Chrysler Sailors Forum

Last summer I was doing a lot of sailing on a small lake in Door County, WI. I was sailing my 1964 Sunfish, that I had refurbished. More than once, I saw another boat out on the lake that looked very sleek and sharp! I got close enough to call out to the other sailor and ask what he was sailing - he shouted back - "Chrysler Man O War!"

What? Did he say "Chrysler"? So off I go to the internet and do some research. Sure enough - Chrysler sailboats galore. I want one - so much so that my computer wallpaper is the Man O War brochure! However, I currently have in my possession, a 1964 sunfish, a 1967 Sunfish, a 1983 Holder 12 and a 1973 Alcort Puffer. Wife is not gonna be happy with another sailboat in the yard.

This spring, I was helping some friends and I spotted a sailboat in the woods at the neighboring cottage along Lake Michigan. The cottage was boarded up so I snuck over to look - could it be......

Sure enough - a Chrysler Man O War upside down on a trailer and covered in moss and pine needles.



So I have to wait for the cottage owner to arrive in July. When I know he's there - I knock on the door and introduce myself. I tell him that I noticed his boat and am interested in buying it. I offer him $200 and he accepts immediately. He is 79 years old and he is no longer able to sail.

The boat had been sitting there for a number of years (did he say 20?) Anyway, he pulled out all the parts from storage (I was nervous about a mouse eaten sail!) But all the parts are in good shape and the sail has some stains and one loose seam but otherwise is actually still crisp.



He gave me some of the parts in a cardboard box that had a label on it. I looked more closely at the label and realized that the box was the original box of parts that came with the boat when it was new!



The trailer is in need of repair - we blew a tire on the way home and had to get another trailer to finish the trip.



There was one place on the keel that was previously patched and badly too. It wasn't sanded smooth and we saw water leaking out of the patch when we put the boat upright. Gonna have to fix that.







One thing that I am not certain of is the year of manufacture - the registration says 1975 however the number on the hull suggests 1970



There was a small sticker that read "CBC21575" that came off in bits when we washed the boat.

AND my darling, sweet, loving, patient wife is fine with the new boat but the Holder 12 has to go since we don't sail that one! I might add that of the five sailboats in my yard - only three are mine and one of those is now on the market!

I know that forum members like a lot of photos....

Tell the Wife Unit to not worry about all the boats. It's the lawn tractors she should be concerned about. Too many beers and you'll fall off and get run over. Very messy.

Nice boat looks like it cleaned up to all most new looking. You should be sailing on no time. Great photos too, always better to find them upside down, an not full of water.

welcome aboard and it looks like a good find...congrats

Ha, the lawn mowers are because I do small engine repair on the side! The wife is a little concerned about that clutter too but it makes money so she doesn't get too radical.

Welcome
Looks like a great find. What a bonus getting original parts bags! It looks like its cleaning up real well. A bath tub full of Oxi clean will do wonders for the sail. Just fill up the tub with warm water and Oxi clean add the sail, make sure it gets completely wet then get in and do the grape smashing routine. Let it soak awhile then take it outside and rinse well. I've done many sails that way including colored ones.

Do you have a targeted launch date yet? Have fun.

Clair

Looking good ! I have an older Bolens kinda like the one in your pic with yellow deck. Granddaughter named it "Bob" lol,,Actually just had to adjust the rocker arms on it to get it turn over and crank today. Once it year it wants that at some point. And that is the limit of my small engine skills !

Welcome aboard !

Thanks for that sail cleaning idea, I will do that. No idea when it will get to open water - hoping for next week.







That's my friend doing all the work under my supervision!

She really looks good when she's wet!

That would be a vary good friend to have around, hope he gets to go sailing with you. Vary nice sail boat,

Hey!
Welcome to the forum and GREAT Find!
Sounds like a very neat project to play with!
Thanks for sharing photos too!

Scott

OH yeah!
Hey sblg43,

If you do not already know, we have a copy of the original manual for the Man-o-War here:

http://www.captainscottsailing.com/php/ ... ocList.php

Might help you out!

Also, if you have any other documents that are Chrysler sailing specific that you might have received, I'd love good copies and would happily host and share for all on our document site!

All the documents there were donated by members for us all to share and learn from. Poke around, there are a LOT!


Thanks,
Scott

clair hofmann wrote:Welcome
Looks like a great find. What a bonus getting original parts bags! It looks like its cleaning up real well. A bath tub full of Oxi clean will do wonders for the sail. Just fill up the tub with warm water and Oxi clean add the sail, make sure it gets completely wet then get in and do the grape smashing routine. Let it soak awhile then take it outside and rinse well. I've done many sails that way including colored ones.

Do you have a targeted launch date yet? Have fun.

Clair

Oh, that's a great one, Clair. Last year we spent a fortune remodeling The Wife's Bathroom. I have the 3/4 unit at the other end of the house. If I tried the grape smashing tip in her new tub, it would go over like a fart in church.

I was actually teaching my friend to sail on my sunfish when we spotted the Man O War on the same lake. So he knows all about my itch to have my own and he is really pressuring me to get it out on the water ASAP.

I have already printed out a copy of the owners manual for reference but alas, I have no documentation to add to the collection. Just a lot of pictures for reference. Hope they can help somebody.

Today we also did some trailer work.

This is the old tire and wheel from the trailer.


This is the new hub that will hold the new tire and wheel


We hope to clean up the trailer some more. If we are going to have a cool sailboat like a Man O War on it, we want it to look a bit nicer.

Nicely done, you will have every one thinking that Chrysler sailboats are being made again. No one will believe how old it rely is.

And today I picked up the new tires/wheels from work

When it comes time to clean up the trailer frame you might consider a Harbor Freight needle scaler. They are great for getting into the corners you can't get with a grinder. 36 grit sanding discs work great on the flat areas. I also get them at HF. I used a metal conditioner before painting.

Wal Mart or HF have good prices on LED light kits.

I put the pages from my downloaded manual in clear 3 ring sheet savers then in a binder. That protects the pages if you have them outside while working on the boat. I also keep all my receipts from any parts I buy for the boat or trailer in there as well as documentation of any work I do.

Looks like you're getting close!

Clair

Wow!

That is too cool! Nice work also. Looking forward to seeing picts of you sailing her.

And welcome to the forum!

Billy

Just made plans to take her out for the first time this coming Sunday - July 20 2014. I better get the camera ready.

For now I will use the mainsheet that came with her but I will be replacing the sheet with new. I have not found any info about how long the mainsheet should be on a MOW. The sheet that came with this one is 33' long but I don't think it's original so I can't be sure if it's the correct length.

33 feet should be more than enough.
An easy way to figure how long you mainsheet should be is, rig the mainsheet as it should be, then swing the boom out 90 degrees from center and add about a foot from the cam cleat, and that should do it.
Since you should never have you sail farther than 90 degrees off center.
The extra foot or so will give room to tie some stopper knots.

Good luck on that first sail.

Yep, 33' seems just right. I took the line that came with the boat and rigged the boat. With the sail fully extended, I had about 2.5 feet left to hold onto. So I went to the local West Marine to purchase new line. He had about 38' left on the roll and sold it to me for the price of 33'.

Now I have to decide whether to cut it short

I probably will because the extra just gets in the way.