Swede 55 Project

[Noah]

Ok, time for an update. You can read my initial thread on the Swede at http://www.triton381.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2184

I have now purchased the boat and it made it to Vermont in one piece. The shipping was troublesome as the shippers had a number of problems along the way. First it was the shipper's truck getting hit in a truck stop the night before he was going to pick up my boat. The meant I had to wait another week at Cracker Boy BoatWorks...hey, it's only $53 per day while it's on the hard...OUCH! They also had a tire blowout that delayed the shipping for another 2 days, meaning I lost another weekend of work on the boat.

Anyway, time for the pictures:
Here is the cockpit of the boat while in the water:



And another shot of the cockpit (with the engine cover off) As you can see it's going to take a bunch of work to make it pretty again. I think this year I'm going to do a quick sand and varnish of the teak steering cross beam, and re-do the non-skid. In the coming years I will tackle making the decks look really nice.


Here she is getting surveyed. I used Roman Folk (he reads this site) and while he seemed knowledgeable, he never completed the written survey and has disappeared from the face of the earth, essentially taking off with my $900. What a jerk. Roman, if you read this please send me the written survey! I really need it!

[Noah]

A few more shots out of the water:





While the hull is in good condition, I still have plenty of work to do to make her look nice. A run-away boat in one of the hurricanes bumped her up pretty good. The topsides need some love, and I don't think I like the red bottom paint (Pettit Trinidad).

And finally, here she is coming into the Shelburne Shipyard in Burlington:


She really isn't that big, but very long. 7ft draft, but low topsides. The mast is the same length as the boat (53ft) and she has roughly 800sq feet of sail. In all respects the current rig is pretty similar to a J-120. I have a taller main, but more of a fractional rig.

[Noah]

A few more images:

Here is part of the electrical system. It's made up of a complete Ample Power system. Smart Regulator V3, Eliminator Cross Charge Regulator, Energy Monitor, Smart Charge Manager and 55amp AC charger, and some other thing I can't remember right now. The house bank is two 8-D AGM's and the start is a Optima blue. The alternator is the Ample Power 140amp alt.

Yes, I have more than enough power for my simple lake needs, but I guess it's nice to have. The wiring seems pretty good, but I will have to go through and check everything over.



And part of the board:

[Noah]

One of the projects was to replace the engine as it's the original 1977 Volvo MD11C with a 110saildrive. The engine is running hot, but otherwise operates just fine. We pulled the engine and the local Shelburne Shipyard mechanic thought that I really should give it a go at trying to get the Volvo running. I will spend 3-days working on it, then it's time to replace...I figure a 52ft boat really needs a working engine. Especially since I intend to single-hand it regularly.

I don't have a picture of us pulling the engine, but we used this rig to pull (we are working on the keel of the Megles 24 that I race on in this picture. BTW, the keel isn't all the way down. This beam was just wide enough for my boat and the lift total height is 15ft. We used a 1500lb electric winch to lift the motor out. Access is very easy at it's directly below the cockpit and has a huge hatch. Total it took about 3 hours for me to pull the engine.




And here is my total Rube-Goldberg engine testing bed. (yeah, you can all give me crap for using a gas tank and not a diesel tank. Trust me, it's diesel in there...

And yes it is running in this picture. With no muffler that thing is pretty loud. I don't think the neighbors like me anymore...

[Noah]

You guys said you wanted pictures...

Down below looking forward. I'm hoping that sanding and varnishing the teak bulkhead and sole will brighten things up.

BTW, sorry for the crappy photo


The galley (with funky Eno propane stove, double sink and Norcold 120/12 fridge)



And the nav station complete with parts of the old B&G system and ancient VHF

[Ric in Richmond]

That boat is so damn hot.........

[Tim]

I know we've said it over and over, but that boat is just SO cool! My teenage boat fantasies are coming out.

I always thought the way the helm station was set up was cool. I don't know how well it works in practice, but in the 70s this seemed to me to be the cat's you-know-what.



Thank you, thank you for the pictures. I am actually surprised how small the boat looks on the low bed trailer...I guess it's because she's so narrow.

[Tim]

PS--I agree about the red bottom paint.

[dasein668]

Drool.

[jhenson]

Noah,

Congratulations! Beautiful boat. There was a Swede 55 at our marina over the winter on the hard. My boys saw her and their response was "whoaaaa cooool".

I have some questions that relates to the design of the table below decks. This table looks similar to the one that was discussed on Peter's Albin Vega.

Your table:


Albin Vega



It looks to me that the table bases are on "tracks" imbedded in the cabin sole that allow the whole thing to move athwart ships? Is that just my imagination? If they are, can you detail their construction? Are the table posts removable so the whole thing can be stowed? Also, what kind of hardware is used to lock the drop leaf in the upright position?

I will be replacing my cabin sole on my Triton sometime after the engine is on the mounts, and I really want to have this issue of the table design worked out prior to this step.

Thanks,

Joe

[Figment]

(I think those "tracks" are piano hinges for the bilge access hatch)

DOUBLE DROOL

[Noah]

Actually those are just cut-outs in the sole so that all the pieces fit in and can also be removed. No fancy moving tables here. That baby is bolted directly into the floors.

Hopefully those two pieces are down in the bilge somewhere...

[Robert The Gray]

We have one of those dagger like swedes in our harbor. The owner is a kiwi who single hands her a lot. We were up on the Petaluma River in the triton when I saw the sail from two miles away. He was tacking singlehanded up the channel in about 15 to 20 knots of wind. So pretty, so silent. That fractional jib just flits back and forth, a bit of a yank on the sheet and there you go. Reminds me of when I used to read Road and Track magazine back in the 70's about the Lamboghini Countach and realized that with a top speed of 90 miles an hour in 2nd gear the other three gears were actually illegal. How big is your lake?

r

[Noah]

Robert, it would be great if you could leave a note for the guy with the Swede and include my contact info. I'm would like to get an email group together at the very least. I will also be putting together a complete website on the Swede.

My contact info is in my profile.

Our lake is 100 miles long and 13 miles wide here. Plenty of room for the Swede to stretch it's legs. Out first race will probably be a 90 mile overnight.

[Robert The Gray]

no problem noah
within the week

r

[jhenson]

No fancy moving tables here.

Sorry,

I hadn't asked any really dumb questions here in a while, so I needed the practice.

I enjoyed seeing the pictures of the Swede though!

Joe