[Capri25] FW: Capri 25's

[Dutch Bull]

Does anyone have any experience they can share on this subject. If so, please contact Joe Mireur directly. joe.mireur at earthlink.net<mailto:joe.mireur at earthlink.net>


Dutch Bull
Northern Iron & Machine
Ph 651-778-3338
Fx 651-778-3390
Cell 763-300-9562
Dbull at northernim.com

From: Joe Mireur [mailto:joe.mireur at earthlink.net]
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:17 PM
To: Dutch Bull
Subject: Capri 25's

Hi Dutch,

I got your name and email address from a message you posted last September on the Wayzata\Capri25 website regarding Tee shirts.

It's the Northern Iron & Metal that caught my eye. I just bought a Capri 25 in Oklahoma and brought it down here to Texas. It's hull #303. It's in pretty good shape and mostly needs to be cleaned up a little. But I do have a problem you may be able to help me with.

I keep my Capri at Seabrook Marina, on the trailer I got with it. This will be my third boat at Seabrook Marina. I have kept them all on a trailer, because its cheaper and I don't have to maintain the bottom. The marina has a 3 ton lift/electric chain hoist that swivels. You lift your boat off the trailer and swing it around and set it down in the water. Works very well.

Except - the marina requires that you do NOT use a sling, too many accidents I was told. You must use lifting eyes or other device built into the hull by the manufacturer.  And this boat doesn't have the threaded hole in the keel (1"-8) that some other Capri 25's have. If you are not familiar with this hole, it is found between the last two keel bolts. My boat has a hole, but apparently it was for a bushing/fitting that is no longer there. And the threads below this hole that this thing apparently scrwed into, are too rusty to be of any use.

So, I'm wondering if any other Capri 25 owners have run into this problem, and if they did, how did they solve it?

My current idea is to fashion a plate of 1/2" steel large enough to cover the area between the last two keel bolts, drill four holes in the corners and keep going about 12" into the keel. Then tap these holes (in the keel, not in the plate) (if I can figure out how to get the chips out!) and insert four new keel bolts/lifting bolts. Use nuts/washers to hold this plate in the boat. In the cente of the plate will be hole 1" + in diameter, and on the bottom side of this will be a 1"-8 nut welded to the plate. Then I can screw in a lifting eye, attach my chain harness, put the boat in the water and sail away while opening a cold one.

What I would really like is to hear from either someone like a mechanical engineer who can say, "Yeah, that would work, each bolt only has to hold about 1200 pounds. Shouldn't have a problem." OR someone who has faced this problem themselves and solved it to their satisfaction. Any help/direction you can offer me will be greatly appreciated. If I drop this boat just once its gonna ruin my day!


Thanks for listening,
Joe Mireur
joe.mireur at earthlink.net<mailto:joe.mireur at earthlink.net>
281-804-1707 cell

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