New owner of a 1988 Cal 28-2!

Hello all, This is just a general post but if you have any advice I am all for it. So I went sailing on this Beneteau First 35 with a friend of a friend and I loved it. Ended up going out again and I was sold on getting a sail boat. I have always liked the water so it wasn't a big surprise. I was going to buy a boat next year but I ended up finding this 1988 Cal 28-2 in great shape and decided to go all out and buy a slip and the boat. A few immediate things I am trying to figure out...and I am sure some of these are a "it depends" answer. About how long to sails last? It looks like the main is 8 years old and the Genoa is 10 years old but have been taken down for stitching. What is very commonly wrong with these boats so I know what to have on board when I am stuck in the middle of no where. This is far off but I was wondering if there may be a good winterization guide for the newbie that I am. Unrelated to the exact boat I am looking to attach a GPS to the helm. I can't remember exactly what I was looking at but other then just a GPS I also saw a device that was networked and you could display everything (wind, depth, gps, speed) all on one display as long as you had NMEA2000 compatible sensors. I was curious if anyone has had experience with that or just a general GPS that is good. Thanks for the info.

on sail longevity.... it depends. :) I think it would be best to talk to local people. People that sail in higher wind areas tend to get less life out of a suite of sails then people in light air areas. Luffing destroys sails, so getting your sails up and trimmed is the best thing you can do to get the most out of a set. Fluttering leeches foots will bring a sail to end of life quickly. If you find any of your sails are fluttering on the edges, might be worth asking your sailmaker to take a look at them while you are sailing. On that note, my main is 42 years old. It needs to be replaced, but I live in a light air area. :) On the steering, look at raymarine wheel pilots. Probably the best option for a boat that size. Most auto pilots run off of electronic compasses that come w the kit. The kits can be integrated w GPS. It often would not be appropriate to try to make a boat head for a particular set of GPS coordinates, since the boat may not be able to follow the direct route, depending on the wind. Autopilots are great, but should be used w caution when starting out. They require you to plan ahead and can be confusing for other people on board if they had to take the helm for some reason(like if you fell overboard). I don't have a winterization guide, but think in terms of water freezing. Fresh water anit freeze any place water could freeze and split. Congrats on your purchase. Enjoy, be safe. Jim East Coast cal 29 sailor On Thu, Jul 7, 2016 at 11:48 AM, sx… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats] < Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > Hello all, > > > This is just a general post but if you have any advice I am all for it. So > I went sailing on this Beneteau First 35 with a friend of a friend and I > loved it. Ended up going out again and I was sold on getting a sail boat. I > have always liked the water so it wasn't a big surprise. I was going to buy > a boat next year but I ended up finding this 1988 Cal 28-2 in great shape > and decided to go all out and buy a slip and the boat. > > > A few immediate things I am trying to figure out...and I am sure some of > these are a "it depends" answer. About how long to sails last? It looks > like the main is 8 years old and the Genoa is 10 years old but have been > taken down for stitching. What is very commonly wrong with these boats so I > know what to have on board when I am stuck in the middle of no where. This > is far off but I was wondering if there may be a good winterization guide > for the newbie that I am. > > > Unrelated to the exact boat I am looking to attach a GPS to the helm. I > can't remember exactly what I was looking at but other then just a GPS I > also saw a device that was networked and you could display everything > (wind, depth, gps, speed) all on one display as long as you had NMEA2000 > compatible sensors. I was curious if anyone has had experience with that or > just a general GPS that is good. > > > Thanks for the info. > > > >

