Thanks to a discovery by lakesailor who spotted a J/30 for sale on eBay in this post, I've been in contact with the person selling the boat. It turns out this is hull 474 that has been "lost" since it was donated to the URI Foundation by the previous owner.

The story below is posted based on permission from Sam Gentile who is selling the boat for his older brother Bobby who is partially disabled from a stroke and needs a walker to get around. Sam has a bad lower back so unfortunately has no other choice but to sell the boat. Please PM me if you want to get in touch with Sam and I'll send you contact info.

Hi Captain Bill,

Sir, thank you for your kindness in taking the time to send the email below. I visited the J/30 site before I listed my brother's J/30 and got the impression membership was required to list it.

My never married single brother Bobby had the boat trucked down to the Jersey shore when he bought it from the previous owner in NY and he restored it the best he could. We are both long term sailors (around 20 years at the time he bought it) and we never were into class or club racing. We were in the "hang out at Tice's Shoal set" and for many years would go over with the crowd to the ocean beach side for a swim. But we really enjoyed the J boat even though he knew before he bought it he would not be able to get into Tice's Shoal because of the draft and get in anywhere near shore. We frequently watched for club races on Barnegat Bay (Toms River area) and every now and then blew by them just for the fun of it when they were engaged in longer races going up and down the bay.

When he had it trucked down to Cedar Creek Sailing Center/Marina in Berkley Township (Lanoka Harbor area) where he quickly found out the sailors/boat owners there were very snobby and highly critical of his new-to-him J-boat in the condition it was in when trucked down. They would walk by and pass all sorts of crude and nasty comments as he worked on it. Yes, it looked bad at first, but their comments were not deserved. Before that marina we had sail boats at the "Up the Creek Marina" next door for decades and no one at that 50/50 mix sail/power boat friendly family marina ever said anything mean spirited about anyone's boat. Instead they are all helpful and willing to lend a hand, advice, and to hand you a beer when they see you working on your boat.

After a few months he had it back into the water which I believe was Memorial Day weekend in 2000. Although he already had over 20 years of sail boat ownership, the J30 was an entirely new experience he was unfamiliar with. That first Saturday and Sunday he sailed with a crew of two complete novice women we grew up with and knew since we were young teens. Thus he had to work the sails by himself while he attempted to explain "Hold it into the wind" while he raised the sails. Feeding the main into the track on the mast was an entirely new experience for him and raising and lowering the sails with a crew who could not grasp the concept of holding the boat into the wind did not go very well.

He called me on Sunday night after a constant barrage of comments back at the marina from the sailors during those first two days he used it, where they noticed everything they did wrong out on the bay. It was like the other sailors were watching him all day through binoculars. When he called me he pleaded with me to come down and bring Jane (my wife) because he needed help and he was tired of the two days of comments such as "You ever think of getting a power boat" and "maybe you should just leave the sails down and use only the motor". Jane and I showed up by 10AM of that Monday on Memorial Day weekend to look the boat over since this was the first time we saw it cleaned up and in the water. We checked out all the rigging and lines to figure out what went where. I know you have heard the term "a natural" when it comes to sailing before, but my wife Jane is "THE NATURAL" on the tiller. Within a 1/2 hour with her on the tiller and my brother and I working the sails and winches she had all the tell tales in position constantly without ever looking up. She just looks and gives orders. "tighten the jib a little, let out the main a little". During the first half hour we did a few tacks to get the feel for the boat. Jane and I who were used to pushing a tiller over hard and fast to tack were amazed at how well and fast it responded and tacked after we were sailing cruising sail boat for years. She has that perfect feel for the wind and the boat regardless if she's on the tiller of a 22 Catalina or the wheel of our childhood friends Morgan 41. Eyes open or eyes closed Jane will always have the tell tales standing straight out on the jib and the main while getting the maximum speed for the wind conditions and angle - guaranteed, without ever fluttering the jib.

So after about the first 1/2 hour of listening to my brother telling us about all of the verbal abuse from the sailors at Cedar Creek Sailing Center/Marina I turned to my wife Jane and said go get them Jane. One after another we passed the larger sailboats (we are not bullies who pick on the little guys under 30 feet, all our victims were between 30 and 42 footers) and as we passed them one after another I said to Jane tack. We did a circle around every one of them for several hours on the bay and after circling them we passed them again and moved on to the next victim. My brother was protesting and constantly saying you guys are embarrassing me and I have to live with these people back at the marina. While Jane and I were saying "How many times do we have to tell you? They did not care about your feelings so why should we care about their feelings"?

By around 4 or 5 PM in the afternoon that day as we sailed up and down the bay my brother was now telling us to "stop it already that's the same boat you circled earlier today a few hours ago" as we went from one target to another.

His slip was located towards the front end of the marina and the other returning boats pass his slip as they come in. We were on deck storing everything away as the majority of the boats came back in and the only comments I was hearing from the returning boat owners and their crews was "Those J's are some boats", "Wow that J boat is something else" and "Those J's are amazing". So in those few hours my brother went from being the whipping boy at that marina to the King of the Hill and ended the crude comments. Two years later he moved it down to Mariners Marina in the town of Barnegat because the water there is deeper going in towards the marina.

During the 6 or 7 years we used it together we were never passed on Barnegat Bay by another mono-hull sailboat regardless of how much longer they were. The only boat we encountered that was close was a Tartan T10. He was engaged in a club race and headed in the opposite direction on a long haul going up the bay as we were going down the bay. As he passed I tacked and we came up on the windward side about 100 feet off his starboard beam. I was just wanted to stay along side and look his boat over for a minute. The captain kept looking back to see where his competition was because we were along side stealing his wind so I headed off quickly and out of his wind.

If I didn't have two of these ... but I am running out of room to store stoves. not a long trip to NBay via trailor. would make a great project this summer ... will keep an eye on it and if this price doesn't move ... spare parts city ... starting price is less than sum of parts.

There was a time not too long ago when the updated deck alone of this late model would have pushed this boat north of $20K. It's heart breaking to see one of ours offered for sale in such condition.

relisted June 15
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...;sspagename=ADME%3AB%3AWNARL%3AUS%3A1123

Cabin looks like a mess...

ton of lead in keel worth $1000 at current prices.

Floor depends on if the prior owners oversanded the T&H. but they have nice synthetics that will glue down and sparkle with four hours of time. used on all the new mass produced boats.

The T&H should be solid wood on a j/30, not plywood. Oversanding shouldn't be an issue.

think wood plugs over screwheads ... if you have an easy way to solve that I can use it on 526. about the max you can sand off is just under a quarter inch. Agressive sanding by prior owners obsessed to get "original" look ... on an antique floor leads to sanding plugs right off.

And just as bad is the use of darkly colored vanish that hides the grain of the wood.
v

Relisted again:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190407487627

Anyone in RI area up for a road trip?

Wow, somebody actually sanded off 1/4". I was thinking oversanding that would sand thru a plywood laminate which is usually less than 1/32".

What's the thickness of the wood that's left? Do you have enough wood left to re-set the screws. If so, try that and make new plugs; Home Depot sells plug cutters - I recommend tapered plugs - H/D sells both. If not, tell me what size you need and how many and I'll cut some and send them to you.

If I had excess or dark varnish, I'd think about stripping it off with a paint stripper (try oven cleaner first - its cheaper). Then use teak cleaner to remove most stains and dark mildew (actually KrazyKlean will take out most of the mildew in the wood). Avoid sanding if possible, as the dark saw dust will get ground into the light wood. Try a wood scraper made for finishing wood - a flat sheet metal peice about 6" long.