New Boat Owner

[Tigerlily]

Hello everyone, and Happy New Year 2005!!
I just bought Hull #50, formerly "The Force" out of Miami, FL which had been moved to Sarasota several years ago.
The boat appears in good condition with a few minor hull dings that need attention.
I am renaming her "Florasena" (pronounced Flora-senyah) and intend to use her mostly for short range cruising and day sailing out of Sarasota Sailing Squadron. There are a total of 3 S2 7.9m boats at the Squadron.
I am not yet a "racer", but I would also like to stay as close to One Class rules so that if I decide to race only a few changes would need to be made.
I have just now mailed in my Class Association membership form.
As I go over the boat I am sure that I will have questions for y'all.
If any of you know details about the boats history I would appreciate your sharing.

[Tom Elsen]

Hello Sara and welcome to a great group. Thanks for your membership in the class association. Members pay for this website (and for everything else) that we do for owners - both racers and cruisers.

Please don't hesitate to post your questions here. You'll get terrific, well informed responses.

Check a few things before you venture out too far. Here are my suggestions-
1) Check the pintles for any cracks at / around the post bases. Make sure that sealant behind the pintles is still good and the bolts are secure.
2) Make sure that your side stay straps are sealed well at the thru-deck points.
3) Pull your rudder, inspect and tap-check it for any problems
4) Inspect ALL -- ALL of your rigging very carefully. Replace all cotters and rings unless they are very new.
5) Pull your spreaders. Inspect the weld which secures the (male) lead to the spreader bracket on the mast. Check for any suspicious cracks.
6) Look for any elongation in the hole where the forestay connects to the mast. Some early models (yours is an '82) had pins that were too small.
7) If you've not done so already, get the boat up in the hoist, lower the board and look for any damage there.
Lastly) Look carefully at the starboard bulkhead for any sign of water damage near the top. Check the 'Repair' section for a longer description of what to do if you see any at all.

Good luck and welcome to the club.

[Tigerlily]

Thank you for the welcome and the list of things to check. I have already discovered a few areas in need of attention.
I had the boat professionally surveyed but some of the items you mentioned, such as putting it on the lift with the dagger board down was not included.

What exactly do you mean by starboard bulkhead? Do you mean the entire starboard side of the hull or the area enclosing the head to the chainplate?

The previous owner stripped all of the carpeting from the hull and overhead and nicely epoxy painted the entire interior with white epoxy. He is easily accessible at the squadron to answer questions.
A quick rules question concerning the removal of carpeting. Will I have to replace the carpeting if I choose to race one design?

Removal of the rudder and checking all of the rudder hardware and rudder integrity is high on my list of priorities.

I do know that at some time in it's history, the port chainplate failed and the mast has been replaced.
I will check the forestay attachment to make sure this was upgraded at the time the mast was replaced.

An interesting sidenote is that the inner shroud stay is a size larger than the outer shroud.

I plan on stepping the mast soon to install some masthead equipment such as a VHF antenna and windex and anchor light or combo light, (which the boat does not currently have.)

[LarryE-old]

Know the boat from new. New the boat was called MaryC.
Sailed out of the Coconut Grove Sailing Club in Miami.

[Tigerlily]

Hello Larry,
Thanks. I'm wondering how many owners she has had. The person I bought her from hauled her up from Miami from a Doctor there.
Do you know any details of her history?
She is in pretty good shape for a saltwater boat.
I have been going over her details from stem to stern and have found very few problems that need immediate remediation.
I've installed a Garmin chartplotter and Airmar sonar transducer. I pulled out the previously installed Signet transducer (but left the Signet knotmeter paddle wheel,) and flush mounted the new Airmar which required a slightly larger diameter and deeper countersink. I bedded it with 4200 and she's good to go.
Her Danforth compass needs oil. I haven't decided yet wheter to add oil or just purchase a new compass.

[LarryE-old]

You are the 4th owner. The second owner was a doctor and didn't know much about boat maintance. The third owner told me that he was going to but time into the boat bringing it back to excellent condition.
I was sailing next to them, second owner, when the rig came down.
The first owner just finished 3rd in class in the Ft Laurdale to Key West Race in his C&C 99.

[Tigerlily]

I was told about the rig coming down. Do you know the details? I heard that the port chainplate gave way.
I discovered while looking through the boat's file, that the second owner, the doctor, lives in Santa Fe, NM. I lived in Taos, NM for 32 years before re-locating to the Bradenton/Sarasota area. I still have family in NM and travel there a few times each year. I may just look him up, next time I'm there and talk about the boat.
The third owner did a lot of work on the boat internally. He stripped the carpeting and epoxy painted the interior white which looks really nice. I'm uncertain whether on not to re-carpet.

I have a lot of experience re-building smaller boats. I can fix just about anything on the boat. My main experience is in broadcast electronics engineering although I put in a few years in the marine electronics field.

I am about 95% through the re-build of a 1967 Glass Magic 15' runabout with the original Evinrude 40hp motor. I've had her for 15 years and used her for fishing in the lakes of New Mexico. When I hauled her down here I decided to make her look pretty again.

I plan on using her for a fun boat and fishing the flats around Bradenton & Sarasota Bay. She floats in a puddle.

I spent quite a bit of time on the S2 in the past two weeks restoring some of the interior components and wiring. I want to re-treat the Teak but I'm not sure where to start.

Thanks again for the information on my boat.

[Guest]

If you look up Richard, give him my regards, super nice guy.

[Dave Grover]

If you want to give me a phone call, I can answer many questions that you might have since I have been active in the class since '84.
Dave Grover 248 553 7238, evenings.

[Tigerlily]

Thank you Dave. I will give you a call.

[LarryE-old]

Have to make the story complete.
Mary C, Wet Dream, then the Force.
I believe someone at Richards club complained about the name Wet Dream!!

[Guest]

Thanks Larry. That gave me a chuckle. The boat didn't really like (that) name either. It's a good thing that the nuero doc wasn't a proctologist or we might have had a boat named after the nickname of a doctor on a Seinfeld episode "A--man."