It's hard to say how long an individual sail will last but when I bought my Cal 29 three years ago, it came with a set of sails dating from 1970. We got 2 years out of of the main before it split and I replaced it. However, I understand those were "the" racing sails to have at that time. Greg Beron Cal 29 Happy Hour Marina del Rey > On Jul 7, 2016, at 8:48 AM, sx… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > Hello all, > > > > This is just a general post but if you have any advice I am all for it. So I went sailing on this Beneteau First 35 with a friend of a friend and I loved it. Ended up going out again and I was sold on getting a sail boat. I have always liked the water so it wasn't a big surprise. I was going to buy a boat next year but I ended up finding this 1988 Cal 28-2 in great shape and decided to go all out and buy a slip and the boat. > > > > A few immediate things I am trying to figure out...and I am sure some of these are a "it depends" answer. About how long to sails last? It looks like the main is 8 years old and the Genoa is 10 years old but have been taken down for stitching. What is very commonly wrong with these boats so I know what to have on board when I am stuck in the middle of no where. This is far off but I was wondering if there may be a good winterization guide for the newbie that I am. > > > > Unrelated to the exact boat I am looking to attach a GPS to the helm. I can't remember exactly what I was looking at but other then just a GPS I also saw a device that was networked and you could display everything (wind, depth, gps, speed) all on one display as long as you had NMEA2000 compatible sensors. I was curious if anyone has had experience with that or just a general GPS that is good. > > > > Thanks for the info. > > > >

On 7/7/2016 11:48 AM, sx… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats] wrote: > > > A few immediate things I am trying to figure out...and I am sure some > of these are a "it depends" answer. About how long to sails last? It > looks like the main is 8 years old and the Genoa is 10 years old but > have been taken down for stitching. What is very commonly wrong with > these boats so I know what to have on board when I am stuck in the > middle of no where. This is far off but I was wondering if there may > be a good winterization guide for the newbie that I am. > On the sail question, there's a difference between unusable and inefficient. On my Cal 20, getting a "new" used mainsail perked things up. On my other boat, the current mainsail dates from 1970. Its jib was from 1961 before I replaced it about 4 years ago. Wow, did that little jib ever make a big difference in sailing performance! The boat started going forward again instead of heeling. The lesson is that the sail's loss of shape is gradual and something we don't notice (as opposed, say, to having it split down the middle). I'm planning for a new main, probably after I replace the steel centerboard with bronze. I suspect that I'll have another "wow" moment with a new main. And if anybody has another good usd main for a Cal 20, let me know. Chris Campbell

I own a 1988 CAL 28-2 Hunt design. Purchased the boat in 2009 from Mystic CT, area. I sail in the Boston area. Would guess that the seasons for this boat have all been less than 7 months. The sails were original and were replaced in the last two years. i use a hand held Garmin GPS which is fine for all the coastal trips we do to the Islands, Block Island and Long Island Sound. Installed a Ray Marine wheel autopilot. I use with caution and a lookout when motoring because of the abundance of lobster traps in this area. This auto-helm works well in most seas but can get overwhelmed. Read Practical Sailor on line and order a write up on winterizing. This is a fine sturdy boat. Lots of room for a 28 footer. Bruce Duxbury, MA. On 7/7/2016 3:09 PM, 'sailor7312 .' sa… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats] wrote: > on sail longevity.... it depends. :) > I think it would be best to talk to local people. People that sail in > higher wind areas tend to get less life out of a suite of sails then > people in light air areas. Luffing destroys sails, so getting your > sails up and trimmed is the best thing you can do to get the most out > of a set. Fluttering leeches foots will bring a sail to end of life > quickly. If you find any of your sails are fluttering on the edges, > might be worth asking your sailmaker to take a look at them while you > are sailing. On that note, my main is 42 years old. It needs to > be replaced, but I live in a light air area. :) > > On the steering, look at raymarine wheel pilots. Probably the best > option for a boat that size. Most auto pilots run off of electronic > compasses that come w the kit. The kits can be integrated w GPS. It > often would not be appropriate to try to make a boat head for a > particular set of GPS coordinates, since the boat may not be able to > follow the direct route, depending on the wind. Autopilots are great, > but should be used w caution when starting out. They require you to > plan ahead and can be confusing for other people on board if they had > to take the helm for some reason(like if you fell overboard). > > I don't have a winterization guide, but think in terms of water > freezing. Fresh water anit freeze any place water could freeze and split. > > Congrats on your purchase. Enjoy, be safe. > > Jim > East Coast cal 29 sailor > > > > > On Thu, Jul 7, 2016 at 11:48 AM, sx… [at] yahoo.com > <mailto:sx… [at] yahoo.com> [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > <mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>> wrote: > > Hello all, > > > This is just a general post but if you have any advice I am all > for it. So I went sailing on this Beneteau First 35 with a friend > of a friend and I loved it. Ended up going out again and I was > sold on getting a sail boat. I have always liked the water so it > wasn't a big surprise. I was going to buy a boat next year but I > ended up finding this 1988 Cal 28-2 in great shape and decided to > go all out and buy a slip and the boat. > > > A few immediate things I am trying to figure out...and I am sure > some of these are a "it depends" answer. About how long to sails > last? It looks like the main is 8 years old and the Genoa is 10 > years old but have been taken down for stitching. What is very > commonly wrong with these boats so I know what to have on board > when I am stuck in the middle of no where. This is far off but I > was wondering if there may be a good winterization guide for the > newbie that I am. > > > Unrelated to the exact boat I am looking to attach a GPS to the > helm. I can't remember exactly what I was looking at but other > then just a GPS I also saw a device that was networked and you > could display everything (wind, depth, gps, speed) all on one > display as long as you had NMEA2000 compatible sensors. I was > curious if anyone has had experience with that or just a general > GPS that is good. > > > Thanks for the info. > > > > --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

