1975 Sabre MKI w/ original A-4

[jjdoons]

I live in Calvert County Maryland, about 30 miles south of Annapolis. I live right on the bay and have owned fishing boats. Ten years ago I got rid of the powerboat because I had several small kids demanding time and the boat wasn't getting used enough. My kids are older now and love being on the water. We get a ton of use out of our john boat and spend countless days on nearby beaches. I wanted to get a big enough boat to fit the entire clan but could not justify a $20K price tag and the gas expense. Although I've never sailed, I started looking at sailboats advertised on various sites. I found the Sabre 28. I saw nothing but good things written about Sabres. The price was great and the minor repairs were mostly cosmetic. The A-4, was my only concern. It had a slight drip of water out of the aft end but ran perfectly. The leak had a JB Weld patch that wasn't doing the trick anymore. The boatyard mechanic loves A-4's because they are "bulletproof" and convinced me that the leak should not be a deal killer. I went ahead and got the boat along with a ton of grief from my fishing buddies. "You got a what!?" "A blowboat!?" My first purchase was the maintenance and overhaul maual from Moyer. If all goes well I will be sailing the Annapolis and Solomons Island area in April. Oh yeah, I will be installing a couple flush mount rod hoders on the stern to justify the puchase of a "blowboat". Looking forward to learning about the A-4 from this great resource. I'll post some pictures when I get it looking presentable.

[Dave Neptune]

jj, congratulations on joining the "green" side of boating. You won't see many rod holders on sailboats although you will on mine. Sailing is often a good trolling speed and you can "heave too" when you hook up and the boat won't hardly even rock .
Yes the A-4 is an excellent engine when properly manitained, it is quiet and doesn't stink of sootie fuel.
Keep the kids interested and participating, it is cheaper then therapy and lawyers when they "start" to grow up.
Post a pic or two of your patch and the forum can opin and assist in so many ways, it is a good group!!!!

Dave Neptune

[lat 64]

Hi,
You'll miss the control of a power boat, but you won't miss the fuel bill!
And, you can talk to the wife without yelling—very important.

Our engine are auxiliaries, not prime engines. By that I mean; learn to not rely on the motor for everything. There's a lot of skill to take pride in when you can drop and set an anchor without the motor. Lots of things like that.

Definitely let the kids hold the wheel once in awhile. A bored crew is a nasty one.

Any keel boat is sure safer than a jon boat! I have an 18-foot jon boat with a jet. great fun on the rivers up here, but I never go on big water with it.

I'm going to put downrigger on my sailboat. You can't back down on a big fish with a sail boat, so I don't use big bait. We just fish for food, the little ones are best eats anyway.

Shawn lives somewhere near you, and he has had run-ins with a Sabre 28 too!

Russ

[ndutton]

Originally Posted by lat 64

And, you can talk to the wife without yelling—very important.

My wife doesn't seem to get that part, she's still yelling at me, no doubt for reasons unrelated to engine noise but for the life of me I don't know (won't admit) what they are.

[Sony2000]

How will your mechanic fix the small leak from the block I assume?

[sastanley]

jjdoons, I am guessing you are in the Herrington Harbor area??? As far as I know, that is about the only place between the Patuxent & West/Rhode River. Oh, maybe Flag Harbor..(talk about a hurricane hole!)

I am in the Solomons area (actually, the boat is...the house is about 15 minutes away)

Dave's right about the Sabre 28..there was one donated to a local foundation and it has been sitting on the hard for a number of years near Pt Lookout (Potomac River)...I am helping out a buddy trying to get it working again...during our last visit, we almost got it running.

Welcome to the land of blow boats! I think I put about 12 gallons of fuel in the boat last season.

[Ajax]

Originally Posted by jjdoons

I went ahead and got the boat along with a ton of grief from my fishing buddies. "You got a what!?" "A blowboat!?" My first purchase was the maintenance and overhaul maual from Moyer. If all goes well I will be sailing the Annapolis and Solomons Island area in April. Oh yeah, I will be installing a couple flush mount rod hoders on the stern to justify the puchase of a "blowboat". Looking forward to learning about the A-4 from this great resource. I'll post some pictures when I get it looking presentable.

Your friends are closed-minded. You'll make new friends in the sailing community, probably many more than you expected.

Good luck with the new boat. I live in the area, and hope to see you out there.

