New (used) V222...My first boat.

[Bigdamdork]

Hey Everyone. My name is Jeff and I live on the Central Coast of CA. I just picked up a 78 Macgregor V222 and I'm going to start working on it. I'm part of another motorcycle forum in which I have close to 5000 posts so it's weird to start off as a noob but hopefully you guys won't scoff at me like we do the noobs in the other forum.

So a quick background. Picked this up from Craigslist for $140 (Trailer and Boat no kidding) Very long story short 1) No Title 2) Cops were going to tow it so I made an offer he couldn't refuse 3) My brother-n-law is an attorney and handles abandoned property claims so he is helping me with the paperwork to get it titled again. I've been sailing a bit off the coast of Avila Beach, CA in my buddies 35' Catalina (33? 34?) but I'm still pretty green. Depending on how much my friend drinks when we are sailing he reminds me how new I am. It's important to know your knots around him trust me.

With this said I am now the proud owner of my first boat. My friend checked it out and sans needing stay cables (to attach the mast?....see...very new) everything is pretty intact and just needs some tuning up. I am few weeks away from getting the boat titled so I thought I would start to work on it. I wasn't willing to spend any time until I knew it could be titled. My first of probably many questions is how do I repair and refinish this rudder? It looks like it's gel coat and not fiberglass but I'm not sure. I can more or less tune a motorcycle but fiberglass and such is a new world. Any suggestions and/or finger pointing to an appropriate thread is appreciated. I'm looking forward to throwing money at my hole in the water.

[kmclemore]

!	kmclemore:
	Welcome, Jeff! You're a newbie here, so at first your ability to post photos is restricted because we need to prevent 'inappropriate' photos being posted by spammers. I've copied your photos below for the forum's members to enjoy and reference. Good luck with your boat - looks like a great buy! -Kevin

Jeff's photos:

[yukonbob]

That's a great looking boat for $140. The good thing with fibreglass is if you mess it up you can always sand it off and start over. Especially with a small patch like that. Good luck.

[cptron]

Great looking boat and looks just like our first boat.
As the noob, you are expected to buy the pizza for the forum. After that its all smooth sailing
You will not find a better forum to help with whatever answers you might be searching for.
Good luck and remember to keep your sails above water and the keel below water.

[dlandersson]

Just so we're clear:

Answers: .25
Answers requiring thought: .50
Correct answers: $1

Great looking boat and looks just like our first boat.
As the noob, you are expected to buy the pizza for the forum. After that its all smooth sailing
You will not find a better forum to help with whatever answers you might be searching for.
Good luck and remember to keep your sails above water and the keel below water.

[Ixneigh]

That's a great looking 22.2. I had one and loved it. I paid more and it wasent in as good a shape.
Google fixing fiberglass if you haven't already. It's a simple fix. If that damage is from abrasion, add a few extra layers.
You didn't mention a motor so if you don't have one, a five hp is all you really need.
Ix

[dale4643]

That was an awesome find and don't be be worried about the fiberglass work especially if that's the worst of it. I did my first glass work a few months ago on mine and it was just all about using the cloth properly then spreading the glass on like icing a cake! Like the other fella said don't freak if you mess up cause you can grind off if you mess up then sand it smooth if you put on too much. I have an 85 Mac that did not look nearly that good when I picked it up ($1700 with a 4 hp). If your friend is not educated on swing keels make sure and do your homework on here for inspecting the pivot bolt, lifting cable and winch. Did you get good sails too for that price? Have fun with it, our Mac has been an awesome learning experience for me and my wife. Have fun!

[Catigale]

Welcome Jeff!!

That is a great score and you will have fun with it. That is a smoking fast sailing boat - do check out the Manuals section above if you are looking for documentation.

This is a really civilized place - in short, anyone who acts like a "richard' has a short lifetime here, to match their shortcomings.

