Gonzo if out of the water and prepped for winter, I also took this opportunity to remove the rear railing which made it easier to cover with tarp. here is what I did:

1. remove boat, power wash bottom and put on trailer

2. empty all holding tanks, and bilge

3. remove bilge pump and hose

4. flush 1GM and fill with antifreeze

5. remove all cushions, and gear from boat

6. made wood batton cover for cockpit

7. put 1 tarps over boat as protection and prevent rubbing

8. put 1 heavy tarp on boat and lash to hull

FAll Pull Out:

well the time is coming as to when to pull out Gonzo my Freedom 25, with putting in late in the season I want to keep her in the water as long as possible, but I also don't want to wait to long and get caught in a snow storm or worse and not be able to get her stored properly. I will keep you all posted on when I end up doing the pull and up date what I find during the process and include a full list of what I do in order to prepare for the long winter.

Hurricane Irene:

Well owning a boat and taking care of it is one thing but doing also trying to survive a Hurricane is an entirely new experience all together. The largest concern I had was how the boat would do having a winged mast which make power in 5 knots of wind and having no idea what it would be like in 50-70 knots was a bit over whelming. In the end I did as much as I could as for mooring prep, and boat prep and hopped for the best. Having a mooring in Wickford had a large part of the fact that it is one of the best protected harbors in RI and showed this during this storm. below is a list of what I did and how it turned out:

mooring prep:

. inspected chain and cleaned as much of it as I could

. replaced and upgraded the shackles and tackle hardware which attached chain to mooring ball and penants

. added a swivel to chain below all tackle which I could attach a safety line which went to mast

. added a 2nd penant, and added chafing gear

boat prep:

. took sail off boom and put in rear berth

. took boom off mast

. filled fuel tank

. filled water tank

. put mast in straight postions forward and aft

. attached jack line wires to forward pulpit rails

. tightened back stays

. attached main halyard to traveler for main sheet, centered and tightened

. removed as much windage as possible from decks

. tightened all hatches

. tied tiller to center

Result:

during storm est wind 30-50 mph the boat was tacking hard on the mooring sailing until penant pulled bow through a tack. interesting to watch concidering all other sailboats where staying straight into the wind. the boat came out with no issues or damage and very happy with resutl

2nd Sea Trial:

So after about 2 weeks of pulling the boat together, and getting her ready for round 2, with this being said what I'm finding with boating is that you just can't always be prepared even when you think everything is taken care of. I found this out the hard way during this Sea Trial.

2nd Sea Trial:

1. got motor running really well, and boy what a difference

2. sorted out sail issues, including setting up 1st reef as a Cunningham

3. wind was from NW 5-10knots, boat did really well sailed down to Jamestown bridge and back.

4. Everything great until we looked in the cabin to find about 50-100 gallons of water in the boat. in the end found the bilge drain tube was pumping water in the boat, I also found out that the OEM hand pump bilge hose was dry rotted and had holes so did not work properly.

5. with all of this going on and a bit of crazy time, the boat did great and got us home.

6. today will fix the problem with a 1.5" check valve and new Y connector, I will also service the OEM bilge pipe so it has sections which can be serviced.

Review: in the end I am really happy with the boat we were doing 5+ knots on reach with just the main. I have a lot of learning to do as this boat sails like a windsurfer, and the winged mast really does make a difference. can't wait to play with the Kite and staysail.

1st Sea trial: ups and downs

SEA Trials, the ups and downs:

Well for owning this boat and doing a good amount of work on the boat including changing many of the system, I am in the process of doing sea trials to make sure all the systems on the boat are working properly this is my record of accounts:

1st sea trial: (the day after the boat was launched)

1. got half way out of harbor, and found that the fuel lines were crossed and buried under the driveshaft causing it to hold the shaft from spinning not allowing the prop to open, it also was wearing through the fuel line causing air to enter the system.

2. battons for main had tension issues, and main had some fitment issues to the mast and spar:

a. the slide on the clew of the main would not enter the boom slot

(solution was to remove the end cap and pull sail out and put slide in far end)

b. tack needed to be attached some how

(used a strap of 12 strand with a ball loop)

c. their is a pin at the bottom of the mast track to to keep sail from falling out of track.

Gonzo my F25 Sailboat Floats: 1st pics from the dock

Here are the 1st pics I took from the dock, I have named my boat "Gonzo" I will give a few report in the near future. Since this date I have moved to my mooring and working towards my 1st sea trial.

