We finally decided to buy a very used boat. There is a fleet of about 11 J24's at the Charleston Yacht Club, and while we contemplated getting one earlier, we just didn't think we'd have much need for two boats figuring that the Buccaneer would keep us plenty busy. Following a few sails in the harbor this spring quickly changed all of that. The winds generally blow from the south/southwest and once the seabreeze kicks in, you're looking at > 15 mph on many days. Buccs handle that kind of wind very well on lakes, but in a choppy harbor combined with current, you frequently have your hands full keeping the boat under the sails. Heavier keelboats are quite a bit more stable, and since they seem to be the local favorite, just decided to grab one when several came available for sale.
Uno is quite old, and has been beaten up quite a bit, but is mostly just dirty and has mostly a lot of cosmetic issues. The main selling point was that she's been recently raced (not crashed), has a sound hull (I think!) and usually placed well (depending on the skipper at the time). She's got cracks in the keel about 10 inches or so below the hull, but I was assured this wasn't much to worry about, because the keel is lead. There is a good chance that water is getting in from somewhere, because most (if not all?) of these boats have some water that just lives down in the sump where the keels bolts penetrate the hull. Some of these hull/keel interfaces were built at the factory with a material called "vermiculite" that was once thought to be a good bedding material for keel bolts, but it was quickly discovered that it soaked up water and just became a mushy mess necessitating it's removal and replacement with plain old fiberglass resin. None of the prior owners have been able to tell me that much was done in regard to this boat, but I'm pretty sure someone has done something down there, because the sump and keel bolt area just looks quite a bit more opened up in this boat than others that I've looked at, and there is always water egressing in those cavities from somewhere... so, my guess is that there is water-soaked vermiculite still in the bottom of this boat that I may have to deal with at some time down the road. Today, we're going to drop her in the water via the club's hoist and see if the keel is loose enough to really make any difference. At the very least, I plan on repairing those cracks in the keel with resin and fairing compound... It just looks bad, but for the price we got the boat for, we can't really complain. Fixing her up will definitely be an adventure in learning more about fiberglass work and we've got plenty of people here to learn from. I'm not planning on refurbishing her into "like new" condition, but just enough to not offend the "bubba" contingent here in Charleston... maybe a touch-up coat of "Krylon" after I've repaired the nicks along her rail...
