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.