# New Boat Owner - Old Boat (68 Morgan 24/25)



## captainwilkie (Jun 20, 2009)

Hello, 

My girlfriend and I bought a 1968 Morgan 24/25 last July. We live in Brooklyn NY. Neither one of us grew up sailing or around boats, but we shared an interest in getting into sailing and an opportunity arose to purchase this boat for a song and we jumped at it. Last year we spent sailing with experienced sailor friends and figuring out what the boat needs. 

Now we've arrived at the point where we'd like to fix her up a bit.

A couple questions:

-Can we rename her without bringing down some age old curse on the boat and us?

-We need to replace the main halyard - it's currently wire and it's coming unraveled. We took the mast down when we had her hauled for the winter and I took a look at the sheaves - there are four of them divided by what looks like a cheap/thin/worn piece of metal (approx 1/16 of an inch thick, 7 1/2 inches long and 2 inches tall on one side and 2 1/2 inches tall on the other). Initially we thought about putting on rope halyards, but the sheaves are very thin and I'm not sure they could accommodate a rope that would also be easy to handle. The sheaves themselves are in fine shape (2 inches in diameter, 1/4 inch hole in the middle, and the grooves are about 1/4 inch as well) but the piece that holds them all in place looks homemade and rather questionable, with some sharp edges. I'd like to find something to replace all four sheaves and the block apparatus that separates the main and jib halyards - problem is the masthead won't accommodate anything wider than the set up describes above. Any ideas?

-Does anyone know where I might be able to find an original manual for this 1968 Morgan 24/25? I found the boat review from Pratical Sailor and I found some old marketing materials, but no official manual. 

Thanks in advance!

That's all for now - although I think I'll be back her often. Very glad I found this place.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Hey cap, welcome to SN dude. You'll like the place.


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## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

Welcome captainwilkie. Do you keep your boat near Sheepshead Bay, south shore area?

As for renaming your boat, see here: 48° Vigor's Interdenominational Boat Denaming Ceremony

As to halyard replacement most folks seem to like to go with all rope halyards as the newer high tech lines can be very low stretch. Going with a rope/line halyard is dependent on having a suitable sheave at the top of the mast though. It sounds like the sheave box at the top of your mast could use a re-think or perhaps just new sheaves. See replacement sheaves here: McMaster-Carr

I can't help you with a manual for your Morgan 24/25. Is there a Morgan owners group somewhere out there on the web? That would likely be your best bet for getting a copy of the manual.

Again, welcome.


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