I sail on a cal 28-2 and own a 227, the 28 is a nice boat, if you have the original furler with a continuous line there is an upgrade for it that uses a larger drum with a noncontinuous line that makes it usable for furling. Sail life ranges from days to decades for anew sailor with a new boat what you have will be good enough as long as they aren't falling apart. On the boat I sail on we have moved from a 155 Genoa to a 130 and we feel that it is all the boat needs for weather legs, downwind we have a spinnaker. Winterizing requires non toxic antifreeze. It must be used in the intakes and discharge for the head, the engine and the water system (don't forget the hot water system). I would recommend dropping the mast and inspecting the forestay under the curler, our forestay broke a week ago where the top of the furler rubbed on the forestay, we dropped from 1st to 2nd in the race. Where in the northeast are you located? John B Cal 227 Gotcha Again On Jul 7, 2016 11:48 AM, "sx… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats]" < Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > Hello all, > > > This is just a general post but if you have any advice I am all for it. So > I went sailing on this Beneteau First 35 with a friend of a friend and I > loved it. Ended up going out again and I was sold on getting a sail boat. I > have always liked the water so it wasn't a big surprise. I was going to buy > a boat next year but I ended up finding this 1988 Cal 28-2 in great shape > and decided to go all out and buy a slip and the boat. > > > A few immediate things I am trying to figure out...and I am sure some of > these are a "it depends" answer. About how long to sails last? It looks > like the main is 8 years old and the Genoa is 10 years old but have been > taken down for stitching. What is very commonly wrong with these boats so I > know what to have on board when I am stuck in the middle of no where. This > is far off but I was wondering if there may be a good winterization guide > for the newbie that I am. > > > Unrelated to the exact boat I am looking to attach a GPS to the helm. I > can't remember exactly what I was looking at but other then just a GPS I > also saw a device that was networked and you could display everything > (wind, depth, gps, speed) all on one display as long as you had NMEA2000 > compatible sensors. I was curious if anyone has had experience with that or > just a general GPS that is good. > > > Thanks for the info. > > > >

