J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Boat Damage/replacement parts

Ernesto hit hard on our bay, several (9 or 10) boats washed ashore. One en route to shore came down hard on my boat, leaving a 1' hole 7' back from the bow, up at the hull/deck join. Besides the hole, I have a bent bow pulpit and three bent stanchions. Any recommendations where replacement parts can be found?

Also, my tiller snapped-does anybody still sell the solid ash straight model?

Very sorry to hear about your boat. I once had a 24' boat that was taken off its mooring by another boat that broke loose, totaled my boat. I know how you feel.
I have an unfinished tiller I made out of maple I keep as a spare. You are welcome to borrow it. I also have 3/4" thick ash boards if you wanted to laminate them and make your own.
I'm located in north jersey, let me know if I can be of any help.

Ouch! Steve I'm so sorry. I bought new stanchions from an ebay store "boater bits" out of Canada... they were $25 plus shipping... even if he has to fedex them its cheaper than off the shelf (if you can find them) Tiller is usually in stock here in Annapolis...West Marine carried it and there was 8 left when I bought one last fall. I am here til Weds. and have access to Bacon's "thriftshop for boats" too. Call me, I'll help in any way possible. Jon has my phone numbers. What about the hole... hotpatch through the NAs?

Check out topsinquality.com for stanchions & bow pulpit. They have stanchions that match the originals and if they don't have an exact J30 pulpit in stock, they can make one from your dimensions.

H&L has the laminated tiller as you may know, which is NOT straight, however, I think it may be stronger. Wonder why you wanted the straight-up ash tiller, good luck getting your boat back up to speed.

I have tried the laminated curvy tiller, but...well...it delaminates, and it is heavier by far than the one piece ash. The lighter weight (to my hand) yields a lighter touch on the helm, and a slightly better feel for sea state in light air.

It really is difficult to find a nice piece of ash these days...

Delammed ? Yikes. I set myself up with a premium tiller for life. This would work with ash too if you find it I suppose. In brief:

*Start with the H&L laminated tiller. Shape aft end (it arrives square & will not hinge upwards) till properly rounded to allow swingup mode.

*Coat fully with epoxy (hang it from the fwd end, suspend from an overhead floor joist in your shop)

* Wrap the aft 1/3 or so in fiberglass (any lighter weight cloth, I used 4 oz because I had it, if you go too thick you'll build it up excessively)

* Fill the cloth with successive coats of epoxy

* Wash the amine blush off the epoxy using amonia or soap or a green pad, thoroughly, or nothing will stick to it, chemically. Big problem if you shortcut this step.

*Locate all the fittings on the tiller, using your old one as a template. Overbore by 3x for each. Tape bottom of bores. Thicken a batch of epoxy and fill the bores.

* Varnish or Cetol aplenty. Add a fresh top coat annually.

I would not suppose you'd ever have a tiller problem again. One note: I find that I need to add a chunk of black closed cell foam on top of the rudder stock in order to gain the correct height to clear the decks at full tiller swing.

Hey Buzz,

Check out this link for an interesting/funny story on J/30 tiller failures. You'd have to check with Dennis Bartley on whether it was ash or laminated.
http://www.sailinganarchy.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=40701&view=findpost&p=860821

Laminated