Save-A-Boat - The Forum for Plastic Classic Rebuilds!

hi.

after a wicked long launch day for my triton #345, that included such fun as: underwater caulking, up the mast dancing, and a pretty stiff 20 kt westerly for her first sail, my new to me, and first time in the water in 5 years, triton is sitting mostly peacefully at the mooring.

my question is: does she seem to be sitting right to you all?
there is a very minimal amount of water in the bilge, at least 5 gallons of fuel under her starboard cockpit seat, no drinking water, a couple of sails, no cushions, and not much else on her. she appears to me to be sitting down a little, but i really don't know, since i have never spent a whole lot time looking at a triton sitting on the mooring.
one thing is that i painted the bottom paint to the top of the boot stripe, which has a wee bit of upward curve at the front. it was an effort to keep things simple and toned down as the topsides are not the prettiest around.

any feedback would be appreciated. thanks and happy sailing to all.

-carter

First of all, congratulations! Launched! Most excellent.

As to the way she's sitting, she looks a bit down by the stern to me.

But... there she is, in her element :)

Rachel

For an unladen boat to sit lower in the stern is not uncommon. Some figure these boats are designed to deal with anchor chain weight. Added weight in the chain locker will get her back on her lines and probably help sailing and pointing ability too.

I believe that most Alberg designs tend to squat by the stern when they are at rest. My Cape Dory 27, which is Alberg-designed and quite similar to a Triton in many measurements, certainly does.

Although it's hard to gauge, I believe this squat disappears when the boat is sailing, i.e. the jib pushes the bow down.

This was the case with a previous boat I had. I spent a couple of hours shifting gear so that she trimmed level at the dock, only to find she turned into a submarine under sail. She was taking water over the bow at a much greater rate, and was noticeably "bow-down".

I retrimmed the boat when I got back, and although she did squat a bit by the stern when at rest, she sailed much better that way.

a carpenter's level should tell whether she is floating to her lines
a midships berth is a good place for it--no cushions

we trim down slightly by the bow

carterskemp wrote: there is a very minimal amount of water in the bilge, at least 5 gallons of fuel under her starboard cockpit seat, no drinking water, a couple of sails, no cushions, and not much else on her.

How far below the cockpit sole is the water in the drain tubes?
Yes it's down at the stern, but everything you still need to load onto the boat will be loaded forward, so it should correct.

First thing is to fill the water tank.

hi all, thanks for the inputs.

filled water tank and put whatever miscellany that was kicking around in the cabin up front. now she looks a lot better.
got her out in a fresh breeze, 12-15 kts, and she sailed like a dream. just like i thought she would.

her is a pic from 7 am this morning, as i rowed out to do a few things to her before it got too hot.

-carter

Congrats!! She is a fine looking vessel and appears to be on her lines in your latest pic.

Looking sweet!

Thanks for the follow-up post.

Rachel