Newbie Boater Looking for gotcha's on 74 Tri-Cabin 36

Portabella · Post by **Portabella** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:03 pm

Hi Folks,

I bought a 74 Tri-cabin a couple of years ago and thus far it has been one nightmare after another. I am still a newbie as I have only been able to take the thing out a few times and it sat out last year.

Alas, I am dedicated to fixing it up now.
I am facing a couple of annoyances now such as salon window leakage and aft cabin leakage.

I was wondering if there were any gotchas I should watch out for so I can be pro-active instead of re-active.

One actual question - the person who had the boat before me stained all the teak inside black, do I have a shot at re-storing the teak without trashing it?

Thanks,
Portabella

guglielmo6160 · Post by **guglielmo6160** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:35 pm

hello, sorry to hear your boat is giving you problems, what other problems have you had, besides water leaks?

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:47 pm

Hey,welcome.I'm 3 slips down from you in the F 36 . dock C27,'MIDLIFE CRISIS.There is a search feature on this form that can provide a lot of helpful guidance [usually correct....ish].I would be happy to have a look and offer any advice I can[but not the work

].also "Mark the fiber-glass guy" who works at the marina is really good with the type of issues your having and can usually point you in the right direction.With a bunch of work and a few bucks hopfully you can whip 'er into shape...
and don't forget that if worse comes to worse you can always motor out into the lake and remove the drain plug... [kidding...I think?] Good luck

Portabella · Post by **Portabella** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:43 am

Thanks Pete! Nice to meet ya. Yeah I know Mark he's a bud of mine. Need new canvas so can't afford him this year.

As for issues prior, the day I bought it one of the rudders was broke, then a gas tank strap broke on the way home and cracked the tank. My leakage is the last thing really getting me now, I hope.

Coralkong · Post by **Coralkong** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:28 pm

I have a '74 TriCabin. Have owned it for 6 years or so now.

The only thing that was ever REALLY wrong with it is I have an ongoing corrosion problem with internal DC electrical connections.

It is 35 years old, mind you.

I have had to replace lots of splice connectors, etc....

Caulk will fix window leaks.

Try rubbing your teak down with a thinner solution. Probably shouldn't smoke while you do that one.

I have had other things happen, but nothing I would consider really "major".

Great boats.

Portabella · Post by **Portabella** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:43 am

Thank you Corlkong. I will give that a shot and try to refrain from blowing myself up as well....

aaronbocknek · Post by **aaronbocknek** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 5:34 am

my dad owned a tri cabin from 1972 until march of 2008. i grew up in and around that boat and can provide some assistance i think as well as tap dad for some insite. he solved the window leak problem by recaulking the area around the windows and also drilled additional drain holes on the outside window channel.....remember, she is tail heavy and all the water runs aft so start at the back of the frame and work forward. the cockpit decking and aft bulkheads were NOTORIOUS for delaminating and leaking, especially the square aft window frame and door window. trojan used formica on the outside, laminated to marine plywood and either simulated wood formica on the interior bulkhead or wood laminate. because of the angle of the aft bulkhead, the rain would seep into the window frame and rot it out. dad discovered this in 1988 and had a trojan rep repair the entire aft bulkhead, windows and door, at their cost since it was a design flaw. what i suggest you might do is rebuild this area using either round framed windows or opening port lights. as for the back deck, he had it completely torn out 6 years ago, and rebuilt using marine ply that was fiberglassed over. now, your interior wood problem---- i refinished my interior woodwork , fly bridge ladder pads and teak back railings using READYSTRIP. this stuff is amazing, but you need to follow the directions to the letter! the one nice thing about trojan interior wood work is it is not bunged and can be unscrewed, taken home, and refinished. your vertical bulkheads might pose a bit of a challenge, but because of the thickness of ready strip, it will stay put while it does its work. patience and elbow grease will produce great results using this product. i can provide before and after pics too if you are interested---- i need to post these here too for all to see.
hope this helps.
feel free to contact me if you have any more questions.
aaron

gjrylands · Post by **gjrylands** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:39 am

To try to get the stain out of the teak, try a 2 part teak cleaner after wiping with the thinner. You may even try acetone. It's a bit more powerful, but be careful of the fumes.

Portabella · Post by **Portabella** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 8:52 am

Thank you all for the replies. I will probably start addressing the teak this fall/winter. Will be addressing the leaks this weekend.

Would really like to put beds back in the aft again soon. As questions come up I will take you up on the offers.

Thanks Again,
Portabella (Jacqui)