Congratulations on your purchase. I hope you found a gem. We own a 1986 Cal 33-2. Love the boat. The main on our Cal 33-2 failed (tore badly to the point of not worth repairing ) at the 28 year mark, which was two years ago. That sail had two repairs already when we bought the boat, so i new the sail was on borrowed time. Our new main cost us $2600. I feel I notice a speed increase with our new full batten sail. Anything that can freeze gets winterized. We have inboard diesel, so I remove the salt water pump, take the impeller out of that and have had good luck using the impeller two seasons if I store it in a drawer for the second year. Also, the impeller arms get a set (slight curve) and I am mindful to install it in the direction it turned the previous year. Drain water from exhaust. Drain heat exchanger. Drain water from all saltwater intake hoses and strainer. Drain or put the correct antifreeze in fresh water system. Put rv antifreeze in head and pump some into holding tank. Remove any containers that contain any liquud that can freeze. If on the hard (I haul out every winter ) I pour rv antifreeze into the bilge. Change engine oil. Good for engine to sit with fresh oil on all internal parts. That is short list of what I do each year. We have a ray marine auto pilot. Older one that hunts a lot when motoring or sailing. I recently bought their latest wheel pilot model but have not completed the installation so can't speak of how well it works. But really I am almost always steering on long trips. I like to keep an eye on things. Autopilot is nice when I am alone and getting the sails up. We use a Garmin GPS chart plotter. Fantastic device and wonder how I lived without it sailing in the 80"s. At least sailing at night or in fog. I plan to link it to the GPS but only so the autopilot gets more position data hoping it will hunt less. If motoring of course you can punch in some location you want the autopilot to steer, but not when sailing since the wind dictates direction. Leslie Puffin Cal 33-2 On Thursday, July 7, 2016, John b je… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats] < Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > I sail on a cal 28-2 and own a 227, the 28 is a nice boat, if you have the > original furler with a continuous line there is an upgrade for it that uses > a larger drum with a noncontinuous line that makes it usable for furling. > Sail life ranges from days to decades for anew sailor with a new boat what > you have will be good enough as long as they aren't falling apart. On the > boat I sail on we have moved from a 155 Genoa to a 130 and we feel that it > is all the boat needs for weather legs, downwind we have a spinnaker. > > Winterizing requires non toxic antifreeze. It must be used in the intakes > and discharge for the head, the engine and the water system (don't forget > the hot water system). > > I would recommend dropping the mast and inspecting the forestay under the > curler, our forestay broke a week ago where the top of the furler rubbed on > the forestay, we dropped from 1st to 2nd in the race. > > Where in the northeast are you located? > > John B > Cal 227 > Gotcha Again > On Jul 7, 2016 11:48 AM, "sx… [at] yahoo.com > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','sx… [at] yahoo.com');> [Cal_Boats]" < > Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com');>> wrote: > >> >> >> Hello all, >> >> >> This is just a general post but if you have any advice I am all for it. >> So I went sailing on this Beneteau First 35 with a friend of a friend and I >> loved it. Ended up going out again and I was sold on getting a sail boat. I >> have always liked the water so it wasn't a big surprise. I was going to buy >> a boat next year but I ended up finding this 1988 Cal 28-2 in great shape >> and decided to go all out and buy a slip and the boat. >> >> >> A few immediate things I am trying to figure out...and I am sure some of >> these are a "it depends" answer. About how long to sails last? It looks >> like the main is 8 years old and the Genoa is 10 years old but have been >> taken down for stitching. What is very commonly wrong with these boats so I >> know what to have on board when I am stuck in the middle of no where. This >> is far off but I was wondering if there may be a good winterization guide >> for the newbie that I am. >> >> >> Unrelated to the exact boat I am looking to attach a GPS to the helm. I >> can't remember exactly what I was looking at but other then just a GPS I >> also saw a device that was networked and you could display everything >> (wind, depth, gps, speed) all on one display as long as you had NMEA2000 >> compatible sensors. I was curious if anyone has had experience with that or >> just a general GPS that is good. >> >> >> Thanks for the info. >> >> >> >

We live in Baltimore, MD. Most of the sailing will be in the bay area. If time ever permits though I would love to sail much further.

Also (and sorry didn't exactly know how these forums worked but now I get it) thanks for all the input. The boat is in "ready to sail" condition so I don't "need" anything but I would like to be prepared for the oh crap moment. Everyone is very helpful. I don't care too much about auto-pilot....not sure I would trust it. I just want a good GPS so I don't get horribly lost somehow.

