New owners of an unfinished W32 kit boat!!!

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  • February 12, 2015 12:06 PM
    Reply # 3224760 on 3223149
    Deleted user

     

    Justin, I think we might have known the previous owner.  I do want to stress MIGHT have known him.  I say this because we were in Owl harbor with an engineer/Westsail owner and it’s an understatement to say that I didn’t get along with him.  I don’t think there were many engineer/Westsail owners in the Delta, but it’s certainly possible he might be the same.  If it is the same owner make sure you check the ballast as he had told us that he had added ballast and had negatively affected the boats sea worthiness. Keep in mind that there were a few early Westsails that did need some additional ballast, but I believe his was a late model that he bought just before Westsail went out of business.  There were some earlier posts on this subject by another Westsailor who knows a lot more about it than I do.  

    The reason we didn’t get along is that he hated Westsails, Westsail Corporation and anyone connected with Westsails.  Apparently it stems from when he bought his boat just before they went out of business and the problems that ensued.  I understand that as when a company closes there’re many problems and sometimes unhappy customers. The attitude he had I could sympathize with, but it was his constant berating the boat and ours in particular that was the problem.  It came to a head when during one of his “lectures” he told us how out of square our boat was and replied he had measured it.  I told him he had no right being on our boat without our permission.  He made a snide remark I don’t remember but I exploded and chased him off the dock and down the levy.  Unfortunately the harbor master Frank who had a reputation as being hard-nosed and no nonsense was sitting on his little floating patio as I chased him past.  I thought Frank would kick us out, but he surprised me by saying “I was hoping you’d kick the ^$#^% out of him”. Later we became good social friends with Frank, who had a great sense of humor and his wife.  Frank turned out to be a reasonable harbor master, but did run a tight ship.  A month later Frank and he went to actual blows, Frank kicked him out.

    This might not be the same owner, but I do remember the boat being real nice with a lot of potential if someone would finish it.  So don’t take this as any criticism of your boat, it’s not, it’s absolutely not a reflection of your boat.  We have wondered what became of her and are always happy to hear when someone takes on the task of finishing or rejuvenating a Westsail.  This may be the same boat or not, but either way you’ve made a great choice.  We’ll probably bring our boat back to Stockton from Mexico this spring, which isn’t far from you so hope we meet.

    Jim

    P.S.  The Stockton sailing club has a crane that comes in real handy at times.

    Last modified: February 12, 2015 12:15 PM | Deleted user
  • February 12, 2015 6:15 PM
    Reply # 3224990 on 3223149
    Deleted user

    HAHA! What a great story! I was cracking up while reading it to my wife.

    I believe this guys name might have been Michael Connolly. Ring any bells? And I have to say, as neurotic as all of his writting are, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same guy. There are numerous notes throughout his writtings that criticize Westsail's accuracy in completing the boat to the tolerances listed in the plans and some other rants about them. He even mentions Bud at least twice and I've only looked through maybe a 3rd of his notes.

    That said, the dude is just brilliant in some ways and despite his slanderous ramblings bashing Westsail, he had some awesome ideas on how to finish the boat out. His work so far has been impeccable. His carpentry skills were masterful. He's made some small personal touches that I think are pretty cool, such as increase the cu ft of the fridge by almost 1 cu ft. Also, he designed the 73 gallon diesel tank so that if the boat were dropped from a height of 25 feet, it wouldn't damage the boat in any way. The hatches are sweet! 

    I own it now and am THRILLED to own it. It's my dream boat. I'm not an engineer and I'm only a novice sailor but anyone with any brains that's been on a handful of boats can see the awesomeness and the durability of the W32 design.

    I'll look into the ballast (not sure how to do that really) but I do recall a note somewhere that he calculated the ballast out to 7360 pounds or somewhere along those lines. I don't believe he added ballast but instead, cursed WS a bit for another innacuracy. I'll have to double check.

    Also, were you able to see my image links? 

    Justin

  • February 13, 2015 9:55 AM
    Reply # 3225548 on 3223149

    Justin,

    I do have Michael Connollly on my Westsail owners list.  Your boat number is 664, and it never did have a name on the boat.  I do not have the full HIN on my list, but it probably ends in 1175, since the next few boats after yours were laminated in 1175.

    I only had one dealing with Michael, when he ordered a fiberglass tube from me for the shaft log, and he returned it because he felt it was not the exact size he wanted.  I also know why he was so down on Westsail, because he told me in a email.  But I do not want to describe that information on the forum.