The Launch: Pleasant Street Wharf RI 7-29-11 4pm

Well the long awaited time came, I did not get as much done as I hoped before this date but I had to get this boat in the water as the summer was going by quick: here are some pics I took, I have to say for all the planning and prep I sure did make a mess of the whole process and really need to thank the guys at Pleasant Street Wharf for staying late and allowing me to get her in the water and to the dock.

yes I know I missed a spot for bottom paint. mental note when you don't sleep for a few days and go to launch your 1st boat you tend to miss some things ;)

Freedom 25: forward berth cabin sole repair

When I purchased my boat it had some water damage from a leaking forward hatch. this was the result the pic is after I tore up the old rotted floor. Below are a few pics of my repair, sorry for the yellow pics the light was not great as I did all the work at night with a shop light.

This is what I started with after removing the damaged cabin floor, after looking around I found the section of floor is supported in sections inside hatches. I decided if I'm going to do the work I should do it properly.

you can see that I removed the old rotted floor, to get this far I had to remove starboard and Port rear berth tops and all hardware.

this is what is left, the white wood floor is the angled section. After removing all the old wood and berth sections you can see it is a lot easier to work and repair this floor section as all the supports are easy to get to and flat.

I made a template out of cardboard and used it to cut my new floor. I wish I had the $$ to use the teak and holly to match the rest of the cabin.

A quick test fit and it's ready to go back together. after putting it all back together

Note: I would suggest to lay up all the berth section including top parts before attaching the curved part to make sure it all fits.

detail shot

detail shot: note forward berth support installed.

All done, you can see in this pic that I also replace the Port upper berth top. all that is left is a few finish coats and should be like new.

Freedom 25: winged mast upper bearing service

Here are a few pics of my recent service of the upper teflon bearing on my rotating wing mast for my Freedom 25. as you can see from the wear inside the tube that the previous owner never serviced this bearing, and had been using the boat with out an material.

This shows the inside of the F25 mast tube, the slightly darker section is an indent which is 2 inches wide and is designed to take a Teflon or similar plastic. when combined with the stainless ring on the mast work as a bearing.

here you can see the plastic insert I purchased. After doing some research I found that their is a number of plastics which will work just as well as Teflon but at less then half the price.

*note: I test fit strip and messured 3 inches of overlap and marked with a green marker. pic below

pic of the test fit, you can see the over lap of the strip. the diagonal line is were I am going to cut, the x is the side I will cut off so the 2 ends will fit nicely together.

here you can see the trimmed ends of the strip. I used a jig saw which cut very cleanly with no burs.

Finished: unfortunately because of material nothing will stick to it so you need to use the tension of the material to hold it in place.

Freedom 25: Lower Mast bearing removal

Well after a few months of putting this off, I final took the plunge and did a full Freedom 25 Rotating Wing low Bearing service. I learned a lot and hope these pics and info help anybody who is looking to do this work to their Freedom 25.

This pic is before I started, you can see the bottom of the mast is in fair condition some cracking of paint and laminate. The cable running down the mast is for the mast head light.

What you are looking at is 3 parts:

1. outer ring: Lower Grease seal

2. fat ring inside: old bearing is rusty and seized in the mast

3. smallest inner ring: upper Grease seal

Note: from looking at this for many months, it looks like the lower grease seal is a metal section laminated in the mast base (this is not so) and their are 3 screws threaded into mast which do nothing.

This is a side shot of lower mast, note the 3 small threaded holes are for 3 stainless screws. which I removed to find did nothing and attached to nothing in the mast.

This is a pic of the Lower Grease seal which was pressed in to the lower section of the mast.

Tool to pull:

1. puller, pic below

2. ice pick with tip bent 90 degress

Note: you can see all the old grease and dirt build up as this process moves along.

Pic of the puller, I used the pick to clean out old grease dirt and seal to give me room to install puller

This shows Lower grease seal removed and a tape measure to show the gap.

Note: the inner grey steel ring is the inner section of the bearing, and the rust colored material around the outside are the bearing rollers which are solid rust and holding it in place.

Bearing removed, this just pulled right out with pick and some penetrating oil.

note: you can see in the pic the race for the the bearing which is pressed into the mast.

*save old bearing, as it will be used to help press new Race into mast.

Mast Bearing race: after some cleaning you can see the bearing race which the bearing rolls on and the upper grease seal.

note: you can start to see that the end of mast is solid Resin, and that all these parts are press fit into the resin which is bored out to different diameters to hold each part.

Removal of Bearing Race is the hardest part of the job.

the process: est 2 hrs

1. use pick to clean out as much of a groove between upper section of Race and shoulder in mast.

2. soak with penetrating oil

3. I ended up grinding down the puller sections to a find point to help get behind the Race. I also made sure to pull evenly, rotating the puller 90 degrees often.

