The Knowledge Bank.

[Junket]

Hi All,
Chris here,
Bought an odd duck a year or so ago as a neglected, run down little boat.
Her redeeming feature is that she is an aluminium hulled tub.
Make is unknown to me, though I suspect she may be a an Evening Star.
I took into account all the advice given in the many posts regarding purchasing a trailer sailer, "Recently and regularly sailed, well known builder/manufacturer, good trailer, not sitting in the water seemingly being used as a mooring minder etc........."
Then ignored it, and bought her any way.
Why????? Right price for what she was, and the money saved will equip her with all new stuff.
Time is not the important factor, and in my opinion, the journey is usually more important and fullfilling than the destination.
Yes, she had her problems, jammed swing keel, rigging in need of renewal, most fittings needing replacement, electrical (what there was of it) very rubbish, and the list goes on.
However, with the help of the huge amount of accumulated wisdom of Trailer Sailer Place, She is becoming shipshape.
So I thank you all, each and every contributor who has added their small piece to the Knowledge Bank.
This is my first sailboat of any kind, so no doubt I will be leaning on the Forum for some time to come.

[DIGGER-NZ]

Pictures, we must have pictures

[Junket]

Pictures, we must have pictures

Here you are. Post edited.

[MoodyBlue]

Just watch for dissimilar metal electrolysis.

A twenty cent piece "lost" in the bilge can burn a hole in a matter of weeks if there is a small amount of salt water present.

Jeff

[Junket]

Very true.
I have coated almost all the bilge with 2 part epoxy paint.
Hopefully, this will help.

[Peter Yates]

G'day Chris and welcome,
Amongst my collection over the years, I owned "Karima" which was an Evening Star, from 1988 to 1994.

It was before I had a digital camera, so I don't have anything but slides of her, so at this stage I can't put any up.

There is something about your boat that suggests to me that she is not an Evening Star. It may just be the angle of the photos or it may be that Star boats made variants that looked different, but the hull looks wrong, the shoal draft keel is not squared off and the windows/cabin shape also look wrong. Maybe you could send more pictures giving a clearer profile?

The only other alloy TS I know of is the Siren. It came in 18, 20 and 22 foot versions, but it too looks different to yours. I have to say I think yours looks nicer than the other two.

If it is a type of Star Boat, maybe check the exact length. Mine was 6.5 metres from memory. Mine was not built like a tinny - the aluminium was at least 3mm thick and it was like a patrol boat - very strong!

As Jeff has mentioned, keep an eye on the dissimilar metal thing and if you moor it, ensure the anodes are up to scratch. One thing that worried me about mine was that under the floor boards there was internal ballast. It was iron pellets encased in some sort of mastic. Since water did sometimes get into the bilge (keel bolt), I always had visions of the bottom dissolving if the membrane allowed any of the iron to contact the alloy hull. Needless to say the hull never did dissolve and I have never heard of one suffering that fate.

If it is an Evening Star, I have to say they sail very well and we had some good times with our's.

Probably not the best boat to be out in during a thunderstorm though, being all metal!

[JimJ]

Probably not the best boat to be out in during a thunderstorm though, being all metal!

Faraday Cage
Wikipedia Page

[Peter Yates]

Probably not the best boat to be out in during a thunderstorm though, being all metal!

Faraday Cage
Wikipedia Page

Great in theory but a bit daunting when faced with a decent storm.

Waited one out at Metung years ago when returning to Paynesville from Lakes Entrance. Among the onlookers, one guy announced that we would be OK as no yacht had ever been hit by lightning in the lakes. Don't know how he could know that, but I didn't like that theory either!

I have never been sure whether a Faraday Cage will actually protect you if you are touching part of the outer metal surface of the cage. I imagine it would not and in the Evening Star, almost everything is metal, even the inside furniture not to mention the mast support.

[Cooper]

I have sailed on and lived on a Steel Yacht with steel masts and never been struck. We were sailing it once up the coast and a lightening bolt hit the sea about 200 metres away. I guessed that if that one wasn't attracted to us then we should not be worried too much.

Coops.

[Junket]

Thanks all for your thoughts.
Peter, I am absolutely unsure of her builder.
The only thing that points me in any direction is the I'd tag issued by Wa Transport.
Looked in vain for hours, of a picture on the Web that resembles the hull shape.
One of the members here posted pics of his boat that he inherited.
The interior shots look remarkably similar, but the hull shape,not so much.

[Peter Yates]

For what it's worth, here is a link on the Evening Star in the John Crawford Marine library.

It is a pretty poor page but it gives you an idea of what they look like.

http://www.johncrawfordmarine.com.au/tr ... star-boats

[zebedee]

Here are a couple of old threads about aluminium trailer sailers for you to read:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6164
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9143

[Davidjohn]

Hi Chris,
I don't suppose you have the sails tucked away somewhere - They may have a class insignia showing. Sorry if you've already thought of it!