Just joined the fleet

[manopeace]

Hello. I just discovered this forum yesterday and am pleased to join it. I just bought a '74 Man'O'War from an owner in Indiana who absolutely loved the boat and hated to part with it. After having it in the water for a week, I discovered the boat does take on some water over time. Not sure where the leak is at this point. Will try to find that out now that the boat is out of the water. From what I've seen in the forum posts, Lee in WI seems to be the guru on Man'O'Wars. Hopefully I will be able to tap into his expertise as well as any other Man'O'War owners that care to advise.
Todd T.

[John K]

Welcome aboard! You have stumbled upon a wealth of information. Good luck!

[Leeway]

Ahoy, Todd.

Welcome to the MOW fleet!

Let me know if you have any questions about your MOW.

Seachele is still in storage at my buddy's shop in Chicago after having her trunk replaced, so I haven't sailed her the last two summers (hence my absence from the forum for much of that time).

The buddy who did the work let me borrow his Butterfy this summer. It is smaller and lighter than the MOW, but the MOW is much faster and its larger cockpit makes it much easier for for me to maneuver within. I really miss sailing the MOW and can't wait to get her back. Hopefully I will have it for September.

RE: leak
Check around the base of the trunk, specifically on the stern side. The supports on the trunk are not so good which leads to stress cracks if the center board hits bottom or in my case, a submerged log. If not too bad you might be able to inject epoxy in the cracks to seal it up.

Regards,
Lee

[manopeace]

Thanks for the welcome. Lee, I looked more closely at the hull. The previous owner had painted it with a cheap paint and I am trying to remove it to get to the problem. There are several cracks that appear big enough to allow some water to seep in. Once I get the paint off, I plan to use fiberglass cloth and resin to patch. Any suggestions on the best way to do this?

[kokezaru]

I just learned a new trick: if you are just working in a small area, you can use oven cleaner to remove paint from gelcoat or fiberglass. It seems to work pretty good. Just be sure to follow up with some acetone to remove the residue.

[Leeway]

Thanks for the welcome. Lee, I looked more closely at the hull. The previous owner had painted it with a cheap paint and I am trying to remove it to get to the problem. There are several cracks that appear big enough to allow some water to seep in. Once I get the paint off, I plan to use fiberglass cloth and resin to patch. Any suggestions on the best way to do this?

I'll let one of the experts on fiberglass repair chime in. I am still a beginner when it comes to that.

[Alanhod]

[CaptainScott]

Welcome aboard!!

Scott

[manopeace]

Tried the oven cleaner trick with +/- results. Tried Zinsser Paint stripper--seems to work better. Once I got the paint off, I discovered 3 areas of previous patching. The patching substance is somewhat soft--wonder if this is marine putty. [I have never seen it before.] Don't know what to do about it. Will probably just leave it alone.