"Banana Cakes" A 1980 Com Pac 23 I rescued

[Banana Cakes]

Hello All! 

Well where to start... My name is Eric. haha   My awesome girlfriend Briana and I just sold our starter sailboat, a Venture 21 ("Good Vibrations") and started hunting for our next adventure on the water.  I have been sailing since I was roughly 10, where my parents had a Pearson 30 at Point Cadet Marina in Biloxi, MS, and I have been patiently awaiting for the chance to buy my own sailboat and show my girlfriend how to sail.  I have traveled hours and countless amounts of hours online looking at the usual websites looking for the "Right Boat".  My girlfriend liked all the boats that that had a older look to them, but I required a trailer since we both are in the Air Force and move quiet frequently. So as the patience was dwindling; I started walking around the local marina and I found her in the dry dock, later learned that she hasn't seen the lake in 6 years! Flooded with rain water and needing a bottom paint job, I was able to contact the owner and we made a deal and Wham-O! I now own a boat that needs a TON of work.  So I set a timeline, that I will have the boat in the water in 2.5 weeks.  The guys at the Marina looked at me as if I was crazy, since I am also in flight school for C-130 Flight Engineer.  So I'm almost positive that everyone has done this, but sanding the bottom of a boat is the most awful job that I have ever done!  But needless to say I got the boat sanded, barrier coat and red bottom paint done in 9 days!  And the cleaning began and cleaning continued.  And when I thought cleaning was done, it wasn't', kept cleaning! Then time to pump water out of the boat, and that was a sad sight to see that the water damage rotted the satee supports for the cushions, so winter project is replace wood with mahogany ply.  But I was able to patch her up so we can sail and be able to sit down. So time to name the boat... the previous owners named was "Rium" but I wanted something a little more personal, so I decided to name her after my lady and came up with "Banana Cakes" and it just clicked.  As I worked on this but for 17 straight days ranging from 4-6 hours on the weekdays and 8-12 hours on the weekends, I could feel the boat giving me her trust knowing that she is no longer going to rot in some boat yard and is being sailed 3 times a week and is a awesome boat! She is everything a brand new Com Pac is with a lot more character and a great story! I will add photos later but as I have saved this boat, I'm sure one day she will do the same.  Here is the You Tube video of my finished project and the launch of her into Lake Maumelle, AR.  If any of you guys are near this area please let me know so we can meet up! I'm really looking forward to making my girl 100%! Hope to hear from all of you and hoping I have some knowledge that I can share as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BoqVBdl2kI

[skip1930]

Well 'Eric. haha', I like that the dog helped launch the CP-23.
I'd recommend a long bow and stern line held by the 'dock boy'.
That way a chase boat would not be necessary.

BTY. Nice rehab. Thanks for the u-tube.

skip.

[crazycarl]

I must thank you for posting the video Eric, for it almost makes my launching at CLR look normal.  Well, ok, you just forgot to have a dock line handy, but it's a good thing you launched her in a protected area without a current!

She looks great!

Welcome aboard,   Carl

[wes]

2.5 weeks? Holy cow, you're fast. You and our friend MacGyver here must have been separated at birth. As for me, it took 2.5 weeks to decide what color bottom paint to buy.

Awesome dog, too. Looks like First Dog Max.

[brackish]

Eric, great job on the rehab and enjoyed the video.  Unbelievable timeline on the rehab. 

Do you still have people in Biloxi and do you get down there at all?  I lived down there from '59 to '80, docked three boats in Gulfport Small Craft harbor over those years. I still have some relatives down there and go down several times a year.  Live in Tupelo now, but planning a move back to the coast, getting the house ready to put on the market in the spring of '14. 

Long haul for you, but if you're still in the area, you should consider the B.E.E.R cruise first week in June in Pensacola.  I've done it twice had a great time.

[Billy]

Eric,
I grew up in Little Rock and still have some friends there who are sailors. However, they prefer the J-Boat variety.

Thanks for your service!

[lochinvar]

Good job! I was imagining some derelict that had patches and all that. Instead you have a beautiful boat, at least that which was visible from the outside.

