Some advice on acquiring FRP Wayfarer

[T. Traddles]

Greetings. I know it is not a woodenboat, but I have the opportunity to acquire a Wayfarer dinghy made of FRP for around 800 bucks. The hull is 40 years old and from the pics it looks in pretty good shape. I have recently started a sailing club at a local College and we are in need of a boat to learn to sail in and knock about until we decide the direction we are going to take with respect to one-design racing, building, what have you. What I need some direction in is what to look for when I take a look at the Hull. What should I look for and what should rule out the purchase (despite that it is plastic). Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks

[Gary E]

started a sailing club at a local College and we are in need of a boat to learn to sail in and knock about until we decide the direction we are going to tak

No wonder the so called "colleges" of today are producing IDIOTS that only know how to PLAY

Get a move on...
YOUR LATE FOR CLASS...

care to tell us what school this is??

[T. Traddles]

No wonder the so called "colleges" of today are producing IDIOTS that only know how to PLAY

Get a move on...
YOUR LATE FOR CLASS...

care to tell us what school this is??

Well, drugs, hook-ups and keggers get old after awhile so we need to do something that will captivate our interest when we are not doing anything else. Now, about your spelling. . .

[David G]

[QUOTE=care to tell us what school this is??[/QUOTE]

A college, apparently, that teaches critical thinking skills, debating tactics, spelling, and poise. Not to mention fostering non-academic interests to better create well-rounded human beings. Sound pretty OK to me.

Good response TT


"Criticism is prejudice made plausible" -- H.L. Mencken

[Aed]

TT, there's a community built around the Wayfarer. Start reading about it here http://www.wayfarer-canada.org/ .

A direct link to the technical information on the site is here http://www.wayfarer-international.org/WIT/WITindex2.html .

I've got a Wayfarer Mark 2, built by Abbott Boats of Sarnia, Ontario.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb144/Aed_photos/Wayfarer.jpg

I had just bought new sails from Kent Sails in Mt Clemens, Michigan. This is the first time sailing with the new mainsail. I do have a jib, but we opted to only use the mainsail on this day.

[Aed]

What I need some direction in is what to look for when I take a look at the Hull. What should I look for and what should rule out the purchase (despite that it is plastic). Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks

Look for a solid hull and a good mast and boom. These can't be replaced/repaired easily.

If it has a Proctor Mast and boom, then the halyards on the mast and outhaul on the boom are internal. Make sure they work.

There are two sealed compartments on the boat, one under the foredeck and one under the transom. There should be hatch covers for both compartments - no hatches would be a big problem. My hatches needed their foam gaskets replaced, did it myself with with some closed-cell foam tape from West Marine. These compartments are part of the boat's floatation when it's knocked down or capsized, you'll want them to work as intended.

The bouyancy compartments also have plastic screw-in drain plugs, five of them in total. If you're missing any, you can get new ones. I got mine from Avon Sailboats in Rochester, Michigan. Take one of the plugs with you so that they can match it up.

There's an aluminum cutwater running down the front of the hull. It's held on by screws in the fiberglass. Two of these screws were missing on my boat below the water line and were possibly letting water into the forward bouyancy compartment. I sealed these holes by shooting some expoy into them using a Zip-Loc bag like a pastry bag. It solved the problem, or at least eased my mind.

Check for any leaks at the self-bailers. You'll find them in the bilge, next to the aft end of the centerboard case. Mine were good when I bought the boat.

The boat can also leak at the centerboard pivot pin. There's a standard repair that can be done by the boat owner to "re-engineer" the centerboard pin.

The mainsheet traveller on my boat is screwed into the fiberglass transom. At the ends of the traveller the screw-holes have given away -- I'll eventually fix this, but in the short term I just keep the traveller car far away from the ends of the track.

The rudder and tiller should be with the boat; these are probably wood but can be fiberglass. There are wood benches that run the length of the cockpit, along the sides of the boat. There should be four plywood floor "boards" (but more like panels) that can be lifted out. Inspect all wood for rot or other damage.

Shrouds, forestay, and turnbuckles should be in good condition, but can be replaced if required. Running Rigging and blocks should also be in good condition, but are the easiest things to replace.

Sails should include at least a genoa and a main. The main usually has a bolt rope (and not slugs) -- if you have trouble sliding it in the groove of either the mast or the boom there's a lubricant spray that makes them easier to slide. There should be 4 battens for the main, three will be the same length and one will be shorter. The jib usually has a luff wire instead of hanks.

I paid $1800 for mine back about 6 years ago. It needed new sails and I also added new running rigging. I had to rebuild the trailer hubs a few years later (Bearing Buddies are your friends). The color of the floorboards originally was black. I repainted them gray and they're now much cooler to walk on.

[T. Traddles]

Thanks, Aed. This is the kind of help I was looking for. The present owner said he thinks there is a leak along the aluminum cutwater. I will look very closely at that. I am hoping to get it for 800 bucks. A bargain if it is in as good a shape as he says and the cutwater leak is as easy to repair as you say.

You have a nice boat, btw. Thanks again for your help.

[bamamick]

Exactly. Fixing up a hull is the least expensive part of the deal. The rigging (the spars) is the thing to watch out for. You can buy very good used sails through almost any class association, and line and blocks can be added one at a time. It's when you find out that the boom and mast you have to replace costs several times what your hull cost that things get crazy.

I have never seen a Wayfarer but I know that they are very heavy for their size. That being said your hull should be bullet proof. Try and find out how it is cored and then look for breaks in the glass. I had an old glass Windmill that we had to replace the transom on because it was plywood cored and it rotted out. Look at the hull/deck joint for stress cracks, but you probably won't find any. Check the deck for sponginess. If possible tell the kids sailing the boat to keep off the deck and just get in via the sides.

Have a lot of fun! To be a college kid and sailing again? I'm not sure I'd trade with you permanantly, but I wouldn't mind it for a day or so :).

Mickey Lake

[John Meachen]

Wayfarers are quite heavy as Mickey says and if I remember correctly the hull weight was a minimum of 368lbs for a 15'10" boat.Consequently they are pretty durable and last very well.The price looks very low by the standards of local boats as I know a fellow who sold a Wayfarer only a year or two younger than the example for £1700 about a year and a half ago.To get an idea of what Wayfarers can achieve you might seek out FrankDye's books.

[Aed]

There's no core to a fiberglass Wayfarer built in North America. I'm pretty certain that Abbott Boats had the exclusive rights to build them here. That means that they'll all be like my boat -- solid fiberglass and no core, for both hull and deck.

Found a comment on the wayfarer-canada.org web-site stating that Abbott Boats lost their molds for the Wayfarer in a fire back in 2006 and that because of this there will be no more new Wayfarers being built in North America.

[Hwyl]

I've taught in them and raced them, as everyone says heavy and bullet proof, will sail well with three people on the rail when it blows. We would make students recover from a capsize single handed, which speaks volumes (pun included to confuse Gary E) for these big boats.

We would reef them by rolling the sail around the boom.

Overall great boats, durable, fast enough to be fun and capacious. Grab it and enjoy it (then buy Larks for your club).