FurledSails.com Podcast #120 Capt. Robby Smith

Furled Sails is a great site for small boat sailing Podcasts.

In episode #120 they interview Capt. Robby Smith. When he was young and he sailed a Newport 16 down the East Coat, around the Bahamas and even Jamaica. He talks about sinking off the Jamaica Coast, returning to Glouster and building another boat to sail the Bahamas. There are lessons to be learned for Newport sailors wanting to voyage offshore. Lessons about buoyancy, locking the keel, shifting your weight but most of all about all the wonderful places this little boat can carry you to.

The link to this webpage is:

http://www.furledsails.com/article.php3?article=751

Check out the rest of the FurledSails website. Christy and Noel Davis have interviewed some of my childhood heroes, the people that got me interested in sailing. I spent many hours listening to the podcasts while working on my boat.

Problems with This old Boat

When I first looked at my boat there were some warning signs that I should have paid closer attention to.

The major was the water in the bilge. It is a know problem that the Newport 16 keel bolt leaks. Unfortunately this was not the only source. Personally I do not like a wet boat. Moisture inside a hull can cause delamination, wood core failure and mold. After some close investigation I found out that my boat had them all.

Failed Hull Deck joint. The original hull-deck joint was built using a turned out flange, bonded with a resin filler. A rubber rubrail was pop riveted through the flange. Over the years the resin had cracked and my stbd aft joint had separated. I found this one the first time that I took her sailing. With the boat heeled, water would pour into the bilge. This is note safe situation.




The internal berth liner had separated from the hull. The berths are a part of the emergency flotation. This is something that had to be fixed to make a safe boat. The liner also supports the cockpit sole and keeps the hull from flexing.

Wood core breakdown. The cockpit and berth seats and transom are wood cored for stiffness. Award Boats used a low grade OBX type flake board. Moisture delaminated the wood from the fiberglass skin. You could hear the crackling when I walked on the seats.

Running rigging set up wrong and worn. The previous owner was not a sailor. Lines were not marine grade.

In the future blogs I will explain how I set my repair priorities and the detailed repair results.

Buying a Newport 16

We bought our boat in May 2008.
She was built by Award Boats, Inc, Melbourne, Florida in 1972.
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Why a Newport 16 ???

I have owned several larger boats. With age I have downsized. When I decided to get another boat I set some requirements:

1. Weight of combined boat/trailer had to be bellow 150o lbs. I have a Toyota, Matrix.
2. Length of boat/trailer had to be bellow 20' to fit in the garage.
3. Beam had to be bellow 7' to fit through the back yard gate.
4. Draft: Retractable Keel or Centerboard. The Chesapeake Bay is my main cruising ground.
5. Sleep at least 2 persons. I like cruising and exploring much more than day sailing.
6. Good sailing characteristics including some offshore capability.
7. Easy to single hand.
8. Price.

The LUCKY DOG is a 70's boat with some of the problems from boats of that period.With repair and modernizationshe has the potential to be a good micro cruiser.