Columbia Owners

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Comment by dave landsman on February 5, 2009 at 4:38pm

always like to be in the company of other Columbia owners. I own New Beginning a 1973 41' shoal draft I have owned her for over 20 years. Around 99-01 I did a total refit,and then went cruising with my wife and then 4yr old. We have settled here in NW Florida,and now do just day sailing. I posted a picture of her last night. Welcome to the idea of the worlds most expensive way to go 3rd class. Dave

Comment by Banana Wind on February 4, 2009 at 5:02pm

Wow! Its been awhile since ive had time to check in here due to dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane IKE, but its nice to see folks that own Columbias show up here! We are lucky suffice it to say that they happen to be some of the toughest boats around in my opinion given the age (mine's a 78') and Banana Wind still lives! I hope to catch up my blog here eventually with some new pics,etc ..and will sooon be putting our boat back on the hard to perform some neccesary repairs. We no longer reside aboard her at this point - we had to buy a house -which we were going to do anyway - just didnt want to be hurried ..thanks IKE! ...*lol*, In any case ..Gary ...we wish you great success with your new undertaking and Larry ...we hope you are still fairing well in the world ...will catch up to you guys again later as time permits!

Comment by Gary B on January 9, 2009 at 10:55am

thx Larry. I think I'm a member already. I haven't posted there yet though. I'll doublecheck.

Comment by Larry Wilson on January 8, 2009 at 11:43pm

Sounds like you have it well in hand, but if you have any questions specific to the 33, or just want to bounce ideas off other Columbia owners, go to the Yahoo! Columbia owners group here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/columbiasailingyachts/
It is by far one of the most populated and intelligent owners groups on the internet.

Comment by Gary B on January 8, 2009 at 7:53pm

I should say that I'm quite aware that the cost will exceed its value. A quandary, especially since I'm already looking forward to a bigger boat that I can liveaboard, in the long run. But I'm learning on this one, and I think it (like most any boat) deserves respect and someone to restore its integrity. Once I'm done I'll be able to fix just about anything! :D

Comment by Gary B on January 8, 2009 at 7:39pm

--- We are all owned by the boat, methinks.
Hahaha. So true!!

Your approach is definitely along the lines I'm following. First safe & floating, then sailable, then comfy, then pretty.

As to the registry, there's something weird going on - somehow according to the registry the boat has been either renamed 'Lazy Susan', or moved to Catawba Ohio. Neither of these is true. At present the boat is at Shaw's boatyard in Dighton MA, and the name is still Imram. I guess I'll have to send an email to the nice folks in charge of that page - I suppose some emails got mixed up. The boat's original name was 'Siranui' - I found an old plaque in the bottom of the map locker.

Here's a synopsis of the renovation. Some of this has to be done before sailing, some can wait. The boat floats well - it's dry. Unfortunately, it spent seven years under a pine tree, collecting water inside, up to about seven inches above the cabin sole. So a lot of internal water damage. I had to have the Perkins diesel removed and torn down - fortunately very little damage to the engine, the transmission seems OK but a point of concern.
- New engine stringers - the wood absorbed water and cracked the fiberglass. New ones are fabricated, ready to go in once the weather is right and a bunch of other fiberglass work is ready to do at the same time.
- The same thing happend to the rudder support block. I will have to tear that apart and replace it.
- The chainplates must be replaced - crevice corrosion. One of them actually broke off when I bumped it with my foot, only about 1/16" square still 'shiny'. I'm going to put the new ones outside the hull, and about 3 times the cross-section.
- Everything on top of the cabin leaks. I have removed and disassembled the companionway, and I will rebuild it. Some parts can be reused, others I'll have to fabricate.
- Some delamination of the cabin top. Two good things - it's plywood, not balsa and all the delamination is on the bottom side - inside the cabin. Walking on the deck and cabin top it is all solid, so I think I can restore this by re-sticking the interior glass to the plywood (did I explain that OK?) - I'll probably drill a bunch of holes into the plywood from underneath, and inject urethane, then use screws in the same holes to clamp it all back together, then remove the screws, fair and make the surface pretty.
- Remove and re-bed the lifeline stanchions
- Remove the centerboard, make sure the pin and seat are still good, and restore and refair the iron.
- Restore all the teak hatches, dorades, toerail
- New water system
- Strip, sand or otherwise restore all the interior wood.
- Construct a battery box - I don't know if this boat had one but it doesn't now.
- Wiring - I've already removed a bunch of nightmare wiring (you've all seen that before). Now I am adding a shore power interface with breaker, a three-stage charger and inverter, etc.
- Some interior remodeling for a more convenient layout.
- Other stuff I forget just now.
- Strip and repaint the bottom, topsides and deck.
Is that enough? :)

Comment by Larry Wilson on January 8, 2009 at 5:59pm

Gary,
Welcome!! We are all owned by the boat, methinks.
I don't see Imram on the Columbia-Yachts.com website, but I may have missed it. Pick up a copy of "This old boat". It has everything you need to know about putting one of our beauties back together.
What are the main issues that need to dealt with? I always start with the things that keep the boat from sinking, then deal with the things that make it able to sail, and lastly, the cosmetic issues and interior. That way I can go sailing and worry about the rest as time and money allow.
Make a list, prioritize the repairs, and get it in the water. Too many people wait too long and lose interest, and then just have to write off whatever investment they have made, up to that point. +
Just my 2 cents.

Comment by Gary B on January 7, 2009 at 3:17pm

Oh yes - any advice, suggestions, assistance, sidewalk superintendents welcome...

Comment by Gary B on January 7, 2009 at 3:16pm

Hi folks,
I have a Columbia 33 (1965, I think) presently named Imram - it's on the list at that website. I'm probably going to change the name - it's on the hard being subjected to the rigors of renovation. The hull is good but just about everything else needs work. I got it cheeep.... but not cheap enough. :( Or maybe I'm just too cheap! :D

This is my first 'owned' boat. I leave it to the group to determine if I own it or it owns me!

I would like to have it ready to sail for the summer, but unless I go down and work on it in the cold, snowy boatyard, that schedule is going to slip. It's in Dighton Mass, NE of Fall River on the Taunton River.

Comment by Larry Wilson on January 5, 2009 at 2:06am

No conversation here lately. Let's talk it up, and get more members!! I'm going sailing today out of Urbanna on my 8.7.
Tell a friend about this website and let's plan some group meetups!

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