4. after the Race came half way out I used a dremal to cut Race section, which helped me to pull the race the rest of the way out of mast

Race almost out of mast, you can see were I cut the part.

Race removed

bearing race removed, cleaned up and tape measure to show scale.

Everything removed

starting from bottom as they sit in mast:

1. Bottom grease seal

2. Bearing

3. Bearing race

4. Upper grease seal

F25 back stay service:

when I got my boat, the back stays had not been used for a few years and the rope sections were worn and broken off. due to budget issues I decided to stay with original design and to add new line, I did upgrade line quality and down size diameter from 3/8th to 5/16th. I have to thank my friend Cameron for his help splicing this line.

detail shot of splice from line to wire, I could not find any info about what length the line should be so I guessed at 20' per side and figure I cut down if to long.

After working on the rigging for this boat, I have to say that modern upgrades would be a real help, and I plan to upgrade all rigging which attaches to top of mast from cable to 12 strand Spectra with UV protection, this will save a lot of weight. and prevent all possible shaving of metal parts on carbon spar and sails, it will also be much stronger and no stretch.

Freedom 25 outhaul upgrade:

This is a few pics of the upgrade and service to the outhaul system which is inside of the boom of my Freedom 25.

this pic is taken from gooseneck side of boom, it shows the entire outhaul system which is laying on the boom so you can see how it works.

upgrades:

1. upgraded line in purchase and down sized it's diameter to help it work more smoothly, est length of 25 feet. which puts the middle block in the middle of the boom allowing it to move freely away from through bolts.

2. removed cable which ran through shiv and attached to sail, and replaced with 3/16th 12 strand spectra with UV coating, this line has a 5,000lb breaking point, weighs less then half of cable and runs much smoother, and nothing to bind or rust.

This detail shows the spliced spectra to the block. I reduced the travel of the purchase so their was less line, and clutter in the boom. and ran a single line to end of boom. est length is 10'

This detail shows the end of spectra which replaced the cable, the boom end fitting with shevs are not in pic but you should get the point from the pic, the end of spectra is spliced and I have a captive stainless shackle to attach to the sail.

Freedom 25 Boom service: full tear down and over haul

top view:

note slider which runs in the track

bottom view:

from non gooseneck end of boom

gooseneck end cap removed, 4 flat head screws hold it into boom. the blue line is at chase line for the outhaul. I plan to sand blast and clean up end caps and service all parts.

End of boom cap removed note the center pulley is metal which is takes the metal wire for out haul. To my supprise I found the entire outhaul purchase inside of boom with line broken and cable snapped clear off. I plan to service pulleys sand blast and clean up.

This is the outhaul purchase from inside the boom, you can see the metal wire to the left has been broken and the line is worn out and sheared off. I have set so you can see how it would sit in boom. to the right is a stainless bolt 14mm with nylon lock nut which secures the block and the opposite block has the wire out haul line crimped on.

I'm planning on upgrading the line for the purchase and down grade size so it runs better, service the blocks and will replace the broken wire with Spectra which should be lighter, stronger, and run easier.

Tiller service:

Think this is a common item on Freedom 25's

a nice large tiller, with varnish peeling

and wood started to break down

after a little sanding the tiller is starting to look pretty good, still needs more sanding and a few coats of varnish. I'm going to try some epoxy clear coat I use for garage floors.

This is test fit to make sure I don't fill any holes I need, I plan to add a Spinlock tiller extension, and a tiller controler.

back in the shed: finish up bottom work

removed all the paint from rudder

and did a quick sand.

ready for bottom paint

1st coat of bottom paint, kept the water line the same as before with about 2" of white showing, I hope to lighten up the boat over time but this will take some time to sort out

As I was doing bottom paint decided to put a fresh coat on my whaler, also found a new use for my car lift.

'started to make a small fleet'

Pulling Gonzo out of the shed, on a rainy day, I was hoping to get more done inside and wish it was not raining. Last weekend did a full engine service and tune up, the Yanmar is alive and running nicely starts on the 1st turn.

Next week I will be pulling her back in the shed to finish up as much as I can before her launch and sea trial from Prov to Wickford RI.

bottom work:

here are some pics of my Freedom 25 after the bottom paint has been removed, I was able to scrape it all off as it was not sticking to the hull very well. As you can see I found a few thru hole's which were filled some done right some not, and some damage which needs to be addressed. I plan to do a 100 grit sand and do 2 light coats of bottom paint.

note: with bottom paint removed from frt one can really see the hull shape which is quite nice,"did I buy a J24 ;)"