Recent content by jmcelwee

Puget sound What a great place to be stranded! Hope the weather was nice.

Hi all, Sorry for a totally naive question, but still a relatively newbie to boat maintenance. The rudder on our E28 has taken on water, and I was going to pull it off at the end of this next season, either to try and dry it out and repair it, or to have it replaced. Was just wondering what...

Yikes! Wow, David, I can say that looks like it was quite the project! I'm going to have to go with the 'ship it to California' route, as I'm sure my garage would end up covered floor to ceiling with foam if I tried this myself. :)

Hi everyone, New owner of a '84 28+, and this is the first season we've put it up on the hard (here in New England). I was working on the boat today, and noticed that the rudder was showing several rust-like leaks, coming from some small cracks (photo below).... I'm assuming this is bad...

Rubber sheeting I'm definitely leaning towards something that wont actually stick the sole to the TAFG, rather just provide a watertight seal. I'm looking at rubber sheets, that have adhesive on one side (so I could stick the sheet to the bottom of the sole)...

Hi all, I'm replacing the cabin sole in my '84 E28+, and am thinking about how to lay the new sole down. I don't want to glue it down (considering what a nightmare it's been getting the old glued-down sole up), and am planning on just screwing it down (as many others here have done with their...

Hi again all, Another winter project, this time replacing the oil pan and dip-stick tube on my universal 5411. My question is, while I've got it hoisted, is there anything else I should look at doing to the engine while I've got access to it? The mechanic says it looks like it's in pretty...

Futher TAFG bilge thoughts/questions I was just looking at the brochure for the E28 in the downloads section, and the lateral view of the boat shows the outline of the TAFG. In this case, it would seem that the visible 'Bilge' in the boat (as observed through the bilge access panels) must...

Hi all, I own a 1984 28+, and I've seen (and dealt some) with the so-called 'hidden bilge'. I was hoping someone might have some deeper experience with this, or advice, or any additional information. I'm about to dive in to replacing the cabin sole (since it's been pretty much destroyed by...

Great advice! Hi all, Thanks for the advice! I got myself some lysol I.C. disinfectant, and have put some of that with a gallon of water down into the bilge a few times now, and the difference is amazing. That nasty funk like something had crawled in there and died a few years ago is now...

Does anyone have any images or pictures of the TAFG (preferably, in a 1980's vintage boat, either 28+ or 30+)? I want to get some idea of what I'm dealing with under the sole when trying to rid it of bilge water....

bilge cleaning Thanks Vincent! For a pump, would a wet/dry vac be sufficient, if I could somehow manage to cram it into a limber hole or somesuch? Also, for the disinfectant, most quaternary disinfectants are for use on non-porous materials. I'm worried that the bottom of the sole is...

Hi all, I just bought a 1984 Ericson 28+, and am having a devil of a time trying to get the bilge as clean as I can. I know the best advice is to powerwash the bilge to clean it, but for this particular boat it's impossible. Ericson built the boat with a laid-in fiberglass grid under the...

Hi Mark, My boat is 'Intrigue', currently out of Mystic. I'll be moving up to Rhode Island at the start of next season, though, as I'm based in Boston. -J

Hi all, Thanks for the great replies! I've sent out some feelers to a few companies (the canvas store and shipshape canvas). Canvas store already got back to me (email below). Sounds like a pretty decent deal, considering the yard will charge me $17/ft for shrinkwrapping, so it would pay...