New to me '77 Venture 22

[Pete]

Found a '77 Venture in great shape. Anything I should look out for with this boat?

I am picking it up tonight and will post pictures when I get it.

BTW I don't see any macgregor 22 smilies.

Pete

[johnnyonspot]

The things you should look at are the same with any sailboat with a heavy iron swing keel. Beyond that its the same with any boat. Make sure the hull is in good shape. Inspect the keel pivot bolt and seals inside the keel trunk. Inspect the winch and cable as well as its connection to the keel. The pivot pin and seals and the winch, cable and connection to the keel are the most important items on this boat and should be inspected every season before launch. You should also take a magnifying glass and closely inspect all standing rigging hardware and connections for stress cracks and corrosion, including crevice corrosion. Make sure the turnbuckles screw in and out freely without binding. Check the stays and shrouds to make sure they are in good condition too. Another thing you may want to check is all through-hull deck fittings. I believe this boat has a plywood core in the deck and many people, when installing hardware on the deck, do not ensure there is no possibility of water penetrating into the core. Any holes drilled in the deck, thru the core, should be first drilled out a bit larger than needed, completely filled in with solid epoxy, and then re-drilled thru the epoxy so that the plywood core is not exposed at all. Check to make sure this has been done, and if it has not it would behoove you to do it. Otherwise you could end up with delamination, which of course will take a much bigger effort to fix. I am sure there is more and others will chime in. Good luck!

[Pete]

The keel appears to be in working order. I have not lifted the boat and dropped the keel but it seams to pivot fine, and the winch is in good working order.

There aren't many holes drill in the deck by previous owners. Surprising for a 30 year old boat. But I will check any that are there. I like the idea of epoxying the holes first.

It came with a 25 hp motor on it. The seller said that he had a 9hp but dunked it in the drink so he put the 25 hp on it. 25hp seams a little big to me.

The seller had the boat on another trailer that was not part of the deal. We went to a near by ramp and switched the trailers so the boat is now on its original trailer. The weird thing is that the trailer has a negative tongue weight. This seams odd considering this trailer was designed for this boat. I don't see anything I can do other then cut the axle off and move it back 12" or so.

The only thing that is preventing me from putting it in the water is the rigging. Everything thing is there, but when I put the mast up the spreaders seemed a little tweaked. And I could not quit get the forestay to where it needed to be. I just put a couple links of small chain in to hold the mast up while I cleaned the interior.

I am thinking of adding some type of mast rasing system that would allow me to hold pressure on the mast while I attach the forstay.

[Hamin' X]

The seller had the boat on another trailer that was not part of the deal. We went to a near by ramp and switched the trailers so the boat is now on its original trailer. The weird thing is that the trailer has a negative tongue weight. This seams odd considering this trailer was designed for this boat. I don't see anything I can do other then cut the axle off and move it back 12" or so.

The added weight of the larger outboard could account for this.

~Rich

[johnnyonspot]

The keel appears to be in working order. I have not lifted the boat and dropped the keel but it seams to pivot fine, and the winch is in good working order. You probably need not drop the keel totally out of the trunk; first inspect the bolt and seals through the access holes in the trunk inside the cabin. If everything looks good, and when you put it in the water it does not leak at the pivot bolt, then its probably good to go.

It came with a 25 hp motor on it. The seller said that he had a 9hp but dunked it in the drink so he put the 25 hp on it. 25hp seams a little big to me.
Yes, the 25 is way big IMHO. I'd go with a six or 9.9 horse on this boat.

The seller had the boat on another trailer that was not part of the deal. We went to a near by ramp and switched the trailers so the boat is now on its original trailer. The weird thing is that the trailer has a negative tongue weight. This seams odd considering this trailer was designed for this boat. I don't see anything I can do other then cut the axle off and move it back 12" or so. Perhaps Rich is correct that it is the motor; are you saying it has negative weight with the 25 hp on it? It seems odd that a factory trailer would need to have the axle position adjusted. Not impossible, though.

