. Otherwise you may end up spending years and many thousands of dollars more than expected modifying your boat and then find out on your first ocean crossing that the boat is not right for you or those great ideas you had during the refurbishment did not work out that well at sea.

https://atomvoyages.com/planning/cla...ers-list-html/

[Greatest Lakes]

Sometimes a boat will speak to you. You will look past a lot of flaws, seeing what it could be instead of what it is. Sometimes a boat, particularly a wooden one, will be a life long money pit, and you just won't care. Somewhere, deep in your heart, you can just feel that breeze. You imagine the sails filling just right and the boat happily heeling over and cutting through the water, carrying you along to that destination somewhere beyond the horizon... After that the costs just seem to slip away... I borderline stole my 9.6. Paid 5k for it. First thing I did was seal up the leaks, then repair or replace the rotted wood. The next bit was replacing all the electronics with the most up to date raymarine toys. Halyards, rigging, self tailing winches, raw water filter, water tanks, brightwork, dodger, seats and flexofold prop. I figure I have about double what I paid for the boat in upgrades and repairs. The moment the wind fills the sails though... Worth every dime.

[hdelany]

Sold a 1981 Pearson 28 last year for $8000. It was in great shape. Wait for a good boat. There are great deals out there if you look hard enough.

[dan104]

I bought my current boat for 8k in '16, needed nothing and it is a '76 Columbia 8,7. Previous owner did a ton of work to make it sail-able from C. Bay to Bahamas, then went the way of a new shinny object. They are out there!


And for the 8k It came with full redone interior, new Beta motor, 300w solar, new genny on fuler, solid rigging.


Like the other have said, I just checked everything out and started sailing her. Along the way I figured how what I needed to update or replace/repair. Gave up on older fridge and bought a 12v type. Replaced batteries built Opencpn based plotters(2).
if you want fullsail dot done-that dot com



Been 6 years, few sail repairs, new lines, lots of love and fun.


Figure about 4-5k a year in slips, maint, upkeep and new toys.

[wolfiebob]

I own a Morgan '73 36T fir 28 years. My friend owns a '73 Morgan 27 for 20 years. We love these boats. Morgan designed wonderful sailing boats. On a 28 footer keep the outboard. Your low air sailing speed will increase by close to, if not 1 knot due to prop out of water. You will need to rebed fittings and hatches as needed to keep below decks dry. Boat is way stronger than any J boat or Hunter. Boat may nit be as fast as newer boats, but when the wind goes above 15 kts the smile on your face will be priceless check out Morgan Boat groups that widely exist. Bob
"GINGY" 1973 Morgan 36T