I kept looking and looking for a dock line! I was thinking: "Surely the boat isn't loose!" and so it was... It looked like the dog was heading out to "save" her.

Thanks man! Of course, V/R.

Fair winds Eric.

Shawn F.

[Banana Cakes]

Wow guys! Thanks for the welcome!  Its great to find a community where there is support.  Yeah the launch went really great minus not having a teather setup haha. Whoops!  Billy, I actually found my boat at the maumelle sailing club dry dock. I go over there seldomly to have a few drinks with the guys. Great group of people and share all kinds of funny stories. Hey Brackish, we still have a few people down there (Biloxi) that I know. Growing up, my mom worked at a sailing loft called Mainland Sails in Biloxi. My girlfriend and I are actually planning a gulf coast cruise in Jan for her birthday where we are going to start in Pensacola and finish at New Orleans. Do some island hoping and come home. But our 23 is gonna do great. As far as the inside goes, always will be a work in progress but ill be rebuilding the satee (?) seat supports. The wood is no longer worth saving but have a quick repair on it right now. This winter I will gut it and replace with mahogany ply and build some cabinetry for stow-aways. Should look cool, at least it looks cool in my mind haha.

[Geoff]

Looks great, Eric. That's coming from another "coast rat." I'm originally out of Pass Christian, and my sis still lives there and sails some dinghies out of LBYC and PCYC.

I'm actually planning on bringing my CP23 down there this winter sometime, as she has been bugging me to haul it down so she can sail it out.

Again, congrats on the find and the hard work. I'm impressed.

Geoff

[Short Sale]

The boat looks beautiful from the outside.  Nice work. In addition to dock lines, you might want two or three fenders for protection from waves, wakes, and currents.

[Bob23]

Well, Eric:
   Your'e gettin' off real easy. Why Iv'e seen some guys get roasted on this site for a lot less than forgetting the bow line after launching! Did you know the name Eric translated from the original latin means "no bow line?" Interesting, huh. Glad your'e aboard! And glad your 23 didn't  23 skid doo! It's sometimes tricky to get 'em back...or so I've heard!
Bob23

[HideAway]

Nice job on the rehab- isn't launching fun?  The others mentioned dock lines and fenders - I'd add don't get your truck tires wet- some ramps are very slick and you can launch your truck as well.   We have a tongue extender on our trailer.  We also launch in salt water.

Here's a video of an early launch.  Lately I've found it easier to launch from the right and jack knife the trailer down the ramp!

http://youtu.be/0aG2KB9cRbs

Welcome aboard- Matt

[Eagleye]

And glad your 23 didn't  23 skid doo! It's sometimes tricky to get 'em back...or so I've heard!
Bob23

Bob.... I have heard the same thing about dingys also ....."ahem".     They do like to wonder away when one forgets to tie the painter.

But we won't mention anything like that here on the forum.

-Allen

[jthatcher]

you have a good memory , Allen!

[Banana Cakes]

Nice job on the rehab- isn't launching fun?  The others mentioned dock lines and fenders - I'd add don't get your truck tires wet- some ramps are very slick and you can launch your truck as well.   We have a tongue extender on our trailer.  We also launch in salt water.

Here's a video of an early launch.  Lately I've found it easier to launch from the right and jack knife the trailer down the ramp!

http://youtu.be/0aG2KB9cRbs

Welcome aboard- Matt

Haha Funny enough the launch of your boat was one of my deciding factors of purchasing a CP23! I really liked how yours looked and figured that is what I wanted and found one relatively close.  It was between a CAT 25, Oday 25, Hunter 240 (water ballast scares me btw), and I stumbled upon this lil girl.  I liked the idea of the fixed shoal draft keel and that's when I found your boat launch on YouTube.  I liked how it sat on the trailer for those long hauls and the proven worthiness of them despite their size.  Definitely worth the sacrifice in a few feet for the dependability.   Yeah the launch was quite comical because I gave the dock hand fella  a line for the boat but he never put it on the boat, so epic fail on my situational awareness, but at least nothing was damaged but lesson learned! I do have my 'rubber bumper things' so I am protected at the dock haha.  But I will hopefully have no other hiccups, but as being human they are inevitable.  So what happened with the dingy?? You have my mind curious