J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment New J30 Owner

Perhaps a more appropriate title would be "woefully under experienced and underprepared sailors impulsively purchase a j30 desperately in need of a lot of love".

Hi all,

My fiancé and I have just upgraded from our sunfish. Well, maybe the situation is not quite that desperate. After returning to Portland after a cruise to Bar Harbor in our borrowed Pearson 26, we decided that we wanted more and faster (the Pearson got very small very quickly after 11 days at sea) and our "new" J30 just happened to drop into our laps. Let's clear that up too, new she is not; she's a 79' probably best described as a "project" boat. She has a winters worth of projects to keep me busy but I have a few immediate ones necessary before I can launch and sail her back to Portland, I am writing in the hopes that experienced J30 owners might save me some time and effort in this process.

Short list of immediate projects prior to launch:

* 3 forward seacocks are seized, I am planning to rebuild them, should I replace?
* Yanmar is desperate need of oil change and fuel filter, is there/should I replace the oil filter as well?
*Several through hulls and cracks in the keel need fairing, what would you recommend for compound?
*Bottom needs sanding and painting

I'll save you all from the full list (it covers three pages), I am just trying to stick to the immediately necessary for now. Are there any other crucial projects specific to the J30 that I should look into? Thanks in advance for any advice you might lend.

Josh and Marly