[ndutton]

With a wink and a smile I often challenge the closed minded powerboaters to a race. I let them choose the time but I get to choose the course.

They'll choose a weekend day, I'll choose Los Angeles to Hawaii.

[jjdoons]

Shawn, I'm actaully in Dares Beach. The boat currently is up by Herrington Harbor' in Rockhold Creek. If I can find a free or cheap slip in the 'Hurricane Hole' (Flag Harbor)you describe that is where I would prefer to keep the boat. Fifteen minute drive and only about a two hundred yard motor until open water. I have been offered a free slip in Solomons. That's probably where I'll keep it. A little farther drive but a lot more to do. Looking forward to spring, but this mild winter has me wishing the boat was in the water now.

[sastanley]

Thanks for the update jj. I graduated from Calvert High School eons ago & grew up in the Lusby area, and now keep the boat at a friend's house in Olivet. It is about a 15 minute drive to the boat, & then about 20 minutes worth of motoring to get to Solomons Harbor.

In my early 20's, I worked in the local sail loft in Solomons, so we did some work in Flag Harbor & Herrington Harbor once or twice. I've never been into Flag by boat, but I've been to Herrington South once in this boat.

I was down at the boat this weekend (mine is in the water, but winterized)..it is probably a good thing I left the pink RV antifreeze at home & couldn't re-winterize or I might have gone out!

C'mon SPRING!

[High Hopes]

Originally Posted by jjdoons

Shawn, I'm actaully in Dares Beach. The boat currently is up by Herrington Harbor' in Rockhold Creek. If I can find a free or cheap slip in the 'Hurricane Hole' (Flag Harbor)you describe that is where I would prefer to keep the boat. Fifteen minute drive and only about a two hundred yard motor until open water. I have been offered a free slip in Solomons. That's probably where I'll keep it. A little farther drive but a lot more to do. Looking forward to spring, but this mild winter has me wishing the boat was in the water now.

Hi Doons,

I am a 1975 Sabre 28 owner. I love this boat. The A4 is very dependable and much cheaper than maintaining a diesel. Welcome to the forum.

Steve

BTW, I am around the corner at Shipwright Harbor. I would love to get together to compare notes.

[Bigeye]

JJ,

This will be my third season with my1974 28-1. She sails like a bigger boat and likes to get up on her side quickly and loves 15 degrees of heel. There's a good Sabre forum on Yahoo and you can still get the original 28 manual from Sabre.

My A4 needed a lot of attention and I knew close to nothing about maintaining an engine like this but this forum and the MM manual has helped tremendously. I've been able to rebuild almost everything attached to the block.

My biggest challenge is gaining access and working on the sides of the engine and forget about getting at the gear box! Hopefully you can remove the galley top to get at the engine. If not, let me know and I can send you a plan from Sabre that shows how to open up the cabinetry in front of the engine. And you can take out the sink to get a little more light on the subject.

I think the cover's coming off this weekend it's been so warm up here in Salem. Enjoy!

Big Eye

[Beckeresq]

It's nice to see news about other vintage Sabre owners. I brought my 1974 Sabre up from Herrington Harbor, Md. to Perth Amboy, NJ. in 2007. Most of the trip was done with the A4, which I've converted to FWC. I love the boat and have spent a good deal of time in its spacious "Engine Room." At least that's what the light panel calls it.

At some point I decided I should have a "backup" A4, and, to make a long story short, I've acquired four more engines (only two are still in the garage). Will Sibley, a Good Guy near Herrington Harbor, this site, the folks at Moyer, and the Moyer Manual have kept me going.

If you're in the Raritan Bay, NJ area, get in touch.

[jjdoons]

My cover is off. The bottom is painted. I have to put a new boot stripe on it and I'm ready to go. However, when we hauled it in December and were still antcipating a winter, the boatyard and I agreed on a mid-April launch. The boat (still unnamed) is buried in the boatyard. With temperatures in the low 80's this week a lot of people were prepping their boats. I think they'll start dropping some in the water soon. I won't be able to fire up the A-4 until it's in. Everything looks fine. Replacing the fuel filter and putting new oil in and hope for the best. I have joined the Sabre forum on Yahoo and have printed out the owners manual. There's pictures of my boat on that forum in it's various conditions of disrepair. Getting anxiuos to embark on the new hobby.

[ILikeRust]

Congrats on the boat.

