Just brought home my new to me CP-23

[bigbluefl]

She needs a bath and the inboard needs some work, but she's mine. She was gifted to me by great friends (more like family) that have moved to a larger boat. I'm looking forward to getting her back in shape.



We didn't get her to the house until late, so I apologize for the dim light in the picture.

[Blown Away]

Awesome! Congrats!

[Bob23]

That's awesome bigblue! And a hearty welcome to the site!!! From where in the Sunshine State to you hail? We look forward to your posts and the photo was just fine!
Bob23 and "Koinoina", a 1985 23/2 in the South of NJ

[bigbluefl]

I'm in New Port Richey. It's on the west coast just above Tampa Bay/Pinellas county.

[HeaveToo]

Congrats!  You will enjoy her!

[bigbluefl]

Well, I've been making some headway with cleaning the boat up. She was/is pretty dirty with mold and mildew as she sat in an outside storage yard for the last few years.







It's pretty amazing what some time with the pressure washer can do!







There's still some cleaning to do though. There is never enough light left when I get home from work at this time of year.



My hope is to have the exterior cleaned completely by the beginning of next week. Maybe I'll even have time to start emptying out and cleaning the interior. Then it'll be time to make the checklist for what will need to be done to get her in the water. My biggest challenge I think will be the inboard diesel. It's seized up and won't even hand crank. I think I'm going to pull it and just dig in. I've never worked on diesel before, but I've done a lot of automotive engine work. (My other hobby is autocross.) As my friend said, "she could always have an out board on the back." But as much as that may be a quick and easy answer, I rather like the idea of the inboard. Plus that is how she was made to be.

[Bristol14]

Nice exterior clean-up, looks like a new boat!  I had similar results when I initially cleaned my '87   23-2. The deck cleaned up especially well. My biggest issue was removing several rust stains from the hull.

[Bob23]

She's cleaned up very nicely indeed. And my favorite model-the Mark 3!
In a deliberate thread theft, is that an S2000 I see sitting in your driveway? Or is it a Mazda Miata. Hard to tell the difference from this angle. Oh, the rear fender flare gives it away, I'm going with Miata. And that's my final answer.
Best to you in this new endeavor!!!
Bob23

[Allure2sail]

Hi:
Before pulling the engine out I would recommend taking out the injector and filling the cylinder (or cylinders) with Marvel mystery oil. I had one that wouldn't turn over and I did that let it sit for a few weeks and got it to turn over. Then you could give it a compression check and actually see how bad it actually is. If you get it to turn over spin it up with the starter a half a dozen times to push out the remaining Marvel mystery oil (so you don't hydrolock the engine). If you decide to try and start it use new copper washers on the injectors before putting them back in. It all a long shot but before going through the labor of taking out the engine I'd give it a shot.
Good luck and welcome aboard.
Bruce
S/V Allure ll

[Gerry]

What a fun project.  Keep up the good work.

[Salty19]

Amazing how boats clean up!  Use some mold prevention cleaner once you're done, it will help keep
the mold from growing back down there in humid Florida.

Enjoy the boat, I suspect once cleaned up she'll transform into a source of great pride.

Definitely a Miata, er MX-5, Bob. Looks like an NC2 soft-top, perhaps a 2010 or 2011 year. Damn, I should never have sold mine!

[bigbluefl]

Since a few are asking, the Miata MX-5 in the photo is a 2006 in 'Winning Blue'. I am a fan of that color as I autocross that one quite a bit. Almost every other weekend, and it has given me more than a few wins. What you can't see in the picture is the 1994 Black and Tan with a removable factory hardtop that I have for my 17 year old daughter. It's hiding behind the van. I've had a total of 5 Miata's over the years, and I just can't see myself without one. I've owned every body style and engine combination except for the brand new 4th generation released last year. They are great cars and a lot of fun.

[chimerakc]

That's amazing how well she cleaned up.  Do you know what year it is?

I have had mine a year and half now and I am so happy with it - and continually amazed how well it moves with just the jib.

I am down in Bokeelia on Charlotte Harbor - get down here someday for some sailing - Pelican Bay is such a great place to hang.

[bigbluefl]

Mine is a 1997. It's hull number 600, which I'm told makes it special as every 200th hull supposedly goes to the designer for payment on the design. It would be interesting to know some more of the history on this boat. I know from my friend where she's been in his tenure as her captain, but it would be neat to know about before then. My friend said the owner before them traveled quite a bit in this boat and she has even made a couple trips to the Bahamas. I actually work only about a quarter mile from Hutchins in Clearwater FL. I need to stop by sometime just to check them out.

Sadly I've made no headway on getting the motor to loosen up and crank yet. It looks like I will be pulling it out to dig into on the work bench.

Once I have her back into the water I'd love to make a trip down to Charlotte Harbor. My father-in-law lives down at Marco Island so maybe I'll make a trip out of it with a few stops along the way.

[HeaveToo]

Good luck with the diesel.  I will add that it is a good thing to have and if you remove the diesel and can't fix it replace it with another diesel!