    I will change my records to show you as the owner of #664, but I would like to you to verify the HIN.

  • February 13, 2015 5:44 PM
    Reply # 3225821 on 3223149

    So Justin & Kristina , what are some of the big things that need to be done ? I see by your picture the cap rails are done and I see a lot of other wood trim , that's a good thing . Obviously the mast needs stepping , do you have all that stuff ? How is the engine ? 

    PS . Jim , that was a funny story , his comment that the boat wasn't square was a hoot .

    Last modified: February 13, 2015 5:54 PM | Anonymous member
  • February 13, 2015 7:50 PM
    Reply # 3225849 on 3223149
    Deleted user

    Thanks for the info, Bud. Your description of Mike seems to make sense. I'll get that HIN for you when I can.

    Mark, the engine is a 3 cyl Volvo Penta, 35 horse (forget the model number) installed in 1977. The harbor master told me Michael came by every other month and ran the engine for 20 minutes or so. It looks brand new! Most of the interior woodwork is done (70%). Stuff that needs to be finished: half of the V-berth needs to be finished, a chain locker needs to be built (bulkhead included), the floors need to be finished, lots of little cosmetic things inside need finishing, I believe there may be fresh water tanks in the boat but I didn't look for them so I may need to put those in, the plumbing for the kitchen sink needs to be done, I could go on and on. And the exterior pretty much needs to be done. The cap rails are done but that's about it. There are some fixes I intend to make to the rudder, the tiller handle, and I have an unfinished mast and boom. Obviously the boat is the original ivory gelcoat and the deck has cracks that need to be repaired pretty much everywhere. Gonna be a major pain. The chain plates were recently done and are extra beef. Honestly, the chain plates and the solid feel to the deck are the best things about the exterior.

    Over all, there is a TON of work to be done on this boat. Like I told the seller, the only kind of person that could take on this boat is someone like me or some millionaire with money to burn. I could get a W32 that is ready to sail for 20K. This boat is honestly looking at 60k plus in labor if we couldn't handle doing it ourselves. It's going to take a full year of work, 5 days a week, to get this thing finished. We'll probably stretch it out over 18 months so we can fit some fun in there. :)

  • February 14, 2015 10:29 AM
    Reply # 3226128 on 3223149
    Deleted user

    Hey Justin, I’m glad you liked you like the story.  It ’always good to learn something about your boats history or previous owners. We were friends with our previous owners, but know little about the first owner. 

    Yes that was him, his name was Michael.  I could be wrong about the details of the ballast, it has been fifteen years but I remember him talking about it.  He had come from a marina in San Francisco bay, which he had been kicked out of and motored to owl harbor.  He complained how bad the boat rolled in San Pablo Bay, which can be notoriously rough at times.  He said the ballast was wrong and that he had added or was going to add ballast, but I think he said he had added ballast.  Ballast should be 7000#’s.  I pointed out he had crossed without a mast which would make the boat rolling worse.  He replied he hadn’t thought of that and that was the first “red Flag”.  No doubt he was intelligent but like a lot of smart people tend to outsmart themselves when reinventing the wheel.  We didn’t remain cordial very long but what work I did see looked like quality.  He had a lot of ideas and some were totally bizarre with no hint of common sense so you might want to rethink some his ideas.

    I did see your downloads.  If you open a Picasa account and upload you photos to it, you can then copy and paste them to the Westsail site.  This will be handy for showing your progress or asking questions.

    Here’s some photos of our boat

    https://picasaweb.google.com/111834525627890796788/Worldwind#

    Jim

     

  • February 14, 2015 10:58 AM
    Reply # 3226131 on 3223149
    Deleted user

    Once again Jim, thanks for the information. Yeah, some of his ideas seem a bit off. He did write "Finished - as built" on anything he completed and the boat does match up with the drawing exactly. Should make it easier to solve this ballast question. 

    Gorgeous boat! I hope ours looks like that some day. If you ever want to trade straight across, let me know. ;)

    Bud, it looks like I'm probably not going to get back over to the boat until Monday.

    Justin

  • February 14, 2015 3:25 PM
    Reply # 3226262 on 3223149
    Deleted user

    One last thing, which marina are you in.  There are half a dozen out there,

    Jim

     

    Last modified: February 14, 2015 3:25 PM | Deleted user
  • February 14, 2015 6:27 PM
    Reply # 3226359 on 3223149
    Deleted user

    I'm at River's Edge but am moving to Bruno's in about three weeks.

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