Originally Posted by jjdoons

I won't be able to fire up the A-4 until it's in.

Just an FYI - you actually can. Install a T-fitting just down stream from the raw water intake through-hull. On the "T" portion that stick out, put a male threaded hose fitting. They sell a little solid female cap with a gasket in it that closes it off watertight when not in use.

With that T-fitting, you can run the engine with the boat out of the water by removing the little cap and connecting a garden hose to the raw water intake.

Best practice, IMHO, is to rig up a ball valve at the end of the hose so that you can keep the water turned off until you actually fire up the engine. Once the engine catches and starts running, then you can open the valve and there's your cooling water flowing through the engine. The water will just fall out the exhaust onto the ground.

When you shut the engine off, shut off the water at the same time. Then unhook the hose and put the little cap back on the T fitting.

[Bigeye]

Here's a shot of my "t" fitting between the through hull raw water intake and the pump. To run the engine while the boat is out of the water, run a (short) hose with a shut off at the end from this hose hose fitting and into a 5 gallon bucket. A simple plastic garden hose shut off works. Then run a second hose from the hot water discharge at the aft end of the exhaust manifold back to the bucket. Now you have a closed loop. Close the through hull fitting open the ball valve seen here and the shut off at the end of the hose and let the engine draw from the bucket but only AFTER she turns over and catches so you don't flood the engine. You can run the engine for a while and not have to worry about spraying hot water out the back. By the way ,that's the copper jacketed exhaust running behind the fitting. A side benefit of this method is that you may get to see any crud that's in the system and it'll have a chance to settle out in the bucket.

Big Eye

[phmccartney]

JJ, I have a C&C 35 with an Atomic 4 that i keep in Flag Harbor. John at the Marina services and Bruce who runs a mechanic shop called long beach boat co. are great resources. Hard to beat a free slip in Solomons, but if that doesnt work out, id strongly recommend Flag Harbor.

Nice thing about Flag is when your engine conks out - which it will, its pretty easy to come in under sai.

Peter

[jjdoons]

Thanks Bigeye. Pictures are worth a thousand words. Peter, my first choice for a marina would be Flag Harbor but it's a little pricey. If you know anyone with a slip willing to rent it at a reduced rate, let me know. I do like the immeadiate access to the bay and it is the closest marina to my house.

[jjdoons]

SHAKEDOWN CRUISE Deale to Solomons Island

Saturday, I took Sláinte out for the first time. I had completed the bottom and had her put in the water the monday prior. I immeadiately started the A4 (with the help of a little starting fluid) and it ran great. NOAA had posted a small craft advisory with winds 10-20 with gust of 30 from W/NW. They had missed it badly the prior day as the bay stayed flat all day so I decided to make a go at it. If worse came to worse we would hug the western shore the whole way. Left the dock at 0930 hrs. with my son and a neighbor. We had light winds right at our back at the begining, then we went from no wind to light winds from every different direction. Although I did not plan on using the engine exept exiting and entering the marinas, we were in dead air for a period and used it from CCNPP to the gas docks. The motor ran perfect. Once we passed the gas docks, the winds really kicked up and we started flying. We made the trip in 7 1/2 hours and had a great time. I was very impressed with my first experience with the A4. It's quite a motor. The Sabre was awesome as well.

[Mo]

Those Sabre's are a nice boat. My friend has a 34 and she's a beauty. Good story and it's so cool that you guys had a good excursion.

[sastanley]

Tim, glad you had an uneventful delivery. Lots of wind from behind is always better than lots of wind in your face.

I am in Solomons as well..where are you keeping your boat? Free is always a great deal! I am at a private dock (= cheap! ), up Mill Creek a bit.

[jjdoons]

Kinda up Mill Creek. Hutchins Cove. Two Sabre 28s a couple slips apart. Mine is the not so pretty one.

[sastanley]

Cool..I'll wave the next we go by.

The wife likes to putz around the creeks & harbors with cocktails sometimes, looking at the waterfront places normal people like us cannot afford any longer.

[ILikeRust]

Wait a minute - "normal"? You're on this forum, aren't you?

[sastanley]

Well, in my case "normal" means, 'an every day working stiff with a 35-year old boat that needs a lot of work, but it didn't cost as much as my house'.

One thing I always like to remember though, my 35-year old boat takes me the same places their $400K boat does, and I get the same view anchored right next to them!