# Newport 16 in Charlotte



## tschmidty (Sep 25, 2008)

I posted this somewhere else but figured I would add it here for kicks. 

I bought a Newport 16 this weekend. That might be an exageration in that I bought a hull, a mast, an old jib sail, and a trailer really. But what else do you need really? . And the two Icehouse beers in the bilge were just a bonus! OK, no, I did not drink them.

I guess I would say I am new to sailing but used to go out a lot on my grandfather's sunfish up in Michigan every summer, and I have a gaff rigged sail on my kayak I have been playing with lately. But nothing bigger than that. Hoping if this works out it will be a good boat to start with. Big enough for me and a couple others.

The whole seam between the hull and topside (except the transom) was broken and had been siliconed back together. Lots of fun cleaning that out. I built a lift and pulled the top off and am in the process of fixing some bad repairs and damage on the edges.

I have a few pics here, on photobucket, but I can't link to them. You can go there and search for tschmidty69.

You can see where I started to prop up the front after separating it. It actually was held together by the silicon caulk but with a ton of gaps of course. I was originally going to just clean it out and try to epoxy it back together, but I decided after poking at it that it needed to just come apart to do the job right. Right now I have the bottom almost ready and need to start on the top. I've put in about 6 hours (including trips to the store) so far.

Suggestions for how to put it back together would be appreciated if anyone has any. My plan is to make sure both mating surfaces are flat. then epoxy and rivets, with washers on the bottom of the rivets. I don't see a huge need to through bolt it, it would be a bit stronger but more money.

It really shouldn't be too long until I get it going, but we'll see. If not I have a trailer for my next boat!

I'll probably use this posts for updates since I am not sure where else would be appropriate.


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## ckgreenman (Aug 22, 2008)

Cool. Good luck on your restoration. That's the same one I passed on a week or so ago.

Here

You're already a lot further along then I would have been by this time. It was just way too involved for me to tackle but hopefully you'll be able to get het back on the water.

Have you given any though about what you're going to do for a boom?


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## tschmidty (Sep 25, 2008)

Thanks, I actually have a blog I had all of one post on, so figured I would throw some updates in case anyone cares to see what I am up to on this little boat. It's goneridin at blogspot.com but I can't post a link yet.


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## ckgreenman (Aug 22, 2008)

lol twp more to go. post a couple more and you'll be good to go.


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## ckgreenman (Aug 22, 2008)

I'm interested. I wanna see just how much it'll take to get her in shape  Especially since I passed on buying it.


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## ckgreenman (Aug 22, 2008)

Hey, saw the blog and thought you might be interested in this site. They have some pretty good prices on hardware and all things related to small boats. Also a good resource for boat builders.

Duckworks


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## tschmidty (Sep 25, 2008)

Thanks. I have some good resources, but right now I am trying to hold off on anything until I get the thing floating and see how that goes first so we'll see.


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## tschmidty (Sep 25, 2008)

So the entire deck core was rotten and I am rebuilding it. I must say I am happy I am working on a small boat and can get to everything, cause as with any repair getting good access to do the work well is more than half of the battle.

Anyway added an update here, Gone Ridin with pictures.


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## jackytdunaway (Sep 11, 2006)

i saw your blog. you are jumping in with both feet. Have you done fiberglass work before?


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## ckgreenman (Aug 22, 2008)

Wow. Nice bit of progress. Definitely a lot more then I could have done. 

Glad to see you making headway


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## tschmidty (Sep 25, 2008)

I haven't done fiberglass before, but have done auto body work and I am usually not afraid to take something on. Seems to have gone well so far. It'd be different if it was more cosmetic work. I could do it it would just take a heck of a lot longer.

Hoping to get it back together this weekend and then can work on rigging. Just need a couple turnbuckles for the shrouds and a boom and I should be set. For now I will rig a boom out of a 2x2 with just a clamp on the mast to hold it. I want to just get some basic stuff together and see how it sails before I try to get carried away with new blocks and a real boom and what not.


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## ckgreenman (Aug 22, 2008)

Cool. have you figured out what you're gonna do for a main sail yet?


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## tschmidty (Sep 25, 2008)

Added some updates, got it back in one piece and made a temporary mast base, and hoisted the one sail it came with. Getting there, hoping to get it out on the water this weekend. Obviously not close to done but should float.

Gone Ridin


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## ckgreenman (Aug 22, 2008)

Cool. Looking forward to seeing the pics of it on the lake


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## Joevacs (Oct 7, 2008)

*Ah memories*

Cool, I did almost everything your doing 2 years ago on my Venture 17. It was full of rain water and the bow had been ripped from the boat and reattached with bondo. It was a terrible mess. Like you, I wasn't planning to go all out, but the deeper I looked into the job, the more I realized I just go for "all or nothin". So I did. 
You'll be glad you did. I am
And of coarse, with a sailboat, you're never really done.


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## ckgreenman (Aug 22, 2008)

Any updates? Were you able to get her on the water?


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## tschmidty (Sep 25, 2008)

So I actually got it out in the water on Monday and Tuesday for some trial runs. Monday was a bit of a bust fighting with a balky outboard. Broke down and got a trolling motor. Obviously slower but a more reliable and I don't plan on motoring much.

Tuesday was gusty as heck maybe 10 sustained and 20-25 gusts at times. Perfect for a first sail, right? Good news first in that nothing fell off and I made it back just fine. Made for some pretty exciting sailing but gave me a lot of confidence in the boat.

I learned it's pretty hard to single hand in string winds with no reefs and nothing to strap the tiller. When you can't let go of the tiller to drop the jib things get a little hairy at times. 

I'll post some pics soon, was too gusty to get any pics on Tuesday.


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## ckgreenman (Aug 22, 2008)

Cool. Glad you were able to get it on the water. As for dropping the jib, does the boat have weather helm (tendency to turn into the wind)? If so you can always just turn the bow into the wind and put the boat in irons, drop the jib, then be on your way. If it's a lee helm then you might have to be a bit more creative. One thing I'm curious of, is the mast in the stock location? One thing I didn't get a chance to check when I saw the boat was where the mast step should be mounted.


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## tschmidty (Sep 25, 2008)

The mast was located on the cabin top, you can see in the picture.

It had a really bad lee helm, especially at low speeds, but I made a new rudder (not done but getting there) and it made a huge difference balancing it off. Could use some tweaking to the shape, but it works pretty well as is.

Got a little electrical panel made with a couple of 12 volt outlets to charge the gps and whatever else while I am out. Need to run a bilge pump and maybe a few lights off it. The GPS is cool since it gives me speed as well as the other functions. Almost got it to 6 mph! Winds were only about 10 mph so not really too bad.

I have almost no idea how to trim the sails for performance and my setup is definitely "rigged" in the bad sense of the word, but I was overall pretty happy with how it sailed. Upwind is much better with a better rudder, was able to get 4 mph upwind in moderate winds and point much higher than before.

Still not close to done (like it ever would) but still able to go out enjoy the water.

One pic looking out and one just showing the main and cockpit. Ignore the dirt, still need to sand and paint the cockpit.


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## ckgreenman (Aug 22, 2008)

Awesome. Unfortunately, I'm probably not much better when it comes to trimming the sails. I know just about enough to get it going and keep it going. 

I don't know what you could do to get rid of the lee helm although I'm sure there are some here who could.


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