New boat and owner's on the hard

[Nicolina]

Since nobody has posted anything here in a while, I'll share my winter blues.

After looking for my 27, I finally closed the deal on a Mark I in late November. Hull number 8 - that's a collector's item, right?

Besides motoring around the marina twice, I had no chance to take her out. So the new old boat is on the hard for the winter and I can't wait for spring on the Chesapeake!

[Bob23]

N:
   Congrats. My friend Peter just purchased a 27 this fall. I got to step aboard and check her out. Cavernous, me thinks. Compared to my 23, she's cavernous. And trailerable. Oh, yeah, I became a bit envious until I reminded myself how content I am with "Koinonia".
Bob23...spring's comin'!

[bmiller]

Congrats. Did your boat come with 110V from the factory, what about a marine head w/holding tank? That's just a couple of mods made to my boat. Where is the main sheet rigged, end or mid boom? Pictures? Come on lets see it!

[Nicolina]

Bob23:
Yes, the 27 feels big, especially after my first boat (a Precision 18). I looked at the 23 with diesel too and liked it but decided that the 27 is the better package for my needs. Two kids and "claustrophobic" family members made the choice for me. Plus, there were a couple of good deals out there this past year for older versions of the 27.

bmiller:
The boat has shore power and 110V sockets in the cabin, plus a shore-powered battery charger. There's also a manual marine head, holding tank and Y valve (which I may get to use legally, let's see). The head was a requirement (see "family"). The main sheet is end rigged with the traveller on the bridge deck. I know most owners prefer the traveller on the coach roof. I'll sail the boat a season before making a decision about changing this (or anything else); I may prefer the end-boom rigging for better sail control.

By the way, I thought all CP27 came with a marine head as standard. I discussed the early model history a bit with my broker (Tred Avon, the MD Compac dealer). He assured me that my boat, hull number 8, is a Mark I, although most boats from that period are (wrongly) advertised as Mark II. I read somewhere that some very early models had porta potties, but not even Gerry Hutchins remembers that ...

I had a very good survey done and the boat is solid, but I'll invest a bit of time in cosmetic work, particularly in the cabin. I'll need new sails in a year or two (any good recommendations?) and will keep an eye on replacing the running rigging. Nothing major - the boat will not look new but I'll try and keep it in good shape.

And I'll post some pictures once I figured out how to do that here!

[bmiller]

Sounds like you got a good solid boat, congratulations.

My boat had a porta-potti when we got her. The marine head was a mandatory upgrade, I hate dealing with pp's. It also didn't have the 110 service.

What is the condition of your blige? I had to rebuild mine.

As for posting photos there are several free photo hosting sites out there. Then it's a simple task to link them into a post.

Now lets see if we can get you a solar panel installed. Like this.

[txsurbrook]

 If you only need to top off batterys, you can use a vw solar panel that is used in shipping new cars.  they come with a std. cig. lighter plug. They can be found on E bay for about 25.00

[Craig Weis]

My $70 solar panel mounted on the fwd hatch produces on a full sun day, 18.3 volts dc at 300 miliamps.
Or just about nothing. BUT!! 'Nothing' for days, weeks, months, and years on end will slowly 'boil out the water' on a wet cell battery. Mine did. I was not smart enough to check the water level on my 'maintenance free' battery of 1000 cold cranking amps. Just prise open the caps and look~see.
skip.

[Nicolina]

Bmiller:

I read your post about the bilge rebuild before I bought my boat, and your summary was enormously helpful (earned you a Karma point!). As a direct result from your experience, I probed the bilge, discussed it in detail with my broker and got some advice from Hutchins. The advice was that the plywood on top of the ballast has no structural function; were it to rot, one can take it out and glass over.

In any case, my bilge is fine but very dirty and stinky. The boat has been kept for may years on tributaries off the northern Chesapeake with its muddy and silty water. There's mud and a bit of water in the bilge that smells like a dead octopus. I am now cleaning and repainting the bilge.

A solar panel is somewhat further down the line of upgrades.