I am looking at some large Irwin sale yachts, which all had swing keels and most of them have been lost in people retrofit just for the solid Keel. But lie that they ever had a swing. Keel.
I've have a 1972 Aquarius 21 for 27 years. I use the same gray foam pipe insulation around the cabin opening. The opening came already covered with edge molding which keeps the foam in place, I don't have to glue it on. You can get the edge molding at West Marine. It's called Flexible Trim or Taco Marine Flex Trim.
I just recently acquired an aquarius 21 that I am going to make a terminal trawler out of. I also just recently acquired an older Honda 4-stroke 10 HP. It looks like you're running the same motor setup on yours. Did you happen to record the speed that you got it up to on your test run? It looked like you were skipping right along
I don’t have a speed sensor on the boat yet, but according to my gps on my phone we were doing 6 mph. If felt like a good speed. Fast enough to get somewhere, but not too fast to be dangerous.
I am currently undertaking the same project with a 17’ swing keel. Really interested to see what you are doing with replacement of windows. Really enjoying your videos. Thanks.
@@myboatprojectaquaris I live in the Pacific NW. Puget Sound is my primary area. There's plenty of deep water but also lots of shallows, but they can be avoided. Massive tides are more of an issue. Thanks for your in-depth video series!
Glenn-another great video, thanks! I am looking at an Aquarius 23 with a fixed keel and the current owner does not know the weight of the keel or what it’s made from. I hesitate to purchase her until I know these details. The FB owners group doesn’t seem to know since these fixed keel versions were incredibly rare and none of the forums I’ve been on seem to help in this regard. Do you happen to know the weight and material of the fixed keel that came with the Aquarius 23 or know someone who could help?
Thank you. I am completely ignorant about the A23 fixed keel. I would have directed you to the A23 FB group too as I’ve had all my questions answered there. Bummer. Ideas: you could physically inspect the boat and keel. Tap it, feel it, etc. That should help to narrow down what it is. My guess would be glass wrapped steel. You can weigh the boat and compare it to the swing keel versions to determine the weight.
That was my plan, but it didn’t workout that way because of the seasons, the temperature needs of the chemicals and me not wanting to sand and grind in a bunny suit in summer.
I think i’m going to be doing the opposite work flow, i’m in wyoming and don’t have a great space to work on the boat, I just finished building a tent structure to work on the interior during this winter. I really like your interior layout, I think i’m going to redesign without a head for more space and extend the bed in the stern. Her name is Crack “O” Noon, i’ll be turning my channel into a boat project channel. Stay tuned and maybe I can bounce ideas off ya!
today I acquired a 1971 Aquarius 21, and I have just discovered this channel. the mast is dented other than that I have no idea how much restoration it really needs i’ll find out tomorrow. About to start this big project. I’m very excited and this channel is going to be a huge help
Hi, for the Form (tubing insulation?) I would not use glue, because I think it may not last very long and needs to be replaced at some time with something more durable. I would use double-sided tape like "3M GPT". For final solution i would go with Form covered with artificial leather because it's much more durable and more easy to clean as uncovered form.
Great result, I have a fiberglass sail boat with a white topside in poor shape i.e. thin areas of the gelcoat, plus some holes to fill in. I was going to gelcoat (flowcoat ie wax in the GC) all over preferably by spaying. I see you did paint instead is there a reason you did that instead of flowcoat? Seems to be two lines of thought.
I am more familiar with paint. I don’t like gel coat very much. I’ve never applied gel coat. So, paint was prominent in my mind. Maybe next time I’ll Mess with gel coat. 🤷🏼♂️
As a fiberglass guy I understand that motivation wains when you have to grind in a small space. Even with a suit you get itchy. I’ve procrastinated on some projects but in the end it gets done. Cheers.
