J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment concerns with older j30

I second Thor's comments. Rhapsody is 25 years old. I've had to do some glass work under a couple of stanchions where there was wet core. I did the work myself and it cost me well under $350 for materials and my TLC time to restore the area to new condition. This winter I'm spending about $350 and rebuilding my Yanmar. I'm a gear-head from way back, so this is a very easy engine for me to rebuild. I also just rehosed the entire boat (seawater, fuel lines and once it gets well below freezing, the sanitary lines). Again - cost to do that about $400. Add all that up and you'll see for about $1,100 I've significantly extended the life of a 25 year old boat that is great for cruising and racing. We don't have any blisters, however this spring we plan on doing a chemical strip of all bottom paint, then spray on 10 mil barrier coat, followed by bottom paint. I bought an $80 Wagner power sprayer at Home Depot last year and used it for the bottom paint. It works great. My philosophy is to try and make the boat in better condition than the previous year. I figure in another 5 years, Rhapsody will be a brand new boat! Thor is 100% correct. Even if you had to pay for a professional peel and recore at $10K, you are much better off that dropping the bucks on a new boat. That being said, if my bank account would support it, I'd buy a 3 - 5 year old J/109 in a heartbeat. If you look at the for sale ads on those - expect to pay $220K and up. A J/30 runs about $20K to $30K. The position of that decimal point is quite a good value.

Good luck!
Bill
Rhapsody #348

Thor - should we run a pool to see how long it takes for you to get another J/30?