Ah, yes. I remember back in the day when a steady flow of boxes from Jamestown Distributors arrived at my shop in West Sedgwick, Maine. A Farrier Marine F-9a trimaran was under construction and I needed every imaginable item for the job. From unidirectional carbon fiber for a shaft strut to bronze catches for Okoume and Teak cabinets. It was so easy to spend someone else’s money. Not so, now that I’m spending my own boat bucks! (My friend Larry introduced me to the term “boat buck,” which is a $100 bill that goes like water water in the bilge.)
Last week, the first Jamestown order with items necessary to tackle the projects at the top of the long list we have for our Hans Christian 33t, “Sundown,” arrived. The box included:
– Sikaflex UV-resistant sealant in white and black to re-bed every item on deck. This apparently hasn’t been done since Sundown’s construction in 1982– if ever. Getting leaks under control is our number one priority. She has a bit of water damage below in lockers that we’ve traced back up to a leaky deck plate and the through bolts on the windlass.
– Interlux Bilgekote to repaint the entire bilge area which has been meticulously cleaned (learn more) after the removal of the old water system, black and gray water systems, and errant wires added for this and that over the years. It will be Sundown’s first shiny coat of paint signifying real forward motion towards her re-fitting.
– Epifanes varnish. A can of gloss and a can of rubbed effect. It’s the best varnish available, in my opinion. The butterfly hatch in the main salon and skylight in the head have had “nuisance” leaks for a long time. Both hatches are in our garage being stripped and re-varnished. The Lexan® windows are out and new clear safety glass is ordered. My only disappointment is the very small can of rubbed effect we received for the same price as the larger-sized can of gloss. At this point, however, the rubbed effect is more for experimentation of interior reconstruction than necessity. We are contemplating different options for renewing the finish below decks and haven’t ruled out stripping it and starting over. We have time to decide.
– The final and perhaps most important item that arrived with our Jamestown shipment is the company’s master catalog. This inches-thick book includes every possible item one could ever need or want for building and equipping a boat, and it’s completely searchable with the random ease of flipping through the nearly 200 pages–a lost art in this age of the World Wide Web.
We’ll keep posting updates as the work progresses, so subscribe to our blog by clicking on “Sign Me Up” on the right side of this page, “Like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@sundown_sailing) so you don’t miss any of the excitement!
-cmy
Sundown Sailing Adventures 
Guess I’m even more inflated than you thought. A boat buck is 1000.00
Times is rough .
Larry
Yikes! That raises the ante a little, doesn’t it! We’ll have to add a PayPal button to our site soon so our fans can make donations.
Blake and I were thinking of you in Minnesota last weekend. Lots of turn key boats for sale and at GREAT prices.
B.O.A.T. (Bring On Another Thousand) hence Larry’s “boat buck”.
mto
That explains everything! Thanks, MTO!
I love this! Your blog brings back so many memories of the first half of my life sailing in New England. Okay – so I came into an FJ this year (serial #251, made by Advance, so probably late 1950s/early 1960s?). Not in great shape but definitely do-able. Looks like I’ll need a gooseneck and boomvang, and some work on the sails. Advice on where to pick up any used parts? Who do you recommend on the Front Range to repair sails? This is so different than living in RI, where there’s a marine store on every corner, and I knew several sailmakers. Thanks!
Sue,
Congratulations on the Flying Junior! I am not sure about used parts, but you can find a fairly complete inventory of new parts with pictures at http://www.westcoastsailing.net/default/boat-parts/fj/fjspars.html. The site, http://www.riggingonly.com/, has every conceivable thing you may need, but the site is a little harder to navigate. If you are only in need of the blocks to assemble a boom vang, you should be able to find them at the rigging only site (or http://www.riggingonly.com/TACKLEVANG04.htm). As far as the goose neck is concerned, if you do not need to replace the entire thing and only need to fabricate the stainless swivel block or the tang, you should check with Colorado Iron and Metal (http://www.coloradoironmetal.com/fab.html). If the cast aluminum end is gone or busted, your best bet is a new one.
I do not have a local sailmaker recommendation. I looked at a used sail source, http://www.baconsails.com, and they did not have any. I would think class sails should be easier to obtain than lesser known craft. Let me know if I can help in any way with getting her going again!