New F21 owner in Tampa Bay

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iansan5653
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun May 09, 2021 4:39 pm

New F21 owner in Tampa Bay

Post by iansan5653 »

Hey, I purchased a 1983 Freedom 21 about two months ago and have been working hard bringing her up to shape since. She's sitting in a wet slip in downtown St Petersburg on Tampa Bay, and so far I haven't been able to get on the water but hopefully soon.
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PXL_20210410_234857697.MP.jpg (801.78 KiB) Viewed 3292 times
When I bought it, she had a hole in the deck where a back leg of the pulpit had torn out (assuming it was a soft spot before then) so I repaired that with balsa core and added some bearing plates to the pulpit attachment points. Above photo is from before I painted the repair and got the pulpit reinstalled.

I've also replaced all the wiring, replaced almost all of the rigging and blocks, replaced the outboard mount, rebuilt the traveler and winches, and finished dozens of other smaller projects (plus cleaning - lots and lots and lots of cleaning). I'm currently in the middle of replacing the gun mount bearings and the lifelines (swapping out rusty coated wire for Dyneema).

I have some concerns about a previous mast repair which is creaking when the boat sways, so I'll be taking the mast down soon to get a better idea of how serious that is. Also the outboard is in the shop, so it will still probably be 2 or 3 weeks before I sail her for the first time.

Any advice at all would be appreciated! I know there's at least one other Freedom owner (maybe a 25?) in St Pete - I'd love to connect with you if you see this.
Ian Sanders
1983 Freedom 21 - Shoal Draft
St Petersburg (Tampa Bay), FL

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jamesorr
Posts: 53
Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2008 2:55 pm
Location: Rochester, NY
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Re: New F21 owner in Tampa Bay

Post by jamesorr »

Your mast creaking might not be a mast flaw, but rather an issue with how the mast fits over the "top hat" in the bottom of the boat. If there is even a mm of gap present between the top hat diameter and the inside of the mast, then it can tend to "walk" back and forth in typical sailing conditions, making a creaking sound. It is probably not an immediate structural concern, although there are a number of ways that people have documented on this forum for how to get a more precise fit which will eliminate the creaking (assuming this is the cause of course). I personally just built up the inside of my mast with some epoxy, which eliminated my creaking issues -- and that repair has held up for me for at least the last 5 years or so -- although your mileage may vary. Any such repair will requiring having the mast pulled to get at the top hat/mast interface (which was not a problem for me as I have it pulled every year for inside storage).
James Orr
Orr What
1988 Freedom 32 (Mull)
Sodus Bay, NY

iansan5653
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun May 09, 2021 4:39 pm

Re: New F21 owner in Tampa Bay

Post by iansan5653 »

Hi jamesorr, thanks for the info. I actually checked the base pretty closely and I don't think there's any movement there. This movement seems to be at the point where the mast enters the deck - there's a joint and the mast below deck is all aluminum. I'm actually wondering if this is a tabernacle / tabernacle conversion and the previous owner didn't tell me. I'll have to take it all apart and see.
Ian Sanders
1983 Freedom 21 - Shoal Draft
St Petersburg (Tampa Bay), FL

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