I did my Balboa 23 (Aquarius 7.0) a few years back. I did the removal and reinstall on the trailer. I made a new centerboard to drawing fro the old Yahoo group that I posted on the Facebook group plus copying the old centerboard. I used coal-tar epoxy, then marine grade bondo as my fairing compound. I also did my project solo. Looking back I would have made a stainless steel board 24 x 52". I cut my carbon board from a 24x48 shear dropping from the local metal dealer. I used a skil saw with an abrasive blade stepping down the c ut 1/16" at a time using wood fairing strips to guide the saw. Before I coated the carbon steel board with coal tar epoxy I used a home made sand blaster with a small compressor and a plastic milk jug to pit-up the surface to get a mechanical bond between the carbon surface and the coal tar epoxy. Why coal tar epoxy go look at bouy repair yard and see what the Coast Guard specify to coat the bouys. Now 7 years later, next year I'll put the first new bottom paint on the boats bottom and centerboard. No rust no flaking off of the fairing compound. One more comment you can never have too much dunnage and two automotive pump jacks made it easy to block the board vertical. I also used a SS insert 13/16" to 5/8" pivot pin diameter. between the SS pivot pin and the board to minimize the wear on the board's pivot hole and remove any side to side movement when at anchor from motor boat wake. Thanks for posting I wish we had talked at the start of your project. You are one determined somebody like myself.
Thanks for your extensive post. I went into this project with too little knowledge. I expect my epoxy will fall off someday. Hopefully it doesn’t jam in the housing. Wire brushing the metal was a dumb idea. I keep scratching my head at why it did that. Though, I did etch it with the acid. So that may help. Do and learn.
What you did is fine, It may last longer than you own the boat AND if it is used as a trailer sailor it will last even longer. The pain and joy of owning a 23 ft boat with crouching headroom and 18" minimum draft. I made a second board SS316L and it is in my storage shed awaiting it's turn. No fuss, just a plain SS board so it will never swell. It will never be in the water more than 2 weeks at a time. So marine growth isn't a major issue.
I actually did. But I didn’t show it. Video recording is a separate job that r requires as much or more energy as the work you see. I haven’t yet worked up enough energy to get everything.
i guess you just about finished the interior ,i noticed you didnt included water tight sealed compartments under the benches for buoyancy from bow at both sides and also at rear under 1/4 berths ,in theory your boat should be able to fill up with water upto the height of toe rails including the cockpit and still float ,ok so the cabin roof would be the new water line but you could sit ontop of it until help arrived
Since I wanted more headroom, I determined how much I would need/want and place a mark on the boat that was three inches below where it was originally. Then I started there with the level - down one side and across to the other. I compared in many places holding level athwart ship to confirm they were both in the same place. When I used the level, it was working well u till I reached the sharper curve of the bow. I think if I place a bubble or two on a batton it probably would have worked as well as a laser level. But since I had the laser, I chose to use it.
Great information. Thanks for making this video. While its not exactly the same as mine, (Irwin 28 MkIII) its similar in size and design. Also thanks for showing the keel winch. Mine was missing from my boat when I acquired it and its nice to see what it looks like. Thanks again.
....you have patience ...patience ...patience.....excellent job of getting the sailboat off the trailer😊.....love the way you title the different segments....makes it easier to understand and follow your progress....
Nice job getting that trailer out from under the boat! I need to do the same for centerboard repairs on my 1964 Mariner and I really like the setup that you did. Simple yet effective! 🤙⛵
A friend and I bought a 1971 Venture 21 and we're going to have to pull our keel and remove the existing fiberglass and remove all of the rust, it almost looks like the plates are delaminating! Thanks for documenting your process, hope you're having fun with your boat!
as an aussie ex trailer sailer owner (space sailer 22 )with a swing keel - just be aware that the the designer had the keel box at that height to prevent water overflowing so just keep an eye on those side holes and you may have to put some removable plates on them ??
the ospho probably has phosphoric acid in it - the acid combines with the rust (ferric oxide) and steel to create ferric phosphate which is inert and doesn't rust with a black appearance In Australia it is called Ranex and can also be used to clean stainless steel
I have watched many of his episodes and some more than once. He has been very helpful, and it amazes me how I can know how to do something, but still not get it right. Experience is priceless.
