Launch...

Finally got the boat back in for the 2011 season...

Up on the rather nifty trailer. Only fault with it is that the pads can't be widened. As it is, the pads match the shaft spacing perfectly!

And she floats! Here she is after a good power hosing. Need to compound the topsides now...

Compounding the hull

I had bought this stuff months earlier, as I had seen good reports:

http://shurhold.com/buff-magic

And, in order to apply it properly, I bought one of the Silverline Polishers off ebay:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=silverline+polisher

I applied the compound with a brush, putting it on sparingly (as the instructions suggest), and then polished it away. I'm very impressed with the results:

This is the before and after shot. Quite a difference...

Some stainless cooker protection

The laminate on the cooker lid had got badly damaged over the years. I imagine from being closed over turned off, but still hot, gas rings on the cooker.

So, I managed to get a bit of 314 Stainless (Kitchen Grade) cut to the right size for the reasonable price of €8. I smoothed the damaged laminate with a sanding disk attached to my drill, and then roughened all the laminate where the stainless would bond. I then roughened the stainless in order to give the epoxy something to bond to. I coated both laminate and stainless with epoxy and added some weights to press them together. The next day I had this...

Gas locker progress

In the end, I had to cut the supports from underneath the locker in order to drop it down below the bump in the deck. This was after I had removed all the glass from around the top of the locker, which was holding the locker to the deck.

It looks to me like the gas locker went into the boat before the deck and hull were joined. The lesson: don't leave your gas locker to rust!

When I had the locker out, I could take some proper measurements. These lockers were designed for British 'half size' gas bottles (as far as I can tell). These bottles are slightly smaller than Irish ones (God knows why!). So, I designed up a new locker and went to get some quotes...

I looked at Stainless Steel (316 Marine Grade) but this was much, much too expensive. I have since settled on mild steel plate (galvanised) and will have the new, enlarged locker, within the week.

The next headache will be trying to fit it back into the boat!

Blisters & Davits

I decided to remove the davits from the boat, as one of them had been damaged. Turns out that there was significant blistering of the hull where the davit met the transom.

The davits have a hollow in their feet (where they meet the transom) and this appears to have collected water over the years. It looks like this water was against the hull for a long time, causing blistering. Some of the blisters were bad enough to have caused de-lamination.

So, I ground them out, washed them and let them sit for as long as possible:

I will fill them with epoxy before the boat goes back in the water...

Rusty gas locker

The gas locker is rusted through. So, I went at it, in order to replace it with a stainless one...

First I had to figure out how to get at it. The locker is behind the vanity unit in the aft cabin. This unit is made in two halves - top and bottom. First, I removed the panels on either side of the unit at the end of the beds. Here, on either side of the vanity unit are battens, that support the end panel of the bed. Remove these as they connect the top and bottom half of the vanity unit.
Next, climb in to the the bottom half of the vanity unit and undo the two vertical screws that go through a batten, just behind the sink, and into the top half. Then, remove the taps.

Now, you should be able to remove the top half, pulling it out towards you.

And finally, you have access to the gas locker. As you can see, mine was not in great condition. The locker lid had been leaking for some time. I will replace it with 316 stainless...

... once I figure out how to get the locker out! It is glassed in around the topsides and is glassed into the supports underneath. Much pulling and grunting delivered little. A job for next week.

Engines, engines!

My Freeman is powered by two 6.2L Ford Sabre (2715E) diesel engines. As far as I know, Sabre bought Lehman, so the Ford Lehman is the same base engine with slightly different marinising. These are 120Hp each, driving Borg Warner Velvet drives (2.1:1) giving max. speed of approx. 18 knts.

Manuals:
Velvet Drive Installation Manual
Velvet Drive Service Manual
Ford Lehman Marine Diesel Engine Stuff

Some helpful resources

The Freeman cruiser forum is a fantastic resource, where you will find like minded owners of the classic Freeman range - Freeman Cruiser Forum

Also, Freeman boats are supported by John Freeman (Sales) Ltd. Here you can find most of the original equipment for sale, including gel coats in the correct colours etc. - Freeman Cruisers

Mutual Admiration - A Freeman 33 Sport

This blog is intended to record the work I am doing on renovating a c. 1980 Freeman 33 Sport. There is not that much information out there on them, so where I can, I will upload pictures and documents that may help others.