An introduction to me and to SoNice, Hull #71 (1959)

[Eddie Offermann]

I wrote this up originally (with a couple edits to make it appropriate for a blog post and to add a few more details) as an email to Bob here at N40T and thought it would make a good introductory post here.

 

I just bought a 1959 Ackerman Newporter.

 

 

When my last opportunity fell through about a year ago, I got pretty discouraged. We were right about to close and the sellers flaked and it hurt, because I really love these boats and really thought that one and I would make a great pair.

After a couple inspections and meetings with the previous owner, I purchased SoNice from Herb Hughes of Long Beach. He's lived and sailed on her for about 18 years now, and based on my reading of the documents I received along with her, it looks like she's been a nearly constant liveaboard/cruiser for about 40 of her 51 years (maybe more - there are a few years I haven't accounted for yet). She's currently out of registration with USCG but she was a documented vessel for many years as well and still has the clearly engraved numbers in her V-berth. I was easily able to find her doing a registration search, which made me pretty excited! Currently, she's registered in the state of California and I'm intending to restore her USCG documentation since I have big plans for this girl and I.

While SoNice (originally "Escape") has some mild cosmetic needs and was in need of an engine rebuild, Herb took *great* care of this beautiful boat. His health had declined over the last year or so and it had gotten more difficult for him to maintain her without assistance and I'm fortunate enough to have been able to adopt his love as my own (and made a new friend in Herb, or as I've referred to him "my new boat-dad" - because he has a LOT of experience with and love for this boat and has generously offered to pass along as much guidance as I need, both in maintenance and sailing technique).

While at the moment I'm doing some fiberglass repairs (replacing some fiberglass and restoring/replacing some of the underlying wood at the bow where some earlier repairs had delaminated and allowed for water intrusion), there's mostly only the typical work needed: freshening the brightwork, stripping and renewing the paint. Since my plans are for an extended cruise towards the end of next year, the next steps will be ensuring that she has the power generation capacity, watermaking ability, and navigation tools to take on bluewater passagemaking. And since I didn't buy a beautiful, classic boat only to ruin her with bolt-on modern hardware, I'm intending to do a sort-of "retro-restoration" where she gets all of her technological upgrades hidden in classic cabinetry.

She's in purely classic condition, by the way: the most modern thing on her is a roller furler - there's none of that ridiculous 1980s greenscreen radar upgrades or 1990s giant CRT GPS that you see on a lot of older boats. To my eyes there's nothing worse than a beautiful classic sailboat like a Newporter that someone pimped out 20 years ago with the best the late 1980s had to offer, which means a bunch of ugly electronics and giant holes drilled in everything. We live in a great time to upgrade older boats now that the electronics are small enough to hide and often capable of being networked without running wires at all.

If you can't tell, I adore this boat. I've carried pictures of Newporters for years now, on my laptop, my phone, posting them periodically on Facebook or sending them to friends saying "THIS is the boat I want." And SoNice is *exactly* what I wanted, in precisely the condition I was hoping to find her. While the fiddleheads have been removed, Herb still had them stored, so even that detail is there, should I decide to put them back, manufacture new ones, or forgo them at my decision.

I look forward to being able to contribute much to the discussions at N40Together, and to get feedback and meet up with other Newporter owners.

 

[Eddie Offermann]

Dennis:

In the little bit I've done, so far, I would pretty confidently now strip away the glass and rebuild underneath quite freely. Fortunately, on mine, she seems very solid overall.

Hugh, the former owner, had experience doing these repairs and I invited him to come supervise. He encouraged me to do what I would never have done on my own: keep stripping away paint, glass, and wood until I had gone far enough to be certain that everything nearby was good. If I had stopped where my first inclination was, I would have missed a section. As it is, I feel like this section is solid and won't be giving me any more problems any time soon.

This will change in many ways how I go about other repairs. Having done this here, I feel that much more inclined to take on other challenges: chipped paint is more likely to make me strip away the glass underneath and make sure that the wood hasn't soaked up some water. The best news for me so far is that from what I *have* found, any bad wood has only been down through a single layer of plywood with solid wood beneath that.

It always makes me sad to hear of boats, especially lovely ones like the Newporters, that have to be put down. When I saw the earliest pictures of Bob's, I immediately got sad because it looked like she was solidly on her way to the bulldozer. And then I read that this was the one he was restoring! By the time he's done, he'll have a brand new Newporter.

Sans Souci, RIP.

[Dennis Gaffney]

Congratulations on your new ownership, and thanks for steering me to that Troy Donohue film featuring the Newporter. As a former Newporter owner, I can appreciate the times he was writhing on the deck. I felt the same way sometimes when i was trying to fix my beloved Sans Souci, Hull number 73. Alas, she is no longer with us, but I spent many a day sailing the Chespeake and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway aboard her. I had to de-commission, but parts of her are now aboard other boats, and that is some small concession.

If I knew what I know now about my Newporter, I might have been able to save the boat, as Bob Mitchell is saving his. you wrote that you are repairing some of the fiberglass that has become de-laminated. The lamination on the Newporter has proven to be a real problem on these beautiful old craft. Although it protects the hull, when water gets inside the hull, it has no way to get out so it rots the wood underneath. Not just the plywood either, but the keel, and the beams have rotted in some places.

Unfortunately, I had to take my boat apart piece by piece, but I did a good post mortem. There are a couple of spots that you should check while you have your boat on the hard. I saw the same symptoms on pictures of Bob's boat. The stem of the boat is bolted to the keel. On my boat, water got inside the lamination and rusted the keel bolt, and consequently caused the wood to rot around the boat. Water leaked into the forward cabin, and I never could find where the leak came from until I removed the lamination from under the hull.

I also found a lot of rotten wood underneath the taffrails on the transom of the boat. It was hard to see when the boat was in the water. Not only did it cause rot In the transom, but some the frames had rotted. You have to get a flashlight at look way back in the storage area under the wheel and rear deck to check for damage.

I tell you this not to discourage you. I had the Sans Souci for 6 years and I got to know every square inch of her. Unfortunately, I had to take the boat apart to find these really bad leaks. After a while, a had more hole than boat.

Bob Mitchell, who has a lot more talent in the repair department than I do, is rebuilding his boat, and I saw in his pictures that he had very similar problem areas. My advice is to start at the bottom and work your way up. I spent countless hours making the Sans Souci cosmetically beautiful while her bottom was falling out.

Bob's pictures of his repairs are an invaluable resource. I may have some pictures still up on the site also. If I don't I'll put them up soon. I wish you the very best of luck. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Dennis Gaffney

[Eddie Offermann]

Would love to, Gerald!

[Gerald Muffley]

Hi Eddie.  Great to have you abord.  I have MISTRI  #8 up in Wilmington (port of LA)  Could you call me some time and we can talk about our boats.  909 561 4245  MUF