Congrats on your new boat! I sail a 1969 Cal-2 30. When I got her over two years ago I wanted the same as you, and bought a echo map 50s Garmin chart plotter and sonar cuz it was the entry level and cheaper. It's been great. I recently have been upgrading the boat to sail farther, and found my unit has no way to plug in a radar. Another thing mine being older had the nmea183 connections. Available now is nmea2000 which is a much easier plug an play system you can continue to add sensors to easier, like autopilot, wind, speed, external compass if you ever want. I spent the last two days wiring it all so my radio now broadcasts my location with DSC and sends me location of anyone else in trouble who calls for help. A very good thing to have hooked up on you radio. I bought the Sinrad TP32 autopilot and wired that in to chart plotter yesterday also but haven't had time to test it yet. Best of luck to you, if you have any specific questions about what I've learned doing all this feel free to ask! Bobby G Cal 2 30 Honokohau Harbor, HI Hull 55 > On Jul 7, 2016, at 11:28 PM, NEWMAN d2… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > Congratulations on your purchase. I hope you found a gem. We own a 1986 Cal 33-2. Love the boat. > > The main on our Cal 33-2 failed (tore badly to the point of not worth repairing ) at the 28 year mark, which was two years ago. That sail had two repairs already when we bought the boat, so i new the sail was on borrowed time. Our new main cost us $2600. I feel I notice a speed increase with our new full batten sail. > > Anything that can freeze gets winterized. We have inboard diesel, so I remove the salt water pump, take the impeller out of that and have had good luck using the impeller two seasons if I store it in a drawer for the second year. Also, the impeller arms get a set (slight curve) and I am mindful to install it in the direction it turned the previous year. > Drain water from exhaust. Drain heat exchanger. > Drain water from all saltwater intake hoses and strainer. > > Drain or put the correct antifreeze in fresh water system. > > Put rv antifreeze in head and pump some into holding tank. > > Remove any containers that contain any liquud that can freeze. > > If on the hard (I haul out every winter ) I pour rv antifreeze into the bilge. > > Change engine oil. Good for engine to sit with fresh oil on all internal parts. > > That is short list of what I do each year. > > We have a ray marine auto pilot. Older one that hunts a lot when motoring or sailing. I recently bought their latest wheel pilot model but have not completed the installation so can't speak of how well it works. But really I am almost always steering on long trips. I like to keep an eye on things. Autopilot is nice when I am alone and getting the sails up. > > We use a Garmin GPS chart plotter. Fantastic device and wonder how I lived without it sailing in the 80"s. At least sailing at night or in fog. I plan to link it to the GPS but only so the autopilot gets more position data hoping it will hunt less. If motoring of course you can punch in some location you want the autopilot to steer, but not when sailing since the wind dictates direction. > > Leslie > Puffin Cal 33-2 > > >> On Thursday, July 7, 2016, John b je… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: >> >> I sail on a cal 28-2 and own a 227, the 28 is a nice boat, if you have the original furler with a continuous line there is an upgrade for it that uses a larger drum with a noncontinuous line that makes it usable for furling. Sail life ranges from days to decades for anew sailor with a new boat what you have will be good enough as long as they aren't falling apart. On the boat I sail on we have moved from a 155 Genoa to a 130 and we feel that it is all the boat needs for weather legs, downwind we have a spinnaker. >> >> Winterizing requires non toxic antifreeze. It must be used in the intakes and discharge for the head, the engine and the water system (don't forget the hot water system). >> >> I would recommend dropping the mast and inspecting the forestay under the curler, our forestay broke a week ago where the top of the furler rubbed on the forestay, we dropped from 1st to 2nd in the race. >> >> Where in the northeast are you located? >> >> John B >> Cal 227 >> Gotcha Again >> >>> On Jul 7, 2016 11:48 AM, "sx… [at] yahoo.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: >>> >>> Hello all, >>> >>> >>> >>> This is just a general post but if you have any advice I am all for it. So I went sailing on this Beneteau First 35 with a friend of a friend and I loved it. Ended up going out again and I was sold on getting a sail boat. I have always liked the water so it wasn't a big surprise. I was going to buy a boat next year but I ended up finding this 1988 Cal 28-2 in great shape and decided to go all out and buy a slip and the boat. >>> >>> >>> >>> A few immediate things I am trying to figure out...and I am sure some of these are a "it depends" answer. About how long to sails last? It looks like the main is 8 years old and the Genoa is 10 years old but have been taken down for stitching. What is very commonly wrong with these boats so I know what to have on board when I am stuck in the middle of no where. This is far off but I was wondering if there may be a good winterization guide for the newbie that I am. >>> >>> >>> >>> Unrelated to the exact boat I am looking to attach a GPS to the helm. I can't remember exactly what I was looking at but other then just a GPS I also saw a device that was networked and you could display everything (wind, depth, gps, speed) all on one display as long as you had NMEA2000 compatible sensors. I was curious if anyone has had experience with that or just a general GPS that is good. >>> >>> >>> >>> Thanks for the info. >>> >>> > >