The only thing that is preventing me from putting it in the water is the rigging. Everything thing is there, but when I put the mast up the spreaders seemed a little tweaked. And I could not quit get the forestay to where it needed to be. I just put a couple links of small chain in to hold the mast up while I cleaned the interior. Spreaders on these trailer sailors take a beating, and Mac spreaders did not enter life as the highest quality, most robust build. But its difficult to picture how the spreaders are keeping the mast from going forward all the way. Do you have a backstay? Is it adjusted properly. When you get the mast up to as far as it will go, when you have the forestay stretched out as far as it will stretch, what position is the mast in when you look at it from the side? Is it straight up and down? It should be slightly raked, maybe a couple degrees. More rake equals more weather helm, so you don't want too much of it, or the boat will be difficult to steer in a blow and very difficult if not impossible to balance. If the mast is properly raked and the forestay is still not long enough--which would be quite puzzling--then you need a longer forestay. But again, this would be very odd IMHO. If the mast is not coming all the way up, i.e., raked several degrees back, it could be your turn shroud turnbuckles binding up. I've done this, and it is not pretty because it can easily ruin your turnbuckle, or a least part of it. So always keep a very close eye on the shroud and backstay turnbuckles throughout the mast raising process. If you don't have those white PVC tubes some have that keep the turnbuckles and associated hardware from kinking, perhaps you might get them, though they are far from a necessity.

As an aside, I will put in a plug for a pair of EZ Cleats from BILL AT BOATS4SAIL, a board member, as a great add-on that makes single handing even more of a dream come true. (Can I do that? )

I am thinking of adding some type of mast rasing system that would allow me to hold pressure on the mast while I attach the forstay.

A mast raising system is nice. You may be able buy and retrofit one of the systems, or build your own homemade gin pole

Thanks for the questions/comments/discussion. It helps me get out of the snake pit, ahem, I mean Backroom. This is like a breath of fresh air.

[Pete]

Thanks for all the great tips.

I found the problem with the forestay. It was tangled on the masthead light. I also found that I could use the jib hoist rope to pull the mast forward and tie it off on the cleat. This left the forestay slack enough that I could easily put the pin in. The back stay is still not tight. The spreaders are OK for now, but may require some attention soon.

I have spent most of the day cleaning the boat. A once over with the pressure washer cleaned up the outside nicely. The inside has been another story. First I took everything out, including the floatation blocks. Then I tried to use a bilge pump to pump the water out. This proved a little tricky. I first lifted the tongue of the trailer to get the water to drain to the back of the boat. But then I found that if I put the trailer tongue on the ground I could get the water to the front of the boat and then pump it out. I got as much as I could with the pump and then the rest with a sponge. This boat has so many places for water to collect its hard to get all of it. I drain plug would make this real easy.

It’s raining today and everything leaks. The windows leak. Every screw leaks. I just don’t seam to be able to get the inside dry.

I can get a new 6hp motor with alternator for less then $1500. I may do that, and not use the 25hp.

[Pete]

The bow eye is a little tweeked on this boat. There is even a piece of a washer sticking out. I wonder if I should make this a priority to get fixed before I take it out on the water.

[johnnyonspot]

At least you have something to do this winter. Might just as well sell that 25hp.

[McTexan]

The Mac22 I bought years ago had the same problem with a 15 hp motor on it. Without adding weight forward,
even a 6 hp makes the toungue weight too light. Some take the motor off and stow it in the cabin when they tow to avoid the light toungue, but I don't like the hassle, so I extended the trailer toungue and added a spare tire mount so I could keep the motor on. You really need some weight on the hitch to have it trail right, and even safely. With a light tow vehicle, there is the danger of the boat starting to wag back and forth under certain speeds and certain conditions, and it can get fatal in a hurry. No joke. As stated, the only way to keep that 25 on there is to modify the trailer. And you will need to take the weight of the motor off the mount as much as possible when towing or it will likely tear the mount out and fall off on a rough road. You have two very serious issues to address here-failure to do so could result in some very unpleasant consequences.

The keel appears to be in working order. I have not lifted the boat and dropped the keel but it seams to pivot fine, and the winch is in good working order.

There aren't many holes drill in the deck by previous owners. Surprising for a 30 year old boat. But I will check any that are there. I like the idea of epoxying the holes first.

It came with a 25 hp motor on it. The seller said that he had a 9hp but dunked it in the drink so he put the 25 hp on it. 25hp seams a little big to me.

The seller had the boat on another trailer that was not part of the deal. We went to a near by ramp and switched the trailers so the boat is now on its original trailer. The weird thing is that the trailer has a negative tongue weight. This seams odd considering this trailer was designed for this boat. I don't see anything I can do other then cut the axle off and move it back 12" or so.

The only thing that is preventing me from putting it in the water is the rigging. Everything thing is there, but when I put the mast up the spreaders seemed a little tweaked. And I could not quit get the forestay to where it needed to be. I just put a couple links of small chain in to hold the mast up while I cleaned the interior.

I am thinking of adding some type of mast rasing system that would allow me to hold pressure on the mast while I attach the forstay.

[Bawgy]

I will be coming down to Wilmington soon to pick up my V=22. would love to meet and see your boat , Please PM or email me directions if you would like to exchange ideas.