[Bigdamdork]

Hey everyone....thanks for the warm welcome. For some reason I got locked out and even resetting my password wasn't working to let me back in. I e-mailed the moderator a few times but didn't hear back. I realize I can be an A**hole sometimes but I didn't think I had gotten to that stage in this group yet after only one post.....but you know....it is me. I finally got my password reset today!!

This didn't of course prevent from sending the Pizza that cptron suggested I send.....you guys got that right?

So I haven't jumped into the boat full time yet as I would like but have started chipping away at it. I started pricing out how much the rigging would be, etc. There isn't a lot to put into it to get it in the water sans one good size issue that I have been researching fervently.

The Keel. It isn't as bad as some of the stories I have heard because it isn't jammed in the pocket (it's called a pocket right?) but that's because there is zero fiberglass on it at all. It is a beautiful hunk of long rectangular looking iron. So of course I've heard "you can still sail it, it will just sail like crap" to "get it fixed first" etc. (I'm leaning towards the first sans sails) Remarkably the pivot bolt looks fine and other than the winch needing a cleaning (I think the clutch plate has oil or something on it) the only "major" problem is that keel has zero glass.

I've been doing Google searches and have see a few smattered articles and videos here and there about how to drop and re-glass it and let me say I'm a bit intimidated. I'm going to work on getting a motor and getting it in the water before I worry about rigging, etc. I just want to see if it floats and if there are any major problems. I'll start a separate thread when it comes to the daunting task of dropping that leg crushing hunk of metal out of the boat and prentending I can drag it around my garage floor much less manipulate enough to make it look like something resembling a foil.

My sails are so-so. My friends with their 35' Columbia said "You should get those replaced" but by the time we were done sailing and they had killed the better part of a case of beer the story changed to "Sail Tape will work just fine" so the jury is still out. I think they will work in the short term but they have some stressful looking spots in all the wrong places. Hopefully I'll get a little bit of use out of them before having to replace.

Thanks again for the welcome and I look forward to any advice you can offer. Just get me your e-mail addresses and I'll be sure to get your payments out according to dlandersson's payment schedule.

[traylorsaylor]

Can't believe you got your boat at that price. I paid 2000 for 1980 V22 in Kansas that wasn't nearly that good of condition.

[horatio]

looks like a great find , in fact, except for the window just behind the front hatch it looks exactly like mine, which i bought just 2 months ago. the paper work on mine says its a venture 22. i started on the trailer, replacing the 2000 lb axle that was trash with a 3500 lb. with a breakaway brake system and new leaf springs.{ i want to be able to get to the lake and back } the install of the new axle and leaf springs was no problem as i have restored quite a few cars in my time, but this is my first sailboat. i have owned two power boats over the years. this seems to be a great venue for information. i have a question about the keel on my boat ,it measures just about 7 ft. long. some of the information i have been reading says the keel is 5 ft.long i am confused, can any one help me here! ! i would certainley appreciate it.

[dlandersson]

Oh...my...god. You appear to have scored a heck of a deal. Give you $280 for it

[Wingnut1956]

Great looking boat and a bargin to boot! You said there is no fiberglass on the keel and I wonder if you have a cast iron keel? The keel on my V222 (or V22) has a steel plate spine that is 1" X 10" X 7' long with two more pieces of plate steel 1/2" X 5" X 6' long welded on each side of the larger plate. My keel was stuck in the keel housing but came free relatively easy. The fiberglass was severely cracked so I peeled it off and am sailing the boat with just the plate steel spine. I paid $250 for my boat and wanted to make sure I was going to keep it before I dumped much money into it. It's a keeper and the keel will get faired this coming winter.
I'm relatively new to sailing and my main sail needs to be replaced too. I've priced them with a couple of different sail lofts and on the web, the web sites offer them for about half of the sail lofts pricing. Both were using 5.3 Dacron fabric. Is the pricing just the difference between a mass produced sail and a custom sail from a loft?
Another question for the Old Salts, any advantage to a loose foot sail vs attached foot sail. I sail at Lake Jacomo, a small lake just east of Kansas City, Mo. Just crusing, no racing.
Any information would be appreciated.