junk rig

[bob mitchell]

hi bruce,

       There is only one junk rigged newporter that I know of and that is Wu Wei. One of our members, Jack More, (go to Members, look on first or second page, and click on Jack for some of his childhood pictures) grew up on the boat.

        Anytime you are looking at a big, old sailboat there can be challenges. Newporters that have been in salt water most of the time tend to be more structurally sound than neglected Newporters that were kept in fresh water.

      I guess you have to be clear about your goals.  A Newporter that would work fine as a live aboard, mostly in a slip, might not be so good to make long passages in - not that there aren't Newporters out there making passages, but the Newporters that are capable of passage making have either been well maintained from the start, usually in the hands of the same owner for a long time, or have had extensive rebuilds.   That engine sounds good.

    If you get deeper into the process feel free to post questions. about what you find. I am sure members will answer.

[1uwi5jpgk4ih8]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for putting me in touch with Jack.  The boat listed on Craigslist is the Wu Wei.  I compared the CL photos with Jack's and it is a dead ringer.  I have written to Jack and hope to hear back.  We are interested in  live aboard/cruising so hopefully we can make it work out.

Thanks for having this site,

Bruce

[bob mitchell]

        So Bruce, look carefully at the BULWARKS (the short walls that go around the deck), the APRON (the six layers of 3/4 marine plywood that sit right on top of the keel, and runs most of the length of the boat, that forms the structural pivot of the boat connecting the keel below to the frames of the hull, i.e. each "FLOOR" (2x cross piece forming bottom of  each frame) is bolted with 1/2 " bolts through the apron. If you look in the bilge the first thing you see is the apron running fwd to aft, with the "floors" bolted to it.   "Tapping" around will tell you a lot about the solidity of things.  Pay particular attention to areas around windows.   Where the chainplates enter the bulwark, and below, are subject to damage if not kept caulked. Around and below the hawser holes in the bulwak are vulnerable to leaks as well. It is not uncommon to find problem areas, but when you start adding them all up, if they are all there, says a BIG JOB - years. The apron is the one area that is a deal killer, in my opinion. If you really wanted to understand the boat you could look through my rebuild albums. I think that most of these areas are reasonable to repair.